Digital Commons Network^™

Buddhist Roles In Peacemaking : How Buddhism Can Contribute To Sustainable Peace, Ronald S. Green, Chanju Mun

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This volume is the fifth in a series about socially engaged Buddhism published by Blue Pine Books. The publisher adheres to high academic standards, requiring strict documentation of sources and coherence of ideas. Readers will find in these articles some of the best resources available for understanding socially engaged Buddhism and peacemaking. We live in a world of conflict. Even though theorists had believed scientific and technological advancement would end suffering, the applications of these developments had just as often perpetuated the problem. In contrast, Buddhism is widely thought of as a way of peace and tranquilly for individual practitioners. …

Socially Engaged Buddhist Nuns: Activism In Taiwan And North America, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

The last decades of the twentieth century have been a time of new visibility and social activism for Buddhists in Taiwan and around the world. This paper compares the social engagement of nuns in the Chinese Buddhist tradition in Taiwan and North America. I would like to argue that whereas nuns in Taiwan have developed a variety of approaches to social involvement, their counterparts in the Chinese diaspora in North America have had to face a set of challenges specific to overseas Chinese communities in addition to Chinese Buddhist tradition. The article concludes with reflections on the prospects for nuns' …

Being Buddhist, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

When I first encountered the Buddhist teachings, they vastly expanded my evolving ideas about life and helped me to recognize the limitations of my own perceptions. As a child, I suspected that perception was an individual process and that misunderstandings between people were based on different perspectives. Human beings' backgrounds and experiences seemed so diverse; it came as no surprise that they saw the world differently. Buddhist views on perception not only confirmed my suspicions, but also explained in depth the processes involved in human cognition and the ways in which our personal biases and preferences colour our images of …

A Qualitative Study Of Buddhist Informed Psychotherapists, Michael Sean Harris

Dissertations

The field of psychology has a history of distancing itself, if not outright dismissing, both religion and spirituality. In recent years, however, psychology has come to move more toward an embrace of religious and spiritual experience. Buddhism, often expressed as a philosophical system without regard to theistic or nontheistic underpinnings, has been integrated with psychological theory in recent scholarly literature. This dissertation is an exploratory study regarding howBuddhist psychological perspectives are applied in actual psychotherapeutic practice. A participant pool of ten psychotherapists who self-identified as utilizing Buddhism in their work was studied along a variety of dimensions. Demographic questionnaires, audiotaped …

Art, Ritual, And Representation: An Exploration Of The Roles Of Tsam Dance In Contemporary Mongolian Culture, Mikaela Mroczynski

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Tsam, the sacred and complex Buddhist ritual dance, although only introduced to Mongolia in the 19th century, established itself as a significant ceremony before being halted by the purges and destruction the communist era. The 18 years of religious freedom that democracy has heralded have resulted in tsam’s successful reestablishment as a religious ritual in a growing number of monasteries across the country. Tsam has also taken its place as an icon of Mongolian culture for foreigners, a cornerstone of many performance groups’ representation of Mongolian cultural heritage. As based on interviews with performers, administrators, designers, and audiences of performance …

Love, Nancy M. Martin, Joseph Runzo

Religious Studies Faculty Books and Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Buddhism, Apophasis, Truth, Mario D'Amato

Faculty Publications

In this paper I will offer some reflections on one instance of apophasis in a specific Mahāyāna Buddhist doctrinal treatise, known as the Madhyāntavibhāga (“Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes,” ca. fourth century CE). I will attempt to formally distinguish such apophatic doctrines from doctrines of ineffability, and consider what apophatic doctrines might contribute to the impasse regarding “truth” which characterizes certain approaches to the comparative philosophy of religion. Since this paper is intended as a contribution to the comparative philosophy of religion, I will begin with a few remarks on the nature of that enterprise.

The Buddhist Notion Of Emptiness And Its Potential Contribution To Psychology And Psychotherapy, José M. Tirado

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

A growing number of psychologists now have their practices and theories informed by Buddhist

meditation practices. Th ese practices, however, are themselves deeply informed by the

Buddhist notion of emptiness (śūnyatā). Th is Buddhist concept off ers a rich vein of possibilities

in informing psychology and psychotherapy. Th e present paper examines the development

and potential of this concept for infl uencing these and other areas.

