This article explores the spiritual culture of the Oirats against the backdrop of major historical transformations during the Yuan and early Ming dynasties. The authors briefly examine the shift in the Oirats religious beliefs from the shamanism that prevailed in the pre-Mongol period to the gradual adoption of Buddhism through migration and contact with other cultures. Our research reveals that the Oirats developed a rich culture encompassing an epic heritage and a body of mythological and religious concepts. The article traces the role of political and cultural factors, including the participation of the Oirats in the conquest policy of Genghis Khan, their integration into the cultural system of the Mongol Empire, as well as the further rise of Oirat rulers in the Ming era. Attention is also given to the consolidation of Buddhism, which began to take hold under Toghon and became the state religion under Esen. Moreover, Esen employed high-ranking Buddhist monks in the capacity of state preceptors, underscoring the alignment of the nations ideological framework with the strengthening of relations with the Ming dynasty. Historical sources confirm active diplomatic exchanges between the Oirats and Ming China. It is concluded that the Oirats’adoption of Buddhism played a decisive role in preserving their ethno-cultural integrity and fostering unity amidst interethnic interactions.
This study examined the recontextualization of Nanyang Buddhism and its practices at the Guangzhou Guangxiao Si, considering their adaptation to the requirements of contemporary urban communities in China and Southeast Asia, as well as local cultural values. This research employed historical methodologies alongside a qualitative framework that included semi-structured interviews. This investigation analyzed the recontextualization of Nanyang Buddhism by conducting a textual analysis of the Lankavatara Sutra and Avatamsaka Sutra, which was further supported by interviews with nine participants which included senior monks, scholars, and members of the Chinese diaspora in Guangzhou, South China; Malaysia; and Singapore. The results revealed that the Guangxiao Si plays a strategic role in the adaptation of Mahāyāna Buddhism to meet the social and spiritual needs of the Chinese diaspora community by integrating spiritual teachings with local cultural practices. This process illustrates Buddhism’s adaptability to evolving socio-economic conditions and highlights the significance of temples in influencing the spiritual identity of the Chinese community in Southeast Asia. We recommend that other researchers compare the recontextualization processes of Buddhism in Southeast Asia and analyze the role of the Guangxiao Si in cultural diplomacy and international relations.
The international MenteClara Foundation invites, together with the University of Flores, the Maimónides University and the Scientific University of Peru, within the framework of COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning), students who are pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, to participate in the production of bibliographic review articles that contemplate in their development the core theoretical constructs relevant to Positive Psychology: subjective well-being, psychological well-being, flourishing, perceived social support, spirituality, optimism, flow, emotional intelligence, flourishing, motivation, resilience, growth post-traumatic, self-esteem, autonomy, purpose in life, well-being, coping strategies, satisfaction with life, ability to forgive, character strengths, positive emotions.
This paper explores the adaptations Buddhism has made to digital payment methods in the context of the Chinese mainland. To provide the audience with a relatively comprehensive understanding of the general context in which the new method of donation is applied, this paper first introduces the development and digital landscape of the internet and third-party payments in the Chinese mainland. Then, statistical analysis is used to make large-scale claims by analyzing 1328 donation records made to Donglin Monastery in Mount Lu with the statistical software SPSS to determine whether the digital donation method is linked to the purpose of donations, or the amount of money being donated, and to what extent it substitutes for traditional donation methods.
This article explores the spatiality of Buddhism in the metropolis Shenzhen through its revitalization process in the past decades alongside the rapid expansion of the city. The author explores Buddhist practice communities within an urban village (chengzhongcun 城中村) and the central Buddhist temple build in the same neighbourhood. The article aims to illuminate some of the particularities and tensions of urbanization, environment, and the revival of Buddhism in the PRC. Building on Felix Guatarri's thesis of the three ecologies, the author presents a descriptive account of the main active communities in the examined neighbourhood. Furthermore, the article argues that, in order to understand the workings of Buddhist configurations in contemporary urban China, we must look at the registers of the environment, social structure, and human subjectivity. The article suggests that these three ecologies are interconnected and make up the ecology of Shenzhen Buddhism.
This paper attempts to integrate the perspective of holistic education (a postmodern view of education) with Buddhist worldviews. It describes “the five dimensions of reality” that include objective reality, social reality, cosmic reality, infinite reality, and universal reality, referring to ideas derived from Mahayana Buddhist thought. Holistic education is defined as an attempt to explore the multiple dimensions of reality in our existence. It involves ideas such as “awakening” (bodhi) and “enlightenment” (satori) at its core. Therefore, Buddhism plays a central role in the development of holistic education by providing such concept as “enlightenment education” (Thurman).
