Buddhist Philosophy Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
What implications does the Srin-mo, a pre-Buddhist deity who traverses across almost all of the periods of time in Tibetan religious life, have on the social status of women? Embodying the places and spaces of Tibet, a malevolent demoness... more
What implications does the Srin-mo, a pre-Buddhist deity who traverses across almost all of the periods of time in Tibetan religious life, have on the social status of women? Embodying the places and spaces of Tibet, a malevolent demoness called the Srin-mo has been essential in laying the formation of Tibetan Buddhism. The concept of the Srin-mo can be traced back to the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet: Bön. The story of the Srin-mo is not a creation myth in the sense of a worldly inception, but the story of the demoness does represent the creation of a harmonious society, spurring from the preceding time of primordial chaos found amongst the Bön religion. Looking at the origins of the demoness’ story is necessary in order to understand how and why the Srin-mo holds efficacious power over the land and people of Tibet. Here, I will investigate the case of the Srin-mo, which is controversially one of the most important beings in Tibet, but unquestionably, an irrevocable component of understanding what implications geography holds on Tibet.
La letteratura buddhista del canone pali presenta un’estesa tassonomia di esercizi di meditazione. Lo scopo di questi esercizi è di raggiungere alti livelli di concentrazione e da lì forme di conoscenza intuitiva atte a dissipare... more
La letteratura buddhista del canone pali presenta un’estesa tassonomia di esercizi di meditazione. Lo scopo di questi esercizi è di raggiungere alti livelli di concentrazione e da lì forme di conoscenza intuitiva atte a dissipare l’illusione e a liberare la mente dalle contaminazioni mentali. Questo processo, descritto anche all’interno delle narrazioni tradizionali della vita del Buddha, verrà esaminato attraverso le sue principali fasi e componenti: prerequisiti, facoltà accessorie variamente interrelate, esercizi specifici per la focalizzazione dell’attenzione su un oggetto, rimedi agli impedimenti alla concentrazione, stadi profondi di assorbimento e relative acquisizioni, modelli progressivi di acquietamento della mente, contromisure all’identificazione egoica della mente con i livelli di concentrazione raggiunti, maturazione dei fattori contemplativi e cognitivi, rottura degli schemi del saṃsāra e conseguente liberazione.
Si analizzeranno alcuni testi e passi dedicati alla concentrazione meditativa, tratti dal Suttapiṭaka e da lavori esegetici, dal punto di vista delle sfumature lessicali, dei riferimenti incrociati, della coerenza dei contenuti, e dell’impatto di queste classificazioni sulla filosofia del buddhismo antico tout court, con particolare attenzione all’ontologia e all’epistemologia.
The concept of antinatalism is now becoming popular on the Internet. Many online newspaper articles deal with this topic, and numerous academic papers on antinatalism have been published over the past ten years in the fields of philosophy... more
The concept of antinatalism is now becoming popular on the Internet. Many online newspaper articles deal with this topic, and numerous academic papers on antinatalism have been published over the past ten years in the fields of philosophy and ethics. The word “antinatalism” was first used in the current meaning in 2006, when the two books that justify the universal negation of procreation were published: one by David Benatar and the other by Théophile de Giraud. However, we can find various prototypes of antinatalistic thoughts in ancient Greece, ancient India, and modern Europe. You might recall the name Schopenhauer.
In this paper, I briefly summarize the history of antinatalistic thoughts and propose a set of categories on antinatalism and related thoughts.
This is the handout for a presentation I gave in February of 2020 in Heidelberg at the workshop "Textual and Visual Sources on Buddhist Meditation: 56 Years after the First Publication of the ‘Buddhist Yoga Manual.’" The talk was... more
This is the handout for a presentation I gave in February of 2020 in Heidelberg at the workshop "Textual and Visual Sources on Buddhist Meditation: 56 Years after the First Publication of the ‘Buddhist Yoga Manual.’" The talk was entitled "The Deities of Others: Visionary meditation as inter-tradition critique in the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna-sūtra."