Review Of Making Pilgrimages, Meaning And Practice In Shikoku By Ian Reader, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

Ian Reader offers a unique and valuable contribution to the academic study of the Shikoku hachijūhakkasho, a pilgrimage to eighty-eight sacred places of Shikoku in honor of the Japanese Buddhist saint Kōbō Daishi (774-835).

Buddhist Women In A Global Multicultural Community, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

This book is the result of years of collaboration among hundreds of women from many different cultural backgrounds, speaking from their own first-hand experience of living, working, practicing, and communicating across cultures. The essays included here touch on many aspects of Buddhist culture and Buddhist women’s pioneering efforts to expand their cultural horizons through travel, education, meditation, and social activism. The essays document the achievements of women and the contributions they have made, not only to their own families, temples, and communities, but also to multicultural dialogue internationally.

The Biographic And Poetic Dimensions In Gary Synder’S Green Buddhism Poetry: Cold Mountain, Mountains And Rivers Without End, And Danger On Peaks, Byoungkook Park

Dissertations

From the perspective of ecology, many scholars have examined works of Gary Synder, who is an environmental activist, a peasant-Buddhist, and one of the most beloved and significant poets in the East and West. While his poems have been widely read, they have been rarely articulated from the perspective of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism or, which I would call, Green Buddhism. Considering this, my dissertation focuses on Snyder's Green Buddhism poetry and delineates the concept of Green Buddhism and how it has emerged in his Green Buddhism poetry over the past fifty years. According to my research, his poetic dimensions …

The Individual Psychology Of Tibetan Buddhism, Lee Spivak

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

North American Buddhist Women In The International Context, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Understanding North American Buddhist Women from a global perspective is a daunting task because of the enormous diversity of both North American and Asian Buddhist women. The fist question is, What does it mean to be a Buddhist? For some, to be a Buddhist means formally going for refuge in the Buddha, dharma, sangha. In other cases, a person is born Buddhist and lives her whole life as a Buddhist, without any special ceremony. Differences like theses make it impossible to generalize about Buddhist women's experiences.

Women Changing Buddhism: American Perspectives, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd, Sharon A. Suh Phd, Bell Hooks Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

This chapter is a conversation with bell hooks, Sharon Suh, and Karma Lekshe Tsomo; moderated by Susanne Mrozik. This panel conversation explores the diverse contributions that diverse kinds of women are making to Buddhism in the U.S. today.

From The Illuminating Moon To The Radiating Sun: The Philosophical Writings Of Emerson And Nichiren, Sharon Mitsue Blythe

Theses & Honors Papers

Ralph Waldo Emerson's philosophical writings possess deep correlations to the writings of Nichiren, a 13th century Japanese Buddhist philosopher. Both Emerson and Nichiren conceive the inherent and unlimited potential of human beings, and stress the inseparability of life from its psychological, spiritual, and physical environment. Both Emerson and Nichiren address the cyclical and universal nature of all phenomena, an understanding that derives from the oneness of all facets of existence. The greatest variation between these two writers occurs in the implementation and practice of their philosophies.

The Preface provides a synopsis of Buddhism and introduces Nichiren. It also discusses the …

Renunciation In Contemporary Buddhist Monasticism, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Celibate monastic practice has been a mainstay of Buddhist societies from the time of the Buddha until the present day. Buddha Sakyamuni specifically rejected the practice of extreme asceticism, but lauded renunciation of the household life. This tradition has continued for two and a half millennia, unchanged in many respects. Robed, shaven-headed, celibate renunciants are found in every Buddhist society even today. The measure of renunciation in contemporary Buddhist monastic practice varies, however, depending on how renunciation is defined. Renunciants are generally thought to live in solitude, apart from society. But it is well known that, except for exceptional individuals …

Ethnographic Study Of Buddhist Education, Based On Burgess' Social Science Method At An American University And A Private Buddhist Organization, Wan-Ming Lu

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The literature shows that there are many studies about Buddhism in the United States and religion on college campuses, but few studies specifically about Buddhism in American universities. The purpose of this study is to explore how American college students approach and learn about Buddhism. A qualitative research study of clinical ethnography was applied to conduct this study at the Florida International University (FIU) and Florida Buddhist Association (FBA). FBA was chosen to compare with FIU so that the features of Buddhist education at FIU would be clearer.