In Buddhism, the fundamental question regarding practice is what practice will allow one to overcome the suffering of samsara. Shinran offered a unique answer to that question based on the transformation of his understanding of Buddhism brought about through his encounter with Hōnen, a Buddhist thinker who advocated exclusively practicing the recitation of the nenbutsu. This paper aims to clarify the significance and originality of Shinran’s grasp of what that practice is through a careful reading of his works.
Shinran holds that his encounter with Hōnen’s teaching led him to shift from the self-power practices of the Path of Sages to the Other Power of the Pure Land tradition. After describing the traditional view of practice laid out in the Path of Sages, which aims to attain enlightenment through severing one’s mental afflictions and developing wisdom through meditative concentration, I discuss Hōnen’s understanding of the nenbutsu as an Other Power practice selected in the Amida’s original vow. From Hōnen’s perspective, people are incapable bringing about the sort of transformation that was sought after through those traditional, self-power practices such as keeping precepts and engaging in mediation. Rather than engaging in such an impossible endeavor, Hōnen advocated reliance on the compassionate action of Amida’s original vow, which promised to bring all who relied on it to ultimate enlightenment.
Then I discuss how Shinran developed Hōnen’s ideas to shift the significance of practice to one entirely based on Other Power faith. Shinran does not focus on the act of vocal recitation of the nenbutsu, but instead emphasizes the importance of the experience of hearing the significance of the name of Amida as explained by awakened predecessors and the arising of faith toward that message. From Shinran’s perspective, the name of Amida represents the virtues of true suchness that have already been fully realized entirely independent of the actions or intentions of the individual practitioner. For Shinran, recognizing and accepting the virtues that are shown to exist through the Amida’s name is the key to being liberated from samsara and is possible in an instant of insight that is available to anyone regardless of their abilities or actions.
Through these considerations, this paper shows how Shinran’s emphasis of Other Power faith is an essential element of his clarification of the True Pure Land Buddhism as the consummation of Mahayana Buddhism.
Early Buddhism was a monastic religion: the Buddha’s disciples were mendicant monks. However, there are many laypeople today who are practising Buddhists, meditating and following the eightfold Buddhist path towards nirvāṇa.This paper investigates how real this apparent inconsistency is. First, it is shown that the Buddha typically did not even speak about his own insights and doctrines to his lay followers; he only preached about general moral principles and gave wise advice, often with a noticeable conservative tinge. Since it is clear that Buddhism was not esoteric (i.e., it did not contain secrets revealed only to the initiated), this state of affairs can be explained only by supposing that the Buddha thought that true Buddhism was useful only for monks. It is never explicitly explained why it was so, but from several hints an answer may be tentatively reconstructed. Buddhist theory was only needed as a basis of Buddhist practice, and in the Buddha’s age and environment, such practice was virtually impossible for laypersons living and toiling in a village, with a family, and taking care of children. One could not find the peace essential for meditation. Furthermore, such worldly life presupposes strong motivations and unavoidably generates desires, whereas Buddhist practice consists of the annihilation of precisely those desires.
The Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism inherited the legacy of the early transmission of Yogācāra teachings through the Dilun and Shelun schools, signifying a scholarly endeavour to synthetise the Yogācāra and Tathāgatagarbha teachings. In contrast to the Indian Yogācāra tradition, which was subsequently introduced to China by the renowned monk and traveller Xuanzang 玄奘 (602–664), these arly schools emphasised a kind of actual or pure reality behind the phenomenal world and was not satisfied with the worldview that the world can be traced back to a tainted entity, the ālayavijñāna, the source of all phenomena. This distinctive Chinese viewpoint finds explicit expression in the apocryphal Chinese text theAwakening of Faith Mahāyāna (Dasheng Qixin lun 大乘起信論), which has become one of the most important philosophical treatises in the history of Chinese Buddhism. This text proposes the concept of one-mind, which has the tathatā aspect (zhenru men 真如門) and the saṃsāra aspect (shengmie men 生滅門). Huayan exegetes, who authored commentaries on the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra, the scripture that they regarded as the most perfect teaching of the Buddha, were influenced by the Awakening of Faith and the early Chinese Yogācāra schools in their understanding of this scripture. In this article, we are going to introduce the teachings of Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra that were interpreted as not only the appearance of Yogācāra thought but also as an unequivocal articulation of the concept of one-mind as it was put forward in the Awakening of Faith by Huayan scholars. We will show how this concept was further elaborated in Huayan philosophy and practice.
