Power, Wealth and Women

Osto, Douglas:
Power, Wealth and Women in Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism : the Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra / Douglas Osto. - London : Routledge, 2008. - xv, 177 S. - (Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism)
ISBN 978-0-415-48073-4
£ 75,00
Hochschulschrift: Teilw. zugl.: London, Univ., Diss., 2004 unter dem Titel: The Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra : a study of wealth, gender and power in an Indian Buddhist narrative / Douglas Edward Osto. - London, 2004

Beschreibung
This book examines the concepts of power, wealth and women in the important Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture known as the Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra, and relates these to the text’s social context in ancient Indian during the Buddhist Middle Period (0–500 CE).
   Employing contemporary textual theory, worldview analysis and structural narrative theory, the author puts forward a new approach to the study of Mahāyāna Buddhist sources, the 'systems approach', by which literature is viewed as embedded in a social system. Consequently, he analyses the Gaṇḍavyūha in the contexts of reality, society and the individual, and applies these notions to the key themes of power, wealth and women. The study reveals that the spiritual hierarchy represented within the Gaṇḍavyūha replicates the political hierarchies in India during Buddhism’s Middle Period, that the role of wealth mirrors its significance as a sign of spiritual status in Indian Buddhist society, and that the substantial number of female spiritual guides in the narrative reflects the importance of royal women patrons of Indian Buddhism at the time. [Verlagsinformation]

Inhalt
Introduction
1. Worldview
2. Narrative
3. Power
4. Wealth
5. Women
6. The Indian Context
Conclusion

Autor

DOUGLAS OSTO is Lecturer in the Religious Studies Programme at the School of History, Philosophy and Classics, Massey University, New Zealand. His research interests are Mahayana Buddhism, Asian philosophies, narrative theory and gender studies. Faculty profile. Personal page.

Quellen: Routledge; Amazon (UK); WorldCat; Library of Congress.
Schlagwörter: Buddhismus; Mahayana; Avatamsaka; Gandavyuha