Buddhist Philosophy Research Articles

Our social legacy will go on: Understanding outcomes of family SME succession through Buddhism

Family SME succession has repeatedly remarked how succession is a function of protecting a biological and material legacy for future generations. While scholarship has suggested that family SME succession to non-kin warrants further exploration, few have identified religion as a factor in the succession process. Our aim is to develop theory-building in this field by offering a counter-example that runs contrary to existing explanations of kin succession, and to illuminate the role of religion in that process. Our study of 12 Buddhist family SMEs shows a demonstrable link between family SME succession and Buddhist philosophy. In particular, the Buddhist principles of non-attachment and impermanence were instrumental in influencing how firms rejected succession as a biological and material legacy process. In contrast, Buddhist family SMEs conceived succession as the continuance of the social legacy, whereby those who were best-placed to carry on the social legacy were selected as successors. Implications and opportunities for further research are offered.

EXPLORING TOURIST PERCEPTIONS ON BUDDHIST TEMPLE STAY PROGRAMS IN SRI LANKA

Temple stay program is a newly formed but comparably mature religious and cultural tourism product in Sri Lanka that accommodates and caters to tourists in Buddhist temples and allows them to experience Theravada Buddhist traditions and culture. Through, temple stay program turns out to be a distinctive phenomenon which successfully establishes a unique identity of Buddhist culture and tourism, as well as expand the influence of Theravada Buddhism. However, the respective authorities have paid a little attention to religious and cultural purposes when visiting Sri Lanka by tourist. As a result, the main issue for this study stems from this scenario. Sri Lanka is researching and trying to launch new products, including Buddhist temple stay program, for the Sri Lankan tourism industry to attract more tourists who will benefit to tourism development. Education of Buddhist philosophy, spiritual development, develop self confidence, develop psychological strength and culture of Sri Lanka are main areas covered by temple stay program in Sri Lanka. This study is aim to gain and understanding on the current tourist perception on temple stay program in Sri Lanka. The main objectives of this study are: a) to identify the current behavioral pattern of tourist who engaged with temple stay programs in Sri Lanka; 2) to examine tourist perception on Buddhist temple stay programs in Sri Lanka as a concept of tourism development; 3) to identify the challenges facing by tourist while engage with Buddhist temple stay programs in Sri Lanka. This study conducted using structured questionnaire to collect primary data with 80 local and foreign tourist who engaged with temple stay programs in Kandy, Gampaha and Badulla district in Sri Lanka. The major source for information was the qualitative tool of in-depth interviews with tourists. Secondary data sources such as previous studies were the most significant used in this study; books, journals, reports, magazines and online data sources. The simple statistical analyses like demographic details and other patterns can be performed using the MS Excel software. The results of this study indicate that there is a positive tourist perception about temple stay programs in Sri Lanka. The respective authorities need to be identify the lacking areas and in order to develop strategies to maintain standards and improve temple stay programs in Sri Lanka. KEYWORDS: Temple stay program,Buddhist tourism, Spiritual tourism ,Tourism industry

Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature, edited by Rafal K. Stepien.

Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature, edited by Rafal K. Stepien. State University of New York Press, 2020. 398pp. Hb. $95.00, ISBN-13: 9781438480718; Pb. $26.95, ISBN-13: 9781438480701.

Review of: Rafal K. Stepien, ed., Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature

Review of: Rafal K. Stepien, ed., Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature

Care for the Environment and Environmental Crime Based on Theravada Buddhist Philosophy

