Círdan The Shipwright: Tolkien’S Bodhisattva Who Brings Us To The Other Shore,
2022
Independent Scholar
Círdan The Shipwright: Tolkien’S Bodhisattva Who Brings Us To The Other Shore, Douglas Charles Kane
Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature
Tolkien wrote that Círdan the Shipwright “saw further and deeper than any other in Middle-earth” despite being a minor, incidental character in both The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings. The important role that Círdan plays in Tolkien’s secondary universe can be understood by looking at him as a bodhisattva in a Buddhist tradition. Círdan’s role throughout the Three Ages of Middle-earth chronicled by Tolkien was to come to the aid of others, to reduce their suffering, and particularly to help facilitate their sailing to the “Blessed Lands” in the West (which can be seen as a metaphor for …
If These Walls Could Talk: Restoring 15th Century Paintings In Upper Mustang,
2022
SIT Study Abroad
If These Walls Could Talk: Restoring 15th Century Paintings In Upper Mustang, Ellie Penner
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
The Thupchen monastery, or gompa, in Lomanthang is a site that hosts monumental 15th century Buddhist artworks, which reflect an abundant history from the key trade region of Upper Mustang, Nepal. This site, after neglect and use as a storage space until the 1990s, has seen radical change in the past two decades through an ongoing painting restoration project. Since these restorations began, there have been discrepancies between how scholars and restoration artists believe the work should be done, and how the local community of Lomanthang wants their monastery to be restored. This study aims to examine why the temple …
Vedantic Basis And Praxis Of The Integral Advaita Of Sri Aurobindo,
2022
California Institute for Integral Studies
Vedantic Basis And Praxis Of The Integral Advaita Of Sri Aurobindo, Debashish Banerji
Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal
The integral nondualism of Sri Aurobindo can be traced to the great pronouncements (mahāvākya) of the Upanishads and later commentaries. This study examines teachings on the Supermind (vijñāna) and the other four kinds of consciousness that define human reality: Matter (annaṃ), Life (prāṇaḥ), Mind (manaḥ), and Bliss (ānanda). Through Yoga and Tantra, one learns and embodies the pathway to the divine.
Digital And Spatial Humanities Mapping: Eurasia-Pacific Early Trade And Belief Linkages,
2022
Ryazan College of Fine Arts, Russian Federation
Digital And Spatial Humanities Mapping: Eurasia-Pacific Early Trade And Belief Linkages, Igor Sitnikov, David Blundell
Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal
The Eurasia-Pacific is a dynamic region of rapid economic growth, cultural awareness, natural resource exploration, and military buildup. The concept of the region is relatively new, featuring contested vast areas of geo-resource space of numerous cultures and languages. The current findings in anthropology and archaeology and even its more specific subfields such as folklore are important contribution to the understanding of periodic environmental changes and technical innovations were the main forces of transformations in social structures that have determined the mechanisms and levels of cross-cultural trade activity across the region. We have traced early trade and belief linkages across Eurasia-Pacific …
Tusha Hiti: The Origin And Significance Of The Name,
2022
Chaffey College
Tusha Hiti: The Origin And Significance Of The Name, Deepak Shimkhada
Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal
In this article, the author examines the royal bath called Tushā Hiti located in Sūndari Chowk (Beautiful Courtyard) of Pātan Durbar Square, using six different methods of investigation. The question: What is in a name? started the ball of investigation rolling and along the way were added more supporting blocks such as history, iconography, function and purpose, notion of purity and impurity, and finally the hiti in popular culture to get a complete picture of the subject in question.
Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion: Perspectives From Contemporary India And 6th Century Jain Yoga,
2022
Loyola Marymount University
Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion: Perspectives From Contemporary India And 6th Century Jain Yoga, Christopher Key Chapple
Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal
Times New Roman
Ganges In Indian Sculpture And Literature: Mythology And Personification,
2022
Soka University
Ganges In Indian Sculpture And Literature: Mythology And Personification, Nalini Rao
Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal
The river Ganges is a symbol of wealth, purity and eternity, and its sacred waters have inspired sages, philosophers, and artists in India who have immortalized its divine imagery. However, it has rarely been understood from a historical point of view, as to how it became so sacred and to view it from a multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary perspective with an accumulation of layers of historical thought and practices, provides a rationale for the living practices around the river. The paper explores the evolution of the concept of sacredness and eternity of River Ganges through art- historical and archaeological evidence. It …
Buddhist Modernism In The Philippines: Emerging Localization Of Humanistic Buddhism,
2022
Ateneo de Manila University
Buddhist Modernism In The Philippines: Emerging Localization Of Humanistic Buddhism, Aristotle C. Dy
Chinese Studies Department Faculty Publications
Mahayana Buddhism is well known for being successfully implanted in various cultures. Chinese Buddhism, considered one of the three great religions of China along with Confucianism and Taoism, is a classic example. From China, Buddhism traveled further and, in the twentieth century, developed a particular way of engaging the world. Humanistic Buddhism, a particular form of engaged Buddhism that grew out of twentieth-century Chinese Buddhism, has been present in the Philippines since the 1990s and signaled a new phase in the growth of Buddhism in the country. In particular, the Philippine initiators of Foguangshan and Ciji did not limit themselves …
Zen And The Art Of Resistance: Some Preliminary Notes,
2022
Bucknell University
Zen And The Art Of Resistance: Some Preliminary Notes, James Mark Shields
Faculty Contributions to Books
In the Western and oftentimes Asian imagination, Buddhism generally—and Zen more specifically—is understood as being resolutely disengaged, attaching itself to a form of awakening that is not only, as the classical phrase has it “beyond words and letters,” but in the modern summation by D. T. Suzuki, perfectly compatible with any and all forms of political and economic “dogmatism,” whether capitalist, communist, socialist, or fascist. Of course, as numerous scholars have shown over the past century, on the level of historical actuality, Buddhist and Zen teachers and institutions have long participated in (usually hegemonic) economic and political structures. The …
Emory-Tibet Science Initiative: Changes In Monastic Science Learning Motivation And Engagement During A Six-Year Curriculum,
2022
Chapman University
Emory-Tibet Science Initiative: Changes In Monastic Science Learning Motivation And Engagement During A Six-Year Curriculum, Kelsey M. Gray, Cindy Achat-Mendes, Ann Cale Kruger, Tashi Lhamo, Rinchen Wangyal, Gelek Gyatso, Carol M. Worthman
Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research
Led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the initiative taken by the Tibetan Buddhist monastic community to connect with western science and scientists presents a unique opportunity to understand the motivations and engagement behaviors that contribute to monastic science learning. In this study, we draw on quantitative data from two distinct surveys that track motivations and engagement behaviors related to science education among monastic students. The first survey was administered at one monastic university in 2018, and the second follow-up survey was completed by students at two monastic universities in 2019. These surveys assessed the reception of science education related …
Unexpected Side Effects: A Cautionary Note On Challenges Of Persistent Self-Transcendence,
2022
University of Florida and National University
Unexpected Side Effects: A Cautionary Note On Challenges Of Persistent Self-Transcendence, Elizabeth D. Stephens, Harris L. Friedman
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive
Self-transcendence is an ambiguous construct without consensual meaning, yet many claim that it relates to, or even causes, beneficial outcomes. Few discuss its potential deleterious side effects, choosing to focus primarily on positive effects. However, anything with sufficient potency to heal may have unintended side effects, especially when it leads beyond a transitory state to becoming an enduring trait, such as when self-transcendence (ST) becomes persistent self-transcendence (PST). With PST, evidence is overviewed here, along with two illustrative case reports, that people can suffer emotional difficulties, motivation changes, loss of self-reflexivity, anhedonia, dissociation, depersonalization, memory problems, and other psychological concerns. …
A Bayesian Analysis Of Early Śramaṇic Origin Stories,
2022
Loyola Marymount University
A Bayesian Analysis Of Early Śramaṇic Origin Stories, John Kingsley
LMU Theses and Dissertations
When it comes to assessing the historicity of religious figures, the methodology used by the academy is severely outdated, disjointed, and unsound. Bayes' Theorem, first used with a historical analysis by Richard Carrier in 2014 in relation to the historicity of Jesus, is a methodologically sound vehicle with which to examine what we have all simply, in the past, accepted. This paper addresses the historicity of the Buddha, and its implication on the early śramanic origin stories, by Bayes' Theorem.
