Ōjōyōshū, Nihon Ōjō Gokuraku-ki, and the Construction of Pure Land Discourse in Heian Japan
The place of narrative in organizing our experience in the world has been the topic of much discussion in recent years. This paper starts from the position developed by the psychologist Jerome Bruner, who argues that there are two distinct modes of thought, the paradigmatic (or logico-scientific) an...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2007]
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| In: |
Japanese journal of religious studies
Year: 2007, Volume: 34, Issue: 2, Pages: 249-270 |
| Further subjects: | B
Written narratives
B Monks B Narrative modes B Religious Studies B Pure Land Buddhism B Dharma B Nuns B Hell |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The place of narrative in organizing our experience in the world has been the topic of much discussion in recent years. This paper starts from the position developed by the psychologist Jerome Bruner, who argues that there are two distinct modes of thought, the paradigmatic (or logico-scientific) and the narrative, and that they are equally important in ordering experience and constructing meaning. Texts written in both of these modes were crucial in the establishment of Pure Land Buddhism in Japan during the Heian Period. The Ōjōyōshū, written by Genshin in 985, is perhaps the single most important text in the development of this form of Buddhism in Japan, but insofar as it presents a systematic and comprehensive outline of Pure Land cosmology, doctrine, and practice, it is an example of a text written in the paradigmatic mode. But another text from this period written in the narrative mode, the Nihon Ōjō Gokuraku-ki by Yoshishige no Yasutane, played an equally important role in the spread of Pure Land Buddhism. This text is a collection of forty-two brief biographies of people believed to have been born in the Pure Land. These biographies serve both to "prove" that the Pure Land really exists and provide us with models with which to fashion our lives so we can gain birth in the Pure Land. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Japanese journal of religious studies
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