Eastern Wisdom Research Articles

Introduction to: Management Perspectives at the Convergence of Eastern Wisdom and Quantum Science

Introduction to: Management Perspectives at the Convergence of Eastern Wisdom and Quantum Science

Global Middle Ages: Eastern Wisdom (Buddhistic) Teachings in Medieval European Literature. With a Focus on Barlaam and Josaphat

In contrast to many recent attempts to establish concepts and platforms to study global literature, and this also in the pre-modern world, this article claims to present much more concrete examples to confirm that a certain degree of globalism existed already in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. While numerous scholars/editors have simply invited many more voices from all over the world to the same ‘table,’ i.e., literary histories, which has not really provided more substance to the notion of ‘global,’ the study of translated texts, such as those dealing with Barlaam and Josaphat, clearly confirms that some core Indian ideas and values, as originally developed by Buddha, had migrated through many stages of translations, to high medieval literature in Europe.

THE TENDENCY OF MODERNIZATION IN TAN DA’S LITERATURE - VIEWED FROM A GENRE PERSPECTIVE

During the first 30 years of the twentieth century, Vietnamese literature began to enter the period of restructuring in the direction of modernization. This process occurred in the conflicting existence between two tendencies: the former educated class tried to preserve the traditional values of the classical literature whereas the younger scholars actively absorbed the modern Western literature and gradually moved towards the new literature. Faced with the challenges and opportunities of the time, a Confucian like Tan Da boldly removed the “olds” in the pursuit of the “news”, integrating the Western thoughts into the Eastern wisdom to crystallize a unique and brand new form of literature. His works embraced the depth brought by the Oriental culture and adopted more colors with the Western breaths. Within this modernization process, his efforts to approach modern novels and his tendency to liberalize poetry are two among the most important contributions of Tan Da, opening up possibilities for the next generation of writers as well as helping accelerate modernization in national literature.

A semantic comparison of the conclusion of LXX Tobit and Semitic 4QTobit

At the beginning of the 20th century, the shorter Greek version of the book of Tobit, GI, which is included in the Catholic Bible, was thought to be the oldest version. It was defined as ‘a lesson on almsgiving and its redeeming powers’. As the discoveries of the Semitic copies of Tobit at Qumran, GI is recognised to be a reworking of the longer version GII, most probably originally written in Aramaic, between 225 and 175 BCE. In all versions of Tobit, the theme of almsgiving is introduced as specifically directed to Jewish kinsmen, but towards the end, is to be directed to all poor, suggesting that it may have been written by a Hellenistic Jew. Although the surface context of the narrative of Tobit is the Jewish tradition of proper observation of mitzvot and sacrifice and eventual reward, the various versions contain varying degrees of ancient Near Eastern wisdom, and an ironic, subversive reflection of hypocritical righteousness. This article questioned why the endings differ markedly in different versions. To try to find answers, a semantic comparison was made between GI and the most complete Aramaic version 4Q196.Contribution: This article considered the implications of source criticism in the reception of the various versions of Tobit. The possibility was examined that the pre-Christian, Aramaic version 4Q196Tobit does not confirm the excessive focus on almsgiving as righteousness apparent in the GI version of LXX Tobit.

Ecolinguistics and ecosophy

This article presents a philosophical framework for studies of ecolinguistics, combining the Eastern wisdom of ecological harmony and the Western human geographical concept of sense of place. To establish the basic criteria for ecolinguistic analysis, the article traces the three most influential Chinese schools of philosophy and extracts three of their shared disciplines: benevolence, frugality and intimacy with nature. To reveal the dynamic relationship between human beings and the places where they reside, the article revisits the concept of sense of place and extends it to cover an ecological dimension of people and place. Connecting ecological ethics derived from classical Chinese philosophy with systemic human-place dynamics, this proposed framework provides an ideological basis for ecolinguistic research, especially for discourse analysis. Following this ecosophy, the involved human beings and other elements of places included in a discourse can be revealed through the system of sense of place; and the ecological implications of linguistic features can be evaluated according to the three major principles. To complete the analysis, positive and negative orientations will be distinguished as well as a middle ground of ambivalent orientation. To conclude, this article aims to provide a well-grounded ideological reference for the deconstruction and subsequent assessment of linguistic resources, and thereby to establish a crucial strand of ecolinguistic scholarship.

