Skip to search
Skip to main content
Catalog
Help
Feedback
Your Account
Library Account
Bookmarks
(
0
)
Search History
Search in
Keyword
Title (keyword)
Author (keyword)
Subject (keyword)
Title starts with
Subject (browse)
Author (browse)
Author (sorted by title)
Call number (browse)
search for
Search
Advanced Search
Bookmarks
(
0
)
Princeton University Library Catalog
Start over
Cite
Send
to
SMS
Email
EndNote
RefWorks
RIS
Printer
Bookmark
From stone to flesh : a short history of the Buddha / Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Author
Lopez, Donald S., Jr., 1952-
[Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/Created
Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, [2013]
©2013.
Description
289 pages ; 24 cm.
Availability
Copies in the Library
Location
Call Number
Status
Location Service
Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks
BQ894 .L67 2013
Browse related items
Request
Details
Subject(s)
Gautama Buddha
[Browse]
Gautama Buddha
—
Christian interpretations
[Browse]
Gautama Buddha
—
Cult
—
Europe
—
History
[Browse]
Buddhism
—
Study and teaching
—
Europe
—
History
[Browse]
Series
Buddhism and modernity
[More in this series]
Summary note
We have come to admire Buddhism for being profound but accessible, as much a lifestyle as a religion. The credit for creating Buddhism goes to the Buddha, a figure widely respected across the Western world for his philosophical insight, his teachings of nonviolence, and his practice of meditation. But who was this Buddha, and how did he become the Buddha we know and love today? The author, a historian of Buddhism tells the story of how various idols carved in stone, variously named Beddou, Codam, Xaca, and Fo, became the man of flesh and blood that we know simply as the Buddha. He reveals that the positive view of the Buddha in Europe and America is rather recent, originating a little more than a hundred and fifty years ago. For centuries, the Buddha was condemned by Western writers as the most dangerous idol of the Orient. He was a demon, the murderer of his mother, a purveyor of idolatry. Here the author provides a history of depictions of the Buddha from classical accounts and medieval stories to the testimonies of European travelers, diplomats, soldiers, and missionaries. He shows that centuries of hostility toward the Buddha changed dramatically in the nineteenth century, when the teachings of the Buddha, having disappeared from India by the fourteenth century, were read by European scholars newly proficient in Asian languages. At the same time, the traditional view of the Buddha persisted in Asia, where he was revered as much for his supernatural powers as for his philosophical insights. This book follows the twists and turns of these Eastern and Western notions of the Buddha, leading finally to his triumph as the founder of a world religion.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references (p. [247]-275) and index.
Contents
The idol
The myth
The man
The text
Conclusion: the aftermath.
Show 2 more Contents items
ISBN
9780226493206 (hardcover : alkaline paper)
0226493202 (hardcover : alkaline paper)
LCCN
2012030881
OCLC
805701766
Other standard number
40022179502
Statement on language in description
Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage.
Read more...
Other views
Staff view
Ask a Question
Suggest a Correction
Report Harmful Language
Supplementary Information