Kenneth Kraft

Kraft in 2015

Kenneth Lewis Kraft (born July 16, 1949) is a professor of Buddhist studies and Japanese religions (emeritus) at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Education

Kraft received a B.A. from Harvard University in 1971. He holds an M.A. in Asian Languages and Cultures from the University of Michigan (1978) and a Ph.D. in East Asian Studies from Princeton University (1984).

Career

In 1984, Kraft became a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard's Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies. He joined the Lehigh University faculty in 1990 and was appointed a full professor in 2001. At Lehigh he has served as chair of the Religion Studies department and director of the College Seminar Program.

He was a visiting professor at the Stanford University Japan Center and a visiting scholar at the International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism, both in Kyoto. He also taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore College.

Kraft has served on the advisory boards of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship in Berkeley, California; the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University; the Journal of Buddhist Ethics; the Rochester Zen Center; and the World Faiths Development Dialogue in Washington DC.

In 1992, he was featured in "The Creative Spirit," a PBS television series.[1] In 2008, he participated in "Secrets of the Samurai Sword," a NOVA documentary, and, in 2009, "Inquiry into the Great Matter: A History of Zen Buddhism," an independent film.[2][3]

In his early research, Kraft explored the transmission of Zen from China to Japan in the 13th and 14th centuries. Zen master Daitō, a seminal figure in this process, is best known as an exemplar of post-enlightenment training. Kraft's work shed new light on Daitō's life,[4] his teaching,[5] and his role in the development of capping phrases (jakugo), a form of spiritual/literary commentary.[6]

Six centuries after its introduction to Japan, Zen made a historic leap to the West. Serious practice took root, while "Zen" incurred new meanings in popular culture. In 1988, Kraft edited Zen: Tradition and Transition, a collaboration by present-day Zen teachers and scholars. It addressed some of the same issues that had arisen in Daitō's era: What is real Zen? What are the criteria of authenticity?

Buddhism's encounter with the West in the 20th century inspired an international movement known as engaged Buddhism. Its leaders include the 14th Dalai Lama and Thích Nhất Hạnh. Kraft began writing about engaged Buddhism in the mid-1980s, at the height of the Cold War.[7] What do Buddhist ethical principles signify today?[8] What is the relation between work on oneself and work in the world?[9] Does Buddhist nonviolence call for unwavering opposition to war, or are there exceptions?[10]

Some proponents are willing to drop the "Buddhist" label.[11] Thomas Yarnall divides contemporary Buddhist thinkers, including Kraft, into "traditionalists" and "modernists," warning the modernists not to prematurely jettison Buddhism's time-honored heritage.[12]

Buddhism may have resources that are freshly relevant in a time of ecological crisis.[13] Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism, an anthology coedited in 2000 by Kraft and Stephanie Kaza, became a reference point in an emerging field.[14]

Awards and honors

Kraft's 1992 book Eloquent Zen: Daitō and Early Japanese Zen was selected as an "Outstanding Academic Book" by Choice magazine.

In 2005, he received a Lindback Foundation Award for distinguished teaching by a senior member of the Lehigh University faculty.

Books

References

  1. ↑ Goleman, Daniel (1993). The Creative Spirit: Companion to the PBS Television Series. Plume. pp. 47–. ISBN 9780452268791.
  2. ↑ PBS (2008). "NOVA: Secrets of the Samurai Sword". www.pbs.org. ASIN B000XBPDYO.
  3. ↑ Zito, James; Coyote, Peter (2009), Inquiry into the Great Matter: A History of Zen Buddhism, Vajra Video, OCLC 773038946
  4. ↑ Bowring, Richard (2008). The Religious Traditions of Japan 500-1600. Cambridge University Press. pp. 370–. ISBN 9780521851190.
  5. ↑ Foster, Nelson (1996). The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader. HarperCollins. pp. 247–. ISBN 9780880015110.
  6. ↑ Hori, Victor Sōgen (2003). Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Kōan Practice. University of Hawai'i Press. pp. 27–. ISBN 9780824822842.
  7. ↑ Moon, Susan (2004). Not Turning Away: The Practice of Engaged Buddhism. Shambhala Publications. pp. 154–161. ISBN 9781590301036.
  8. ↑ Jones, Ken (2003). The New Social Face of Buddhism: A Call to Action. Simon and Schuster. pp. 101–. ISBN 9780861713653.
  9. ↑ McMahan, David L. (2008). The Making of Buddhist Modernism. Oxford University Press. p. 252. ISBN 9780199720293.
  10. ↑ Queen, Christopher S. (2000). Engaged Buddhism in the West. Simon and Schuster. pp. 485–511. ISBN 9780861718412.
  11. ↑ Welch, Sharon D. (2004). After Empire: The Art and Ethos of Enduring Peace. Fortress Press. pp. 136–. ISBN 9781451418255.
  12. ↑ Queen, Christopher (2003). Action Dharma: New Studies in Engaged Buddhism. Routledge. pp. 295–. ISBN 9781136803819.
  13. ↑ Lothes Biviano, Erin (2016). Inspired Sustainability: Planting Seeds for Action. Orbis Books. pp. 193–. ISBN 9781608336302.
  14. ↑ James, Simon P. (2004). Zen Buddhism and Environmental Ethics. Ashgate. pp. 65–. ISBN 9780754613688.

External links

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