Inhalt: | Introduction -- Part I: Practices and Doctrinal Perspectives: 1. Nikāya Buddhism -- 2. Mahāyāna Buddhism -- 3. Tantric Buddhism -- 4. Common Questions -- Part II: Historical Currents and Transformations: 5. Circulations -- 6. Translations -- 7. Localizations -- 8. Modernizations -- 9. Contemporary Buddhist Medicine -- Conclusion -- References -- Index. "The links between Buddhism and medicine have lately received much attention in English-language academic, scientific, and popular media alike thanks to the increasing visibility of meditation, but all of these discussions have thus far failed to contextualize these developments within a larger historical framework. In fact, it turns out that the history of Buddhist engagement with various aspects of medicine is as old as the history of Buddhism itself. In all periods and all locations across the world, Buddhism has provided individuals with intellectual tools to frame and understand illness, has shaped health-seeking behaviors in conscious and unconscious ways, and has offered a range of popular therapies and institutional structures for dealing with the sick. This history is complex, involving multiple intertwining threads. Health and illness were common concerns in the earliest Buddhist texts, which drew heavily on existing medical traditions circulating in ancient India. Carried across geographic, cultural, and linguistic boundaries, these ideas and practices became an integral part of the spread of the religion across Asia in the ancient and medieval periods. Transregionally transmitted Buddhist knowledge formed the nucleus for the development of local forms of traditional medicine that still thrive today in many parts of Asia. The dynamics of reception in each of the cultures that received the Buddhist transmission were different and involved complex processes of translation that were always embedded in local social and political contexts. Consequently, particular configurations of Buddhist healing differ markedly from culture to culture. This diversity notwithstanding, certain global patterns have persisted in the history of Buddhist medicine. Many of the key texts in the medical canons of cultures across Asia are attributed to a handful of Buddhist figures. Today, Buddhist traditions, healers, and institutions continue to exert a tangible impact on medical care in societies both inside and outside Asia"-- |