Кумарасвамі А. Східна мудрість і західне знання / переклад з англ., вступна стаття та примітки Ю. Ю. Завгороднього

Кумарасвамі А. Східна мудрість і західне знання / переклад з англ., вступна стаття та примітки Ю. Ю. Завгороднього

Взгляд на менеджмент из монастыря Шаолинь

If you ask an ordinary resident of Russia what he knows about the Shaolin Temple, that was hiding for a long time from human eyes in the Songshan Mountains, he will surely remember numerous colourful films on martial arts exercised by the monks. What else? The most advanced will say that Shaolin Monastery is associated with the name of one of the patriarchs of Chan Buddhism, the Indian monastic warrior Bodhidharma, who passed to the Shaolin inhabitants a method that fundamentally changed their practice of perceiving spiritual experience and improving physical health. Meanwhile, Shaolin is an integral harmonious philosophical system based on ancient Eastern wisdom, not at all contradicting Western knowledge (and we will prove it!), but harmoniously complementing the latter. And if we are talking about philosophical system, that is, a picture of how the world works, it is natural to build management approaches within this picture. It is really possible, which is confirmed by experience of the article authors as coaches and organizational development consultants.

Identifying Intentional Ambiguity

Identifying Intentional Ambiguity
 
 It is widely acknowledged that certain genres in ancient Near Eastern literature including the Hebrew Bible are characterized by intense ambiguity. In particular, divination, Wisdom literature and erotic poetry thrive on a special type of ambiguity—“double-edged words”—in which a
 single graphic or phonetic sequence is employed to convey a message and its precise opposite, at one and the same time.
 However, it is often difficult to demonstrate that a specific case of “double-edged wording” is in fact intentional rather than a product of an eager reader’s over-interpretation. The proposed paper offers three criteria for identifying intentionality in the formulation of ambiguous texts, based on examples from Biblical and other ancient Near Eastern divinatory, Wisdom and poetic texts: (1) Ungrammaticality: Sometimes an author is forced to use an ungrammatical form in order to preserve two opposite meanings. This happens when smoothing the grammar would have been achieved only at the price of losing the ambiguity; (2) Multiple representation: At times the same exact ambiguity is evidenced in identical contexts, but in different words and by means of different sentence-structures (occasionally even in different languages, e.g., Hebrew and Aramaic); when it can be demonstrated that coincidence is highly unlikely, the argument for intentional crafting is strong; (3) Straussian “Art of Writing”: When the author addresses an issue that was demonstrably contentious (from the author’s perspective), potentially-subversive formulations are particularly suspect.
 The intersection of two or three of these criteria in a single text strongly suggests intentionality

Vivekananda, Sarah Farmer, and global spiritual transformations in thefin de siècle

AbstractAs Swami Vivekananda travelled West at the end of the nineteenth century to propagate what has become known as ‘Hindu Universalism’, the American Sarah Farmer travelled to Palestine to embrace the new Baha’i faith. This article will ask why both wished to create ‘universal’ religions, and why they found inspiration at Green Acre, Maine in 1894 in the wake of the Chicago World Parliament of Religions in 1893. Visitors to Green Acre discussed ‘divine femininity’, engaged with men such as Vivekananda and Abdu’l-Baha, and began to criticize colonial hierarchies in the search for spiritual reconciliation, all concerns which touched on questions of ‘Eastern’ religion. However, spirituality was not a mere epiphenomenon of larger historical developments. Rather, the ‘transformation’ discussed here drew on an essentialized notion of ‘Eastern wisdom’ that contrasted spirituality with materialism, tolerance with intolerance, transcendence with instrumentalism. Yet, such polarized characterizations misjudged the ways in which Baha’i and Hindu Universalism destabilized the very categories of East and West, while retaining a vision of ‘Eastern wisdom’ untouched by Western corruptions.

