Showing papers in "Contemporary Buddhism in 2015"
TL;DR: The authors discusses the connection between the monks in these former British colonies where Buddhism was part of the nationalist anti-colonization struggle and the current xenophobic Buddhist nationalism seems to contain a combination of the traditional Buddhist cosmological imaginary of a decline in the doctrine, a dark age of moral chaos, and a modern globalized imaginary of other religions attempting to destroy Buddhism.
Abstract: In Burma, monks are promoting a new marriage law restricting interfaith marriages. They have used hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric and claimed that Buddhism, language, culture and the national identity is endangered. Since 2012, Burma has seen widespread anti-Muslim riots resulting in burned mosques and casualties instigated by the 969 movement. Burmese monks study in Sri Lanka where the Buda Bala Sena, (‘Buddhist Power Force’) movement runs a fierce anti-Muslim and anti-Christian campaign. There is a clear connection between the monks in these former British colonies where Buddhism was part of the nationalist anti-colonial struggle. Buddhism is still part of ongoing identity politics.Today's xenophobic Buddhist nationalism seems to contain a combination of the traditional Buddhist cosmological imaginary of a decline in the doctrine—a dark age of moral chaos, and a modern globalized imaginary of other religions—Islam and Christianity in particular—attempting to wipe out Buddhism.The article discusses how thes...
64 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that the interpretation of Buddhist texts, and in particular the Vinaya, in light of western ethical theory creates misunderstanding and argued that in each case of a supposed ethical dilemma, Buddhist ethics should be seen as empirical, since the ultimate point of reference for the choices involved in a proposed action lies in the purity and wholesomeness of each individual action.
Abstract: This article considers the recent debate over the nature of Buddhist ethics largely conducted by scholars who have argued in different ways that Buddhist ethics may be assimilated to or may correspond with different forms of western ethical theory.I argue that the interpretation of Buddhist texts, and in particular the Vinaya, in light of western ethical theory creates misunderstanding. I argue that in each case of a supposed ethical dilemma, Buddhist ethics should be seen as empirical, since the ultimate point of reference for the choices involved in a proposed action lies in the purity and wholesomeness of each individual action.My approach follows Foucault's argument for scepticism with regard to the notions of a universal nature or of a universal rationality. I argue that it is not instructive to read Buddhist texts against generalized standards. Rather, it is more productive to regard ethics as creating a space for the ethical, not in a normative sense but one arising from personal practice as relate...
24 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated how Burmese monks and nuns study Buddhist texts in formal monastic curricula and what pedagogical and learning approaches are applied in their study of Buddhist texts.
Abstract: It is well documented in scholarship that standardized, non-secularized monastic examinations in Myanmar have resulted in an education system that focuses on rote learning. Through a multidisciplinary study of monastic education in Myanmar and modern educational theories, this article investigates how Burmese monks and nuns study Buddhist texts in formal monastic curricula and what pedagogical and learning approaches are applied in their study of Buddhist texts. I shall give particular attention to the process of acquiring expert knowledge through the use of mnemonic techniques. This article demonstrates that the textual expertise developed through memorization and detailed study of both canonical and exegetical Buddhist texts in fact provides a basis for criticality, i.e., a practice encompassing analytical skills, logical thinking skills and the ability to think anew. In order to explore the Burmese pedagogical and learning approaches, I shall discuss the significance of scriptural learning within the s...
10 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the viability of a secular Buddhist ethics aimed at Buddhists, in the absence of the traditional, non-secular motivators of the laws of karma and the doctrine of rebirth.
Abstract: This paper examines the viability, in principle, of a secular Buddhist ethics, aimed at Buddhists, in the absence of the traditional, non-secular motivators of the laws of karma and the doctrine of rebirth. I argue that Buddhist ethics can be construed either as a consequentialist or virtue ethics, with anattā or sunnatā as grounding metaphysical ideas, neither of which presupposes a belief in either the cosmic-retribution idea of karma or any multiple-life (or in fact any afterlife) view of human existence. Additionally, consequentialism is primarily concerned with compassion, which is very much a within-world action tendency, and virtue ethics can be construed such that both the end goal (enlightened, compassionate, mindful flourishing) as well as the relevant virtues (the sīla part of the Eightfold Path and the brahmavihāras) are perfectly circumscribed within a single lifetime.
8 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigated some of the methods and motivations that underpinned the earliest scholarship in Pāli and Buddhist Studies in Britain, focusing in particular on the works of R.C. Childers (1838-1876) and his correspondence with T.W. Rhys Davids (1843-1922).
