Digital Commons Network^™

Widening The Circle, Philip Novak

Faculty Authored Books and Book Contributions

Joanna Macy is a scholar of Buddhism, systems thinking, and deep ecology whose decades of writing, teaching, and activism have inspired people around the world. In this collection of writings, leading spiritual teachers, deep ecologists, and diverse writers and activists explore the major facets of Macy’s lifework. Combined with eleven pieces from Macy herself, the result is a rich chorus of wisdom and compassion to support the work of our time.

Social Issues In San Francisco: Perspectives From Global Buddhisms, John K. Nelson

Theology & Religious Studies

A project of the students in the course "Buddhist Paths in Asia and North America", this wonderfully insightful collection of course papers combines research into San Francisco's urban problems with perspectives from Buddhist Studies.

The class was divided into twelve writing teams who then chose topics from a grid of ideas, firstcome- first-served. If one looks at the topics in this essay coming from Buddhist studies, you'll quickly see they are fairly fundamental and are found in almost any introductory course. What makes them special and relevant to our moment is in their creative application to the social problems and …

Mysticism And Syncretism On The Island Of Java, Ryan Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

On the Indonesian island of Java, there is a religious tradition referred to as Kebatinan, which can be seen as the mystical branch of the indigenous religion of Java called Kejawen. However, unlike the mystical traditions of other religions, mysticism is critical to the entire popular practice of Kejawen and is not simply reserved for a select few. There are, on the other hand, a select number of people who fully understand the philosophical notions associated with Kebatinan and so can still be considered the “mystics” of the Kejawen faith. What these principles of mysticism have ultimately manifested as in …

Buddhist Meditation Effects On Emotion Control, Sarah Battiston

IRIS Exemplary Undergraduate Research

There has been a surge in popularity of meditation in medical research. Meditation is being considered an alternative to pharmacotherapy or a supplement to treatment of both mental and physical ailments. Two popular forms of meditation practices are being studied. This includes mindful meditation which finds it roots in Buddhist meditation techniques and the meditation practice of Zen Buddhism. Both forms outline a specific activity of meditation in order to achieve a goal. Mindful meditation and Zen Buddhism similarly partake in a sitting meditation with focus on breath and present awareness. Mindful meditation challenges the practitioner to become aware of …

The Moving Image And The Time Of Prophecy: Trauma And Precognition In L. Von Trier’S Melancholia (2011) And D. Villeneuve’S Arrival (2016), Luca Zanchi

Journal of Religion & Film

Both the deferred recurrence of post-traumatic symptoms and the foresight granted by prophetic vision bring about a disruption of temporality and generate a chronological discontinuity which is often formally rendered as narrative discontinuity. This similarity produces an interpretive ambiguity that is central to the films, Melancholia (2011) by Von Trier and Arrival (2016) by Denis Villeneuve. Both movies begin by hinting at the post-traumatic origin of visions and then gradually shift towards a prophetic explanation. In addressing these two case studies, this article approaches prophecy and its temporality from a narratological perspective, integrating the critical parameters of trauma-theory with the …

Review Of The Battle For Fortune: State-Led Development, Personhood, And Power Among Tibetans In China By Charlene Makley, Andrew Grant

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

No abstract provided.

The Heritage Buddhist Manuscripts Of Ladakh Tibetan Buddhist Canons And The Perfection Of Wisdom Sutra, Georgios T . Halkias

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

The history of the earliest transmission of Indian Buddhism to Tibet in the 7th– 8thcenturies is in essence the story of the transmission of its scriptures. Tibetan translations of Sanskrit texts from the early imperial period, along with manuscripts translated from the 11thcentury onwards, contributed to the formation of Buddhist scriptural collections. Today different versions of the Tibetan Kangyur survive in the interior and at the margins of the Tibetan cultural world. This Perspectives piece serves as a modest introduction to the illustrated Prajñāpāramitā manuscripts and handwritten Buddhist canons preserved in the Indian north-western Himalayas. Their further study will undoubtedly …