O zen-budismo é uma forma de budismo mahãyãna de origem chinesa e orientada para a meditação. O presente estudo é concebido “comparativamente”. As filosofias de Platão, Leibniz, Fichte, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche e Heideggeir, entre... more
O zen-budismo é uma forma de budismo mahãyãna de origem chinesa e orientada para a meditação. O presente estudo é concebido “comparativamente”. As filosofias de Platão, Leibniz, Fichte, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche e Heideggeir, entre outras, são confrontadas com as inteleções filosóficas do zen-budismo. O “método comparativo” é utilizado aqui como um método desbravador de sentidos.
In the past the study of Asian philosophical traditions has often been approached by asking how the theories developed within these non- Western cultures would help us to solve problems in contemporary Western philosophy. The present... more
In the past the study of Asian philosophical traditions has often been approached by asking how the theories developed within these non- Western cultures would help us to solve problems in contemporary Western philosophy. The present account, which summarizes results of a research project funded by the John Templeton foundation in 2015, attempts to reverse this way of studying Asian philosophy by investigating which theories, approaches and models from contemporary Western philosophy can be used to support, analyse, refine, and advance insights into key questions discussed by Indian Buddhist Madhyamaka. Our discussion concentrates on six key philosophical areas that can contribute in important ways to the analysis and development of Madhyamaka thought: metaphysics, logic, semantics, cognitive science, philosophy of science, and ethics.
《六十如理颂》是公元2、3世纪时印度佛教论师龙树的代表作之一，主要阐述“缘起无生”的中观义理，在印度撰述中有着很高的引用率，曾对后世产生巨大影响。 该论梵本久佚，其宋代汉译本质量较差，藏译本一直是学界的主要参考。西方学界的梵本辑佚历经一个世纪，从各文献引用中共辑出12颂，占全论五分之一。 基于近年来新发现的梵文写本，笔者又新辑出20馀颂，使得本书共刊出梵本37颂（其中5颂仅存一半），已逾全论半数。此外，本书还刊出藏汉文精校本，并附汉语新译和义理导读。 In this... more
《六十如理颂》是公元2、3世纪时印度佛教论师龙树的代表作之一，主要阐述“缘起无生”的中观义理，在印度撰述中有着很高的引用率，曾对后世产生巨大影响。
该论梵本久佚，其宋代汉译本质量较差，藏译本一直是学界的主要参考。西方学界的梵本辑佚历经一个世纪，从各文献引用中共辑出12颂，占全论五分之一。
基于近年来新发现的梵文写本，笔者又新辑出20馀颂，使得本书共刊出梵本37颂（其中5颂仅存一半），已逾全论半数。此外，本书还刊出藏汉文精校本，并附汉语新译和义理导读。
In this book, 37 Sanskrit verses (including five half-verses) of the YṢK are recovered on the basis of quotations found in newly identified Sanskrit manuscripts from Tibet, which include two folios of the Yuktiṣaṣṭikā-vṛtti, the Munimatālaṃkāra, the Madhyamakāvatāra and an unknown commentary of the
Madhyamakāloka. A concordance of the verses collected in Lindtner 1982 and in this book can be found on page (39); a detailed concordance of all verses quoted in the Sanskrit works currently available to us is on page (40). For works that quote the YṢK but are (as far as we can determine) only extant in Tibetan translations, references are given in the footnotes to the Sanskrit of each verse.
In providing a view of paideia as dialetheia, we may elaborate the educational dimensions of a view of reality as contradictory, as captured in the key phrase Double Eyes. In this way, we may be able to connect long-standing traditions in... more
In providing a view of paideia as dialetheia, we may elaborate the educational dimensions of a view of reality as contradictory, as captured
in the key phrase Double Eyes. In this way, we may be able to connect long-standing traditions in clinical-philosophical pedagogy with a wider range of recent intellectual projects and problématiques worldwide.
