From the publisher’s website: Sŏn (Japanese Zen) has been the dominant form of Buddhism in Korea from medieval times to the present. A Handbook of Korean Zen Practice: A Mirror on the Sŏn School of Buddhism (Sŏn’ga kwigam) was the most popular guide for Sŏn practice and life ever published in Korea and helped restore Buddhism to … [Read More]
Archives: Books (page 84)
Tracing Back the Radiance: Chinul’s Korean Way of Zen
From the publisher’s website: Chinul (1158–1210) was the founder of the Korean tradition of Zen. He provides one of the most lucid and accessible accounts of Zen practice and meditation to be found anywhere in East Asian literature. Tracing Back the Radiance, an abridgment of Buswell’s Korean Approach to Zen: The Collected Works of Chinul, combines an extensive introduction … [Read More]
Korea and Christianity
From the publisher’s website: More than two centuries have passed since Catholicism was introduced in Korea. Over a century has passed since the introduction of Protestantism. Membership in the Protestant denomination has grown to over ten million in that period. This volume looks into the development and the rapid rise of Christianity in Korea and … [Read More]
Chinul: The Founder of the Korean Son Tradition
From the publisher’s website: Chinul (1158-1210) is regarded as one of the greatest Son(Zen) monks in Korea. It was his innovation and reform of the meditation school of Korean Buddhism which determined the development of the monastic tradition of Korea. The present form of Buddhism in his homeland owes much to his endeavors more than seven centuries ago. Included in this … [Read More]
Numinous Awareness is Never Dark: The Korean Buddhist Master Chinul’s Excerpts on Zen Practice
From the publisher’s website: Numinous Awareness Is Never Dark examines the issue of whether enlightenment in Zen Buddhism is sudden or gradual—that is, something intrinsic to the mind that is achieved in a sudden flash of insight or something extrinsic to it that must be developed through a sequential series of practices. This “sudden/gradual issue” was … [Read More]
The Korean approach to Zen: the collected works of Chinul
LKL says: this title, one of the Unesco collection of representative Korean works, is out of print. You can find it it major university libraries. The 468-page volume contains all of Chinul’s works, translated with an introduction by Robert E Buswell Jr. The reviewer on Goodreads found it hard going but important. The volume was … [Read More]
The Founding of Catholic Tradition in Korea
From the publisher’s website: Catholicism in Korea has a history of two hundred years. The role it has played in Korea is unique in that many of its initiatives have come from the laity, rather than the clergy or the church administration. After a prolonged period of cultural conflict, the number of Catholics has grown … [Read More]
Ch’oui Uisun: The Liberal Son Master and Engaged Artist in Late Choson Korea
From the publisher’s website: Scholars of Choson Korea tend to view Buddhism negatively, or at best ignore it, and at present there is a lack of research on this crucial topic. Through appreciation of the life and thought of Ch’oui Uisun (1786-1866), this study is an attempt to recover and supplement the intellectual history of … [Read More]
Neo-Confucianism in Korea
From the publisher’s website: Chinese and Japanese Neo-Confucius scholars have traditionally claimed that Korean Neo-Confucianism was an imitation of Chinese Neo-Confucianism, a belief which was generally accepted by Western scholars. Now, this book edited from the theses of representative Korean Neo-Confucius scholars, shows that the three Korean scholars, T’aegye, Yulgok and Dasan in the Chosŏn … [Read More]
Buddhism in the Early Choson: Suppression and Transformation
From the publisher’s website: Contrary to the Buddhism in the Koryo period, Buddhism in the early Choson period suffered from a great deal of suppression. The society was dominated by the Confucian elite and there was little power or financial resources available to the Buddhists. The monasteries were struggling. Nevertheless, out of this community, came … [Read More]
Buddhism in Koryo: A Royal Religion
In this volume, we catch glimpses of Buddhism in the Koryo period at its height. It was a time when the religion made significant contributions to the development of Korean culture. Art and literature flourished under the support of the central government. Monasteries of great beauty were constructed, and the monastic community was productive in … [Read More]
Conscience in Action: The Autobiography of Kim Dae-jung
From the publisher’s website: This book is an English translation of the authoritative autobiography by the late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. The 2000 Nobel Peace Prize winner, often called the Asian Nelson Mandela, is best known for his tolerant and innovative “Sunshine Policy” towards North Korea. Written in the five years between the end … [Read More]
Assimilation of Buddhism in Korea: Religious Maturity and Innovation in the Silla Dynasty
From the publisher’s website: The unified Silla dynasty period (669-935 AD) that followed the Three Kingdom period in Korea was a time when Buddhism was being assimilated into the Korean culture and taking on certain aspects not borrowed from China. Buddhist specialists will be interested to see the ways in which the various schools were … [Read More]
Introduction of Buddhism to Korea: New Cultural Patterns
From the publisher’s website: A collection of articles dealing with the introduction of Buddhism in Korea and its subsequent spread from there to Japan. The studies contained in this volume cover the Three Kingdom period. Contents Preface Introduction of Buddhism to Korea – Ahn Kye-hyen The Reception of Buddhism in Korea and Its Impact on … [Read More]
Shamanism: The Spirit World of Korea
From the publisher’s website: A series of psychological and anthropological studies about the oldest and the most fascinating religious tradition of Korea. Contents Acknowledgments – R. Guisso Preface – CS. Yu and R. Guisso Korean Shamanism – A Bibliographical Introduction – Kim In-hoe Tr. Yoo Young-sik An Introduction to Korean Shamanism – Chang Chu-kun Tr. … [Read More]
Hye Ch’o Diary: A Memoir of the Pilgrimage to the Five Regions of India
From the publisher’s website: The first English translation of the travel diary of a Korean Buddhist monk who traveled from his homeland to India in the eighth century. While the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims have been much studied, Hye Cho’s pilgrimage has not been given the consideration it deserves. His description of the Silk Road communities, … [Read More]