"Trading Western Suits For Monastic Robes" : Remaking Tibetan Buddhism In The Chinese Religious Revival,
2022
Denison University
"Trading Western Suits For Monastic Robes" : Remaking Tibetan Buddhism In The Chinese Religious Revival, Jue Liang
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
การศึกษาเปรียบเทียบติตถิยปริวาสกับการรับเข้าอุปสมบทในวัดป่านานาชาติ จังหวัดอุบลราชธานี,
2022
คณะอักษรศาสตร์
การศึกษาเปรียบเทียบติตถิยปริวาสกับการรับเข้าอุปสมบทในวัดป่านานาชาติ จังหวัดอุบลราชธานี, ปรีชา ทิวัฑฒานนท์
Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)
งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาวิเคราะห์และเปรียบเทียบติตถิยปริวาสในพระไตรปิฎกกับการรับเข้าอุปสมบทในวัดป่านานาชาติด้วยการศึกษาจากตัวบทและภาคสนาม ผลการศึกษาพบว่า ประเพณีทั้งสองมีความมุ่งหมายคัดกรองบุคคลนอกพุทธศาสนาที่มีความตั้งใจจริง เคารพศรัทธาในพระรัตนตรัย มีคุณสมบัติเหมาะสมที่จะอุปสมบทเป็นพระภิกษุ และสามารถปรับตัวเข้ากับวิถีชีวิตในคณะสงฆ์ เพื่อเป็นพระภิกษุตลอดชีวิต ในขณะเดียวกันก็เป็นโอกาสให้ผู้ขออุปสมบทได้ศึกษาหลักธรรมคำสอนและปรับตัวกับวิถีชีวิตของพระภิกษุด้วย ความแตกต่างสำคัญคือบุคคลที่เข้ามาอุปสมบทในวัดป่านานาชาติเป็นชาวต่างชาติซึ่งไม่คุ้นชินกับวัฒนธรรมพุทธศาสนาไทย กระบวนการรับเข้ามีเป้าหมายเพื่อให้ความรู้และเคยชินกับการใช้ชีวิตตามแนวทางของวัดป่าในไทยซึ่งต้องอยู่อย่างเรียบง่าย ภายใต้อาณัติของพระอาจารย์ จึงต้องใช้ระยะเวลานานกว่าติตถิยปริวาสและไม่แน่นอน ขึ้นอยู่กับคุณสมบัติของแต่ละบุคคล ขั้นตอนที่ซับซ้อนในวัดป่านานาชาติแสดงถึงการประยุกต์ประเพณีในพระไตรปิฎกและประเพณีไทยให้เข้ากับสถานการณ์ปัจจุบัน เพื่อเปิดโอกาสให้บุคคลภายนอกวัฒนธรรมพุทธศาสนาที่ต้องการเข้ามาอุปสมบทได้ทดลองการใช้ชีวิตพระภิกษุในพุทธศาสนา เพื่อประโยชน์ของคณะสงฆ์และบุคคลที่ขออุปสมบทเอง
อาบัติในมุมมองของทฤษฎีทางทัณฑวิทยา,
2022
คณะอักษรศาสตร์
อาบัติในมุมมองของทฤษฎีทางทัณฑวิทยา, สมชาย จำปาทอง
Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)
งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อวิเคราะห์อาบัติในภิกขุปาติโมกข์ตามหลักทฤษฎีทางทัณฑวิทยา 2 ทฤษฎี ได้แก่ ทฤษฎีข่มขู่ยับยั้งและทฤษฎีแก้ไขฟื้นฟู และวิเคราะห์ความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างอาบัติและภาคีทั้ง 5 อันได้แก่ ชุมชนสงฆ์ ตัวพระภิกษุ เพื่อนพระภิกษุ คฤหัสถ์นอกคณะสงฆ์ และพระศาสนาตามวัตถุประสงค์ของการบัญญัติพระวินัย 10 ประการ โดยศึกษาจากพระวินัยปิฎกและอรรถกถา ผลการศึกษาพบว่า การลงโทษตามพระวินัยคือการออกจากอาบัติ 3 ลักษณะ อันได้แก่ การพ้นจากสภาพความเป็นพระภิกษุ, การประพฤติวุฏฐานวิธี, และการแสดงอาบัติ สอดคล้องกับหลักการของทฤษฎีทั้งสองโดยที่แยกจากกันไม่ได้ การลงโทษตามทฤษฎีข่มขู่ยับยั้งถือว่าเป็นการตัดโอกาส, เป็นความยุ่งยากและความลำบาก, และการทำให้อับอายตามลำดับ ในขณะที่ในมุมมองของทฤษฎีแก้ไขฟื้นฟูถือว่าเป็นการพ้นจากภิกษุภาวะเพื่อดำรงอยู่ในสถานะอื่นที่เหมาะสม, การแยกตัวผู้ต้องอาบัติออกไปจากพระสงฆ์เพื่ออบรมและขัดเกลาจิตใจ, และ การสำนึกผิด อาบัติอาจพิจารณาให้เป็นทฤษฎีใดก็ได้ ขึ้นอยู่กับความสำนึกของผู้ต้องอาบัติเป็นสำคัญ อาบัติเป็นโทษที่มุ่งข่มขู่พระภิกษุผู้ไม่ละอายให้อยู่ในกฎเกณฑ์ตลอดเวลา ในขณะเดียวกัน อาบัติก็เป็นวิธีการที่เอื้อประโยชน์ต่อพระภิกษุผู้เป็นกัลยาณปุถุชนจนถึงพระอรหันต์ให้ดำรงตนสอดคล้องกับธรรม ภาคีทั้ง 5 ซึ่งเป็นผู้มีส่วนได้เสียจากอาบัติมีบทบาทในการควบคุมความสำรวมในสิกขาบทและในอินทรีย์ของพระภิกษุ การศึกษาแสดงว่า การออกจากอาบัติเป็นการแก้ไขตนเอง เมื่อพระภิกษุต้องอาบัติ ต้องรีบออกจากอาบัติ
Unreality And Loss Of Self: Dissociative Experiences In Buddhist Practitioners,
2022
University of Denver
Unreality And Loss Of Self: Dissociative Experiences In Buddhist Practitioners, Jill Loving
Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects
On the surface, the Buddhist idea of emptiness and experiences of depersonalization and derealization seem to have significant overlap. Meditations on emptiness in the Buddhist tradition seek to lead meditators to observe the ego as illusory and empty of inherent content as one step in the journey to liberate oneself from suffering. Conversely, dissociation is generally an involuntary, automatic response to severe trauma that can become more common or chronic in an individual over time. Topographically, these experiences may look similar; both include a sense of unreality of the self and often of the broader world. However, differences in stimulus …