Touching impermanence describes the experiential moment in an art encounter when one senses the enchanted reality of one's interconnections wit the sentient matterflow of existence. All matter in existence is constantly vibrating,... more
Touching impermanence describes the experiential moment in an art encounter when one senses the enchanted reality of one's interconnections wit the sentient matterflow of existence. All matter in existence is constantly vibrating, changing, assembling and evolving into forms and organisms, cycli through decay and disintegration, then reforming again with diversity and difference; this is the impermanence of sentient matter-flow. Humans are j one form of these reciprocal assemblages; we are within and part of sentient matter-flow. We also co-create with sentient matter-flow, changing the cycles on micro and macro levels, just as they change us. On a macro level human actions have impacted and changed the Earth's biosphere, altering polluting sentient matter-flows to the extent that our present time period is becoming known as the Anthropocene, the human age of destruction an disconnection. There are many efforts to readdress our anthropocentric feelings of apathetic disconnection from the Earth; one is found in the arts correlates with my practice-led research. This doctoral study of sensate experiences of materiality and haptic thinking, which provide both maker an audience with direct palpable experience of time, forms a specific understanding of touching impermanence. My art processes involve working with ta materials such as beeswax; tree branches, stumps and bark; paper; ash; rocks; ice; snow; charcoal; light and fungi. Engaging with these materials cocreatively involves a methodology of touch, multisensorily following materialities' sentient matter-flow. Acting with the material, I am present to th material's own sense of time, interactions, agency, histories, layers of interbeing and interconnections with surrounding matter. This requires being op to the mysteriousness of materials, inviting moments of enchantment within art encounters and the realisation of touching impermanence. This thesis investigates my studio practice and works produced, alongside related practices of Australian and international artists, by drawing on the intersection between New Materialism discourses and Buddhist philosophy to address aspects of phenomenology and eco-philosophy in the complexities of these practices and artwork encounters. URI:
Pali word Saddhā (P. saddhā) is usually translated to English as faith in the translation of Buddhist texts. Many scholars have objected to this translation. This paper examines the meanings given to Saddhā in seven Pali-English... more
Pali word Saddhā (P. saddhā) is usually translated to English as faith in the translation of Buddhist texts. Many scholars have objected to this translation. This paper examines the meanings given to Saddhā in seven Pali-English glossaries and dictionaries. Of these only the Pali-English Dictionary of the Pali Text Society [PED] gives a 'brief etymology'. This paper is a critical reading of the PED entry Saddhā.
The number of people engaging in and using social media has increased substantially over the past decade. Recent research has also suggested that a minority of individuals appear to be addicted to social media (e.g., so called ‘Facebook... more
The number of people engaging in and using social media has increased substantially over the past decade. Recent research has also suggested that a minority of individuals appear to be addicted to social media (e.g., so called ‘Facebook addiction’). Another area that has seen substantial growth during the same time period is the use of mindfulness. Following a brief overview of both excessive social media use and the basic concepts relating to what mindfulness is, this paper briefly reviews some of the main issues in these two areas and suggests that mindfulness might be a useful therapeutic intervention that alleviates problems associated with social media use (given that mindfulness has been used successfully in the treatment of other behavioral addictions such as
addictions to gambling and work). In light of the few studies carried out on excessive social media usage, it is concluded there is a need for more methodologically robust research exploring the prevalence, aetiology, and correlates of maladaptive social media behaviour.
