404 pp. June 2005
paper, ISBN 978-0-8248-3003-8, $27.00
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Keywords: |
South Asia
religion
Buddhism |
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A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path according to The Inquiry of Ugra (Ugrapariprccha)
by Jan Nattier
Studies in the Buddhist Traditions
Institute for the Study of Buddhist Traditions, University of Michigan
“Jan Nattier’s work is always stimulating and instructive not only to Western but also to Japanese scholars of Buddhism. This book is no exception. . . . In this work, Nattier sheds new light on the bodhisattva figure. . . . [Her] study brings us much closer to a fuller and more nuanced understanding of Mahayana Buddhism.” —Eastern Buddhist (38:1 & 2)
A Few Good Men is a study and translation of The Inquiry of Ugra (Ugraparipṛcchâ), one of the most influential Mahâyâna sutras on the bodhisattva path, but also one of the most neglected texts in Western treatments of Buddhism. To achieve a better understanding of the universe of ideas, activities, and institutional structures within which early self-proclaimed bodhisattvas lived, the author first considers the Ugra as a literary document, employing new methodological tools to examine the genre to which it belongs, the age of its extant versions, and their relationships to one another. She goes on to challenge the dominant notions that the Mahâyâna emerged as a “reform” of earlier Buddhism and offered lay people an “easier option.” A Few Good Men will be compelling reading for scholars and practitioners alike and others interested in the history of Indian Buddhism and the formation of Mahâyâna.
Jan Nattier is associate professor of Buddhist studies at Indiana University.
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