Within the scope of the English-language literature on Buddhism, the codes of behavior mandated by Buddhist doctrine represent an infrequently discussed topic. The selections here consist of essays on Buddhism by 17 scholars and practitioners, who address the ongoing evolution of Buddhist doctrine as reflected in its cultural, temporal, political, and geographical accommodations from the earliest days, to the present, and into the future. Past precedent is used as a means of clarifying the precise role of the precepts in the modern world as Buddhists face the 21st century and continue to encounter diverse cultural contexts. Scholars, practitioners, and students alike will find instructive the theoretical as well as practical issues that are covered, including textual criticism, hermeneutics, cross-cultural studies, theories of action, psychology, death and dying, feminism, business management, challenges to the Western scientific paradigm, and religion in popular culture. Three main questions are explored from diverse perspectives: What was and is the significance of the precepts; how can they best be applied, and creatively adapted, to changing social conditions to best fulfill the original intentions of the Buddha; and how are we to determine present upayic demands to avoid violating those intentions? As many argue in these pages, there is much more at stake in the issue of sila/vinaya than simple guidelines for an obsolete lifestyle to be discarded at will. Rather, the case can be made that they represent an intrinsic part of Buddhist cultivation, even a sine qua non of successful, consummate practice.

Table of Contents:
Introduction by Charles Wei-hsun Fu and Sandra A. Wawrytko Prologue: On the Temporal and Spatial Adaptability of the Bodhisattva Precepts, with Reference to the Three Combined Pure Precepts by Dharma Teacher Sheng-yen The Historical Context The Beginnings of Buddhist Discipline: Notes on an Early Buddhist Theory of Action by John Clifford Holt Dao-xuan and His Religious Precepts by Tatsugen Sato Buddhist Precepts in Medieval Chinese Biographies of Monks by Koichi Shinohara Vinaya in Two Early Collections of Parables by Charles Willemen The Importance of Vinaya in the Study of Indian Buddhism, with Special Reference to Chinese Sources by Nobuyuki Yamagiwa The Decline of Buddhist Vinaya in China from a Historical and Cultural Perspective by Tso Sze-bong Buddhist Ethics in Japan and Tibet: A Comparative Study of Bodhisattva and Pratimoksa Precepts by Karma Lekshe Tsomo Rethinking Buddhist Practice in the Modern World Buddhist Reform Movements in Korea During the Japanese Colonial Period: Precepts and the Challenge of Modernity by Robert E. Buswell The Problem of Ordination: Women in Buddhism by Chatsumarn Kabilsingh Householders and the Five Precepts by Roongraung Boonyoros The Application of Buddhist Principles to Administrative Arts by Chaiyong Brahmawong Death--The Ultimate Challenge: A Buddhist Perspective in the Medical Care of Dying Patients by Venerable Mettanando Bhikkhu, Arthur J. Dyck, and William Reichel Revisionings of Buddhist Theory Preceptual Truth and the Western Psychology of Human Nature by John H. Crook Buddhist Precepts and the Scientific Challenge by Kenneth K. Inada Mixed Precepts, the Bodhisattva Precept, and the Preceptless Precept: A Critical Comparison of the Chinese and Japanese Buddhist Views of Sila/Vinaya by Charles Wei-hsun Fu Sexism in the Early Sangha: Its Social Basis and Philosophical Dis-solution by Sandra A. Wawrytko Glossary Index