Abstract: This article investigates some of the methods and motivations that underpinned the earliest scholarship in Pāli and Buddhist Studies in Britain, focusing in particular on the works of R.C. Childers (1838–1876) and his correspondence with T.W. Rhys Davids (1843–1922). I explore the variety of actors that helped inform, shape and publish R.C. Childers' scholarship, while also taking into account the reception of his work, its political significance, and its role as a commodity.
8 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine two Buddhist ceremonies sponsored by the Sri Lankan Army, a flag blessing in 2005 and a lamp lighting ceremony in 2007, and argue that, while the monks officiating at these ceremonies encourage the soldiers to fight, they do not justify war in any way.
Abstract: This article examines two Buddhist ceremonies sponsored by the Sri Lankan Army, a flag blessing in 2005 and a lamp lighting ceremony in 2007. I argue that, while the monks officiating at these ceremonies encourage the soldiers to fight, they do not justify war in any way. On the contrary, these preachers employ an ethical imagination more dependent upon eschatological factors than upon individual obligations. Specifically, they take for granted that ideal Buddhist moral behaviour is almost impossible in a world where the Dharma is in decline. In a world of declining Dharma, they assert that Buddhists must sometimes engage in unwholesome activities in order to preserve the possibility of Buddhist practice in the future. They do not justify these compromises according to a hierarchy of moral duties or a metaphysical ideal of justice, but rather they accept them as markers of the corrupt nature of the world. The monks thus advise soldiers to protect the Dharma that remains in the country, preserving the poss...
8 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the root cause of social problems is primarily due to individuals' thoughts, emotions, and actions being determined by greed, hatred, and delusion.
Abstract: In this article I offer a perspective—secular, radically engaged Buddhism—which incorporates two important trends within Western Buddhism: secular Buddhism and an ‘engaged’ Buddhism oriented toward radical social change. I argue that secular, radically engaged Buddhism challenges two key tenets of Buddhism as it is currently practised in the West. On the one hand, secular Buddhists not only reject the transcendent divine entities and cosmological realms found in the various Asian Buddhisms, but also consider problematic the notion of an ‘absolute’ or ultimate reality—nirvana—whether understood as the dualistic opposite to the relative, conditioned world of samsara or apprehended as an underlying ground which integrates the diversity of forms. Radically engaged Buddhists critique another tenet shared by most Western Buddhists: the view that the root cause of social problems is primarily due to individuals’ thoughts, emotions, and actions being determined by greed, hatred, and delusion. Based on this dual c...
8 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a summary of the debate on this subject and spell out the three elements that, according to most theorists, constitute critical thinking, i.e., logico-argumentative abilities, dispositions to inquiry and evaluative epistemology.
Abstract: Asian students have often been reported to struggle with Western-style critical thinking. A good understanding of what constitutes this intellectual practice might help them overcome some of their difficulties. To this end, a precise definition is necessary. This paper offers a contribution in this regard. First, it presents a summary of the debate on this subject and spells out the three elements that, according to most theorists, constitute critical thinking, i.e., logico-argumentative abilities, dispositions to inquiry and evaluative epistemology. Second, it shows how this tripartite model is inadequate to explain the alleged difficulties of Asian students. Finally, it uses a medieval Indic text on Buddhist argumentation, the Tarkabhāā (XI CE), to expose the shortcomings of this model and to bring into focus three other specific characteristics of academic critical thinking: (1) the topic of inquiry, (2) the direction of the argument and (3) the object of critical scrutiny.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an anthology of potentially ambiguous claims expressed by healthy Buddhist teenagers during UK research including outlook on karma, rebirth, meditation, mindfulness, contact with spirit presences, renunciation, spiritual teachers and superstition is presented.
Abstract: Although there are dangers in essentializing religious practice, to be able to typify the worldviews of healthy Buddhists becomes advantageous when health professionals need to recognize atypical worldviews that are potentially pathological. The paper is an anthology of potentially ambiguous claims expressed by healthy Buddhist teenagers during UK research including outlook on karma, rebirth, meditation, mindfulness, contact with spirit presences, renunciation, spiritual teachers and superstition. The testimony helps clarify diagnosis of identity, well-being and conformity issues, social withdrawal, anxiety and psychotic disorders in Buddhist teens while offering advice on management of ADHD, OCD, substance abuse and depression. While offering normalized background against which health professionals can evaluate spiritual well-being of young Buddhists the paper offers advice for how treatment can be made more culturally sensitive for Buddhists.
7 citations
TL;DR: In the Shan community of Thongmakhsan, northwestern Thailand, where I have done most of my ethnographic research, children are often identified as so-and-so who was reborn.