Robert Baker Aitken and Anne Hopkins Aitken cofounded Diamond Sangha (DS) as a small living room sangha in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, in 1959. By 1993, DS served as the primary hub for an international network of sanghas, extending across the Pacific region. This paper traces DS's development from its humble beginnings into a major conduit for the flow of trans-Pacific Zen from Hawaiʻi to the continental USA, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand. It argues that DS played a vital role in the rapid growth of Zen throughout the Pacific region by utilizing a horizontal networking style of visiting teachers nurturing local leadership in distant sanghas, creating a lattice of interrelated sanghas across the Pacific. It likewise argues that Aitken's vision for DS entailed a blending of innovation and tradition, straddling the divide between the imperatives to meet the needs of local contexts and to preserve inherited styles of practice.
Tourism is a very important industry for Thailand. Spiritual tourism is one of the outstanding types of tourism for a Buddhist country. Thailand has plenty of attractive Buddhist temples which have a long history, distinctive architecture or even famous Buddhist images. This study aimed to collect information about temples, their potential and directions for promotion of Buddhism-based tourism in Chonburi and Sriracha which are important travel destinations in this area. In undertaking the study the researchers explored 45 temples in this area, of which, 20 were selected for qualitative research via in-depth interviews with the leaders of the temples. In addition, questionnaires were collected from 385 Thai tourists about their motivation to visit temples, and based on the various research findings the authors created routes for traveling, and present recommendations for improving temples as Buddhism-based destinations. The results of this project demonstrate that these 20 temples can be promoted because tourists have a high level of motivation to visit temples. A range of Buddhism-based travel programmes are proposed, but in order to succeed the temples need to improve their safety systems, public relations, and staff service quality. Assistance is also required for the development of stakeholder engagement especially connections with the government and the private sector.
Philosophy. Psychology. Religion, Philosophy of religion. Psychology of religion. Religion in relation to other subjects
With over 90% of Thai citizens identifying as Buddhist, how are Buddhist values communicated to youth? In the past, the temple was the center for learning, where elders taught their grandchildren how to chant and pay respect to monks. But in contemporary Thailand, this system is quickly losing influence. Because of this, a number of strategies have recently developed to communicate Buddhist teachings to Thai youth. This paper investigates two significant strategies: private schools with Buddhist-inspired curricula and media targeted towards Thai youth. The first part of this article focuses on the Buddhist education philosophy of Than Ajahn Jayasaro, who is the spiritual director of two schools in Thailand. The second section highlights the media produced by Phra Maha Wutthichai Vajiramedhi and Phra Maha Sompong Talaphutto, who hope to reach younger generations with relevant topics, which they infuse with Buddhist teachings.
This article shows the results produced by going back to the economic model based on loans from the International Monetary Fund and its recommended policies. It covers Argentina's political and legal background as from 1956, when economic policies highlighting foreign capital as a development gateway, prioriziting the market and relegating the State from the economic process began, to the current socio-economic state including the technical and legal tools used for the model's conception and execution in the different periods Argentina joined the IMF. Finally, it argues, in the light of the current economic indicators, the advantages and disadvantages of the neoliberal model for the different sectors of society.
During the last few decades, it is observed that the economics and the ecology of the farming landscapes are not moving in the right direction. Farmers are facing many challenges as the cost of food production is escalating but crops are not sold at profitable prices. Even capital intensive chemical farming has a role in environmental degradation and adversely affected human health. These issues are identified as the root cause of various social and ecological problems. In such circumstances, cultivation of ecological consciousness based upon the basic principles of socio-ecological sustainability is emerging as the greatest need of the hour. The middle way path of lord Buddha illustrates the psycho-spiritual perspective of environmental conservation, sustainable development, and peaceful co-existence. It emphasizes community-driven mechanisms for inclusive dialogue, contemplation, meditation, and conflict prevention. With the help of a case study, this work highlights the role of Anupashyana Farming in ensuring the socio-economic well-being of participating farmers. It is an integrated farming approach that combines Buddhist ecological values, principles of Buddhist Economics, the role of social capital in rural transformation, and digital agriculture services.
