Buddhist Studies Commons^™

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 …

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.

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 …

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 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.

Farming Satori: Zen And The Naturalist Farmer Fukuoka Masanobu, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This paper looks at how Masanobu Fukuoka adopts Chan Buddhist philosophy in relation to his Zen natural farming method. To understand this, it examines the development in Chinese Buddhism that allowed and required Buddhist to farm, defining farming as Buddhist practice.The paper is organized as follows: I. Seeds in the Mahāyāna; II. Roots in Chan monastic regulations; III. Farming satori, Fukuoka’s writing on awakening.

Patterns Of Anti-Muslim Violence In Burma: A Call For Accountability And Prevention, Andrea Gittleman, Marissa Brodney, Holly G. Atkinson

Publications and Research

In this report, the authors documents how persecution of and violence against the Rohingya in Burma has spread to other Muslim communities throughout the country. Physicians for Human Rights conducted eight separate investigations in Burma and the surrounding region between 2004 and 2013. PHR’s most recent field research in early 2013 indicates a need for renewed attention to violence against minorities and impunity for such crimes. The findings presented in this report are based on investigations conducted in Burma over two separate visits for a combined 21-day period between March and May 2013.

Political Interpretations Of The Lotus Sutra, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

The Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma (Sk., Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra; Ch., Miàofǎ liánhuá jīng; Jp., Myōhō renge kyō), commonly known as the Lotus Sutra, is arguably the most influential sutra of Mahāyāna Buddhism, and certainly one of the most revered sacred texts in East Asia. Via parables and short stories, the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra indirectly present a number of core doctrines of the early Mahāyāna, the form of Buddhism that first emerged in India and West Asia roughly five centuries after the death of the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563–486 …

Review: Barbara R. Ambros, Bones Of Contention: Animals And Religion In Contemporary Japan (Hawai'i, 2012)., James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

Review: Barbara R. Ambros, Bones of Contention: Animals and Religion in Contemporary Japan (Hawai'i, 2012).

Zange And Sorge: Two Models Of 'Concern' In Comparative Philosophy Of Religion, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

The concept of Sorge, as developed in Martin Heidegger’s (1889–1976) classic work, Sein und Zeit (1927), describes an existential-ontological state characterized by “anxiety” about the future and the desire to “attend to” the world based on our awareness of temporality. In Japan, this concept was borrowed and critically developed by Watsuji Tetsurō (1889–1960). In Rinrigaku (1937–49), Watsuji argued that Heidegger’s Sorge remains overly reliant on the philosophical structures of Western individualism and subjectivism, and thus neglects the social dimension of human being. In turn, Watsuji’s contemporary, Tanabe Hajime (1885–1962), developed an alternative theory of “concern” in his reflections on …

Review: Steven Heine, Sacred High City, Sacred Low City: A Tale Of Religious Sites In Two Tokyo Neighborhoods (Oxford, 2011)., James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

Review of Steven Heine, Sacred High City, Sacred Low City: A Tale of Religious Sites in Two Tokyo Neighborhoods (Oxford, 2011).

Buddhist Women And Religious Leadership, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Throughout Buddhist history, women practitioners have been models of leadership in virtuous conduct, meditation, discipline, teaching, spiritual experience, and other religious achievements. The roles women have played were not necessarily in line with contemporary expectations of religious leadership, however. Most did not hold official office, give public teachings, lead religious ceremonies, or publish extensively. Most were not prominent in temple building, institutional administration, or educational leadership. Almost none of them held positions in religious institutions and only a few were recognized for their achievements. In fact, women’s most visible religious activities often centered around supporting the religious practice of other …

Living In Peace: Insights From Buddhism, Ronald S. Green, Chanju Mun

Philosophy and Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

Review: Hank Glassman, The Face Of Jizō: Image And Cult In Medieval Japanese Buddhism., James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

Review of Hank Glassman, The Face of Jizō: Image and Cult in Medieval Japanese Buddhism.