The Sacred And The Secular: Exploring Mass Tourism Encounters At Lamayuru Monastery In Ladakh, Tashi Lundup

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

This paper is an attempt to understand and conceptualize tourism and changing monastic space in Ladakh with special reference to the Lamayuru monastery. The study adopts a qualitative ethnographic approach, drawing on participant observation as well as interviews with both monks and tourists. It shows how local monastic culture has been reconstructed as a marketable commodity for tourist consumption and explores the tensions that arise from the use of the same monastic space for both religious and secular purposes. The monks’ views in relation to the changing context of tourism at the Lamayuru monastery reflect a dual perspective, representing both …

When Buddhism Meets Bollywood: The Naropa 2016 Festival In Ladakh, India, Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

In September 2016, hundreds of thousands of devotees gathered in Ladakh to celebrate the millennial anniversary of Naropa (1016- 1100 CE), an Indian Buddhist scholar-saint who is widely revered in the Himalayas. Deemed ‘Naropa 2016,’ this Himalayan Buddhist festival centered on the ritual of na ro gyen druk (Tib. na ro rgyan drug), the ‘Six Bone Ornaments of Naropa.’ What was announced as a sacred Buddhist ritual of revealing these ornaments, also included evening performances by renowned Bollywood performers with booming sound and impressive light shows enjoyed by large crowds of monks and laity until late in the night. This …

Manepa In Ladakh: The Revival Of A Religious Tradition, Pascale Dollfus

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

Among Buddhist religious specialists in Ladakh, there were until recently people called manepa, the Ladakhi pronunciation of the Tibetan word manipa, literally ‘the one [who recites] mani’. In the western Himalayas the repertoire of these non-monastic practitioners not only contains the famous mantra dedicated to the Great Compassion Bodhisattva Chenrezi (Skt. Avalokiteśvara), but also dozens of biographies which imply liberation in the Buddhist sense of the word and which praise the victory of Dharma over heretics. The Masters of the mani mantra are tantrists who regard the fourteenth-century Tibetan saint Thangtong Gyalpo as their founding preceptor. Among other skills, they …

Rahul Sankrityayan, Tsetan Phuntsog And Tibetan Textbooks For Ladakh In 1933, John Bray, Martijn Van Beek, Tsering Gonkatsang, Phuntsok Wangchuk

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

In 1933 the Indian scholar and social activist Rahul Sankrityayan (1893-1963) compiled a set of four Tibetan-language readers and a grammar for use in Ladakhi schools, together with his Ladakhi colleague Tsetan Phuntsog. The readers contain a mix of material from Western, Indian, Ladakhi and Tibetan sources. This includes simple essays about ‘air’ and ‘water’, selections from Aesop’s fables, Indian folk stories, biographies of famous people in Ladakhi and Tibetan history, poems by Ladakhi authors, and extracts from the Treasury of Elegant Sayings by Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (1182-1251). This essay begins with a review of earlier Tibetan-language schoolbooks published …

Introduction | Religion And Social Change In Ladakh, John Bray, Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg, Rafał Beszterda

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

No abstract provided.

“To Study The Self Is To Forget The Self”: Zen Lessons On Ego And Leadership In Higher Education, Jody Condit Fagan

Libraries

Theories of charismatic leadership present leadership as an influence process where part of the leader’s role is to attract followers through individual example and vision. Charismatic leadership acknowledges the potential dangers of narcissism in the leader and leader-obsession among their followers. Meanwhile, central tenets of Zen philosophy include that of non-attachment to self, interdependence of all beings, and impermanence. Interviews with four American Zen practitioner-leaders were analyzed for themes related to the influence of ego on leadership. This paper presents findings from the interviews, and discusses these along with observations from other Zen scholars and practitioners. The discussion is complemented …

Attitudes Toward Death: How Buddhist Teachings Help A Person Cope With Death Anxiety And Accept Death, Abigail Michaud

