Japanese Pure Land Buddhist Thought and Culture: A State-of-the-Field Panel in Honor of James Dobbins

This state-of-the-field panel on Pure Land Buddhist Studies in North America focuses on the impact of James Dobbins, Professor Emeritus of Religion and East Asian Studies at Oberlin College. Dobbins’ first monograph, Jōdo Shinshū: Shin Buddhism in Medieval Japan (1989) served as a beacon for many emerging scholars in the early 2000s, illuminating the otherwise obscure and idiosyncratic world of Shin Buddhism. As we began charting our own research trajectories, Jōdo Shinshū along with Dobbins’ second monograph, Letters of the Nun Eshinni: Images of Pure Land Buddhism in Medieval Japan (2004) provided a map of possible directions for scholarship on Pure Land Buddhism. In this session, four scholars present their current research on diverse aspects of Japanese Buddhism from the medieval to the contemporary, highlighting the impact of Dobbins’ scholarship and mentorship. Dobbins’ response to the papers will reflect on the past, present, and future of the field.