Eight students and four teachers (instructors) were interviewed at FIU; and two …

Dying, Death, And Afterlife From A Buddhist Perspective, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Since earliest times, death has fascinated, terrified, and confounded human beings. Virtually every religious tradition offers some explanation of three key concerns: the beginnings of the world, the meaning and purpose of human existence, and the end of life. The Buddhist traditions have given special attention to the meaning of life and the end of life as central topics for reflection.

Buddhist Exploration Of Peace And Justice, Ronald S. Green, Chanju Mun

Philosophy and Religious Studies

Contains five speeches and twenty-three articles presented in the Fifth International Seminar on Buddhism and Leadership for Peace on the theme "Exploration of Ways to Put Buddhist Thought into Social Practice for Peace and Justice." The seminar was held under the joint auspice of Dae Won Sa Buddhist Temple of Hawaii and the Korean Buddhist Research Institute of Dongguk University, 1991.

Sakyadhita Pilgrimage In Asia: On The Trail Of The Buddhist Women's Movement, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women was established in 1987 to address issues of gender equality in Buddhist societies and Buddhist institutions. Since then, through a series of innovative biannual conferences, Sakyadhita has worked to link women from different Buddhist traditions and cultural backgrounds and provide them with a forum where women’s voices can be heard. These conferences have generated a vibrant international Buddhist women’s movement that works for the welfare of the world’s estimated 300,000 Buddhist women. Because Buddhist institutions in Asian countries typically function independently and there is no central authority to oversee them or create policies, Sakyadhita’s …

“Texts Memorized, Texts Performed: A Reconsideration Of The Role Of Paritta In Sri Lankan Monastic Education.”, Jeffrey Samuels

Philosophy & Religion Faculty Publications

During the past twenty years there has been a growing interest in monastic education within the larger field of Buddhist studies. Within the last ten years in particular, a number of monographs and articles examining the training and education of monks in Korea (Buswell [1992]), Tibet/India (Dreyfus [2003]), Thailand/Laos (Collins [1990], McDaniel [2002, 2003]), and Sri Lanka (Blackburn [1999a, 1999b, 2001] Samuels [2002]), have been published. Many of those works have paid particular attention to the texts used in monastic training, as well as to how the information contained in those very texts is imparted to and embodied by monks …

Religious Schools: For Spirit, (F)Or Nation, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper I draw attention to the study of 'unofficially sacred' sites in geographies of religion, which provide significant insights into the construction of religious identity and community, and the intersections of sacred and secular. I show that such sites deserve as much attention as places of worship (the more conventional focus in the geographical study of religion) in our understanding of the place of religion in contemporary urban society. In particular, using the case of Islamic religious schools in Singapore, I examine how Muslim identities and community are negotiated within multicultural and multireligious contexts, and particularly within one …

Translation: “Building A Platform For Academic Buddhist Studies: Murakami Senshō,” By Sueki Fumihiko., James Mark Shields, Fumihiko Sueki

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Presenting The Gospel Message In Thailand, Khamsay Phetchareun

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

There are over 62,000,000 Buddhists in Thailand. Current Christian approaches to presenting the gospel message to Buddhist people in Thailand have not yielded satisfactory results. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has had negative growth during the past ten years. In addition to approaches currently utilized by Christians there is a need to develop more effective approaches to present the gospel in Thailand.

Method

Buddhist students at Mission College were chosen as a case study. A survey of Buddhist attitudes and a cultural analysis of Thailand form the basis for this strategy. Library research, questionnaires, interviews, and observations were all used …

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.

Translation As Transmission And Transformation, Jay L. Garfield

Philosophy: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ikkyū, James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Gyōgi Bosatsu, James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Musō Soseki, James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Everyday Dharma And Perfect Enlightenment: Contemporary Buddhist Hermeneutics, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Professor Karma Lekshe Tsomo examines the contradictions and innovations that characterize the adoption of Buddhism by Americans. Adapting Buddhism to fit Westerners has brought fruitful new directions to Buddhism, she argues, at the same time that it has resulted in some distortion of or discarding of traditional Buddhist practices and goals.