Mindfulness Studies Theses

Death attitudes are an evolving field of study that continues to expand due to its universal relevance. Clinical and psychological research emphasize how these personal attitudes greatly impact a person’s life and death and are rooted in one’s unique perspective of death and the dying process. This paper provides an in-depth examination of two death attitudes: death acceptance and death anxiety. The two attitudes are complex and shift throughout a person’s lifetime depending on many personal factors, including culture, religion, and age. The paper reveals that death acceptance positively effects a person’s life and promotes greater quality of life, while …

Cseas Weekly Bulletin (February 17, 2020), Center For Southeast Asian Studies

CSEAS Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Foreword To Brian Victoria, Zen Terror: Portrait Of An Assassin, James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Buddhist Error Theory, Javier S. Hidalgo

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Few philosophers have systematically examined what Buddhist commitments imply for metaethics. In this paper, I explore the status of normative reasons in Buddhist philosophy. I argue that Buddhist commitments entail an error theory about normative reasons. But I also make the case that this is a defensible position. I show that the Buddhist argument for error theory is plausible and that Buddhist error theory can overcome key objections, such as the objections that Buddhist error theory is incoherent, self-defeating, unbelievable, and incompatible with prominent schools of Buddhist philosophy. Furthermore, I argue that Buddhist error theorists can accommodate Buddhist ethical commitments …

Zen Terror In Prewar Japan: Portrait Of An Assassin, Brian Victoria, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

Gomyō And Kūkai In Early-Heian Intra-Buddhist Conversations, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This paper is about the relationship between the famous Japanese esoteric Buddhist Kūkai and the less-famous Gomyō, who you've probably never heard of but maybe should have. My paper responds to the work of two recent scholars, Fujii Jun, who says that Kūkai was a Sanron (Japanese Mādhyamika) priest, and Matsumoto Gyoyu, who speculates about the origins of and thinking behind certain passages in Kūkai's Jūjūshinron. The paper points to the intellectual significance for Kūkai of his close relationship with Gomyō and other Yogācāra scholars of his day, and how this is reflected in the Jūjūshinron and Kūkai's thought broadly. …

Flower Unfurling: Buddhist Modernism And The Early Writing Of James Joyce, Erin Garrow

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation traces the history of the references to Buddhism in Stephen Hero, James Joyce’s first and unpublished novel, through the author’s previous writing, his sources, and his context, in order to determine how—if at all—the tradition bore upon his earliest depiction of consciousness. Acknowledging that Joyce habitually revisited and refined earlier ideas and prose, it attends to previous essays, notebooks, book reviews, conversations, letters, epiphanies, poems, and autobiographical prose; to available material, bibliographical, and biographical evidence about the specific volumes and performances to which Joyce had access; to language and paratext—including advertisements, introductions, and appended essays—in those volumes; …

The “Indirect Message” In Kierkegaard And Chán Buddhism, Zdeněk Zacpal

Comparative Philosophy

The article seeks to analyse Kierkegaard’s indirecte Meddelelse, which the author proposes to translate as ‘indirect message’. It attempts to consider and illuminate this concept and its general characteristics, types and cases in Kierkegaard's work. They are to serve as a baseline for investigations of indirect messages in Buddhism, especially the famous ‘public cases’ (gong-àn / kōan 公案) of the Chán Buddhists. The author tries to specify indirect messages on both sides of the cultural divide in terms of some Western philosophers. Kierkegaard’s theoretical rationale for his indirect message is profound, sophisticated and appropriate to the theoretical …

On What Is Real In Nāgārjuna’S “Middle Way”, Richard H. Jones

Comparative Philosophy

It has become popular to portray the Buddhist Nāgārjuna as an ontological nihilist, i.e., that he denies the reality of entities and does not postulate any further reality. A reading of his works does show that he rejects the self-existent reality of entities, but it also shows that he accepts a "that-ness" (tattva) to phenomenal reality that survives the denial of any distinct, self-contained entities. Thus, he is not a nihilist concerning what is real in the final analysis of things. How Nāgārjuna’s positions impact contemporary discussions of ontological nihilism and deflationism in Western philosophy is also discussed.