The concept of Original Artistic Intent is difficult to apply to Tibetan thangkas. Thangkas are composite objects produced by painters and tailors with differing intents, skills and training. Iconographic specifications, regional and... more
The concept of Original Artistic Intent is difficult to apply to Tibetan thangkas. Thangkas are composite objects produced by painters and tailors with differing intents, skills and training. Iconographic specifications, regional and doctrinal differences in style, changes in form from harsh treatment and altered mountings all complicate the issue. 2008
Rose Harris-Birtill analyses the secular reworking of Buddhist religious influences across David Mitchell’s complete fictions, including his novels, short stories, and libretti, arguing that their shared ethical perspectives draw them... more
Rose Harris-Birtill analyses the secular reworking of Buddhist religious influences across David Mitchell’s complete fictions, including his novels, short stories, and libretti, arguing that their shared ethical perspectives draw them into a continuous post-secular world, and introducing the Tibetan Buddhist mandala as a fittingly post-secular comparative model through which to analyse Mitchell’s fictional worldview. Harris-Birtill demonstrates that Mitchell’s fictions cumulatively map not a physical terrain but the metaphysical world of belief, creating an interconnected world-system in order to suggest new ethical approaches to global humanitarian crises, revaluing the role of secular belief in galvanising both compassionate action and collective resistance. This study also reads the recurring character of Marinus as a form of secular bodhisattva, analysing Mitchell’s use of reincarnation as a form of non-linear temporality aimed at generating future-facing ethical action amidst the worryingly linear temporality of the Anthropocene. Harris-Birtill also identifies shared post-secular world-building in other contemporary literature, analysing novels by Michael Ondaatje, Ali Smith, Yann Martel, Will Self and Margaret Atwood in order to suggest the emerging literary category of mandalic literature. This perceptive study combines Buddhist philosophy with critical theory, drawing on Jung, Derrida, Foucault and Spivak, alongside contemporary theories of metamodernism and globalization. Taking a post-Jungian approach to the Tibetan mandala not as an ahistorical symbol but as a living socio-cultural artefact in diaspora, Harris-Birtill also identifies the wider implications of the mandala’s theorisation, noting the urgent need to resituate this ‘holistic’ symbol within the ongoing socio-political struggles that led to its increased international visibility.
By examining the trans-disciplinary neologisms called "terminological junctions" in writings of Arakawa and Gins, one may find adequate conditions for making visible, and perhaps resolving a central paradox in the thinking of Gilles... more
By examining the trans-disciplinary neologisms called "terminological junctions" in writings of Arakawa and Gins, one may find adequate conditions for making visible, and perhaps resolving a central paradox in the thinking of Gilles Deleuze, who exhorts us to "forge alliances" across scientific percepts, philosophical concepts and artistic constructs, and yet denies the adequacy of metaphor specifically, and tropes generally, because of the taint of representation and transcendence. Drawing on my earlier work which emphasizes the "agency" of tropes (by reference to Peter Galison and Bruno Latour) I attempt to recuperate tropes from within a Deleuzean frame, through an analysis of of "terminological junctions" as "shocks of thought."
It is probably fair to say that most people want to be happy. Indeed, the 1776 US Declaration of Independence refers to happiness as an ‘unalienable right’. However, given the rising prevalence of mental illness, and given the amount of... more
It is probably fair to say that most people want to be happy. Indeed, the 1776 US Declaration of Independence refers to happiness as an ‘unalienable right’. However, given the rising prevalence of mental illness, and given the amount of general unrest, conflict, and suffering in society, it’s also fair to say that, on the whole, human beings aren’t very good at cultivating happiness. In today’s post, we draw upon insights from the classical and research literature, and from our own practice and study of wellbeing, to examine the subject of how to nurture lasting happiness.
The influence of Buddhist philosophy on Charles Sanders Peirce’s triadic semiotic pragmaticism is well-known, but only in very general terms. Not many a work has tried to develop the consequences of a Peircean interpretation of Buddhism... more
The influence of Buddhist philosophy on Charles Sanders Peirce’s triadic semiotic pragmaticism is well-known, but only in very general terms. Not many a work has tried to develop the consequences of a Peircean interpretation of Buddhism and, reciprocally, a Buddhist development of Peirce’s philosophy. And yet, Buddhism can teach us a lot about the limitations of our existing conceptual categories as well as the need to achieve a transformation of awareness by strengthening phenomenological sensibilities. In this paper, intercultural philosophy will be embraced as an endeavour of cultivating semiotic roots for taking Abhidharma Buddhist routes of analysing consciousness and perception. The attempted cross-fertilisation between Buddhism, semiotics, and phenomenology (including dharma analysis and Peirce’s own version of a systemic phaneroscopy) is hoped to contribute to epistemological biodiversity and dialogue by “impregnating” Charles Sanders Peirce’s spiritually profound philosophy of signs with Indian Buddhist philosophical conceptions. Buddhist Abhidharma theory, which deconstructs commonsense objects into dharmas as minimal constituents of experience or states of consciousness, has an elaborate processual view to offer for exploring phenomenological similarities between Buddhist conceptions and Peirce’s phaneroscopy. Against this background, synergies between semiotic roots and Buddhist routes are going to be worked out on the hypothesis that Buddhism, with its focus on processes of cognition rather than on substantial entities, corresponds in a deep sense to Peirce’s notion of a universe conceived as existing almost entirely of signs and relations. In fact, the so-called “higher doctrine” of Abhi-dharma, whose intricate “scholastic” analyses of philosophical and psychological issues boil down to a veritable theory of consciousness, echoes the Peircean notion of a universe “perfused with signs” (CP 5.448) in a whole range of its interpretations.