Eastern wisdom, inner work, and aging: a contribution in second wave positive psychology

ABSTRACTThis paper intends to make contribution to second wave positive psychology by suggesting a post-egoic view of humanity that overcomes the positive-negative binary. This view sees all attributes and qualities of human experience as containing rich and holistic materials for ego transformation. The paper points out that the ego-based psychology that undergirds much of current positive psychology ignores the mutual nature of human existence and a sense of humanity being continuous with the rest of the universe. Using aging as the context for a study, this paper makes the case that when aging is viewed from a post-egoic psychological perspective, such being found in Daoism, what emerges is a possibility of living a life of wisdom, compassion, joy, and qi-infused creativity through aging as “saging.” This paper affirms that aging is a critical and integral part of human growth and development. Additionally, a creative inner work example is provided that demonstrates a possibility of integrating and transforming negative experience in the service of moving towards a post-egoic self.

Efektifitas Rancangan Undang-Undang Hukum Materiil Peradilan Agama (RUU HMPA) Dalam Penanggulangan Nikah Sirri

The draft of Law on the Religious Courts Material Law is a draft law that is still in the stage of discourse and declaration by the authorities. This draft law has one article that is quite interesting to study, namely the law of punishment for sirri marriage.
 As an eastern country that still follows eastern wisdom; and Indonesian people who are Muslim, there are still many practitioners who practice sirri marriage among the people. This is due to many factors including lack of marriage registration material, less socialized marriage regulations and others.
 Many approaches are carried out by researchers from socialist circles, academics and historians who produce different assumptions about the problem of "reluctance to marriage records". This law is in accordance with the spirit of Islam in order to benefit. The maqashid syariah approach is an effective approach in combining positive law and shari'ah law.

The ‘Green’ Mandala: Where Eastern Wisdom meets Ecopsychology

Creative Arts Educ Ther (2017) 3(2):3–16DOI: 10.15212/CAET/2017/3/2 The ‘Green’ Mandala: Where Eastern Wisdom meets Ecopsychology “绿色”曼陀罗：东方智慧遇到生态心理学 Alexander Kopytin St.-Petersburg Academy of Post-Graduate Pedagogical Training, Russia Abstract Mandalas are circular images often created in various religious and indigenous traditions. Due to the development of Jungian analysis and transpersonal studies diagnostic and therapeutic potential of the mandala was extensively explored. Analytical psychologists and art therapists understand visualized or created mandalas of their clients as the symbolic mirror of the psyche, a means of containing and integrating its energies, both conscious and unconscious dynamics and states of mind. This paper presents ecological and environmental perspectives on our understanding and therapeutic application of the mandala as an expressive/creative tool that helps to bring the arts and nature together and provide beneficial effects both for human and nonhuman worlds. Basic theoretical, ethical and instrumental ingredients related to the ‘green’ mandala, or eco-mandala, together with case vignettes illustrating their therapeutic application and functions will be presented. 摘要 曼陀罗是通常在各种宗教和土著传统中创建的圆形图像。由于荣格分析和超个人研究的发展，对曼陀罗的诊断和治疗潜力进行了广泛的探索。分析心理学家和艺术治疗师将他们客户的可视化或创造的曼陀罗理解为心灵的象征性反映，这是一种遏制和整合其能量的手段，既有意识的也有无意识的动态和精神状态。 本文将我们对曼陀罗的理解和治疗应用的生态和环境视角作为一种表现力/创造性工具，帮助将艺术和自然融合在一起，并为人类和非人类世界提供有益的影响。本文还将介绍与“绿色”曼陀罗或生态曼陀罗相关的基本理论、道德和机制成分，以及说明其治疗应用和功能的案例简介。

Authenticity as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Power Contingent Self-Esteem and Subjective Well-Being.

