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From the Preface "The present volume provides an essential foundation for a social history of Indian Buddhist monasticism. Challenging the popular stereotype that represented the accumulation of merit as the domain of the layperson while monks concerned themselves with more sophisticated realms of doctrine and meditation, Professor Schopen problematizes many assumptions about the lay-monastic distinction by demonstrating that monks and nuns, both the scholastic elites and the less learned, participated actively in a wide range of ritual practices and institutions that have heretofore been judged 'popular,' from the accumulation and transfer of merit; to the care of deceased relatives;.... Taken together, the studies contained in this volume represent the basis for a new historiography of Buddhism, not only for their critique of many of the idees recues of Buddhist Studies but for the compelling connections they draw between apparently disparate details." --Donald S. Lopez, Jr.
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Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks
Studies in the Buddhist Traditions
a publication of the Institute for the Study of Buddhist Traditions University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan
Series Editor Luis O. Gómez University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Editorial Board Carl Bielefeldt Stanford University, Palo Alto
Donald S. Lopez University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Gregory Schopen University of Texas, Austin
Daniel Stevenson University of Kansas, Lawrence
Studies in the Buddhist Traditions
Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks
Collected Papers on the Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Texts of Monastic Buddhism in India
Gregory Schopen
© 1997 University of Hawai'i Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 97 98 99 00 01 02 5 4 3 2 1 The Institute for the Study of Buddhist Traditions is part of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was founded in 1988 to foster research and publication in the study of Buddhism and of the cultures and literatures that represent it. In association with the University of Hawai'i Press, the Institute publishes the series Studies in the Buddhist Traditions, a series devoted to the publication of materials, translations, and monographs relevant to the study of Buddhist traditions, in particular as they radiate from the South Asian homeland. The series also publishes studies and conference volumes resulting from work carried out in affiliation with the Institute in Ann Arbor. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schopen, Gregory. Bones, stones, and Buddhist monks : collected papers on the archaeology, epigraphy, and texts of monastic Buddhism in India / Gregory Schopen. p. cm. - (Studies in the Buddhist traditions ; 2) Includes index. ISBN 0-8248-1748-6 (cloth : alk. paper). - ISBN 0-8248-1870-9 (paper : alk. paper) 1. Monastic and religious life (Buddhism)-India. 2. Buddhist antiquitiesIndia. 3. Buddhism-India-History. I. Series. BQ6160.14S36 1996 294.3'657'0954-DC20 96-30844 CIP University of Hawai'i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources Designed by Kenneth Miyamoto
Dedicated to the taxpayers and working women and men of Canada and Australia who paid for this foreigner's education
Contents Preface By Donald S. Lopez, Jr.
ix
Acknowledgments
xi
Abbreviations
xv
I. Archaeology and Protestant Presuppositions in the Study of Indian Buddhism
1
II. Two Problems in the History of Indian Buddhism: The Layman/Monk Distinction and the Doctrines of the Transference of Merit
23
III. Filial Piety and the Monk in the Practice of Indian Buddhism: A