Bloomsbury Language in the Buddhist Tantra of Japan: Indic Roots of Mantra

Buddhism is often preconceived and stereotyped as a religion of mystical silence, but Richard K. Payne argues that language is in fact central to the Buddhist tradition. By examining the use of Japanese Buddhist Tantra and extraordinary language, invocations calling on the power of the Buddha, he shows that such language was not simply cultural baggage carried by Buddhist practitioners from South to East Asia. Rather, such language was a key element in the propagation of new forms of belief and practice. Whereas Western approaches to the philosophy of language are grounded in language as a form of communication, Payne argues that it is the Indian and East Asian philosophies of language that shed light on the use of language in meditative and ritual practices in Japan and explain why it was conceived as an effective means of progress on the path from delusion to awakening'. Language in the Buddhist Tantra of Japan: The Indic roots is the first book to challenge the standard western approaches used to understand language in religion, and indicates directions for rethinking those fields. It is key reading for scholars in religious studies, Buddhism, and linguistics. Review Payne's project is an extended meditation on "the transmission of certain ways of thinking about language from India through China to Japan.+? Examining mantra, dhara?i, Daimoku, Komyu shingon, and ajikan in light of European and Asian theories of language, Payne rejects simplistic reductions of such "extraordinary language+? to an apophatic rejection of language and argues that linguistic efficacy is "central to the Buddhist tradition transmitted from South to East Asia.Charles D. Orzech, Professor of Religious Studies, Colby College, USAThis is a magisterial work that brilliantly distils and presents decades of exploring and encountering the nuances and profundity of the "extraordinary language+? of Japanese Buddhism. Beautifully and clearly written, this book leads us through a sophisticated and innovative methodology that demonstrates the many dimensions and, above all, uses, of religious language. Richard Payne has provided us with a landmark contribution to Tantric Studies, Buddhist Studies, and Japanese Religion.Glen Alexander Hayes, Professor of Religion, Bloomfield College, USAThis volume on 'extraordinary language' in different traditions of East Asian Buddhism, with its richly textured case-studies and its theoretical depth, is a brilliant contribution to the study of Buddhist philosophy and practice of language.Fabio Rambelli, Professor of Japanese Religions and ISF Endowed Chair in Shinto Studies, University of California, USA About the Author Richard K. Payne is Yehan Numata Professor of Japanese Buddhist Studiesat Institute of Buddhist Studies at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, USA. He specializes in Japanese tantric Buddhism, particularly its ritual practices, and is co-editor of Homa Variations (2016).