Hasil untuk "Buddhism"

F. Nietzsche

Federico Divino

This article aims to provide a comparative analysis between Husserl’s phenomenology and the Pāli Abhidhamma. To conduct this analysis, I will mainly draw on some books of the Abhidhamma and three works by Husserl. What emerges from this study are interesting convergences between the two systems of thought, which allow us to consider, in some respects, a true Buddhist phenomenology codified in the Abhidhamma. While not perfectly coinciding with Husserl’s phenomenology, it is similar enough to allow for a comparative study and perhaps even more. The intent is also to propose the possibilities of a true Buddhist phenomenology based on its methodology, and thus, not to see differences with Husserl’s approach as a limitation, but as something that can enrich the phenomenological methodology itself.

Zelin Zhao

With the introduction of the theory of śūnyatā (emptiness 空) in Madhyamaka philosophy from India to China, Indian Buddhism and Chinese culture have achieved a historic new convergence in their understanding of emptiness. After several evolutions of the theory of śūnyatā in Madhyamaka philosophy, some people agree with it, while some question it, and the discussion around it has been very complicated. Determining how to fully understand and scientifically conceive of the core idea of the theory of śūnyatā in Madhyamaka philosophy and its contemporary value have become important issues in related research. Most of the existing research focuses on the theoretical interpretation of the theory of śūnyatā in Madhyamaka philosophy, but understanding and research from the perspective of life practices are still quite scanty, hindering the attainment of a comprehensive understanding and objective cognition of this theory’s actual value. The purpose of this paper is to strengthen the practical research on the theory of śūnyatā in Madhyamaka philosophy in order to fully understand and scientifically conceptualize its core ideas and contemporary value. From the two basic perspectives of past and present, in regard to both theory and practice, we will re-explore the core ideas of the theory of śūnyatā in Madhyamaka philosophy and investigate and analyze corresponding theoretical doubts. We further reveal that the theory of śūnyatā in Madhyamaka philosophy is not only a metaphysical philosophical theory in which the nature of the world is regarded as empty and its logic as consistent but also a practical piece of wisdom that views the world as empty so as to eliminate all kinds of life troubles and help people attain a better life experience. The dialectical wisdom of both the theory and practice of the theory of śūnyatā in Madhyamaka philosophy gives it very broad theoretical potential and practical prospects, making it worthy of in-depth study by relevant researchers.

De Notariis, Bryan

This article will discuss some early references to the martial arts as they appear in the Pāli canon from a historical perspective. At first, a passage involving fighting shows occurring during festivals will be analysed, highlighting the early Buddhist attitude connected with its ascetic background. Then, a possible shift in attitude that occurred during the reign of Aśoka (III century BCE) will be discussed, and some evidence from Gandhāran Buddhism will be introduced, highlighting a developed stage in which Buddhism has integrated into society, negotiating values and coming to terms with foreign elements, such as symposia, bacchanals and martial arts. Eventually, a Pāli account which includes a sympotic party and an early reference to martial arts practiced within an Indian Buddhist monastery will be discussed.

Barbara Gerke, Yeshi Samdrup

This paper explores pandemic narratives in Phushar village, Western Bhutan, focusing on the interplay between humans, local deities (tsen, gyap), Buddhist protector and tutelary deities and public health measures during COVID-19. Villagers combined deity appeasement rituals with divinations and public health measures. Memories of past epidemics shaped adherence to quarantine, physical distancing and modern healthcare. The narratives reflect a shift from individual karmic disease causation to perceiving the pandemic as globalized lenchak (karmic retribution), emphasizing collective responsibility for the crisis. While deity protection was deemed successful during COVID-19, increasing climate challenges may reshape perceptions of ritual efficacy. This study contributes to understanding more-than-human relationships in disease causation and ritual disaster protection, showing how local traditions integrate broader moral and ecological frameworks.

Brian D. Somers

The shift toward modernity has come with many changes that affect religion. This article investigates some of those changes with the aim of showing how Korean Buddhism is adjusting to contemporary spirituality. The article begins with a consideration of the term ‘spiritual, but not religious’ (SBNR), a relatively new designation that indicates the shift a growing number of people are taking away from organized religious institutes towards beliefs and practices that they find more relevant and meaningful. To better understand SBNRs, the research of Mercadante is emphasized. The second half of this article aims to consider Korean Buddhism in the context of modern spirituality. Using Mercadante’s framework, which distinguishes between five types of SBNRs (dissenters, causals, explorers, seekers, and immigrants), an inquiry is carried out into each of these categories to show some of the ways in which Korean Buddhism is engaging with the spiritual and emotional concerns of modern, secular society. Thus, this work aims to show the direction Korean Buddhism is headed in and how it is relevant to modern, spiritual inclinations.