Creolizing Modern Buddhism: A Reply To Yarran Hominh & A. Minh Nguyen,
2021
San Jose State University
Creolizing Modern Buddhism: A Reply To Yarran Hominh & A. Minh Nguyen, Evan Thompson
Comparative Philosophy
In reply to Hominh and Nguyen, I argue that “creolizing” methods in the study and practice of Buddhism should not be opposed to historicist and contextualist modes of investigation and understanding. Rather, historicism and contextualism can and should inform creolizing approaches.
Cosmopolitanism, Creolization, And Non-Exceptionalist Buddhist Modernisms: On Evan Thompson’S Why I Am Not A Buddhist,
2021
San Jose State University
Cosmopolitanism, Creolization, And Non-Exceptionalist Buddhist Modernisms: On Evan Thompson’S Why I Am Not A Buddhist, Yarran Hominh, A. Minh Nguyen
Comparative Philosophy
In his recent book, Why I Am Not a Buddhist, Evan Thompson argues that inter-tradition or cross-cultural philosophical dialogue ought to be governed by cosmopolitan conversational norms that do not subsume any one tradition’s deep commitments under those of any other tradition, but rather bring those commitments into the discussion so that they can be challenged and defended. He argues on this basis for the application of a deeply contextualist and historicist interpretive methodology to Buddhist texts, concepts, and theories in dialogue with philosophy and contemporary cognitive sciences. Buddhist modernism, in eschewing that deeply contextualist and historicist methodology, falls …
Neither Buddhist Nor Taoist, But Both (And Even More): Exploring The ‘Hall Of Infinite Principle’ (Guangli Fotang): A Chinese Temple In The Romanian Capital,
2021
Transilvania University, Romania
Neither Buddhist Nor Taoist, But Both (And Even More): Exploring The ‘Hall Of Infinite Principle’ (Guangli Fotang): A Chinese Temple In The Romanian Capital, Serban Toader
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
This ethnography regards the sole Chinese temple in the Romanian capital Bucharest, its people and activity, as well as the thinking that supports this new religious movement (Maitreya Great Tao,Mile Dadao 彌勒大道). It is common knowledge that Taoism, Budhism, and Confucianism appear, at least in the official discourse, as a braided rope of unified Chinese tradition, each of the three at the same time preserving their particular features. Nevertheless, Mile Dadao not only seems to implicitly unite the three traditions in one (to which other foreign or popular traditions may be added as well), but also aims to act as …
One Or None? Truth And Self-Transformation For Śaṅkara And Kamalaśīla,
2021
Linfield University
One Or None? Truth And Self-Transformation For Śaṅkara And Kamalaśīla, David Fiordalis
Faculty Publications
This article explores how two influential 8th-century Indian philosophers, Śaṅkara and Kamalaśīla, treat the threefold scheme of learning, reasoning, and meditation in their spiritual path philosophies. They have differing institutional and ontological commitments: the former, who helped establish Advaita Vedānta as the religious philosophy of an elite Hindu monastic tradition, affirms an unchanging “self” (ātman) identical to the “world-essence” (brahman); the latter, who played a significant role in the development of Buddhist monasticism in Tibet, denies both self and essence. Yet, they share a concern with questions of truth and the means by which someone could gain access to it, …