From past to present, global compressions on human and environmental systems are more likely to increase than ever before in human history. With the science and technology advancement, we are living in the age of the global village that enables more convenient and brings us closer together. However, this also means that human being is suffering from global environmental crisis including the threat of war, economic crises, racial conflicts, environmental degradation, and environmental crime. This paper represents library-based work to date in Buddhist contemporary and useful perspectives and strategies on environmental protection and prevention in the backdrop of growing consumerism and capitalism influenced by western cultural in post-globalization era. Comparing to other countries, Thailand faces various environmental problems and some of them could become to environmental crime such as illegal wildlife trade; smuggling ozone-depleting substances; illicit trade in hazardous waste and pollution; illegal mining; illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing; illegal logging and associated trade in stolen timber. Since Thailand is one of largely Buddhist practical countries, measures to conserve the environment can draw on the principles and precepts of Lord Buddha’s teachings, known as Tripitaka. In Lord Buddha’s lifetime, environmental problems were not salient, but surprisingly, Lord Buddha recognised such problems because they are related to natural law. Accordingly, he established disciplinary rules for monks to live as models of not destroying the environment. The five precepts of Buddhism are the examples of the main principals in Buddhism which is regulations regarding the relation with environmental crime protection and humanity.

Language and Its Limits: Meaning, Reference and the Ineffable in Buddhist Philosophy

Buddhist schools of thought share two fundamental assumptions about language. On the one hand, language (śabda) is identified with conceptual thinking (kalpanā), which according to the Buddhist doctrine (dharma) separates us from the momentary and fleeting nature of reality (satya, “truth”). Language is comprised of generally applicable forms, which fuel the reificatory proclivity for clinging to the distorted – and ultimately fictious – belief in substantial existence. On the other hand, the distrust of language is mitigated by the doctrine of ineffability (anirdeśya), which although asserts that reality is beyond the scope of linguistic description, submits that philosophical analyses of key Buddhist concepts is a means of overcoming the limitations that language imposes on our experience and facilitating insight into the nature of reality (bodhi). This paper provides an overview of Buddhist philosophy of language, with an emphasis on the dialectical view of language as indispensable but ultimately insufficient for contemplation. The Buddhist discussions of ineffability are explicated and compared with its treatment in modern Occidental thought, specifically the similarities and differences with Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language.

Philosophical Oriental Studies. By the 100th Anniversary of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1921-2021)

The Russian Oriental studies are rich and diverse in their disciplines. The focus of research activities conducted mainly at the university centres of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, and during Soviet times in the capitals of some republics (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc.), was largely determined by the domestic political and geopolitical interests of the Russian Empire. Thus, a philosophical aspect in oriental studies, as well as university philosophical education practical^ did not exist. The changes brought by the revolution of 1917 have greatly affected all fields of social life, including the academic milieu. The article examines a complex and contradictory path of development of the national philosophy, on the example of the Institute founded in 1921 by Gustav Gustavovich Speth (1879-1937), nowadays the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The latter has become the main focal point of the philosophical research activities in the former Soviet Union. Particular attention is paid to the liberation from the Eurocentrism inherited from imperial times concerning the spiritual heritage of the peoples of the East as a whole, and in philosophy in particular. The pivotal points of its activity became “History of Philosophy” in 3 Volumes (19411943) and “History of Philosophy” in 6 Volumes (1957-1966). The real breakthrough was the encyclopedias, such as: “The New Philosophical Encyclopedia” in 4 volumes (2001); “Indian philosophy. Encyclopedia” (2009); “The Philosophy of Buddhism: Encyclopedia” (2011). The Orientalist aspect in higher philosophical education nowadays becomes more visible. The recent international recognition of the achievements of the Russian Orientalist philosophical studies regardless of a relatively small number of specialists is largely due to their collective efforts and close cooperation.

