Zen and Material Culture

Pamela D. Winfield is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Elon University, NC. She specializes in Japanese Buddhist art and doctrine in the esoteric and Zen traditions. Her previous book Icons and Iconoclasm in Japanese Buddhism: Kūkai and Dōgen on the Art of Enlightenment (Oxford University Press, 2013) won the annual Book Prize from the Association of Asian Studies Southeast Conference in 2015.Steven Heine is Professor of Religious Studies and History, and Director of the Asian Studies Program at Florida International University in Miami, FL. A 2007 recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun Award from the Japanese government, Heine is the author of more than two dozen books and one hundred articles and book chapters on East Asian religions, especially the role of Zen in China and Japan and the relation between religiosity and society.

• ContributorsChronologyAbbreviationsIntroduction: Zen Matters - Pamela D. Winfield and Steven Heine 1. "Thy Rod and Thy Staff They Discomfort Me:" Zen Staffs As Implements of Instruction - Steven Heine2. Materializing the Zen Monastery - Pamela D. Winfield3. Form and Function: Tea Bowls and the Problem of Zen in Chanoyu - Morgan Pitelka4. Prayer Beads in Japanese Soto Zen - Michaela Mross 5. The Importance of Imports: Ingen's Material Culture at Manpukuji - Patricia J. Graham6. Visual Culture in Japan's Imperial Rinzai Buddhist Convents: The Making of Devotional Objects as Expressions of Religious Devotion and Practice - Patricia Fister7. Golden Robe or Rubbish Robe? Interpretations of the Transmitted Robe in Tokugawa Period Zen Buddhist Thought - Diane E. Riggs8. The Zen of Rags - Paula Arai9. Zen Sells Zen Things: Meditation Supply, Right Livelihood, and Buddhist Retail - Gregory P.A. LevineSino-Japanese GlossaryIndex

Winfield and Heine have done a good job in all respects: the book is not only very well edited but it is likely to become a must read for scholars and students willing to approach critically this Buddhist tradition.