Found In Translation: Collaborative Contemplations Of Tibetan Buddhism And Western Science, Kelsey M. Gray, Dadul Namgyal, Jeremy Purcell, Tsondue Samphel, Tenzin Sonam, Karma Tenzin, Dawa Tsering, Carol M. Worthman, Arri Eisen

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Development of an inclusive scientific community necessitates doing more than simply bringing science to diverse groups of people. Ideally, the sciences evolve through incorporation of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and worldviews. Efforts to promote inclusion of historically underrepresented racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, and socioeconomic groups among science scholars are currently underway. Examination of these efforts yields valuable lessons to inform next steps in engaging diverse audiences with science. The Emory-Tibet Science Initiative may serve as one example of such efforts. The Dalai Lama invited Emory University to develop and teach a curriculum in Western science to Tibetan Buddhist monks and …

The Limits Of Public Education On Consciousness: Curating Buddhism, Pamela Mccabe

Theses & ETDs

Consciousness is a Buddhist concept that encompasses connectedness to the self, the world, the past, and the future. Understanding this concept is paramount to achieving enlightenment and a proper comprehension of the religion and culture. The Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea, New York City is home to thousands of Himalayan Buddhist art pieces that span across thousands of years. This thesis explores the importance of the consciousness, how this is depicted within artistic symbols, and where the Rubin Museum successfully or unsuccessfully exhibits the importance of consciousness and its connection to other concepts. This has been done by looking …

Lives Of Hindu And Buddhist Saints, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

A study of lives of individuals related to Hinduism and Buddhism, who are alleged to be “saints” in stories, biographies and autobiographies. These life accounts are compared to archetypes found in canonical sources including the Ramayana, the Bhagavata Purana, and Buddhist Jataka. The class considers the genre of religious biography/hagiography in such terms as intended audience and practical usage of the texts. Students will examine stories about ancient and modern Hindus and Buddhists from India, China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and America.

Matching Concepts, Transgressing Boundaries: Buddhist Transmission Strategies In The International Buddhist Women's Movement, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

One of the most striking features of the contemporary revitalization, transmission, and transformation of Buddhism is the prominent roles that women are playing, both locally and globally. Since 1987, Buddhist women from around the world have been uniting on a grassroots level and taking more active roles in working not only for the welfare of women, but for the welfare of human society writ large. Today, the Buddhist women’s movement has become a highly dynamic forum representing the interests of somewhere between 300 and 600 million women, depending on who is compiling the statistics. This movement is transgressive by its …

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 …

Review: Ronit Y. Stahl. Enlisting Faith: How The Military Chaplaincy Shaped Religion And State In Modern America. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press, 2017., Patrick Q. Mason

Mormon Studies Review

Pop quiz: What do Mormons, Eastern Orthodox, and Buddhists have in common? Answer: For much of the twentieth-century, members of all three groups were classified as “Protestants” by the United States military. Why? Because in the “Protestant-Catholic-Jew” schema of “tri-faith America” that dominated for many decades, if you weren’t Roman Catholic or Jewish, you must have been Protestant. American historian Ronit Stahl has elevated this and many other head-scratching bureaucratic idiosyncrasies into a readable and insightful analysis of how the military chaplaincy both reflected and shaped the dynamic relationship of religion and the state in twentieth-century America. Enlisting Faith is …

วิมุติวิทยาว่าด้วยการตื่นรู้อย่างฉับพลันและการปฏิบัติอย่างต่อเนื่องของโบโจ จินูล, ถาปกรณ์ กำเนิดศิริ