Fuyi Wang

Bioethics provides a new perspective for the comparative study of Christianity and Chinese Buddhism. This paper provides a comprehensive comparison of the sources, states of existence, and fundamental principles and purposes of the Christian and Chinese Buddhist perspectives on human life, focusing specifically on the realm of bioethics. It places special emphasis on teachings about God’s creation and dependent origination, original sin and Buddhist causality, as well as love and compassion. Despite the significant geographic distance between Christianity and Chinese Buddhism, the dialogue highlights potential cultural differences and interpretations. It also demonstrates mutual acceptance and the process of redefining one’s own identity. Religious bioethics greatly benefits from a comprehensive study of various religions from around the world. It aims to encourage cross-cultural and interdisciplinary research on different religions globally. It promotes religious bioethics as a relevant field of study.

Chloé Baills, Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière

This paper explores the most salient images throughout Aung San Suu Kyi's political career (1988-2021). It aims to capture how she became an icon of Burma's struggle for democracy for both her supporters and opponents, and was then vilified in the wake of the Rohingya crisis. Aung San Suu Kyi's portrayal and its ups and downs highlight the polarised nature of opinion in the global world. This visual history of opinions sheds new light on the current Burmese crisis. It reveals the irreconcilable rift between the Burmese people and the military junta, which echoes the wars of our time.

Henry Albery

When monastics of the Indic North and Northwest around the turn of the Common Era made the decision to introduce art into monasteries, current cultural assumptions regarding the aesthetic experience of such objects, which were axiomatically negated by Buddhist ideology, led to certain confrontations in law and praxis and an attempt to resolve these within certain monastic legal codes (<i>vinaya</i>) redacted during this period. Tracing the historical relation between monasticism and art in this context, this paper focuses on two such uneasy relations. The first deals with an opposition between the worldly aesthetics of pleasure associated with art and fashion and the aesthetics of asceticism as a representation of monasticism’s renunciate ideal. The second considers the aesthetics of fear associated with images of deities, the rejection of such objects as mere signs, and the resulting acts of theft and iconoclasm enacted upon them. It will show that resolution to both was sought in a particular semiotic which negated the aesthetic experience of such objects and rendered them signs with a significance that accorded with Buddhist ideology. Yet the solution remained incomplete, with issues arising when the same ideology was applied to monasticism’s own representation in the art of monasteries, stūpas and Buddha-images.

Low Yuen Fah, Phra Dhamvajrabundit, Walmoruwe Piyaratana

Buddha Sàsana refers to the Buddha’s Dispensation which comprise of the teachings of the Buddha, doctrine, discipline and practices (including spiritual traditions of Theravāda and Mahāyāna / Vajrayāna schools), as well as associated dissemination. As a spiritual and profoundly philosophical approach to guide effective ways out of suffering, the essence of Buddhism can be distilled as the Four Noble Truths. While seismic changes take shape withthe global transition from Information/Knowledge Age to Digital Age, most aspects of conditions for humanity have dramatically changed.Particularly in the past two years, the global Covid19 pandemic has further exacerbated suffering while fueling digital transformation. How has the Buddha Sàsana been impacted? A pioneering international survey was undertaken to gain reality check glimpses of lived experiences, and attempts to harvest prevailing perceptions from three significant dimensions of critical importance to our Buddha Sàsana. Firstly, how optimistic do practising members of the Theravāda and Mahāyāna / Vajrayāna Buddhist Traditions feel about the Buddha’s Dispensation and uncertainties of their living environment as the Buddha Sàsana undergoes ‘aniccà’ and ‘anattà’ phenomena of these challenging times? In order to appraise this, perceptions of living or receiving the 38 blessings as described in Maha Mangala Sutta (PTS: SN 258-269) are used as relevant assessment gauge in Section I of the survey.  Secondly, Section II of this survey evaluate the strength of devotees’ faith in the continual efficacy of Dhamma wisdom to effectively resolve vulnerabilities of dukkha arising from complexities of current global challenges. Section III initiates a review of the type and level of customisation needed (if any) in Digital Age Buddhist Education and Training in preparing next generation Buddha Sàsana to transcend arising ambiguities on the path of wisdom development.  This timely research article captures the expansive research results in clear, concise and visually self-explanatory infographics.

Ricardo Arango Olarte, Aparicio Chanca Flores, Antonio Ñahuincopa Arango

In this research work we try to glimpse the power of man's intelligence as a problem solver in the conjuncture of the pandemic, caused by COVID-19. As a result, we present some positive aspects of this health crisis: reflection and reinvention of human activities; the benefits of virtual education; the strengthening of the family unit; the value of life and dignity; and, the care of nature. They are relevant topics of reflection that help us to see life from a positive mental attitude perspective and an invitation to reorganize our post-pandemic life project.