‘Essence-function’ (<i>ti-yong</i> 體用), also called ‘substance-function,’ has been a constant topic of debate in monastic and academic communities in China. One group of scholars insists that the concept is derived from the Confucian tradition, while the other maintains that it originates with the Buddhist tradition. These opposing opinions are not merely the arguments of antiquity, but have persisted to our present time. This paper investigates the concept of ‘essence-function,’ focusing on its origin and conceptual development in the Buddhist and the Confucian traditions. This concept has become a basic framework of Chinese religions. Its root appears already in ancient Confucian and Daoist works such as the <i>Xunzi</i> and the <i>Zhouyi cantong qi</i>. It is, however, through the influence of Buddhism that ‘essence’ and ‘function’ became a paradigm used as an exegetical, hermeneutical and syncretic tool for interpreting Chinese philosophical works. This dual concept played a central role not only in the assimilation of Indian Buddhism in China during its earlier phases but also in the formation of Neo-Confucianism in medieval times. This paper shows that the paradigm constituted by ‘essence’ and ‘function’ resulted not from the doctrinal conflicts between Confucianism and Buddhism but from the interactions between them.
The article analyzes the traditional beliefs and contemporary state of ritual practices related to Mount Bogdo - a natural place of worship - among the Kalmyks. The paper suggests that the ethnic objects of worship divided into landscape (natural) and man-made ones reflect the syncretism of religious convictions of the Kalmyks comprising elements of both pre-Buddhist beliefs and Buddhism as such. The research notes that after the ancestors of the Kalmyks arrived in the Lower Volga steppes from Central Asia, they found themselves in alien suroundings and, thus, needed some new places to worship. So, they started selecting such landscape objects - to designate them as sacred - that resembled those left behind in their ancestral lands, due to which the culture-specific basis was retained under the new conditions. According to the Kalmyk traditional view of the world, rising grounds - like mounts in Central Asian territories - were considered to link the Upper and Lower worlds, places that secured the circulation of life. This is evident from life-cycle rites: any mount (a hill or rising ground) in its upright projection was perceived as both a fertility center bestowing powers and multiple progeny, and a grave site. Moreover, mounts and rising grounds were viewed upon by the Kalmyks as anthropomorphic deities which was mirrored in the terms to denote their parts similar to names of human body parts. The work concludes that any rising ground or hill is still locally perceived by the Kalmyks as a place of some deity's stay supposed to act as protector of a certain kin community and their living territory. In a wider sense, any hill or rising ground is traditionally considered to be a place of the White Old Man's (Kalm. Tsaγan Aav) residence - a universal protector-deity of all ethnic Kalmyk communities. The White Old Man's cult and the related Kalmyk cult of ova replaced the ancient beliefs about mountains as sacred symbols and their protector-deities in the new territories with differing landscapes. At the same time, the long and wide presence of Buddhism among the Kalmyks resulted in the emergence of somewhat syncretic forms to comprise elements of ancient beliefs which can be traced in folk rites performed in cult places. The paper suggests that Mount Bogdo was chosen by the Kalmyks as a landscape place of worship due to the reasons as follows: the highest geographic location in the steppes, its unusual form and color, the ability to 'emit' some specific sounds in windy weather. The choice was also determined by the fact the people had come from highlands, thus, giving rise to tales and legends according to which the mount had been transported as a sacred center from ancestral territories; corresponding calendar and life-cycle rites. Though the cult of Mount Bogdo is actually based on ancient beliefs, it is nowadays closely tied with the Buddhist tradition. In the context of the emerging ethnic and religious self-actualization trends with pilgrimage as a social institution, as well as due to the development of Kalmykia's tourist cluster, Mount Bogdo has become place of regular public resort.
History (General), Oriental languages and literatures
The article deals with the life and work of Bidiya Dandaron, an outstanding Soviet scholar, Orientalist, Buddhologist and spiritual teacher who largely contributed to the religious life of the Russian Buddhist Sangha as well as to the development of Soviet Oriental studies and Buddhology. Dandaron’s tragic fate is an example of how the Soviet policy affected believers in the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and in the entire USSR.
Starting from an ethnological enquiry into the Vietnamese cult of ancestors in a Buddhist context in France, this article deals with the reflexive dimension of this kind of research. It shows that as an object of enquiry, religion is difficult to grasp because it involves values that often remain unspoken. The article will briefly present the specificities of Buddhism and of the Vietnamese cult of ancestors and discuss the conditions of their coexistence in Vietnam and of their original form of contact in France. Throughout, however, its mains concern will be to reflect on the contingencies (intersubjective tensions and misunderstandings) the researcher had to face, but also on the way he used them to interrogate his field. It will raise the issue of otherness and, more implicitly, reflect on the ethics of research within the framework of a study on religion today.