Digital Commons Network^™

The Graduate Mormon Studies Classroom, Patrick Q. Mason

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Is Colorado Buddhism Green? A Study Of The Interaction Of Buddhist Practice With Environmental Concerns, Mengye Liu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The human community is paying more attention to our growing environmental crisis. Religious beliefs are often proposed as effective ways to address environmental ethics. It is often supposed that Buddhism is a "green" religion because of its intimate associations with nature. My research focuses on whether or not Buddhism in Colorado influences Buddhist practitioners' environmental awareness by identifying and evaluating Buddhist ecological attitudes and values. My research questions include: (1) what aspects of Buddhist practice refer to the elements of natural environment, (2) do Buddhist practitioners profess different attitudes and behaviors than non-Buddhist practitioners, and (3) If so, how does …

Reflecting The Missio - Logoi Of The First Overseas American Missionary:, Cope Suan Pau

Papers

No abstract provided.

A Review Of Critical Buddhism: Engaging With Modern Japanese Buddhist Thought, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

Meditation In Buddhism And Hinduism - Classical And Modern Dhyāna And Yoga, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This course is an academic study of contemplative practices in two major Indian traditions: Buddhism and Hinduism. It focuses on texts dealing with bhavana (literally "cultivation" of the mind or heart), which is generally called "meditation" today. The course also surveys some of the modern developments of these practices inside and outside of India. Classical sources for meditative practices covered in the course include the Upaniṣads and early Buddhist sūtras, texts of the period of classical Yoga, and those of later Indian Tantrism. Using these texts, the course defines major categories of contemplative practices including meditation on syllables/sounds considered sacred …

Review Of Silver Screen Buddha: Buddhism In Asian And Western Film, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

For anyone interested in the growing study of Buddhism and film, I recommend Sharon A. Suh’s Silver Screen Buddha: Buddhism in Asian and Western Film. This is the third study in English related to this topic, all three of which have been published within the last year and a half. This attention corresponds to an increase in Buddhist film festivals, a rise in internet discussions and postings on the subject, and an expansion of university class offerings that deal with it. It has been said that 1998 marked the peak year for Hollywood releases with overt Buddhist themes, including Kundan …

Xuanzang’S Text Of Bodhisattva Precepts, Ronald S. Green, Chanju Mun

Philosophy and Religious Studies

A translation from the Chinese with annotations.

Buddhism, Uncertainty And Modernity In A Hometown In Heart, Ronald S. Green, Chanju Mun

Philosophy and Religious Studies

A Hometown in Heart (Maeumui gohyang, 1949), written by Ham Sedeok (1915-1950) and directed by Yun Yonggyu (b.1913), is said to be the first Korean Buddhist film. It depicts Buddhism in a remote mountain region without even electricity. The main character of the film, an orphaned child monk, must decide what to do with his life. This paper argues that the central aspect of the Buddhism-related symbols represent Korean tradition and that the supporting characters represent socio-political forces in post-liberation Korean society just after liberation, pulling the young generation of Koreans in various directions. In particular, the film centers on …

KūKai's Epitaph For Master Huiguo: An Introduction And Translation, Ronald S. Green, Chanju Mun

Philosophy and Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

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, …

Mormon Studies Review Volume 2, Mormon Studies Review

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Tradition And Change: Two Buddhisms In The Bible Belt Sharing Common Ground Through Adaptation, Jonathan Spence

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis examines how some American and Burmese forms of Buddhism in the Bible Belt today share common ground through a process of adaptation. Exploring tradition and change, I reveal how change often requires adaptation. Utilizing ethnographic research conducted in south central Kentucky and middle Tennessee, I argue that some Burmese and American forms of Buddhism in the Bible Belt experience change through three aspects of adaptation. These consist of reduction, syncretism, and preservation. I explore these three aspects through interviews and observations of immigrant Burmese Buddhist monks and American Buddhist meditation leaders. In doing so, I also examine the …

Religious Silence: British Quakerism And British Buddhism Compared, Sandra Bell, Peter Collins

Quaker Studies

In this paper we explore the communicative function of silence among British Quakers and British Theraviida Buddhists. Both examples link silence to stillness with the implication that non-activity is a means of evoking sacred presence. It is proposed that such an evocation is achieved through attaching aesthetic and ethical value to the performance of stillness and silence. Furthermore, we suggest that the identity of each of these religious communities is, in many respects, defined through the emphasis that is placed on the existential and moral significance of silence.

From Topos To Utopia: Critical Buddhism, Globalization, And Ideology Criticism, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

Burma’S Mass Lay Meditation Movement : Buddhism And The Cultural Construction Of Power, Ingrit Jordt

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Burma’s Mass Lay Meditation Movement: Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power describes a transformation in Buddhist practice in contemporary Burma. This revitalization movement has had real consequences for how the oppressive military junta, in power since the early 1960s, governs the country.
Drawing on more than ten years of extensive fieldwork in Burma, Ingrid Jordt explains how vipassanā meditation has brought about a change of worldview for millions of individuals, enabling them to think and act independently of the totalitarian regime. She addresses human rights as well as the relationship between politics and religion in a country in which …

Buddhism And Law In Tibet, Rebecca Redwood French

Contributions to Books

Published as Chapter 17 in Buddhism and Law: An Introduction, Rebecca Redwood French & Mark A. Nathan, eds.

