Author: Yoshiro Tamura File Type: epub The Lotus Sutra--one of the most popular Buddhist classics--is here accessibly introduced by one of its most eminent scholars. Soon after entering university in December of 1943, I was sent to the front as a student soldier. I wondered if I were allowed to bring but a single book on the trip, possibly to my death, which would I want to bring. It was the Lotus Sutra -- from the authors Preface. br Having developed a lifelong appreciation of the Lotus Sutra -- even carrying a dog-eared copy with him through service in World War II -- Yoshiro Tamura sought to author an introduction to this beloved work of Buddhist literature. Tamura wanted it to be different than other basic explorations of the text his introduction would be plain-spoken, relevant and sensitive to modern concerns, and well-informed by contemporary scholarship. He succeeded marvelously with Introduction to the Lotus Sutra, which Gene Reeves -- Tamuras student and translator of the popular English edition of The Lotus Sutra -- translates and introduces in English for the first time here. br Tackling issues of authenticity in the so-called words of Buddha, the influence of culture and history on the development of the Lotus Sutra, and the sutras role in Japanese life, Introduction to the Lotus Sutra grounds this ancient work of literature in the real, workaday world, revealing its continued appeal across the ages.**

Author: Shiraz Thobani File Type: pdf Islam in the School Curriculum explores the conceptualisation of school-based Islam on two levels as a symbolic category in English religious education as a consequence of policy shifts, and as pedagogic discourse at the local community level in state and Muslim schools. Using recontextualisation theory, the author examines the relations between educational governance, social interests and cultural epistemology as they pertain specifically to symbolic constructs. In the aftermath of September 11 2001, the teaching of Islam has assumed geopolitical significance, coming under close scrutiny internationally. Much of this attention has been directed at madrasas in Muslim countries, yet Islam in schooling contexts in the West has remained a blind-spot. In the UK, heightened anxieties about home-grown terrorists point to the need for a better understanding of Islam in both state and faith schools. Shiraz Thobani explores the role played by national and local policies and pedagogic practices in the production of school-based Islam in a secular, liberal context and makes an important contribution to the sociology of the curriculum and the study of religious education. **Review This is a timely and very important contribution to an under-researched area. In presenting a sociological analysis of Islam as school knowledge in the educational system of England, including the post-September 11 period, it provides a comprehensive, interesting and accessible text that deserves a wide readership. Kay Haw, Principal Research Fellow, University of Nottingham, UK A timely book that deals with a contested field. Gerdien Jonker, Georg Eckert Instituted for International Textbook Research, Braunschweig, Germany This is a timely and very important contribution to an under-researched area. In presenting a sociological analysis of Islam as school knowledge in the educational system of England, including the post-September 11 period, it provides a comprehensive, interesting and accessible text that deserves a wide readership. Kay Haw, Principal Research Fellow, University of Nottingham, UK A timely book that deals with a contested field. Gerdien Jonker, Georg Eckert Instituted for International Textbook Research, Braunschweig, Germany About the Author Shiraz Thobani is Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, UK.