Jesse Montes, Sonam Tshering, Tenzin Phuntsho et al.

This paper explores local perceptions of the landscape in a small highland community near Haa, Bhutan. Through the lens of ethnoecology, it documents a storied landscape in which an animist cosmology, underpinned by Buddhism, shapes local subjectivities in particular ways that influence behaviour in relation to this landscape. We draw on this case to contribute to a growing body of research exploring how environmental governance understood as Foucauldian-inspired 'environmentality' works to create 'environmental subjects'. While initial work in this area describes a monolithic environmentality, more recent research outlines multiple environmentalities (neoliberal, disciplinary, sovereign and truth) to demonstrate how processes of subject formation occur differently in relation to each of these. Within this research, however, attention to truth environmentality and the particular forms of environmental subjectivity it cultivates has been largely absent thus far. Our analysis addresses this gap by exploring how members of the herding community in the case under investigation describe relationships with a set of cosmological entities that motivate specific self-understandings leading to conservation-conducive behaviour. In this way, our analysis highlights how this particular approach to the 'conduct of conduct' works to shape specific environmental subjectivities beyond those currently highlighted in the burgeoning environmentalities literature.

Camila Ferrer

Optimism and psychological well-being have been studied with greater dedication in recent years, from the perspective of positive psychology. The objective of this work is to investigate the relationship between both variables by means of a systematic review of the previous literature, thus synthesizing the state of the art of the aforementioned link. From the review, it is concluded that optimism is strongly and positively associated with psychological well-being. Furthermore, the former is a predictor of the latter. However, it is suggested to continue investigating the link between these two constructs in order to know its nature with greater certainty.

Sonam Kachru

What are paintings? Is there a distinctive mode of experience paintings enable? What is the value of such experience? This essay explores such questions, confining attention for the most part to a few distinctive moments in Indian Buddhist texts. In particular, I focus on invocations of painting in figures of speech, particularly when paintings are invoked to make sense of events or experiences of particular importance. The aim is not to be exhaustive, but to suggest a meta-poetic orientation: On the basis of moments where authors think with figurations of painting, I want to suggest that in Buddhist texts one begins to find a growing regard for the possibilities of re-ordering and transvaluing sense experience. After suggesting the possibility of this on the basis of a preliminary consideration of some figures of speech invoking painting, this essay turns to the reconstruction of what I call aesthetic stances to make sense of the idea of new possibilities in sense experience. I derive the concept of “aesthetic stances” on the basis of a close reading of a pivotal moment in one Buddhist narrative, the defeat of Māra in <i>The Legend of Aśoka</i>.

Andrey N. Bezrukov

The article deals with the nature of the synthesis of modern Russian prose and elements of Eastern poetics. On the example of Victor Pelevin’s texts – Т (2009), Batman Apollo (2013), Secret views of Mount Fuji (2018) – the question of functioning in the author’s artistic discourse of the designated signs is objectified. In a special way in V.O. Pelevin’s prose the religious and philosophical aspect of Zen Buddhism as the adjacent direction of East culture is played. Elements of Eastern poetics organize the plot and thematic block of works in a special way. The variant principle of Viktor Pelevin’s writing organically complements the literary process, moving in a spiral of increment of world art practice. Moreover, reading is in a situation of multiple connotations of meanings, as well as a constructive relational assessment of being. Elements of oriental poetics in Pelevin discourse acquire shades of semantic tricks. The synergy of the author’s experiment is also becoming a reception model for the potential reader. An open dialogue, thus, produces the manipulation and synthesis of cultural signs with their own halo of readings. The analysis of the prose of Victor Pelevin confirms the idea that the compilation of different aesthetically world contemplation positions expanding the horizon of meaning, reduplicate the rhizome connotations. It is concluded that the implementation of Eastern poetics in the texts of postmodernism at the level of motives and images objectively concretizes the process of cultural synthesis of modern literature.

Sung Man Yoon

This study aims to investigate the interaction effect of religiosity level on the relationship between religion and willingness to donate organs. Prior studies have suggested that a high level of religiosity indicates a high level of willingness to donate organs. However, these previous works ignore the interaction effect of the level of religiosity and the doctrinal characteristics of each religion regarding one&rsquo;s own body preservation. Organ donation is an act of transplanting part of one&rsquo;s own body after death to another person and is influenced by the viewpoint of the post-mortem world and the attitude toward the preservation of the body. Therefore, this study analyzes the effects of religious characteristics and belief levels on the relationship between religion and organ donation. Results show that Christianity, such as Catholicism and Protestantism, positively affects the willingness to donate organs as compared with Buddhism. Religiosity level also exerts an interaction effect that strengthens the relationship between Christianity and willingness to donate organs.