THE BUDDHIST SOLDIER: A MADHYAMAKA INQUIRY

ABSTRACT Dialogue between international humanitarian law (IHL) and Buddhism draws attention to the challenging question of the nature and identity of the Buddhist soldier. Here, the Buddhist soldier is considered not as a simple binary contradiction but as a complex dynamic paradox that can be unfolded, explored and understood through the use of Buddhist philosophy. The dialectical logic of Madhyamaka is harnessed through dialectical process analysis (DPA), a method that shows complex dynamic relationships in relatively accessible and legible spatial form, as maps. DPA maps are used to analyse the complex, dynamic nature of military duty, the soldier as responsible individual, and the soldier in socio-political context. Connections between the Mahāyāna Buddhist ideal of the bodhisattva and the Jungian Warrior Hero archetype are explored. A model is proposed for the ethical conduct of military operations in accordance with IHL, which includes the failure of ethics and law in the case of military atrocity. Ethics are discussed in both Buddhist and more general terms as ‘natural ethics’, for the critical test is not some parochial religious orthodoxy, but practical compliance with IHL in the field of conflict. Difficulties that the practice of ethical soldiering faces are noted. These will not be overcome without significant change, so implications are noted for management education, cultural change and organisational development in military training.

Tantric Buddhism in Nepal

Tantrism is the science of practical spiritualism. Tantrism is the practical way out of enlightenment. It is the perfect mix of theoretical and empirical knowledge of liberation. Although there are different arguments for and against tantric Buddhism. To find out the basic overview of Tantric Buddhism the study has been conducted. It is a literature review of Tantric Buddhism in Nepal. In conclusion, the study found that there is a great contradiction between Buddhist philosophy with the law of cause and effect. It is difficult to make ritual action conform to such a law, as he demonstrated.

Chakhar-Gebshi ‘s Concept of a Pious Monk

Buddhism occupies an important place in the history of culture of the Mongolian peoples, in particular from the 16th century, which corresponds to the third stage of the spread of the Buddhist religion among the Mongols. Although Buddhist teachings have wide influence on everyday life, the philosophy of Buddhism was understandable to a very small circle of adherents. For the majority of the population, ethical and didactic literature and the authority of teachers were much more important. In this regard, the image of the clergy was to be the standard of Buddhist behavior. There are amounts of non-canonical literature on the rules and instructions for righteous behavior, addressed to both laity and clergy. The article analyzes the ideal image of a monk, according to the requirements of Chakhar-gebshi Lubsantsultim on the basis of two works: “Biography of Chakhar-gebshi”, compiled by his disciple Luvsansamduvnima in 1818, and the work of Chakhar-gebshi entitled as a “Blue Book, History of Erdeni Dushi Monastery”. The biographical method used for characterizing Chakhar-gebshi allowed to show his life and him as a strict monk as a model to be followed. The methods of source study and comparative analysis were used for constructing and estimating of a model of religious behavior. The materials from “The Blue Book” ‒ a work of a monastic charter ‒ are general for monastic education and monastic environment in Mongolian Buddhism. The importance of keeping the teachings and religion of Buddha in purity and maintaining the moral image of his followers as an authority for the laity has been emphasized many times in the works of various authors. In this regard, the definitions of a pious monk written down by Chakhar-gebshi represent a complete system that combines basic Buddhist precepts. Keywords: Chakhar-gebshi, moral prescription, biography, Mongolian Buddhism, monks, charter

Mission of buddhist university: cultural and anthropological foundations

The fundamental problem of a modern university is its identity, its self-determination, its design of its mission. Cardinal changes in the external environment, new social demands, the emergence of a global knowledge society, tough economic competition have also affected the higher education system. Determining the mission of the university has always been one of the most important epistemological tasks of the philosophy of science and education. Buddhism, Buddhist philosophy are characterized by a holistic teaching about the world and man, their deep relationship. At all stages of its historical and cultural development, the values ​​and truths of Buddhism were transmitted primarily through educational institutions, forming a unique educational tradition. The educational tradition as a basic component of Buddhist culture is one of the main transmission mechanisms for the philosophical teachings of Buddhism. The tradition of understanding Buddhism as an education continued, and a type of Buddhist monastery-universities as educational centers was formed in Ancient India. The Buddhist education system is based on the centuries-old history of Buddhism, peoples traditionally professing Buddhism. Deeply anthropocentric in its content, Buddhist culture has made the question of the nature of man and his place in the world the main problem of its philosophical teachings. The mission of the Buddhist University has remained unchanged to this day - spiritual, moral, intellectual perfection of a person, leading to Awakening; promoting the spread of the ideas of Buddhism throughout the world. The systems and methods of the Buddhist educational tradition correlate with the scientific and theoretical approaches adopted in modern secular science and education, have heuristic value for creating new educational programs based on the dialogue between science and religion, faith and knowledge, West and East. Buddhist educational programs at universities fulfill another important mission - as centers for the training of qualified specialists in the history and philosophy of Buddhism, they act as special channels of communication between the Buddhist world and other regions of the world, forming a space for interstate and intercultural dialogue. Key words: University, mission, Buddhism, Buddhist University, cultural anthropology.

