Buddhist Doctrine Research Articles

Singing to Buddha: The Case of a Buddhist Rock Band in Contemporary Indonesia

This article uses the case of True Direction to explore the development and performance of Buddhist music in contemporary Indonesia. I argue that although True Direction’s music in many ways resembles contemporary Christian music, the organization does not produce contemporary Buddhist songs—or “Buddhist rock” as I call this form of religious music—to replace Buddhist devotional practices with Christian-style worship service. While Irvyn Wongso and his colleagues, like their Christian counterparts, rely on religious rock music as an evangelical tool to attract a younger audience, they consider contemporary Buddhist music as complementary, rather than alternative, to existing Buddhist devotional practices. This study reveals that Indonesian Buddhists are “local geniuses” in the selective adaptation of popular music to present Buddhist doctrine and attract young followers in contemporary Indonesian society.

Zen Buddhist and Christian Views of Causality: A Comparative Analysis

This article presents a new approach to Japanese Zen Buddhism, alternative to its traditional views, which lack exact definitions of the relation between the meditator and the Buddha’s ultimate cause, dharma. To this end, I offer a comparative analysis between Zen Buddhist and Christian views of causality from the medieval to early modern periods. Through this, human causation with dharma in the Zen Buddhist meditations can be better defined and understood. Despite differences between religious traditions in deliberating human causal accounts, there are parallel ways of thinking and practicing between Christian and Buddhist meditators. Firstly, I reconstruct three sorts of Christian scholastic theories of creaturely causality: conservationism (realist or active view of our volitional action), occasionalism (passive view), and concurrentism (interactive view). Secondly, Zen Buddhist doctrines are introduced by placing particular emphasis on dharma as causal agency. Focusing on the Japanese Zen practice of meditation (zazen), finally I expound two theories of human causality: Sōtō Zen quasi-occasionalism following Master Dōgen’s teaching of enlightenment (satori), and Rinzai Zen quasi-concurrentism given the meditator’s interactive kōan practice. Hence, my comparative analysis explains why religious beings are causally active, passive, or interactive in relation to the first agency, God or dharma, whereby systematically establishing alternative definitions of human causality in Zen Buddhism.

Basic elements of Buddhist Counseling in Buddhist doctrine

Basic elements of Buddhist Counseling in Buddhist doctrine

Buddhist Eser Cātaka'daki Anlatıların Hint Kültürüne Etkisi ve Alegorik Yolla Görsel Yansımaları

Buddhizm'in merkezinde yer alan Buddha, yaşamı boyunca Hindistan'da bulunmuş, bu toprakları gezmiş ve öğretisini de yine ilk olarak bu kıtanın topraklarında aktarmıştır. Buddha'nın anlatmak ve öğretmek istediği bu felsefe, bu çalışmanın ana konusu olan Cātaka metni içinde geçen öykülerde yer almaktadır. Buddha, aydınlanmaya erişmeden önce bir Bodhisatta olarak yaşadığı olaylar bu eserde işlenmiştir. 547 anlatıdan oluşan bu eserde Bodhisatta'nın çeşitli formlarda bedenlendiği görülmektedir. Bu anlatılar içinde işlenen en önemli unsur ise, mesleği, kastı, dini ne olursa olsun Bodhisatta'nın her zaman yön gösterici, ahlâki değerlere önem veren ve doğruyu bilen biri olarak gösterilmesidir. Buddha hangi formda bedenlenmiş olursa olsun, öyküler Buddhist öğretiyi yaymayı amaçlamıştır. Bu nedenle Buddhizm'i yaymak bir amaç, öyküler ise bir araç niteliğindedir. Eserde anlatılan öykülerin Buddha'nın yaşamından izler taşıdığı düşünüldüğü için, Buddha'nın hayatı ele alınarak Cātaka anlatıları ile benzerlikleri tespit edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Bunun yanı sıra, bu çalışmada bu anlatıların Hint kültürüne hem edebi açıdan hem de alegorik yolla görsel yansımaları araştırılmıştır.