Exploring The Connections Between Science And Spirituality: Conversations About The Afterlife, Ellen Jackson

Staff Scholarship

This research explores the possibilities, through literature and the experience of others, that the physical body is the container for “something” often referred to as the soul or ethereal substance which lives beyond the body after death. My work examines the intersection of science and spirituality related to conversations and writings about the afterlife. This investigation was conducted relying on the findings and the beliefs/opinions of ancient and modern philosophers, scientists and spiritual leaders’ concepts of death and the possibility that other worlds (or dimensions) exist. Despite many centuries of exploration, there is no conclusive scientific evidence of an afterlife; …

Ciis Today, Spring 2012 Issue, Ciis

CIIS Today

This volume is the Spring 2012 issue of CIIS Today, the Magazine of the California Institute of Integral Studies

Review: Christopher Ives, Imperial-Way Zen: Ichikawa Hakugen’S Critique And Lingering Questions For Buddhist Ethics (Uhp, 2009), James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

Review of Christopher Ives, Imperial-Way Zen: Ichikawa Hakugen’s Critique and Lingering Questions for Buddhist Ethics (UHP, 2009)

Practicing Paradise: Contemplative Awareness And Ecological Renewal, Douglas E. Christie

Theological Studies Faculty Works

What would it mean for Christians to take seriously the idea that we are called to practice paradise, to inhabit the world as if “everything is in fact paradise”? In the Christian contemplative tradition, one finds recurring attention to the notion that paradise is somehow knowable, graspable, and inhabitable in this present reality, and that this experience of paradise can be incorporated into a meaningful spiritual practice. This essay asks whether, in a moment of deepening ecological degradation, the contemplative practice of paradise might help us learn again how to imagine the world as whole, inhabit it with tenderness and …

Mother Teresa And The Bodhisattva Ideal: A Buddhist View, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

The notion of the bodhisattva, the selfless individual who is dedicated to alleviating the sufferings of others, is traditionally articulated within a Mahāyāna Buddhist framework. The question posed here is whether and to what extent this religious ideal can be conceived or, or instantiated by, individuals whose religiosity is framed by a different set of be- liefs and values, taking the Roman Catholic Sister of Charity, Mother Teresa, as an example. The broader question of commensurability arises when the criteria for qualifying as a bodhisattva, set within a specifically Mahāyāna context, are superimposed upon a figure who is solidly grounded …

Awakening Between Science, Art & Ethics: Variations On Japanese Buddhist Modernism, 1890–1945, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

The half-century between the publication of the Imperial Rescript on Education (kyōiku chokugo 教育勅語, 1890) and the bombing of Pearl Harbor (1941) was one of tremendous institutional and intellectual tumult in the world of Japanese Buddhism. Buddhist sects and scholars were not immune to the changing political and cultural winds. While it is true that by the late 1930s, the majority of Buddhist leaders and institutions had capitulated to the status quo, preaching, in the words of Joseph Kitagawa “the virtues of peace, harmony, and loyalty to the throne,” the previous decades show anything but a continuous progression towards …

The Friendly Yeti, Daniel S. Capper

Faculty Publications

Most images of yetis in Western popular culture and scholarly literature portray them as secular, predatory monsters. These representations overlook important religious dimensions of yetis that are hidden in the current literature, so I take a new look at yetis in Tibetan religions in order to clarify our understanding of these legendary creatures. Following a phenomenological approach that sets aside the issue of the ontological existence of yetis, I examine texts, art, ritual, and folklore in order to propose four yeti personal ideal types: the Buddhist practitioner, the human religious ally, the friendly yeti, and the mountain deity yeti. These …

Contesting Buddhisms On Conflicted Land: Sarvodaya Shramadana And Buddhist Peacemaking, Masumi Hayashi-Smith

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Buddhism in its various incarnations has both aided and hindered the peace processes in Sri Lanka. Sarvodaya Shramadana, a Buddhist development organization, stands out in the way it uses religion to promote peace through a more humanist interpretation of Buddhist teachings. While Sarvodaya's alternative approach toward the religion provides an optimistic space for promoting peace, its connections to and dependence on populism can also complicate its politics. This article argues that the most effective means of peace work can be found through the same channel of collective mobilization that hindered it, Buddhism.

Mindfulness And Authentic Creativity Developing A Healthy Lifestyle, Brittany B. Cockrell

HIM 1990-2015

The contemporary society of the United States of America is becoming an increasingly stressful environment to live in. Our rapid advances and developments in virtual, electronic, and high-speed technology have led us to a lifestyle that operates more quickly. However, our attachment to such a face-paced lifestyle has unfortunately led us towards an increasingly stressful lifestyle. This research focuses on identifying our current society's perceptual outlook and illustrating how the practice of mindfulness can help reduce the anxieties, struggles, and mental flaws which cloud our perception. The intent of this thesis is to show how the practice of mindfulness is …

Miyazaki, Hayao (1941–), James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Mizoguchi, Kenji (1898-1956), James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Kurosawa, Akira (1910-1988), James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Ozu, Yasujirō (1903–1963), James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Lotus Sutra, James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.