Joanna Gruszewska

The ordination of women in early Buddhism, as it is depicted in the Pāli Canon, was a point of controversy. At first, Buddha rejected the request of the women, who wanted to join the monastic community. However, under some conditions he finally gave his permission for establishing the order of nuns (bhikkhunī saṃgha). For many women it opened a possibility for an alternative way of life and an opportunity to pursue their religious needs outside a family. Paper deals with examining reasons of the controversy, which are rooted in Brahmanical worldview, taking into account religious and social context of ancient India.

Ebrahim Rezaei, Mahdi Dehbashi

Abstract Hafez's lyrics are loaded with concepts against asceticism, an approach which makes this mystical sonneteer distinct from other Muslim poets. It is worth mentioning, however, that having mystical experiences is not possible without ascetical practices such as, prayer, fasting, refraining from evils and joys and austerity. Applying the ascetical approach, the mystic departs himself from the earthly world and gets prepared to enter the spiritual realm. Thus, picturing mysticism without asceticism is exactly what Hafez tries to advocate. According to Hafez the one who claims to have asceticism, but is still in fond of material world and the reluctance toward the transient world has not yet been penetrated in his heart, cannot be described as the one reaching the realm of truth and mysteries. Furthermore, asceticism acts like a tool which has nothing by itself to add to the heart of the mystic, rather, focusing too much on asceticism, certainly can lead to the deprivation of accessing the spiritual realm for the mystic, for all the earthly objects are the manifests of God and the mystic will finally see his beloved's face within the objects which he had left behind. During the time of practicing asceticism and austerity, the mystic controls his five senses in order to harness his greedy willingness, but after that he gets qualified to pay attention to the worldly objects which reflect the face of the beloved. This point which is known as "drunkenness" in mysticism marls the end of asceticism and beginning of mysticism. This position, however, should not be interpreted as the time in which the legal precepts and religious duties are all annulled. In the works of Nietzsche, two different kinds of asceticism; a positive and negative ones can be identified. Each of them can be divided in two other categories. The negative asceticism which has no connection with living and seeks to relieve human suffering, includes the supernatural and clerical asceticism, by supernatural asceticism a kind if philosophy is meant which tries to evade suffering by coining the house of ideas (Platonism), being unified with the light (the concept highlighted in Buddhism) and offering the human stabilized cognition system (Kant's critical philosophy). By clerical asceticism, Nietzsche means, the approach of conflicting with the world and evading the living. The followers of this approach once were among the commanders and fighters and when they reached the old age, by coining the title of clerical class, became members of it. According to Nietzsche, such people, after losing their power and control over the others, they try to attack themselves and gain control over themselves, leading to creating another kind of asceticism. On the other hand, the positive asceticism which can provide a popper situation to train talented people is divided into two sections: the natural and pure philosophical asceticism. By natural asceticism, he means the hard and overwhelming practices which influence both soul and body and cause much suffering. Such asceticism, instead of destroying the instincts, will purge it and willingly accept the religious legal duties. The pure philosophical asceticism, on the other hand, is a philosophical approach in which the person would put the majority aside, providing a private atmosphere for himself observing the power in the history of philosophy and nature. According to Nietzsche the negative asceticism is an approach stemming from slaves morality, while the positive asceticism stems from the masters morality. It primarily seems that the kind of asceticism suggested by Hafez is similar to what Nietzsche calls it as clerical asceticism. Also, Hafez's definition of asceticism can match the one called by Nietzsche as pure philosophical asceticism. However, the asceticism suggested by Hafez must be considered the fifth kind, since, after all, Nietzsche's suggested form of asceticism is quite materialistic while that of Hafez is of spiritual nature.

Kolsoom Ghorbani Jouybari

According to the school of trans-historicism any system of thought likely to be compared with others, provided that they are formed around the same axis. Accordingly, this study shows that, since the central thought is that of transience, and despite the differences between Buddhism and Khayyam’s system of thought, it is likely that one can investigate his system of thought within the framework of “the noble truth” in Buddhism. Transience is the first noble truth and the truth of suffering. However, this idea is not inherently paradoxical or negative for Buddha or Khayyam; however, the suffering reveals itself when man is caught in the cycle of becoming and transience. This is the second noble truth. In both systems of thought, suffering deals with a paradox between the love of life and survival in the world and its transience. The basic solution in both systems of thought is living in the moment with perfect awareness. This is the third and fourth noble truth, though with some differences.

John L. Murphy