A Few Good Men: The Bodhisativa Path According to the Inquiry of Ugra (Ugrapariprccha) (Studies in the Buddhist Traditions) - Softcover

Jan Nattier

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0824830032 ISBN 13: 9780824830038

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press, 2005

Synopsis

A Few Good Men is a study and translation of The Inquiry of Ugra (Ugrapariprccha), one of the most influential Mahayana sutras on the bodhisattva path, but also one of the most neglected texts in Western treatments of Buddhism. To achieve a better understanding of the universe of ideas, activities, and institutional structures within which early self-proclaimed bodhisattvas lived, the author first considers the Ugra as a literary document, employing new methodological tools to examine the genre to which it belongs, the age of its extant versions, and their relationships to one another. She goes on to challenge the dominant notions that the Mahayana emerged as a "reform" of earlier Buddhism and offered lay people an "easier option." A Few Good Men will be compelling reading for scholars and practitioners alike and others interested in the history of Indian Buddhism and the formation of Mahayana.

About this title

About the Author:

Jan Nattier is associate professor of Buddhist studies at Indiana University.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0824830032
• ISBN 13: 9780824830038
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 404