A ‘religion means Christianity’ equivalence seem to be predominant within the academic publications on religion and film. If a ‘philosophical’ film does not fit within the Christian doctrine, secular philosophies are usually applied to it. This paper tries to do a Buddhist analysis of the film Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999). The Yogacara Buddhist doctrine is used as a base for the thematic analysis, its vocabulary is applied on the narrative progression of the films protagonist. Structure: The paper starts with an introduction on how Buddhism came about through the life story of the Buddha, and then goes deeper into the Buddhist doctrine of thought. It concludes by using Yogacara Buddhist theories and vocabulary in a thematic analysis of the film Fight Club.

<p>A ‘religion means Christianity’ equivalence seem to be predominant within the academic publications on religion and film. If a ‘philosophical’ film does not fit within the Christian doctrine, secular philosophies are usually applied to it. This paper tries to do a Buddhist analysis of the film Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999). The Yogacara Buddhist doctrine is used as a base for the thematic analysis, its vocabulary is applied on the narrative progression of the films protagonist. Structure: The paper starts with an introduction on how Buddhism came about through the life story of the Buddha, and then goes deeper into the Buddhist doctrine of thought. It concludes by using Yogacara Buddhist theories and vocabulary in a thematic analysis of the film Fight Club.</p>

This thesis addresses a major trend (what might be termed a “post-Buddhism”) within contemporary Western Buddhist thinking, and hence practice, emphasising the epistemic, existential and ethical autonomy of self as it engages with the Asian Buddhist traditions. Aligning its enquiry with a corresponding hermeneutic of the Buddha‘s biography in his “second renunciation” (his social-psychological and praxiological relinquishment of the structures of religious authority) it focuses on the work of contemporary Western dharma teachers Stephen Batchelor, David Loy and Alan Clements. Their respective emphases of agnostic doubt, ontological groundlessness, and existential-ethical autonomy are investigated in turn, alongside a corresponding reading of the Buddha‘s praxis prior to his enlightenment. Of interest to academic Buddhist Studies, this analysis introduces potential re-theorisations of the meta-epistemic nature of Buddhist praxis and the phenomenology of self and Buddhist ‘non-self’ as it/they engage with both Buddhist and Derridean deconstructive (contemplative and intellectual) praxis. It also considers a re-contextualisation of Buddhist ethics as it is influenced by the deconstructive and ethical strategies of Derrida and Levinas, as well as a (native but under-explored) Buddhist ‘ethics of non-duality.’ (All of these themes might be seen as more or less implicit also in the work of Western Buddhist theorists such as Roger Jackson, John Makransky, José Ignacio Cabezón, Alan B. Wallace, John Pickering and so on, and their deconstructionist counterparts in John Caputo, Robert Magliola, Steven Laycock, Carl Olson and others.) The thesis concludes with a general theorisation of the newly-inflected models of Buddhist enlightenment, praxiology and ethical engagement that necessarily emerge from such a shift of emphasis: a post-secular, non-hierarchical trans-religious culture of self-determination both within and without tradition. The Buddha‘s enlightenment itself emerges as a heterogeneous culture of human freedoms rather than a form of univocal religious transcendence. Similarly, Batchelor, Loy and Clements’ concerns around authenticity can be seen as productive elements of an evolving model of Buddhism within Western culture: one that in paradoxically grounding itself in ‘groundlessness,’ returns to the meta-religious roots of Gotama Buddha‘s own socio-historic transformation of the (religious and other) conditions of his time. Such a transformation becomes characterised by a greater attention to the contingencies of the unique self and its environment, knowledge-acquisition and its constructed character, justice and ethical ambiguity, and the indeterminacy of normative religious claims.

This thesis addresses a major trend (what might be termed a “post-Buddhism”) within contemporary Western Buddhist thinking, and hence practice, emphasising the epistemic, existential and ethical autonomy of self as it engages with the Asian Buddhist traditions. Aligning its enquiry with a corresponding hermeneutic of the Buddha‘s biography in his “second renunciation” (his social-psychological and praxiological relinquishment of the structures of religious authority) it focuses on the work of contemporary Western dharma teachers Stephen Batchelor, David Loy and Alan Clements. Their respective emphases of agnostic doubt, ontological groundlessness, and existential-ethical autonomy are investigated in turn, alongside a corresponding reading of the Buddha‘s praxis prior to his enlightenment. Of interest to academic Buddhist Studies, this analysis introduces potential re-theorisations of the meta-epistemic nature of Buddhist praxis and the phenomenology of self and Buddhist ‘non-self’ as it/they engage with both Buddhist and Derridean deconstructive (contemplative and intellectual) praxis. It also considers a re-contextualisation of Buddhist ethics as it is influenced by the deconstructive and ethical strategies of Derrida and Levinas, as well as a (native but under-explored) Buddhist ‘ethics of non-duality.’ (All of these themes might be seen as more or less implicit also in the work of Western Buddhist theorists such as Roger Jackson, John Makransky, José Ignacio Cabezón, Alan B. Wallace, John Pickering and so on, and their deconstructionist counterparts in John Caputo, Robert Magliola, Steven Laycock, Carl Olson and others.) The thesis concludes with a general theorisation of the newly-inflected models of Buddhist enlightenment, praxiology and ethical engagement that necessarily emerge from such a shift of emphasis: a post-secular, non-hierarchical trans-religious culture of self-determination both within and without tradition. The Buddha‘s enlightenment itself emerges as a heterogeneous culture of human freedoms rather than a form of univocal religious transcendence. Similarly, Batchelor, Loy and Clements’ concerns around authenticity can be seen as productive elements of an evolving model of Buddhism within Western culture: one that in paradoxically grounding itself in ‘groundlessness,’ returns to the meta-religious roots of Gotama Buddha‘s own socio-historic transformation of the (religious and other) conditions of his time. Such a transformation becomes characterised by a greater attention to the contingencies of the unique self and its environment, knowledge-acquisition and its constructed character, justice and ethical ambiguity, and the indeterminacy of normative religious claims.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Los Angeles, 1984. / Vita. "List of characters": leaves 355-360. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 361-384).

