Practice and emptiness in the discourse record of Ruru Jushi, Yan Bing (d. 1212), a Chan Buddhist Layman of the Southern Song.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)(Critical essay)

In this dissertation I studied the works of one Chinese Buddhist layman, Yan Bing [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], also known as Layman Ruru (Ruru jushi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], d. 1212). His extant writings survive in two editions, a handwritten manuscript of more than 400 pages and a woodblock print of 121 pages. In this rare and exceptional corpus we find a great wealth of primary material on Buddhist thought, culture, and practice in the Southern Song (1127-1279), including essays on doctrine, morality and meditation, written prayers and supplications, detailed ritual protocols, records of his formal Chan teachings, a complex diagram of the Buddhist cosmos, and …