How religion and morality correlate in age of society 5.0: Statistical analysis of emotional and moral associations with Buddhist religious terms appearing on Japanese blogs

In this paper we analyzed how much religious vocabulary, in particular Buddhist vocabulary taken from the largest online dictionary of Buddhist terms, is present in everyday social space of Japanese people, particularly, in Japanese blog entries appearing on a popular blog service (Ameba blogs). We interpreted the level of everyday usage of Buddhist terms as appearance of such terms in the consciousness of people. We further analyzed what emotional and moral associations such contents generate. In particular, we analyzed whether expressions containing Buddhist vocabulary are considered appropriate or not from a moral point of view, as well as the emotional response of Internet users to Buddhist terminology. As a result of analyzing the data, we found out that Buddhist terms were in fact not absent as a theme from Japanese blogs and generated a strong emotional response. However, while the general reaction to several expressions using Buddhist terms was as expected, there were sometimes surprising twists in terms of social consequences, major discrepancies between what is perceived as ethically correct behavior between the Buddhist doctrine and the reasoning of the general population, as well as a considerate number of terms which have lost their original meaning and instead became slang expressions.

A Contextualized Self: Re-placing Ourselves Through Dōgen and Spinoza

ABSTRACTFor Dōgen, the Buddhist doctrine of “no self” ultimately presents the self as contextualized. The self is for him not an independent entity, but is intricately related to its environment, determined through the many beings around it. In a quite different philosophical setting, Spinoza developed similar ideas. While Dōgen challenged the specifics of a tradition that explicitly argues against the idea of an absolute self, Spinoza faced a more radical challenge: questioning an absolute, unchanging, and free self that the Western tradition has mostly taken for granted. After an analysis of the ideas of the two thinkers, the essay presents some important implications for contemporary times. Our domination of the earth and one another is arguably rooted in the individualism Dōgen and Spinoza seek to overcome. The insight that we are contextualized is a first step toward re-determining ourselves as placed within a larger whole.

An Entangled Relationship: A Lived Religion Approach to Theravāda Buddhism and Economics

From the perspectives of lived practices of Buddhists, Theravāda Buddhism and economics have a deeply intertwined relationship. My proposed theoretical method for the study of Buddhism and economics delineates two approaches: the doctrinal approach of Max Weber and a modified lived religion approach. The doctrinal approach, which focuses on Buddhist texts and the early monastic life, treats anything outside of a posited “pure Buddhism,” as a transformation of the “original” teachings into something new and different. The remnants of this idea of transformation can be seen in studies of Theravāda Buddhism, causing economic practices involving Buddhist monks to be analyzed as a deviation from the Buddha’s teachings. I propose moving beyond early Buddhism and text-based studies as a baseline for comparison by offering as an alternative a modified version of the lived religion method of Meredith McGuire. My theoretical modifications to this approach allow us to think about lived religion in the Theravāda Buddhist context. I recommend that the cultural logic of Theravāda Buddhism, in particular the economy of merit and contingent conjunctures of engagements with the market, need to be considered in order to avoid understanding Buddhist connections with the economy as a transformation of Buddhist doctrine.

Bringing a dialogue between Buddhist multilogicality and evolutionary science into the science classroom

In the context of the science versus creationism debate, Elizabeth Watts thoughtfully explores Buddhism as a model of compatibility between science and religion, and as inspiration for the pedagogical potential of mindfulness practices to promote student receptivity to scientific views of evolution. However, Watts focuses on modern Buddhist movements in the West that seek to align with rational scientific, materialist worldviews. To expand the dialogue, I focus instead on the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, and discuss ways that Mahayana Buddhist and scientific views conflict rather than cohere on their onto-epistemological and axiological grounds and on specific points of evolutionary theory. Further, I argue that the history and doctrines of Buddhism reflect and allow for a multilogicality (Kincheloe in The power of difference in knowledge production: multilogicality in the bricolage and postformalism, 2007) or pluralism of views and ways of knowing, and that the drive to modernize Buddhism by erasing its differences from Western science has resulted in a loss of its characteristic pluralism and axiological commitments. Therefore, in considering Watts’ proposal for engaging secularized mindfulness practices in the evolutionary science classroom, I suggest a return to an understanding of their traditional basis in commitments to generating compassion and care, and a re-valuing of multilogicality and difference in teaching and learning; only then will we truly enrich and support the understanding and receptivity of all students to evolutionary science.

Manipulating the Memory of Meat-Eating: Reading the Laṅkāvatāra’s Strategy of Introducing Vegetarianism to Buddhism

This paper examines vegetarianism in the eighth “no meat-eating” (amāṃsabhakṣaṇa) chapter of the Laṅkāvatāra with specific attention to how the sūtra confronts the previous dietary code (which allowed meat-eating) and combats Buddhist resistance to the new doctrine. This study corroborates previous observations that vegetarianism in Indian Buddhism was a response to outsiders’ censure, rather than an expression of a specific Buddhist doctrine. It goes on to explore how the Laṅkāvatāra introduces a new dietary norm, one that was incompatible with the preexisting monastic code that allowed monks to partake of meat pure in three aspects (trikoṭiśuddha). The Laṅkāvatāra replaced the three conditions for meat to be pure with the three modes of killing, thereby rendering the old regulation into a rule that makes any form of meat-eating impossible. In an effort to suppress intra-Buddhist resistance to vegetarianism, the sūtra prophesized the future appearance of anti-vegetarian Buddhists and identified them as heretics. Eliminating the past and future possibility of meat-eating, the Laṅkāvatāra defines Buddhism as a meat-free tradition.

