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My first encounter with classical Japanese literature came through a chance reading of Arthur Waley's translation of Geryi monogatari. A student of English and French literature in India, I had hitherto had little contact with other Asian cultures-my formal education bore all the marks of its colonial origins. Waley's Genji offered me a first and beguiling glimpse of a world that shared something of the Indian religious sensibility but expressed itself in an aesthetic mode quite alien to that found in Indian literary writing. It was with a desire to pursue this newfound "Japan," from the perspective of an Indian steeped in the Western tradition, that I embarked upon my study of Japanese language and literature. Friedhelm Hardy offered enthusiastic support in the early days of this new venture. My interest in classical Japanese literature was sustained and encouraged by a number of fine teachers. Dr. James McMullen at Oxford University inspired me with his academic rigor and his knowledge of classical Japanese literature. Subsequently, Professors Robert Morrell and Thomas Rimer, then at Washington University in St. Louis, guided me through a study of a variety of classical Japanese texts. Working with them paved the way for my engagement with popular medieval narratives, particularly those inflected with strong Buddhist overtones. The idea for this book first germinated when I completed my doctoral dissertation on the works of Kamo no Chomei at the Australian National University in 1989. My decision to focus on Kamo no Chomei was guided by the fact that, although he was a major literary and intellectual figure of the medieval period, he had received surprisingly little systematic attention outside of Japan. I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my dissertation advisor and friend, x Preface Preface xi manuscript. Chapter three draws upon material previously published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society under the title, "Love, Poetry and Renunciation: Changing Configurations of the Ideal of Suki." I am grateful to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for permission to use this material.