Drawing on Eastern wisdom and Self-Determination Theory (Deci and Ryan, 1995), the current study conceptualized a new form of maladaptive self-esteem, the power contingent self-esteem, which is extremely contingent on one’s sense of power, and posits it is related to low subjective well-being by making people experience less authenticity. In Study 1, we found that general power contingent self-esteem was consistently linked to low subjective well-being. More importantly, the negative relationship between power contingent self-esteem and subjective well-being was mediated by authenticity. Study 2 further confirmed the mediation effect between power contingent self-esteem role and satisfaction through authenticity across four different roles (work, romance, friendship, and parent–child relationships). The finding of the negative relationship between power contingent self-esteem and subjective well-being via authenticity contributes to understanding the complicated association between power, self-esteem, and life satisfaction.

Holistic Innovation: An Emerging Innovation Paradigm

This paper systematically reviews the current typical innovation paradigms worldwide and their shortcomings. Based on eastern wisdom and best innovation practices, this paper introduces a new paradigm of innovation, holistic innovation (HI). It provides a definition and theoretical framework for HI, discusses its connotations, and summarizes the theoretical contribution and policy implications. HI is total and collaborative innovation driven by strategic vision. This new innovation paradigm is a complex of strategic innovation, collaborative innovation, total innovation, and open innovation, which reflects wisdom from the Chinese context and Eastern culture. The four core elements of holistic innovation, “strategic,” “total,” “open,” and “collaborative,” are inter-related with an organic integration with the helix of HI. HI is an original innovation paradigm that conforms to the needs of firms' technological innovation management in the strategic innovation era and supports the implementation of the Innovation-Driven Development Strategy. It also helps China's enterprises build global innovation leadership and improves national innovation ability. Finally, it optimizes the innovation policy design and action mindset to achieve global peace and sustainable development.

A Daoist Critique of Dialectics and Why It Matters

Georg W. F. Hegel’s theory of dialectics is one of the most influential modern attempts at a complete account of reality. Kant and other scholars had resurrected dialectics during the Industrial Revolution as the contradictory either/or thinking accorded with their sense of a fragmented and conflicted world. Hegel then developed a dynamic version of dialectics that he offered as a complete theory. Marx, following scientific trends, applied that dynamic approach to a material explanation of reality. These two dialectic theories, however, beginning with their assumption of contradiction as fundamental, also rested on controversial first principles and thus were stuck in the same kind of paradox that Hegel had originally lamented. The Eastern wisdom tradition of Daoism, in contrast to dialectics, encompasses not just contradiction in a disharmonious dialectic with confirmation, but also complementarity in a harmonious relationship with opposition. This complementarity allows for a seamless path to a transcendent whole and eventually to an ultimate reality, which in Daoism is called “the Dao.” Though Daoism’s particular metaphysical details have been overlooked even in China for much of the past two millennia, they have been practiced in Traditional Chinese Medicine and are otherwise central to much of Chinese culture. Daoism is the realization of the dialectical quest for a complete account of reality, and as such warrants contemporary scholars’ attention.

Особенности политических коммуникаций на Востоке: проблема преодоления социокультурных барьеров

The article deals with the basic principles and rules of discourse eastern negotiation, you need to know to effectively manage the communication process in the countries of the East. The author notes that the political communication in the East have a bright national specifics, here specific relation to time and space, the culture and traditions. Of particular importance are high context negotiation communication, a high content of non-verbal signs, indirect communication style, expressed the emphasis on personal connections and relations, underlined the value status. Despite the fact that the East is represented by a variety of national cultures, its system of political communications is woven from a large number of original negotiating practices, we can talk about the features of the eastern negotiating culture in general, because some of the important principles of communication common to most Eastern cultures. The article substantiates the conclusion that the basic characteristics of the eastern negotiating culture significantly different from the Russian and Western, but the sociocultural barriers can be overcome, if we pay attention to the basic rules of discourse eastern and eastern wisdom.

