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Podcast: New Books in Buddhist Studies
Episode: Pamela D. Winfield, âIcons and Iconoclasm in Japanese Buddhism: Kukai and Dogen on the Art of Enlightenmentâ (Oxford UP, 2013)
Description: What role do images play in the enlightenment experience? Can Buddha images, calligraphy, mandalas, and portraits function as nodes of access for a practitionerâs experience of enlightenment? Or are these visual representations a distraction from what ultimately matters? Pamela D. Winfieldâs recent award-winning monograph, Icons and Iconoclasm in Japanese Buddhism: Kukai and Dogen on the Art of Enlightenment (Oxford University Press, 2013), explores these major Japanese Buddhist figures artistic and textual productions in order to answer these questions. Bringing together her expertise in the fields of art history and Buddhist studies, Winfield guides the reader to more nuanced unde...