An Illusion that Mirrors a Dream

Director and playwright Stan Lai premiered his marathon play Ago in Shanghai at the end of 2019. Staged in his signature “lotus pond” theatre-in-the-surround, Ago is fueled by Lai’s cross-cultural sensibilities and Buddhist philosophy. If theatre is an art of illusion-making and life is like a dream, Lai turns theatre-going into a ritual of self-encounter and self-reflection, where an illusion mirrors a dream.

DIFFERENTIATING THE PEARL FROM THE FISH‐EYE: OUYANG JINGWU AND THE REVIVAL OF SCHOLASTIC BUDDHISM. By EyalAviv. East Asian Buddhist Philosophy, 1. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2020. Pp. xii + 214. Hardback, $159.00.

Religious Studies ReviewVolume 47, Issue 2 p. 249-249 Short Reviews Of Recent Publications: East Asia DIFFERENTIATING THE PEARL FROM THE FISH-EYE: OUYANG JINGWU AND THE REVIVAL OF SCHOLASTIC BUDDHISM. By Eyal Aviv. East Asian Buddhist Philosophy, 1. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2020. Pp. xii + 214. Hardback, $159.00. First published: 08 August 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsr.15288Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Volume47, Issue2June 2021Pages 249-249 RelatedInformation

Pro-Life or Pro-Choice? Humanistic Buddhists’ Voices Surrounding Abortion in Contemporary Taiwan

In Taiwan, abortion was legalized in 1984. This paper examines the voices surrounding abortion expressed by monasteries in Humanistic Buddhism, a prominent Buddhist philosophy practiced in modern Taiwan. Humanistic Buddhism emphasizes that it is a “religion of the people.” However, in addition to the law of karma and causality, the value of all life forms is prioritized based on the ethics of “non-harming (ahimsā).” When some monasteries insist that abortion is killing, resulting in karmic retribution, some express sympathy with a woman’s decision to abort. When some monasteries promote a newly popularized ritual to appease aborted fetuses, some are keenly critical of the exploitation of women and manipulation of scriptures. Through a discursive analysis, this paper demonstrates the wide spectrum of Buddhist narratives in response to reproductive politics embedded in the conflicts between modernity and tradition, as well as locality and globality.

From grief to hope in conservation.

From grief to hope in conservation.

A Spiritual Evolutionism: Lü Cheng, Aesthetic Revolution, and the Rise of a Buddhism-Inflected Social Ontology in Modern China

This study examines the early career of the renowned Buddhologist Lu Cheng as an aspiring revolutionary. My findings reveal that Lu’s rhetoric of “aesthetic revolution” both catapulted him into the center of the New Culture Movement and popularized a Buddhist idealism—Yogācāra (consciousness-only school)—among thinkers who sought alternatives social theories. Lu aimed to refute social Darwinism and scientific materialism, which portray humans as mechanized individuals bereft of moral agency. He theorized an anti-realist social ontology, i.e., a social oneness grounded in intersubjective resonances, from which subjective interiority and objective exteriority arise. Lu turned to Buddhism to further his revolution. Buddhist soteriology supplied powerful tools for theorizing the social: The doctrine of no-self refuted philosophical solipsism and curtailed individualism; dependent-origination refashioned social evolution as collective spiritual progress. Lu’s spiritual-evolutionism-cum-social-ontology broadens the field of Buddhist philosophy that has a long-standing blind spot on social philosophies developed in the Global South.