Abstract: In the Shan community of Thongmakhsan, northwestern Thailand, where I have done most of my ethnographic research, children are often identified as so-and-so who was reborn. These identifications are based on appearance, personal proclivities, and dreams around the time the child was born. I begin with the account of Ay Phit and his rebirth since it is this story which piqued my interest in rebirth. I then provide some background information on Shan in Maehongson Province. With this background, I begin the discussion of rebirth by examining local ideas about attachment and its consequences and then go on to discuss the ongoing relationship between the living and the dead, reborn or not, through the transfer of merit. I then describe possible rebirths to argue that rebirth as a human being is the most likely rebirth. In conclusion, I discuss communal karma to raise the question of the relationship between textual analyses and current local practices.
5 citations
TL;DR: The paradoxical logic of Nagarjuna's tetralemma is used in this paper to examine the degree to which people limit their own capacity to think about the subject of gay marriage.
Abstract: Helping students or workshop participants radically expand their critical-thinking horizons beyond conventional dualistic bounds on the subject of gay marriage is difficult. The paradoxical logic of Nagarjuna's tetralemma is one means to do so. They learn not only this new investigative tool and deepen their understanding of the perspectives surrounding gay marriage, but have to examine the degree to which they limit their own capacity to think.
TL;DR: The first sermon given by the Buddha after his enlightenment is commemorated each year in Thailand with a celebration known as Asanha Bucha Day (Asalha Pūjā in Pali), but many people find the sermon unmemorable, even boring.
Abstract: The first sermon given by the Buddha after his enlightenment is commemorated each year in Thailand with a celebration known as Asanha Bucha Day (Asalha Pūjā in Pali). Monasteries are often full on the day, but many people find the sermon unmemorable, even boring. To better understand the meaning of the sermon within the context of its reception this article presents one sermon in full given at one monastery on Asanha Bucha Day in Chiang Mai, and then through attention to the content of the spoken words and their impression on their audience offers three quite different readings of it: a conventional read, a subversive read, and a particular form of communication that emerges from the tension in between. I argue that it is through rather than antagonistic to its boring reputation that the sermon serves as a special mode of activism in Thailand, one that leverages tradition and conventionality to push for social change in a manner not yet fully appreciated in Buddhist scholarship.
TL;DR: The authors examines commentarial schools (bshad grwa) within the non-Gelug traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, especially their normative curriculum of "thirteen great texts" promoted by Khenpo Zhenpen Nangwa (1871-1927).
Abstract: This article examines commentarial schools (bshad grwa) within the non-Gelug traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, especially their normative curriculum of ‘thirteen great texts’ promoted—though not necessarily first conceived—by Khenpo Zhenpen Nangwa (1871–1927). Focused on Indian śāstra, this ideal curriculum omits Tibetan works, tantras and texts on logic and epistemology (pramāṇa), and represents the main body of an exoteric curriculum that could be preceded by basic introductory topics and augmented by advanced esoteric study. Recent adaptations of this curriculum by some of the most important non-Gelug institutions in exile depart from Zhenpen Nangwa's non-sectarian ideal in order to accommodate the texts, topics and interpretations favoured by the tradition to which the institution belongs. The article concludes by asking whether further changes to traditional curricula and pedagogy are likely, following the introduction of new qualifications adopted from the Indian university system and developments suc...
TL;DR: The study shows that it can simulate a Bodhisattva as a firm-and-pure-altruist (FPA) agent, who always performs both in-group and out-group altruistic behaviours, including the preaching of doctrine and the giving of material objects, and who always remains an FPA agent.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to demonstrate that agent-based simulation is a scientific approach to studying the altruistic behaviours of a Bodhisattva, who is practising Buddhism to achieve Buddhahood. From the Buddhist perspective, the evolutionary model of Hammond and Axelrod (2006a) describes the operation of a community in the world. The study shows that we can simulate a Bodhisattva as a firm-and-pure-altruist (FPA) agent, who always performs both in-group and out-group altruistic behaviours, including the preaching of doctrine and the giving of material objects, and who always remains an FPA agent. Based on the model of Hammond and Axelrod (2006a), ordinary human beings are modelled as four-type agents who evolve according to their genetic potential to reproduce. Our results show that a Bodhisattva can create more pure altruists in the community by sharing doctrine and material objects. The results also show a beneficial situation because the average welfare of all four agents increases if we consider ...
TL;DR: In this paper, a prominent leader of this movement, Tsultrim Lodro (tshul khrims blo gros, b. 1962), articulates Buddhism in response to modern discourses of rationality and science.
