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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
American Buddhist Protection Of Stones In Terms Of Climate Change On Mars And Earth, Daniel Capper
American Buddhist Protection Of Stones In Terms Of Climate Change On Mars And Earth, Daniel Capper
Faculty Publications
A number of scientific writers have proposed manipulating the ecology of Mars in order to make the planet more comfortable for future immigrants from Earth. However, the ethical acceptability of such ‘terraforming’ proposals remains unresolved. In response, in this article I explore some of these scientific proposals through the lens provided by Buddhist environmental ethics that are quantitatively expressed by practitioners in the ethnographic field of the United States. What I find is that contemporary Buddhists combine philosophical notions of interconnectedness with moral considerations not to harm others and then creatively extend this combined sensibility to the protection specifically of …
The Search For Microbial Martian Life And American Buddhist Ethics, Daniel S. Capper
The Search For Microbial Martian Life And American Buddhist Ethics, Daniel S. Capper
Faculty Publications
Multiple searches hunt for extraterrestrial life, yet the ethics of such searches in terms of fossil and possible extant life on Mars have not been sufficiently delineated. In response, in this essay I propose a tripartite ethic for searches for microbial Martian life that consists of default nonharm toward potential living beings, default nonharm to the habitats of potential living beings, but also responsible, restrained scientific harvesting of some microbes in limited transgression of these default nonharm modes. Although this multifaceted ethic remains secular and hence adaptable to space research settings, it arises from both a qualitative analysis of authoritative …
Review Of John Whalen-Bridge, Tibet On Fire: Buddhism, Protest, And The Rhetoric Of Self-Immolation, Daniel S. Capper
Review Of John Whalen-Bridge, Tibet On Fire: Buddhism, Protest, And The Rhetoric Of Self-Immolation, Daniel S. Capper
Faculty Publications
Review of John Whalen-Bridge, Tibet on Fire: Buddhism, Protest, and the Rhetoric of Self-Immolation, in Journal of Contemporary Religion
Entering The Stream To Enlightenment, Daniel S. Capper
Entering The Stream To Enlightenment, Daniel S. Capper
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Animism Among Western Buddhists, Daniel S. Capper
Animism Among Western Buddhists, Daniel S. Capper
Faculty Publications
Myriad instances of animist phenomena abound in the Buddhist world, but due to the outdated concepts of thinkers such as Edward Tylor, James George Frazer, and Melford Spiro, commonly scholars perceive this animism merely as the work of local religions, not as deriving from Buddhism itself. However, when one follows a number of contemporary scholars and employs a new, relational concept of animism that is based on respectful recognition of nonhuman personhoods, a different picture emerges. The works of Western Buddhists such as Stephanie Kaza, Philip Kapleau Roshi, and Gary Snyder express powerful senses of relational animism that arise specifically …
Learning Love From A Tiger: Approaches To Nature In An American Buddhist Monastery, Daniel S. Capper
Learning Love From A Tiger: Approaches To Nature In An American Buddhist Monastery, Daniel S. Capper
Faculty Publications
In current debates about Buddhist approaches to the non-human natural world, studies describe Buddhism variously as anthropocentric, biocentric or ecocentric. These perspectives derive for the most part from examinations of philosophical and normative aspects of the tradition without much attention to moments when embodied practice diverges from religious ideals. Responding to the need for narrative thick descriptions of lived Buddhist attitudes toward nature, I ethnographically explore a Vietnamese monastery in the United States. There I find multifaceted Buddhist approaches to nature which sometimes disclose disunity between theory and practice. Philosophically and normatively, this monastery embraces ecocentrism through notions of interconnectedness, …
The Trees, My Lungs: Self Psychology And The Natural World At An American Buddhist Center, Daniel S. Capper
The Trees, My Lungs: Self Psychology And The Natural World At An American Buddhist Center, Daniel S. Capper
Faculty Publications
This study employs ethnographic field data to trace a dialogue between the self psychological concept of the selfobject and experiences regarding the concept of “interbeing” at a Vietnamese Buddhist monastery in the United States. The dialogue develops an understanding of human experiences with the nonhuman natural world which are tensive, liminal, and nondual. From the dialogue I find that the selfobject concept, when applied to this form of Buddhism, must be inclusive enough to embrace relationships with animals, stones, and other natural forms. The dialogue further delineates a self psychological methodology for examining religions in their interactions with natural forms.
The Friendly Yeti, Daniel S. Capper
The Friendly Yeti, Daniel S. Capper
Faculty Publications
Most images of yetis in Western popular culture and scholarly literature portray them as secular, predatory monsters. These representations overlook important religious dimensions of yetis that are hidden in the current literature, so I take a new look at yetis in Tibetan religions in order to clarify our understanding of these legendary creatures. Following a phenomenological approach that sets aside the issue of the ontological existence of yetis, I examine texts, art, ritual, and folklore in order to propose four yeti personal ideal types: the Buddhist practitioner, the human religious ally, the friendly yeti, and the mountain deity yeti. These …
Devotion To Tibetan Lamas, Self Psychology, And Healing In The United States, Daniel S. Capper
Devotion To Tibetan Lamas, Self Psychology, And Healing In The United States, Daniel S. Capper
Faculty Publications
This essay offers an alternative, self psychological model for understanding the possible healing dynamics of the guru-disciple relationship. Previous psychological studies often have interpreted the devotion of Americans to Eastern gurus as inherently enriching pathology for the disciple, yet this understanding does not helpfully explicate much data derived from more than two years of ethnographic fieldwork at a Tibetan Buddhist center in the United States. Instead, re-exploration of the dynamics of the transference and the vicissitudes of Buddhist practice for disciples reveals positive healing processes for some disciples as a result of guru devotion practice.
Enchantment With Tibetan Lamas In The United States, Daniel S. Capper
Enchantment With Tibetan Lamas In The United States, Daniel S. Capper
Faculty Publications
This article explores the relationships of non-Tibetan American disciples with Tibetan spiritual teachers (lamas) in terms of theory, practice, and experiential meaning. Contrary to some previous studies, data for this article indicate that submission to the lama is not an end in itself, but rather ideally provides an opportunity for disciples to become lamas themselves. Many disciples may find personal empowerment, oriented around the theme of compassionate social action. Understanding that surrender to the spiritual teacher is only a means to a personally empowering goal clarifies our understanding of many Asian religious practices in the West.
Scientific Empathy, American Buddhism, And The Ethnography Of Religion, Daniel S. Capper
Scientific Empathy, American Buddhism, And The Ethnography Of Religion, Daniel S. Capper
Faculty Publications
The expansion of the use of ethnography in the study of religion has led to substantial methodological confusion. The reflexive ethnographic efforts which exist commonly appeal to the need for ethnographer empathy for field subjects, although the nature and ethical ramifications of this empathy remain poorly explored. This essay offers a model of ethnographic empathy in terms of the methodological observations of Weber, Homans, and Kohut. Using a model of empathy in terms of a reflexive “evenly hovering attention” for data collection, possible gains in the field from this model are explored. These gains include overcoming obstacles to data collection …