This volume contains the minor writings of Prof. Lokesh Chandra on Buddhism, the role of women therein, and the opening up of the vast Buddhist literature in the Tibetan Canon. He goes on to a personal narrative of his sinological studies, followed by identification of the votive banners of Tun-huang and the Karma-vibhanga. Culture and civilization as interactive diversities in the Sino-Indian context, the lives of early Buddhist masters in the catalogue of Seng-yu (445-518), and the role of Buddhism in creating the state of Korea and her alphabet. Hindu gods and goddesses in Japan, and the role of the Lotus Sutra in contemporary Japan. A new consideration of the conceptual architectonics of the Borobudur, and the reliefs of the Candi Mendut embodying the polycentric approach of Buddhism. Indo-European as a construct of imperialism, scientific terminology for Indian languages, iconics of melodies (raga and rupa), the varna-jati system, the Kafirs of Afghanistan, paganism, technosphere and psychosphere, neo-classical art as leaves of language and flowers of the brush, counter-image versus self-image: a vast range of language, art, iconography, and the meta-space of culture in its widest sense are covered in this work.
Prof. Lokesh Chandra is a renowned scholar of Tibetan, Mongolian and Sino-Japanese Buddhism. He has to his credit over 600 works and text editions. Among them are classics like his Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary, Materials for a History of Tibetan Literature, Buddhist Iconography of Tibet, and the Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography in 15 volumes. Prof. Lokesh Chandra was nominated by the President of the Republic of India to the Parliament in 1974-80 and again in 1980-86. He has been a Vice-President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research. Presently he is Director, International Academy of Indian Culture.
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