The aim of this work is to understand some basic context of the Buddha's teachings and context in which it arises. At the same time we are trying our understanding at least partially shield the concepts and ideas of European tradition through which Buddhism is usually interpreted unproblematically. The problem of uniting traditions remain open and therefore this work does not aim to eliminate these problems, but we are only at grouping. In this work we are trying to draw attention to europocentrism perception of the Buddhist teachings, and based on this fact, at least in part, to interpret the Buddha's thoughts. Keywords Buddhism, Buddha, Eastern religions, Hinduism, India

The aim of this thesis is to define the term of marketing mix and followingly in its frame of communication to determine specifically the marketing communication. The part of this thesis is the application of the theory on the practical example of Buddha-Bar Hotel Prague. The benefits of this thesis will be the suggestions how to improve the communication and make it more intensive with other subjets, clients and media.

In 733, Japan’s ninth diplomatic mission to Tang China conveyed two Japanese Buddhist monks committed to finding a Chinese master of Buddhist precepts. The prevailing explanation for the precepts master solicitation states that Japan lacked sufficient numbers of fully ordained monks to conduct ordinations using vinaya codes of conduct. While this campaign successfully resulted in precept masters going to Japan in 736 and again in 754, there were no notable changes to monastic ordinations until after the final monk arrived. It is commonly presumed that only the latter precepts master possessed sufficient charisma, training, and followers necessary to establish a vinaya tradition. However, this explanation presumes that the later reforms matched the original expedition’s intent. Moreover, this position ignores the other monks’ activities in Japan’s political, cultural, and religious affairs between 736-754. It is also not supported by period texts. In this work, I utilize textual and physical evidence to demonstrate that these overseas monks’ activities and significance were largely unrelated to monastic precepts and ordinations. Instead, they rose to prominence due to their knowledge of Buddhist texts and rituals, familiarity with neighboring countries’ Buddhist legitimation and protection systems, fluency in overseas forms of cultural capital, and embodied otherness. Their influence can be seen in their involvement in the Ministry for Monastic Affairs, promulgation of the Avataṃsaka Sutra, and the creation and worship of the Great Buddha of Nara. Through highlighting these understudied and highly diverse monks, I demonstrate that Japan’s overseas population was intrinsically involved with the country’s transformation into a transregionally-connected, Buddhist country. Moreover, I argue that the overseas monks affiliated with Daianji Temple (大安寺) provided the Japanese court with direct ties to foreign countries that not only expanded Japanese international awareness, but also helped establish the country’s understanding of its position within a broader Buddhist world.

"Age of Scripture" charts the first-millennium emergence of new bodies of scripture within three major South Asian religious communities and considers intellectual responses to their rapid proliferation. This period witnessed an explosion in the production of textualized teachings attributed to the Buddha, Śiva, and Viṣṇu. These new corpora resemble one another in important ways, and their rise to prominence contributed to a shared sense of what it meant for a text to be "scripture." This study examines how these texts were conceptualized and analyzes them with reference to the actual practices employed in their production. In other words, it considers what it meant for these communities to attribute a definite text to a divine or awakened figure — whether the Buddha, Śiva, or Viṣṇu — and seeks to uncover how the notion of divine authorship, broadly defined, relates to the ways in which human beings actually produced and transmitted sacred texts. It shows that a similar set of presuppositions governed the creation of divine words across different communities, enabling comparable outcomes among Buddhists, Śaivas, and Vaiṣṇavas. After setting out the text-historical shape of this period, "Age of Scripture" considers the intellectual-historical reaction to these corpora. It analyzes, first of all, Mīmāṃsā attempts to deny the validity of these new texts through an anti-pluralistic philosophy that establishes, at least in theory, the Veda as the sole source of scriptural authority. And, second, it reviews various attempts to contend with Mīmāṃsā’s challenge, especially through rationalized defenses of pluralism.

This study has three aims. The first one is to review which Buddhist symbols are used in Rituals commercial “The Ritual of Laughing Buddha”, where Rituals is a cosmetic company, with a main focus on skin care. The second aim with my study is to examine how semiotic resources are used to depict Buddhist symbols based on multimodal critical discourse analysis, and the third aim is to examine how the concept of banal religion in the theory of mediatization can contribute to the understanding of the representation of Buddhist symbols. This paper will use a multimodal critical discourse analysis to examine the commercial and then analyze the material in relation to the theory of mediatization as described by Hjarvard. The semiotic resources made the Buddhist symbols appear explicitly and since several Buddhist symbols were found in the material, the concept of banal religion could be used as a theoretical focus and contribute to an understandning of how Buddhist symbols are used in the commercial. The results show that the commercial is not intended to convey a religious message, but was mainly used to connote emotions such as happiness, warmth and extravagance. Representation of religion is thus found in the commercial, but the Buddhist symbols are used in a different way, and are in a new context than from institutionalized religion.