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The Art Of Aidagara: Ethics, Aesthetics, And The Quest For An Ontology Of Social Existence In Watsuji Tetsurō’S Rinrigaku, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

This paper provides an analysis of the key term aidagara (“betweenness”) in the philosophical ethics of Watsuji Tetsurō (1889-1960), in response to and in light of the recent movement in Japanese Buddhist studies known as “Critical Buddhism.” The Critical Buddhist call for a turn away from “topical” or intuitionist thinking and towards (properly Buddhist) “critical” thinking, while problematic in its bipolarity, raises the important issue of the place of “reason” versus “intuition” in Japanese Buddhist ethics. In this paper, a comparison of Watsuji’s “ontological quest” with that of Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), Watsuji’s primary Western source and foil, is followed by …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 51 Number 2, Fall 2009, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

16 - POLITICS AND RELIGION: STILL ON A COLLISION COURSE? An interview with Avraham Burg, former speaker of the Israeli Knesset. Plus excerpts from talks by E.J. Dionne Jr., Lisa Sowle Cahill '70, and Michael Eric Dyson.

20 - THE GULF OF WONDER By Emily Elrod '05. With a movie, Patrick McVeigh '78 offers investors a unique opportunity: Wake up the citizens of America and help them save one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Plus, a 30 percent return.

24 - SEASON PREMIERE: "RESURRECTION" By Karen Crocker Snell. Forensic investigator Horatio Caine lies facedown in a pool …

New Appointments, Alban Kojima

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

The Lotus Sutra As Rhetorical Doctrine: Toward A Spiritual Paradigm Shift In Academia, Erec Smith

Journal of South Texas English Studies

The article explores a new approach on the relationship between religion and academia. It highlights the application of St. Augustine's "On Christian Doctrine" on Ciceronian tactics to teaching, praising and motivating based on scripture. It mentions that the Buddhist text entitled "The Lotus Sutra" manifests how Buddhism extends in the rhetorical canon and delivers a spiritual renewal in the academia. An overview of the symbiosis between Buddhism and rhetoric that effectively connects religion and secular liberalism is also presented.

Creating Religious Identity, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

The author, a Buddhist monastic and scholar, explores the varieties of religious identity, their sources, and their effects on society. She discusses the fluidity of religious identities in the modern world and, in particular, the various challenges to women in confronting the stubborn persistence of gender-based exclusionary practices in religious traditions.

Buddhist Thoughts On The Battle For God: Is Fundamentalism A Good Reason To Ditch Religion?, Philip Novak

Collected Faculty Scholarship

"Not long ago I taught a seminar on science and religion that required three fo the most widely read gospels of the so-called new atheism: Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion, Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell, and Sam Harris's The End of Faith. As I read along, I found the Buddhist in myself in large agreement. after all, Gotama himself had been highly skeptical of the God-idea, involving as it often did an onmipotence he could not square with either the world's suffering or his belief in human freedom." ~ from the article

Sand Mandala: Over Seven Days Of Careful Construction, Northern Iowa Today, Spring 2009

Art on Campus Documents

Various articles on art at the University of Northern Iowa (also formerly known as Iowa State Teachers College).

Shōnen Nyorai: How Tezuka Osamu Reimaged Buddha For Shōnen Manga, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This paper examines Tezuka Osamu’s (1928-89) retelling of the biography of the Buddha to appeal to readers of the shōnen genre of manga. Tezuka is a well-known Japanese manga writer and artist, cartoonist, animator, film producer, and activist. In 1972, he began a series of manga adventures in Japan titled Buddha (ブッダ). The series ran to 14 editions in that country, ending in 1983. Subsequently, it was translated and reproduced in eight editions worldwide. This critically acclaimed series, which won the Eisner Award in 2004 and 2005 and Harvey Awards the same years, is considered the last great work in …

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 …