The Zen Monastic Experience: Buddhist Practice in Contemporary Korea

Robert E Buswell

ISBN 10: 069103477X / ISBN 13: 9780691034775

Published by Princeton University Press, 1993

About this Item

Robert Buswell, a Buddhist scholar who spent five years as a Zen monk in Korea, draws on personal experience in this insightful account of day-to-day Zen monastic practice. In discussing the activities of the postulants, the meditation monks, the teachers and administrators, and the support monks of the monastery of Songgwang-sa, Buswell reveals a religious tradition that differs radically from the stereotype prevalent in the West. The author's treatment lucidly relates contemporary Zen practice to the historical development of the tradition and to Korean history more generally, and his portrayal of the life of modern Zen monks in Korea provides an innovative and provocative look at Zen from the inside.

Seller Inventory # CIN069103477XG

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Zen Monastic Experience: Buddhist Practice in Contemporary Korea
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 069103477X
• ISBN 13: 9780691034775
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

Robert Buswell, a Buddhist scholar who spent five years as a Zen monk in Korea, draws on personal experience in this insightful account of day-to-day Zen monastic practice. In discussing the activities of the postulants, the meditation monks, the teachers and administrators, and the support monks of the monastery of Songgwang-sa, Buswell reveals a religious tradition that differs radically from the stereotype prevalent in the West. The author's treatment lucidly relates contemporary Zen practice to the historical development of the tradition and to Korean history more generally, and his portrayal of the life of modern Zen monks in Korea provides an innovative and provocative look at Zen from the inside.

About the Author

Robert E. Buswell, Jr., is Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Director of the Center for Korean Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Among his other works is The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea (Princeton).