Consciousness at the Interface: Wendt, Eastern Wisdom and the Ethics of Intra-Action

ABSTRACTDrawing on the family resemblance between quantum physics and Eastern wisdom identified by Niels Bohr, this article brings insights from Buddhism and Daoism to the task of enhancing our understanding of the significance of Alexander Wendt’s argument for a quantum-based social science. Five areas of overlap between his argument and Eastern wisdom are explored: vitalism and the idea that life goes “all the way down”; the dependence of consciousness on both subjectivity and relationality; the ethical significance of language; the notion of “changing the past”; and the importance of leaders. The family resemblances between Wendt’s perspective and those available in Daoism and Buddhism are remarkable.

Contextualising Postmodernity in Daoist Symbolism: Toward a mindful education embracing eastern wisdom

In cultivating a Western inclination toward Eastern wisdom, it is important to seek the foundations that sustain traditional practices toward such end. In a secularised and modern world view, the tendency has been to extract and abstract foundational practices such as mindfulness meditation and contemplation within an objectivist or scientistic prejudice. While leading to interesting results, it cannot ascertain a wisdom that is quantified and decontextualised. In response, contextual effort in postmodern pedagogical literature—while well placed—is often marred with confusions concerning Eastern and metaphysical foundations. As a result, one is led away from the very wisdom being qualified; furthermore, conceptual and theoretical paradoxes arise and consequently elude those that formulate them. Thus, in feeling secure in response to a particular ‘yáng’ world view of modernity, many postmodern criticisms suffer an exclusively ‘yīn’ character. For us, imbalance in any direction forfeits the path Eastern education approaches wisdom. In our conceptual analysis, we contextualise that modernity was never too yáng, but too yáng-in-yīn. Therefore, what is missing in pedagogical theory is not the yīn element, as presumed by postmodern critique, but the yáng element, in continual balance with the yīn, and vice versa.

Educating Tomorrow’s STEM Leaders in Third-Space Skills

Companies worldwide are facing an acute shortage of qualified graduates in STEM disciplines, in particular those with more non-technical skills, such as teamwork, innovative thinking, communication, adaptability and emotional intelligence. A top U.S. university calls it the missing “third space” set of skills beyond hard business and technical knowledge. Recent findings of neuroscience affirm the critical role of emotions, “heart” intelligence and mind-body links in learning and cognition. A core foundation of the “third skills set” is mindfulness based emotional intelligence, consistent with ancient Eastern wisdom traditions. The author passionately believes we have to think outside-the-box to bring such skills into the education of STEM graduates in Asia as well as around the world.

The Book of Job: A Greco-Hebrew Rhetorical Drama

<p><em>The Book of Job</em>, as a biblical book, which “does not have a literary parallel in ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature,” continues to be an enigma to scholars. Its puzzles mainly concern its roots, genre and structure. Though the book exhibits a variety of generic features creating the impression of a work of multiple authors, a careful look at its form reveals that for its structural organization, its author has relied much on the form of Greek rhetoric, which Aristotle explains in his work, On<em> Rhetoric,</em> of the mid-350’s BCE. Thus, as a testament of Judeo-Christian faith and the Hebrew concept of divine justice, it has the structural frame of the Athenian judicial rhetoric. Also, it has the generic features of the Greek dramatic, Hebrew epic and fairytale traditions. These features undermine the theory of multiple authorship of the book. Presumably, it was written by a Jew who was well-versed in Hebrew traditions and faith, well-informed on the literary traditions of the time, and well-trained in the art of Greek rhetoric and drama. And hence, <em>The Book of Job</em> deserves to be called a Greco-Hebrew Rhetorical Drama.</p>