「心でどこを探してみても、自分より、愛しい者を見いだすことはできない。 それと同じく、他の者にとっても、自分のことが愛しい。 ゆえに、自己を愛する者は、他の者を害さぬように」（マッリカー経） ■... more
This chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy, ed. Bret W. Davis (NYC: Oxford University Press, 2019) explicates the philosophy of the body of sixth-century Buddhist thinker Kūkai. Kūkai brings together what initially seem to... more
This chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy, ed. Bret W. Davis (NYC: Oxford University Press, 2019) explicates the philosophy of the body of sixth-century Buddhist thinker Kūkai. Kūkai brings together what initially seem to be opposing concepts: body and emptiness. He does this in the context of formulating a system of cosmology inseparable from religious practice. We interact with the rest of the cosmos through our body. Kūkai characterizes the cosmos in turn as the body of the Buddha, who personifies the embodiment of the dharma. This cosmic body is comprised of myriad bodies through their interactivities, in which we ourselves partake. The interdependence obtains both horizontally (among microcosmic bodies) and vertically (between macrocosm and microcosm). But this interdependent nature of bodies also means emptiness. All bodies are empty of substantiality. Enlightenment is to realize this emptiness of all. An additional factor is language because Kūkai conceives the body as the linguistic medium for communicating that dharma of emptiness.
The paper discusses Aristotelian organicism and the yin yang theory from the view-point of their overall adequacy to provide a comprehensive conceptual context to aspects, at least, of our contemporary representation of reality. The... more
The paper discusses Aristotelian organicism and the yin yang theory from the view-point of their overall adequacy to provide a comprehensive conceptual context to aspects, at least, of our contemporary representation of reality. The context may refer to specific fields of scientific research, to our everyday mode of thinking and acting, or to both. As the survey goes on, it is increasingly made clear that we deal with two different types of conceptuality. The yin yang bipolarity may be defined as a pattern of change with a practically unlimited field of applicability. The Aristotelian organicism outlines a model of change which stirs our rational faculties to search for a purpose amidst the accumulated data. In the first case the pattern may be creatively used within a vast variety of contexts. In the latter, the theory creates a conceptual context based on the four causes as first principles.
"In Buddhist Studies, Journal of the Department of Buddhist Studies, University of Delhi, March I, 1974, was published an article on “The Heart of Interdependent Origination of Ācārya Nāgārjuna with Commentary by the Author Translated... more
"In Buddhist Studies, Journal of the Department of Buddhist Studies, University of Delhi, March I, 1974, was published an article on “The Heart of Interdependent Origination of Ācārya Nāgārjuna with Commentary by the Author Translated into English from the Tibetan” by L. Jamspal and Peter Della Santina. In these Notes we add some information lacking in that article, concerning the text, translations and authorship of the Pratītyasamutpādahṛdayakārikā and the Pratītyasamutpādahṛdayavyākhyāna."
Издание представляет собой первый перевод с тибетского на европейский язык трактата "Чойла-чжугбиго", "Дверь, ведущая в Учение", Второго патриарха школы Сакья Соднам-Цзэмо (1142-1182). В трактате изложено жизнеописание Будды,... more
Издание представляет собой первый перевод с тибетского на европейский язык трактата "Чойла-чжугбиго", "Дверь, ведущая в Учение", Второго патриарха школы Сакья Соднам-Цзэмо (1142-1182). В трактате изложено жизнеописание Будды, рассматриваются вопросы философии, истории и хронологии буддизма. Перевод сопровождается комментарием и исследовательской статьей.