A Comparative Study of the Buddhist Approach to Organizational Behaviour Based on the Canonical Sources

Organizational Behavior (OB) is one of the hot topics discussed in modern management and recognized as one of the most important factors for success of any organization. The interface between the behavior of individuals and the organization is known as the OB and it is the field of study devoted to understanding, explaining and ultimately improving the attitude and behavior of individuals and groups in organizations. In this connection the researcher has developed an OB model based on contemporary management thoughts. The aim of the research is to study the concepts relating to organizational behavior and compare Buddhist approach to organizational behavior based on canonical sources. The Buddhist teaching did not much focus on presenting very complex theories on human behavior like contemporary Western scholars who have developed various theories and models to interpret human behavior. Nevertheless the Buddhist doctrine was of more practical nature which addressed all the issues of human behavior of both laymen and disciples. The existence of the order of Saṅgha which is considered to be the oldest democratic organization in the world for more than 2500 years shows the soundness of the organization structure and the philosophy on which it was built. When studying the monastic order and the monastic discipline in depth one could understand the management skills of the Buddha and how He had applied Buddhist teachings in managing the monastic order. Thus the Buddhist approach to Organizational Behavior is well elaborated in the Vinayapiṭaka. Similarly the Buddhist teaching was focused on wellbeing of the family and the behavior of individuals. Sigālovādasutta alone can be considered as one of the most significant discourses for guiding the behavior of laymen. Similarly Parābava and Maṅgala are a few of the many suttas addressed almost all the issues one would come across in the family. As most of the economic activities are family based, behavior of the individuals and their traits such as attitudes, values, ethics and emotions had much impact on the economy and the society at large during that period. There are many discourses in the Suttapiṭaka which had clearly defined ways and means to change the behavior of individuals and disciplined them with firm changes in individual traits. It is interesting to note that some of the issues addressed by the United Nations to safeguard human rights had been identified and addressed through the pañcasīla and solutions for the most of the Sustainable Development Goals presented under ‘the 2030 Agenda’ too had been provided by the Buddha 2500 years ago. When studying the Canonical sources especially the Suttapiṭaka and Vinayapiṭaka with a view to compare the Buddhist perspective on organizational behavior against the contemporary management thoughts, it is evident that the Buddhist approach results in a permanent improvement in human behavior and the organization.Keywords: Contemporary Management, Organizational Behavior, Individual Traits, Monastic Order, Canonical Sources

The soul polemic in the Chinese religious tradition

The article is devoted to the evolution of the polemic of the soul between Buddhist supporters and its opponents, which were reflected in Chinese writing compositions written in the period of its distribution and expansion in China. The aim of this article is the opening of the essence of this polemic and its meaningfulness in the history of Buddhist expansion in China. In this connection, there are several tasks put forward : firstly, to analyze the religious situation that unfolded in China before Buddhist expansion; secondly, to consider the ideas about the soul, ascending to its ancient history; thirdly, to show the reasons for the evolution of the polemic concerning the soul; then, to show the polemic reflection in the compositions from the first collection of written monuments of “Hunminji,” which was composed prior to the formation of Buddhist schools in China. Scientific methods such as textual critical analysis and comparative, culture logical and historical approaches are used. As a result of this article, we have obtained the the reflection of Buddhist adaptation to the Chinese religious base and its transformation in this country, rich with its own spiritual and cultural traditions. The fundamental meaningfulness and content aspects are exposed between the Buddhist opponents and its supporters, mainly, between the Confucians coming from the bureaucratic circles and well-educated Buddhists. The gradual transition of the Buddhist soteriology to the canonical course is shown in the article. In conclusion, the results of the scientific research are summarized. The polemic of the soul concluded with the appearance of the works presented by Buddhist schools formed in China. Meanwhile, the idea of the soul as the ontological basis for rebirth continues to be popular in the doctrine of Buddhism.