Abstract: This paper seeks to find a place for the intellectual voices of an indigenous movement of ‘Buddhist modernism’ that recently took shape in eastern Tibet. It presents how a prominent leader of this movement, Tsultrim Lodro (tshul khrims blo gros, b. 1962), articulates Buddhism in response to modern discourses of rationality and science. In particular, since the ‘dialogue’ between Buddhism and science in recent years has largely been a series of monologues, this paper seeks to open up the conversation in order to shed light on the nature of this dialogue and what is at stake in this conversation. I will discuss Tsultrim Lodro’s most recent work on philosophy and science with the aim to shed light on the nature of the current Buddhism and science discourses through considering the contributions of this influential contemporary Tibetan.
TL;DR: This article analyzed four sermons delivered at Shan festivals that celebrated the end of the Rains Retreat (Waa) and argued that sermons in general are important sources of information about lived Buddhism.
Abstract: In this I essay I analyse four sermons delivered at Shan festivals that celebrates the end of the Rains Retreat (Waa). I first argue that sermons in general are important sources of information about lived Buddhism. I next provide background information necessary to understand the sermon events and the sermons. In conclusion, I compare the sermons and discuss what laypeople can learn from sermons and what we, as academics, can learn from them.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that what substance is, as well as does, is not self-evident, and thereby reorient the analysis of substance, and that kinship relations are shaped, not necessarily by biology, but by religious and spiritual views of existence.
Abstract: Notions of kinship within systems of rebirth challenge the dominant Euro-American view of kinship as fundamentally biology-centred. By reading across the domains of religion and kinship in Burma, this article will show that what substance is, as well as does, is not self-evident, and thereby reorient the analysis of substance. Furthermore, it will show that it is in the movement of spiritual essences, rather than biogenetic items, that the continuity of each living being’s existence is sought in Burma. Thus, kinship relations are shaped, not necessarily by biology, but by religious and spiritual views of existence.
TL;DR: In contrast to the liberating power attributed to past-life memory among buddhas and arhats, past life memory among children is considered frightening and abnormal in Cambodia as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: This article deals with the phenomenon of past-life memory among contemporary Cambodian children, using one exemplary case, of a young girl born with memories of her past existence as her own uncle, who predeceased her by 20 years. In contrast to the liberating power attributed to past-life memory among buddhas and arhats, past-life memory among children is considered frightening and abnormal in Cambodia. Investigating the ways in which families deal with such past-life memories in their children, I outline how the concerns of parents are founded in concerns about moral development, autonomy, and dependence. The ethnographic approach taken here is intended to complement and complicate the normative approaches to past-life memory as solely a liberating accomplishment, a requisite part of the trividyā (Triple Knowledge).
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the transformation of monastic education in Thailand through its modernisation from the 1880s to the 1960s, focusing on two prominent monks: Wachirayan of the Thammayut (Dhammayutika) branch of the Sangha and Phimonlatham of the Mahanikay (Mahānikaya) branch.
Abstract: This article focuses on the transformation of monastic education in Thailand through its modernisation from the 1880s to the 1960s. During this period two of the country's most prominent monks rose to power: Wachirayan of the Thammayut (Dhammayutika) branch of the Sangha and Phimonlatham of the Mahanikay (Mahānikāya) branch. The former was at the height of power in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century and the latter in the mid twentieth century. Through my examination of monastic education during these two periods, taking the influence of these two important monks as case studies, I argue that Sangha education is not just the inherited knowledge transmitted down the generations to monastic learners for religious ends and the preservation of Buddhism. Rather I show how political discourse can transform monastic education. Temporal and ecclesiastical politics have shaped, dominated and reformed Thai monastic education. This process has altered expectations—on the part of Thai Sangha as well as the la...
TL;DR: This paper argued that the traditional Western detective fiction novel is symptomatic of a scientific-materialist mindset that has reached an existential dead end with its loss of faith in the possibility of self-transcendence, a mindset that became trapped in a deterministic world in which evil and violence, perpetually arising, inducing guilt, require perpetual dissipation and solution.
Abstract: The Yellow Peril! … The peace of the world is at stake.—Sax Rohmer 1913, The Insidious Dr. Fu ManchuOur inner lives are something we ignore at our own peril.—The 14th Dalai Lama 2011, 75, Beyond Religion: Ethics for the Whole WorldThis essay is concerned with the contemporary convergence of Western and Eastern metaphysical paradigms as witnessed in and expressed through detective fiction written by Western writers, but with settings in, and influenced by, historically Buddhist cultures of East and Southeast Asia. The essay argues that the traditional Western detective fiction novel is symptomatic of a scientific-materialist mindset that has reached an existential dead end with its loss of faith in the possibility of self-transcendence, a mindset that has become trapped in a deterministic world in which evil and violence, perpetually arising, inducing guilt, require perpetual dissipation and solution. In their various manners, each of the three novelists discussed in the essay puts forward the Buddhistical...
