The Buddha's nirvana marks one of the pivotal moments in the history of Buddhism. My book explores how this event was made into a powerful allegory of survival in premodern China through the nirvana image. In diverse settings; the motif compelled devotees to redefine what the Buddhist faith meant in their lives.
#5623184 in Books 2002-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .99 x 6.34 x 9.42l; 1.65 #File Name: 9067181463476 pagesillustrationsbibliographyindex
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Very interesting and academically rigorous textBy CAThis is a wonderfully detailed - and exhaustive - text on Pura Besakih. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is because there are so few photos. Otherwise; the piece gives readers a rich sense of the history of the site and the rituals held there. Many thanks to David Stuart-Fox for this authoritative work.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Excellent; Detailed Scholarly Book about the Mother Temple of BaliBy Johannes BakkerThe temple called Besakih is very important for the island of Bali. It is now called the Mother Temple. It is now a kind of unifying temple for all of the various parts of the island. The pre-modern "Patrimonial" princedoms (often incorrectly called "feudal kingdoms") are all represented by various kinds of buildings. In one sense it was once the "state" temple of Klung Kung; a principality that claimed to be sovereign but often was not fully sovereign. The original source of funding for the temple was the prebendal allotments of land and labor to the temple. Various levels of traditional officials administered the system; but we do not know enough about the history of the temple hundreds of years ago. Some of the history is clouded in myth. The "Kingdom" of Majapahit; which existed in Java; was a kind of exemplary political economic system. Stuart-Fox mentions the padmasana system that originated in Indic Civilization and was brought to Java and eventually to Bali. Stuart-Fox discusses the structures of the various classification systems used on Bali. There are dualistic classifications (above-below etc.) and triadic classification systems (Brahma; Vishnu; Siva [spelled Brahma; Wisnu; Siwa for Bali]). The dualistic system (with only Brahma and Siva) may be the older one and the triadic system (which also includes Vishnu in the middle) may be the newer one. There is also a conceptualization of going toward the volcanic mountain (Gunung Agung) versus going away from the vocano; toward the sea. An Indic system was introduced later so the classifications and the rituals get complicated. I am mainly interested in the Eka Dasa Rudra ritual that is allegedly held only every one hundred Balinese years. This is an informative; scholarly book. I am writing this review only because I feel it deserves five stars and not just four! (It may not have enough pictures to be a good coffee table book; but it is a solid scholarly work.) Some readers may find the extensive detail a bit daunting; particularly if they are reading about Bali for the first time and do not know very much about Indonesia generally. Terms like purah puseh; pura dalem [= pura bale agung] and pura dalem (temples belonging to Brahma; Visnu and Siva respectively) are explained. (I had never been quite clear on the terms before.) Some academics might want to quarrel with some of the structuralist linguistic arguments. This is more than just an introductory book; but in some ways it only touches on some important topics; like the structuring of time by the wuku (pawukon) calendar system. This book came out in 2002 but it is not dated.