Буддийские элементы антропологических представлений религиозного даосизма школы Цюаньчжэнь (по материалам Лун мэнь синь фа): концепция человеческой деятельности и сотериология

The article analyses anthropological ideas of one of the schools of religious Taoism – Quanzhen/ Longmen – in the aspect of identifying and considering the Buddhist elements of these ideas. For the school of Quanzhen, from the very moment of its appearance, there was a tendency toward religious syncretism/ synthesis, the desire to unite the principles and practice of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. The main source for the analysis was the text of the 17th century Long men xin fa (“The Law of the HeartConsciousness [according to the Tradition] Longmen”), which outlined the views of Wang Changyue, master of the Taoist school Quanzhen/Longmen, and also included a number of basic texts of the Quanzhen school, which outline the views of the founder and masters of the school of the first generation. The article discusses the two components of the School’s anthropological representations in which Buddhist influence is most clearly manifested: soteriology and the concept of human activity. The Buddhist doctrine of “activity/action” (karma) was incorporated into the representation system of the Taoist school Quanzhen. The «soteriological» statements in the Quanzhen/Longmen texts also often include Buddhist expressions that function in the texts in parallel with typically Taoist formulations

<i>Alagadd?pama Sutta</i> as a Scriptural Source for Understanding the Distinctive Philosophical Standpoint of Early Buddhism

The Alagadd?pama Sutta is the 22nd discourse of the Majjhima-nik?ya of the Pali canon. In the sutta itself it is mentioned that the Buddha’s delivery of this discourse was necessitated by the need to refute a wrong view held by one of his disciples named Ari??ha. Parallel versions of the sutta are found preserved in the Chinese ?gamas. The two main similes used in the sutta, those of the snake and of the raft, are referred to in the scriptures of a number of non-Therav?da Buddhist traditions as well, showing that the Buddhist doctrine represented in it is early and authentic and the message contained in the sutta was considered to be extremely significant by many early Buddhist traditions. The Alagadd?pama Sutta shows the Buddha’s role as one of the earliest thinkers in the history of philosophy who engaged in a critique of the craving for metaphysics and dogma frequently exhibited in those who propound worldviews. The Buddha did not value a belief or a worldview on grounds of the logical skill with which it was constructed but on grounds of the transformative effect it could have on the character of an individual and the sense of wellbeing it could promote. There are several discourses of the Pali canon which give prominence to this aspect of the Buddha’s teaching. Among them the Brahmaj?la Sutta of the D?gha-nik?ya and the A??hakavagga of the Suttanip?ta need special mention. The Buddha is seen to have consistently avoided engagement in speculative metaphysics, pointing out that the goal of his teaching goes beyond all such engagement. The Buddha himself distinguished his own worldview as a Teaching in the Middle (majjhena) avoiding the common tendency of humankind to be trapped by either of the two extremes, Eternalism or Annihilationism. These distinctive standpoints of the Buddha are all seen to be amply represented in the Alagadd?pama Sutta.

아론과 무아론의 혼재된 세계관

The doctrine of Atman (self) and Anatman (non-self) embraces not only a religious perspective for Buddhists who are in great agony and want to solve their struggles, but also an ontological and altruistic world-view which surrounds the self in modern society. The world-view of mixed sense of Atman and Anatman is beneficial to our perception in understanding human suffering and social phenomenon for ancient Buddhists and people in modern society. Upon gaining understanding of the features of the self and the world, it is possible to gain further understanding of the multi-layered significance in various world-views in modern society that are based on comprehending Atman and Anatman.BR The interpretation that a point of view using Atman and Anatman and a perspective based on Buddhism suggests a solution and a broader view of a complex world. The perspective of Buddha transcends the world he lived in.BR He associated the structure of the cosmos with human mind and described doctrine and reincarnation through the concept of Trailokya. It is quite challenging to understand the various world-views that can arise from Karma, reincarnation, and Atman and Anatman. It is as complicated as world-views present in modern society. ‘The wheel of life’ that visualizes everything as one describes Buddhist doctrines and the system of philosophy psychologically and physically. It reveals the inner world of humans and of things which transcend it.

Significance of the Buddhist Doctrine of Samsara introduced in China

Significance of the Buddhist Doctrine of Samsara introduced in China

Buddhist Integration for Organizational Management to Strengthening Health and Learning for Thai Society

The integration organization of the Buddhism was reinforced to create the model for continuous sustainable follow the good governance according to Buddhist principle as the tools for organization management. The writer interested in this application of the concept and management principle for organization development in Thai society that could be used as a role model. This way was applied Buddhist doctrine that consisted of Trisikkha: Sila, Smathi and Panna for find out the best way for suitable learning and development both human’s body and mind that could make Thai society will be became to the land of virtue and knowledge based society. Then the relationship of government, Local Administration, Buddhist organization, people and community for strengthen health and learning in Thai society with Buddhist integration could be applied to all procedure management process with basic management theory because of Buddhist was a basic for Thai people that would be change society to become to strengthen health and learning in Thai society beneath globalization and good governance principles.

