Thomas Cleary

[Swaminathan Madhuresan]

 Petr Mares wrote:
 >Below is a short abstract from  a recent (1987) article of a foremost
 >Chinese Buddhist scholar prof. Ba1 Zhou4. For many years he is
 >certainly one of the most knowledgable Chinese expert on Buddhism in
 >Tang Dynasty. This is just a short abstract of his long article
(20pages)
 >on the cult of Guan Yin (Avalokiteshvara ) that appeared in Taiwanese
 >Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal (1987 .03 ). I thought it may be
interesting
 >as it mentions Potalaka in very recent article that is not available
in
 >English.

 >Abstract of the article called "Guan Yin and Asian Buddhism":
 >Throughout East Asia Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva has been one of the
 >most popular divinities in the Mahayana pantheon.
 > [...] In addition, during the sixth century the famous
 >Mount P'u-t'o shan (Potala) in China became a famous spot of
 >pilgrimage associated with Kuan yin.

  Well, it was pointed out that there is NO evidence to assert that
 P'u t'o island (Chinese call it Mt. P'u t'o it seems) was
 famous already in SIXTH century.

 ------------------------------------------------------------

 Petr Mares wrote:
 >Mr. Cleary is perfect example of putting the source into mist. He
 >does not let you know the edition and manuscripts he was using (I
 >doubt he used any) ...
 >but I know some of T. Cleary (including Avatamsaka) and there is
 >no doubt his works are easy to read, they are often entertaining but
 >they cannot in any case be called scholarly or critical.

  I read that Thomas Cleary got his PhD from Stanford university
 in Chinese literature. Some his academic publications are:
 i) Entry into the inconceivable: an introduction to Hua-yen
 Buddhism, University of Hawaii press, 1983, 1994
 ii) Po-tuan Chang (10/11th C.), understanding reality: a
 Taoist alchemical classic, University of Hawaii press, 1987
 iii)Dogen, Zen essays, University of Hawaii press, 1991 ...

  I quite doubt that Cleary does not know enough Chinese literature.

 Regards,
 SM

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