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

แนวคิดทางวิมุติวิทยาเรื่องการตื่นรู้อย่างฉับพลันและการปฏิบัติอย่างต่อเนื่องคือหลักการทางปรัชญาที่สำคัญของโบโจ จินูล แนวคิดดังกล่าวอธิบายว่า การตื่นรู้อย่างฉับพลันหมายถึงความเข้าใจที่มนุษย์มีต่อความหมายที่แท้จริงของจิตเดิมแท้ซึ่งบริสุทธิ์และมีคุณสมบัติแห่งการรับรู้เป็นธรรมชาติพื้นฐาน ส่วนการคิดแยกแยะในเชิงมโนทัศน์นั้นเป็นเพียงการแสดงตัวในโลกปรากฏการณ์ของคุณสมบัติแห่งการรับรู้ของจิตเดิมแท้ การคิดแยกแยะถือได้ว่าเป็นปรากฏการณ์ที่ "ปราศจากแก่นสาร" ในแง่นี้การปราศจากแก่นสารของการคิดแยกแยะถูกใช้เป็นรากฐานที่สำคัญในการยืนยันในความถูกต้องแท้จริงของหลักการเรื่องการปฏิบัติอย่างต่อเนื่องในทัศนะของโบโจ จินูล วิทยานิพนธ์จึงชี้ให้เห็นว่าถึงแม้หลักการทางวิมุติวิทยาของโบโจ จินูล จะชี้ให้เห็นถึงความสำคัญของการปราศจากแก่นสารของการคิดแยกแยะ แต่ในการพิจารณามนุษย์ในบริบทของการดำรงชีวิตอยู่จริงในโลกเชิงประจักษ์กลับทำให้เห็นว่า “ความจริงในเชิงการดำรงอยู่” ของการคิดแยกแยะนั้นเป็นสิ่งที่มีความสำคัญต่อการทำความเข้าใจความหมายของความสัมพันธ์ของหลักการเรื่องการตื่นรู้และการปฏิบัติในทัศนะของโบโจ จินูล เป็นอย่างมาก กล่าวคือถึงแม้ความเข้าใจจะเกิดขึ้นได้อย่าง”ฉับพลัน” แต่ภายใต้บริบทแห่งชีวิตของปุถุชนการคิดแยกแยะยังคงมีผลอย่างต่อเนื่องต่อการดำรงอยู่ของของมนุษย์และผลดังกล่าวยังคงไม่สามารถดับสิ้นลงได้อย่างฉับพลันภายหลังการตื่นรู้ดังกล่าว การพิจารณาบทบาทของความคิดในมิติที่สัมพันธ์กับการดำรงอยู่ของชีวิตในโลกเชิงประจักษ์นี้จึงชี้ให้เห็นว่า การคิดแยกแยะในฐานะที่เป็นเนื้อหาของประสบการณ์ของมนุษย์ นั้นเป็นสิ่งที่มีความสำคัญต่อการเข้าใจความสัมพันธ์ของการตื่นรู้และการปฏิบัติ และเป็นเหตุที่ทำให้โบโจ จินูล ให้ความสำคัญกับความจำเป็นที่จะต้องมีการปฏิบัติอย่างต่อเนื่อง เพื่อให้เกิดความเข้าใจการคิดแยกแยะเหล่านี้ในฐานะตัวของมันเองและเพื่อถมช่องว่างระหว่างความเข้าใจกับการปฏิบัติให้สอดคล้องกัน

Nurturing The Seeds Of Zen: The Life And Legacy Of Shundo Aoyama Rōshi, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Aoyama Rōshi’s legacy and her place in the Buddhist world are unique. Situated within a notably patriarchal tradition, she has been a leader in the struggle for gender parity in contemporary Japan. Due to her unflagging efforts, nuns in the Sōtō Zen tradition have now achieved unprecedented visibility and independence. According to religious studies scholar Paula Arai, the leading contemporary scholar of Sōtō Zen laywomen and nuns, “the nuns now control their own religious training, enjoy educational and ceremonial rights, and have ... appropriate titles and religious robes” (Arai 1999, 74). Today, at Aichi Senmon Nisōdō, Aoyama Rōshi not only …