The Isomorphism of Space and Time in Debates over Momentariness

In the course of his critique of the Buddhist doctrine of universal momentariness, Udayana argues for an isomorphism between our understandings of space and time, which is meant to undercut the Buddhists’ well-known “inference from existence.” The present paper examines these arguments from Udayana’s Ātmatattvaviveka, together with Ratnakīrti’s treatment of them in his Kṣaṇabhaṅgasiddhi Anvayātmikā. As an historical study, the paper aims to elucidate the connections between Udayana and Ratnakīrti, and the implications of those connections for the dependence of the inference from existence upon various arguments which appear elsewhere in Ratnakīrti’s corpus. As a work of philosophical interpretation, the paper will clarify what is at stake in the local debate over the space–time isomorphism. Ratnakīrti’s position will best be understood as an account on which different simple causal properties are ascribed, or indexed, to an allegedly persisting entity at different times, while Udayana will prefer an account on which complex properties indexed to the place and/or time of the effect—for instance, “generating a sprout in this particular place” or “producing a visual awareness at a certain time”—will belong to a persisting thing throughout its entire existence. Furthermore, the acceptance (by Udayana) or rejection (by Ratnakīrti) of space and time as substantial entities in their own right, as distinct from the entities which are conventionally said to exist in space and time, will have important implications for the accounts of causality that each thinker can accept.

RESILIENCE, AGENCY, AND EVERYDAY LOJONG IN THE TIBETAN DIASPORA

ABSTRACTDespite exposure to political violence, many Tibetans in the diaspora avoid framing past experience in terms of trauma. Instead, they deploy shared cultural understandings often infused with Buddhist doctrine, to reframe loss, violence and displacement. Drawing on 14 months of ethnographic research in Dharamsala, India conducted in the Tibetan language, this article investigates how Tibetans utilise everyday cultural wisdom framed by lojong (mind-training) teachings to cope with adversity. Here, compassion practices serve to orient members of the diaspora towards recovery even, and perhaps, especially, when they are struggling. In this article, I argue that this cultural form of resilience is better conceived of as a practice of agency than a mental health practice, despite a global interest in adapting meditation and mindfulness for use in clinical settings. This study also challenges theory on structural violence and social suffering, which tends to overemphasise victimhood, bypassing the ordinary (and extraordinary) ways that people find agency.

Juan L. Ortiz y el budismo: vacuidad y reescritura del dolor

espanolEn mas de una ocasion, Juan L. Ortiz sugirio posibles anclajes de su poetica en puntuales accesos a la doctrina del budismo zen. En su escritura, la luz es la principal herramienta para delinear las formas que subyacen al despliegue de la materia natural; se trata de una poesia que, guiada por una voluntad “iluminadora”, insiste en proyectar luz alli donde se ensenorea la oscuridad. La iluminacion budista (la disolucion de las oscuridades de la mente q EnglishMore than once, Juan L. Ortiz in his poetic writing suggested possible references in his poetry to specific aspects of the Zen Buddhist doctrine. In his work, light is the main tool for delineating the forms that underlie the unfolding of natural matter. This poetry, guided by an “enlightening” will, insists on projecting light where darkness dominates. Buddhist enlightenment (the dissolution of the mind darkness that generates suffering and pain) is the unfailing horizon towards which the path to dharma leads. And the poetry of Ortiz, too, seems to slowly and tirelessly persevere on that path. In this paper, we try to suggest some approaches to his poetry, to key notions of the Buddhist doctrine, especially the emptiness one, the last nature of the pathway of human life, as Buddhism understands it.

Para traduzir o Cânone Pāli: a <em>Reine Sprache</em> do outro lado da fita de Möbius

O presente estudo se propõe a analisar algumas potencialidades de tradução do cânone pāli, língua em que estão os escritos do budismo Theravāda. Para tanto, utilizamos o conceito de língua pura (reine Sprache) tal qual formulado por Benjamin. Depois disso, procedemos a uma leitura do conceito à luz da doutrina budista. Assim, defendemos uma Revelação sem Criador, o que nos conduz à ideia de língua pura como parâmetro cármico. Na nossa discussão, apontamos para o traduzir como prática. Em nossa conclusão, traduzimos alguns versos do Dhammapada e os discutimos, e respondemos a algumas possíveis objeções.