TL;DR: In this paper, a panel's papers show a Buddhism alert to the moment and attuned to local realities, and they capture Buddhism as a living tradition, set alongside Christianity and Islam, which distinguishes world religions from indigenous religions that need no explanation.
Abstract: Our panel's papers show a Buddhism alert to the moment and attuned to local realities. Culture by culture, our panellists capture Buddhism as a living tradition. Invaluable as these ethnographic insights are, seeing Buddhism's larger, enduring culture requires ethnology. In this wider perspective, set alongside Christianity and Islam, sermons distinguish world religions from indigenous religiosities that need no explanation. Over millennia, by preaching, world religions preserve the founder's practice and words, turn clerics to teaching rather than just dispensing sacraments, and protect a highly sophisticated moral understanding of everyday life from dissolving into the spontaneous spirituality and magical thinking that day-to-day living breeds.
TL;DR: In this article, a brief introduction to cross-cultural comparisons and their importance for our understanding of lived Buddhism and its localization is presented, along with a discussion of rebirth in non-Buddhist contexts to locate our discussion within broader understandings of rebirth.
Abstract: I begin this essay with a brief introduction to cross-cultural comparisons and their importance for our understanding of lived Buddhism and its localization. Before examining the papers on rebirth, I first present rebirth in non-Buddhist contexts to locate our discussion within broader understandings of rebirth. I then discuss the the rebirth papers highlighting their similarities and differences.
TL;DR: Burmese conceptions manifested by death rituals reveal a variety of concepts related to spiritual components of the self, such as leikpya, wignan and manaw as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Burmese conceptions manifested by death rituals reveal a variety of concepts related to spiritual components of the self, such as leikpya, wignan, wignin, nam and manaw and a complementarity of beliefs and practices linked to the soul stuff (leikpya) and the karmic theory. These concepts are further examined in the opposite extreme situations of bad and good deaths that both produce beings, inconsistent with the Buddhist karmic theory, ghosts or spirits (nat) on the one hand, weikza or saints on the other hand. Nat and weikza, equally anomalous from the point of view of the Buddhist theory, are nevertheless the object of institutionalized cults and display strongly contrasted features. This is exemplified by the comparison of the performing sessions in which they manifest in this world through contrasted forms of possession. Finally, too good or too bad deaths both similarly prevent rebirth and thus leave the space for various after-death agencies in this world.
TL;DR: The authors explore four broad themes: critiques of western definitions of critical thinking; how political, cultural, and social conditions inform and influence Buddhist mona, and how these conditions influence and influence mona.
Abstract: The seven articles published here explore four broad themes: critiques of western definitions of critical thinking; how political, cultural, and social conditions inform and influence Buddhist mona...
TL;DR: In this paper, a brief review of the ubiquity of the critical thinking agenda in UK Higher Education is followed by a resume of its pedagogic history and of its contemporary commercial success.
Abstract: A brief review of the ubiquity of the critical thinking agenda in UK Higher Education is followed by a resume of its pedagogic history and of its contemporary commercial success. This is followed by a discussion of the nuances of meaning and referent for the term, reservations about current pedagogic assumptions concerning it and the contestation of its educational value in the political and social sphere. Themes from this concerning authority and ‘process vs content’ are applied to experience of Buddhist Studies candidates. This discussion is then tied in to the motives for the organisation of a workshop on critical thinking held at SOAS in 2012, which is briefly described.
TL;DR: In this article, the career of a Burmese preaching monk and what happened to him in November 2011, following a particularly successful series of sermons on the 'ten duties of a Buddhist king' are discussed.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the career of a Burmese preaching monk and on what happened to him in November 2011, following a particularly successful series of sermons on the ‘ten duties of a Buddhist king’. Belonging to the lineage of the Mogok abbot, this monk was known as the ‘Frying pan’ abbot and had gained a considerable influence through the combination of systematic preaching and of humanitarian aid and social action. The turn to mass preaching was aimed, in his case, to implement moral reform and located him in the monastic lineages that contest established powers to such an extent that, eventually, he was banned from large public preaching in the region of Rangoon by the religious body administrating the Sangha. This case is examined from the point of view of renunciation that defines the position occupied by monks in Theravadin societies as opposed to that of the laity, and as representative of a specific moment in the articulation of religion and politics in Myanmar.