The Tibetan plateau is an immense high-altitude desert that, except for a few larger towns, was very sparsely populated with agriculturalists, nomadic herders, and merchant traders prior to 1960. The small population and minimal urbanization are the most important distinguishing features of this Buddhist country because concentrated populations are commonly connected to the development of government administration, law, and intellectual production. Despite this, Tibetan culture is known for its long history of enormous production of literary, scholarly, and religious works. Books on …

Seno'o Giro: Life And Thought Of A Radical Buddhist, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

Mujeres, Espiritualidad Y Cambio Social, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd, Teresa Forcades Vila

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Mujeres, espiritualidad y cambio social es el tema de este diálogo entre Karma Lekshe Tsomo y Teresa Forcades Vila, mujeres luchadoras del día a día, que no dudan cuando hablan de cambios y revoluciones necesarias. Conocen las problemáticas de primera mano y, con la premisa de la práctica y el conocimiento, piensan nuevas formas para la libertad individual y colectiva. Cuando están convencidas de lo que creen, lo dicen; cuando están en proceso de pensamiento pero todavía dudan sobre sus teorías, también lo dicen. Y sobre todo saben que en este diálogo, siendo de religiones diferentes, las respuestas no siempre …

Mormon Studies And Method: The Rigors Of The Academic Study Of Religion And The Maturity Of Mormon Studies, Stephen C. Taysom

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Interfaith Dialogue And A Lotus Practitioner: Yamada Etai, The Lotus Sutra, And The Religious Summit Meeting On Mt. Hiei, Stephen G. Covell

Comparative Religion Publications

This article is an examination of Yamada Etai, the 253rd head priest (zasu) of the Tendai denomination and his efforts to host the Religious Summit Meeting on Mt. Hiei. Following an in-depth analysis of Yamada’s understanding of the Lotus Sutra, especially as it relates to interfaith outreach, Yamada’s efforts to reshape contemporary Tendai Buddhism through a focus on compassionate service and salvation are examined in light of his efforts to put on a large-scale international interfaith meeting.

The Buddha’S Great Miracle At Śrāvastī: A Translation From The Tibetan Mūlasarvāstivāda-Vinaya, David Fiordalis

Faculty Publications

This article offers an annotated translation of the story of the Buddha’s great miracle at Śrāvastī, as found in the Tibetan translation of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya. While miracles of the Buddha are many and various, the great miracle of Śrāvastī, one of the Buddha’s principal miracles, is almost the prototypical Buddhist miracle story, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya contains a significant version of it. Yet of the many versions preserved in a variety of languages, this is one of the last to garner much scholarly attention. This article makes it more widely accessible to an interested audience, thereby contributing to the further …

On Buddhism, Divination And The Worldly Arts: Textual Evidence From The Theravāda Tradition, David Fiordalis

Faculty Publications

This essay attends to the sticky web of indigenous terminology concerning divination and other so-called “mundane” or “worldly” arts, focusing primarily upon Buddhist canonical texts preserved in Pāli, augmented by references to commentarial and exegetical literature. It asks: How have some Buddhists, as evinced in this canonical and exegetical literature, understood the broader category of “worldly arts,” which includes techniques we call divinatory? Are Buddhists discouraged from engaging with such practices, as has been commonly asserted? If so, then for whom, specifically, are such words of discouragement primarily meant? And why, specifically, are such practices discouraged? Are the penalties for …

Modern Japanese Literature And Visual Culture: Constructions Of Religious And Historical Identity, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This course is a survey of modern Japanese literature and visual culture since the Meiji Restoration (1868). It focuses on constructions of identities within historical contexts. Our objective is to analyze ways in which writers and artists have positioned their subjects and re-imagined culture to create particular portrayals. The class examines a selection of shōsetsu (the Japanese novel) of Natsume Soseki, Kawabata Yasunari, Mishima Yukio, Murakami Haruki, and Ogawa Yōko, films of Miyazaki Hayao, and important anime. The course promotes critical methodologies and interdisciplinary or comparative studies, combining, for example, literature with film, visual culture, gender studies, cultural history, Buddhist …

Xuanzang’S Manual For Conferring The Bodhisattva Precepts, Ronald S. Green, Chanju Mun

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This is a translation of the Manual on the Procedures for Conferring the Bodhisattva Precepts (T.24.1499.1104c19- 1106b27) by Xuanzang (602-664) and the preface to it written by the monk Jingmai (T.24.1499.1106c3-29). Xuanzang was a Chinese monk and a translator of Buddhist scriptures. Although it is recorded that Xuanzang translated this manual in 649, he may have written it himself based on the Yoga-ca-- s rabhu-mi-s´astra in 100 fascicles. After travel through Central Asia and India from 629 (or 627?) to 645, he translated 75 Buddhist scriptures in 1,335 fascicles into Chinese, including a number of major Yoga-ca-ra Buddhist texts. He …

The Buddha And The Christ: Looking At Jesus Through Buddhist Eyes, Vivian A. Laughlin

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Biblical And Buddhist Meditation With Reflections On Mission, Scott Griswold

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

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.

Review Of "Theravada Buddhism: The View Of The Elders" By A. Tilakaratne, Donald K. Swearer, S. Brown

Religion Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Sharing Jesus With Buddhists, Scott Griswold

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Dīpaṅkara Buddha And The Patan Samyak Mahādāna In Nepal: Performing The Sacred In Newar Buddhist Art, Kerry Lucinda Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Every four years, in the middle of a cold winter night, devotees bearing images of 126 Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and other important deities assemble in the Nepalese city of Patan for an elaborate gift giving festival known as Samyak Mahādāna (“The Perfect Great Gift”). Celebrated by Nepal’s Newar Buddhist community, Samyak honors one of the Buddhas of the historical past called Dīpaṅkara. Dīpaṅkara’s importance in Buddhism is rooted in ancient textual and visual narratives that promote the cultivation of generosity through religious acts of giving (Skt. dāna). During Samyak, large images of Dīpaṅkara Buddha ceremoniously walk in procession to the …