Lindsey DeWitt Prat, PhD

Sacred Space, Place, and Practice in East Asian Buddhism

Kyushu University · Spring 2016

Carved niches of a Buddhist cave temple.

Why, how, and by whom are spaces and places sanctified and “built” (pilgrimage routes, worship facilities, icons, etc.)?

What are the mythological, social, and historical particularities of Buddhist sacred sites in East Asia? What are the similarities?

Class session one

Slide: map of Buddhism’s spread across Asia.

Slide: transmission routes into East Asia.

Slide: sacred geography—substantive and functional approaches.

Slide: map of the Mauryan Empire.

Slide: map of the Silk Road.

Slide: the Sanchi stupa.

Slide: Gandhāran reliefs and Buddha image.

Slide: Tōdaiji and the Great Buddha.

Slide: early photograph of the pedestal petals.

Slide: the Daibutsu lotus petal engraving.

Slide: Mt. Sumeru engraving.

Slide: Mount Sumeru—etymology and images.

Slide: cosmology cross-section.

Slide: Flower Garland Sūtra—the Lotus-Treasury World.

Slide: Brahma’s Net Sūtra.

Slide: chortens before Himalayan peaks.

Slide: chronology chart.

Class session two

Slide: map of Buddhist China.

Slide: Buddhism on the move—sacred geography in East Asia.

Slide: map of India.

Slide: transmission routes revisited.

Slide: routes into roots—how Buddhism “takes place.”

Slide: the Heart Sūtra in calligraphy.

Slide: Daoxuan (596–667).

Slide: the Sanchi stupa.

Slide: Maurya Empire map.

Slide: Buddha footprint stele and Gandhāran Buddha.

Slide: Flower Garland Sūtra diagram.

Slide: Brahma’s Net Sūtra diagram.

Slide: Mt. Sumeru—axis mundi diagrams.

Slide: the Mt. Sumeru grottoes, Ningxia.

Slide: a Tibetan Sumeru offering mandala.

Slide: circular Jambudvīpa world map.

Slide: Tōdaiji photographs.

Slide: petal conservation photograph.

Slide: line drawing of the petal engraving.

Slide: a Sumeru-form ritual vessel.

Slide: Mañjuśrī across Asia.

Slide: maps locating Wutaishan.

Slide: Dunhuang mural panorama of Wutaishan.

Slide: painted map of Wutaishan’s terraces.

Slide: Wutaishan, Odaesan, Godaisan—five-terraced mountains.

Slide: the Shikoku 88-temple route and Kūkai.

Slide: map of the Shikoku circuit.

Slide: the Sasaguri Shikoku pilgrimage route.

Slide: flying mountains.

Slide: routes into roots—closing frame.

↑