About this episode

Stephen G. Covell discusses the teachings and practices of Temple Buddhism in contemporary Japan, focusing on education and community outreach.

How have Buddhist teachings come to be in modern and contemporary Japan and how are they taught? This pioneering work seeks to answer these questions by highlighting the public teachings of Temple Buddhism institutions, in particular Temple Buddhism kindergartens and Buddhist secondary schools and colleges. The community outreach provided by these Buddhist facilities is far greater than any other with the possible exception of funerals yet until now it has received little attention from scholars of Japanese religion. After determining what is taught in Buddhist education and how, Stephen Covell introduces readers to a select group of monks who undergo some of the most grueling practices in Japanese Temple Buddhism to determine if the public-facing teachings of Buddhist education are unique or similar to those of elite Buddhist practitioners. The teachings and sites of teaching examined here include but are not limited to classical doctrinal studies and temples focused on the education of Buddhist clergy. Covell uncovers the arguments made by priests involved in morals education, the dharma talks of famous ascetics, and the ways in which laws and legal codes have changed Buddhist…

People in this episode

Host: Marshall Poe

Guest: Stephen G. Covell

Topics covered

• Temple Buddhism
• Japanese religion
• Buddhist education
• contemporary Japan
• public teachings
• monastic practices

Keywords

• Buddhism
• Japanese culture
• education
• monks
• dharma talks
• morals education
• Buddhist clergy
• New Religions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: U Hawaii Press

Books & works: The Teaching and Teachings of Temple Buddhism in Contemporary Japan

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