The Scientific Buddhism to Improve Human’s Well-Being

This academic article has the purposes to demonstrate and explain about Buddhism as religious of science and the application of science based on Buddhism to improve human’s well-being. The authors studied and collected the data from Buddhist scriptures, texts, and related document about Buddhism and Science to improve human’s well-being, and analyzed by content analysis. The interface between Buddhism and science is the major issue. Scientific method is the answers of natural questions starting from what we understand as the smallest object to largest one by using five steps. It could be summarized into two steps namely rational of mathematic and senses. For Buddhism, Buddhist Philosophy is also interested in two main problems of human namely the problems related to human being directly, or it may be related between human and other human. Buddhist philosophy asserts that it is our minds that contribute most significantly to our own suffering and that the mind can be deconstructed and reconstructed to give the individual a more stable sense of peace, happiness, and equanimity. Also, Buddhism can be seen to have relevance to the commonly defined dimensions of human’s well-being. The four noble truths and the noble eightfold path relate well with sustainability led to well-being. The first and the second o of noble truth explain about causes of suffering and unsustainability whereas the third and the last of the four noble truth explain about the effect or the way of achieving well-being. Wellbeing is stressed in Buddhism supposed to be driven by ethical motivation that seeks to cause no harm to individual and group, to create no agitation in society.

Of Instagrammatology

“Of Instagrammatology” starts with a trip to India I took with my wife in 2019 as the starting point for a meditation on the experience of time passing. I recount my attempt to finish reading Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time on the trip, having read the first two thirds over thirty years ago, while in India in my mid-twenties. This allows me also to reflect upon the extraordinary technical and cultural changes that have taken place in the interval between these two trips, especially in terms of communication. I suggest there is a connection between how I have found myself using technologies such as Instagram and Proust’s own concern with the lost instant, and that both are manifestations of what Galen Strawson calls the “episodic self,” and which is also found in some Buddhist philosophy. Finally I look at the idea, first found in Borges’ story “The Library of Babel,” and now instantiated online, that every moment of time, both in the past and in the future, is, in some sense, already describable in the infinity of Cantor’s Aleph Zero

Hegel's Projected Nihilism

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s historical analysis of Buddhist philosophy not only fails as a sound interpretation of that tradition, it also well-exemplifies the Western practice of Orientalism as elucidated by Edward Said. I attempt to demonstrate this in three major parts: the nature of Orientalism as a concept and practice, the Orientalist analytical process that Hegel employs in judging Buddhism as well as religions in general, and how Hegel’s understanding does not work against a more charitably interpreted Buddhist defense. Moreover, I argue that the Orientalist erroneousness of Hegel’s reading deeply complicates his hierarchical philosophy of world history.

Transgender trouble: gender transcendence in self-ethnographic genderqueer experience in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT This paper explores key issues in relation to transgender and genderqueer experiences. It aims to: (1) to delink dualisms such as sex/gender, body/mind to suggest the inadequacy of locating gender identity through the “felt sense of self” in transgender studies; (2) to suggest a genderqueer perspective in reinterpreting trans subjectivity through self-ethnography. This paper first suggests a theoretical rethinking of limitations in transgender studies, then challenges the mandatory stable perception of gender and gender identity, and argues that the becoming of a genderqueer person involves a continual process of destabilizing and self-discovering identities. By applying Buddhist philosophy and my first-hand experience as a female and genderqueer bodybuilder, I aim to provide an innovative perspective to reinvent our imagination on gender and body. My unique experience provides successful praxis to explore possibilities that could transcend gender hierarchies and traverse gender boundaries. This paper ends with a discussion of a possible genderqueer narrative based on my gender advocacy in Hong Kong.