Buddhist Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Although Buddhism denies the existence of a permanent individual entity, the tradition nevertheless makes frequent use of the "aggregate" scheme when asked to explain the elements at work in the individual. Through a detailed analysis of each of these five aggregates (pancakkhandha). I first intend to establish how the Theravada tradition views their interaction, with each other and with the external world. Secondly, I will attempt to offer strong evidence that the traditional order systematically used for the enumeration of the five aggregates is significant. This will be evidenced by establishing a correlation between the five aggregates and the eight middle links of the theory of dependent origination (paticcasamuppada). The results of my research will not only explain the psychosomatic workings of the individual--as viewed by the Theravada tradition--, but will clarify the mental process which, according to the Pali suttas, constitutes the grounds of transmigration.

The current study examines the agnostic Buddhism of contemporary scholar and practitioner Stephen Batchelor. The main question under examination is whether the essence of Buddhism is undermined when interpreted through Batchelor's agnostic and "belief-free" lens. In an attempt to answer this question, Batchelor's main philosophical texts---Alone With Others, The Faith to Doubt, and Buddhism Without Beliefs---are analysed, as are three critiques of his work written by Bhikkhu Punnadhammo, Bhikkhu Bodhi, and Sangharakshita. It is concluded that while Batchelor is discarding many of the conventional trappings of Buddhism, he is not placing its integrity at risk.

No description available.

No description available.

This study examines the Śrāvakabhūmih of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra with the aim of identifying the doctrines of spiritual praxis from Abhidharma to Mahāyāna Yogācāra. The hypothesis posited is that the spiritual praxis of the Mahāyāna Yogācāra is modified from the practice of the Śrāvakayāna yogācāra-s, the early meditation practitioners whose practices were closely related to the Abhidharma. Two questions have been set for this investigation; the first question being: Is the spiritual praxis of the Śrāvakayāna yogācāra-s actually related to the Abhidharma tradition, and if so how? The second question is: How much influence did the practice of the Śrāvakayāna yogācāra-s have on the evolution of the spiritual praxis of the Mahāyāna Yogācāra and what new developments, if any, were there? Together, the answers to these two questions will reveal how far the hypothesis set for this study is justified. This research starts with accumulation of knowledge around the identity of the yogācāra-s as meditation practitioners in early Buddhism, the different phases of the Mahāyāna Yogācāra school, the structure and contents of the Śrāvakabhūmih and the current reports on the relationship between the practice of the Śrāvakayāna yogācāra-s and the Mahāyāna Yogācāra. In order to bring out the profound practice of the Śrāvakabhūmih, an English translation of the important teachings in the Yogasthāna III of the Śrāvakabhūmih has been attempted. A key section of this research is the analysis and discussion of the findings with appropriate passages from two major groups of texts: (a) the Abhidharma texts and (b) the Mahāyāna Yogācāra texts. These texts include: (a) the Abhidharmasangītiparyāya-pāda-śāstra ( 阿毘達磨異門足論), the Abhidharma-dharmaskandha-pāda-śāstra (阿毘達磨法藴足論), and the *Abhidharma-mahāvibhā āśāstra ( 阿毘達磨大毘婆沙論); (b) the Samāhitābhūmi_ ( 三摩呬多地), Cintāmayībhūmih ( 思所成地), Bodhisattvabhūmih ( 菩薩地) and the Viniścayasamgrahanī ( 攝決擇分) of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, the Sandhinirmocana-sūtra (解深密經), liu men jiao shou xi ding lun (六門教授習定論) and the Abhidharmasamuccaya-bhā yam-śāstra (大乘阿毘達磨雜集論). The findings of this preliminary study show that the practices of the Śrāvakayāna yogācāra-s are indeed systematic re-organizations of Abhidharma materials with elaborated details and the Mahāyāna Yogācāra did establish their spiritual praxis on the foundation of these practices of the early meditation practitioners modified with new theories and explanations. Thus, it can be concluded that the spiritual praxis of the Mahāyāna Yogācāra was indeed modified from the practices of the Śrāvakayāna yogācāra-s, the early meditation practitioners whose practices are closely related to the Abhidharma. / published_or_final_version / Buddhist Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Buddhist Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Early Buddhists undisputably considered Nirvana to be the ultimate goal of their practice. However, not only was the meaning of Nirvana disputed, but so were the means (e.g., right view and no view) conducive to its achievement. The thesis proposes to examine the controversial status that scholars have accorded to faith and reason as elelments of the path. In this respect, the Buddha's attitude toward tradition, reasoning and experience is examined, along with the epistemological foundations of Pali canonical thought. Related issues such as identifying the ultimate criterion of reality advanced by Buddhism are also discussed. Moreover, since the Buddha suggested various ways leading to Nirvana, an attempt is made to discover how the paths of sila, samadhi and panna relate to each other and to the final goal.

This study critically analyzes Critical Buddhism (hihan bukkyo ; hereafter: CB) as a philosophical and a religious movement; it investigates the specific basis of CB, particularly the philosophical categories of critica and topica, vis-a-vis contemporary theories of knowledge and ethics, in order to re-situate CB within modern Japanese and Buddhist thought as well as in relation to current trends in contemporary Western thought. / This study is made up of seven chapters, including the introduction and the conclusion. The introduction provides the religious and philosophical context as well as the motivations and intentions of the study. Chapter 2 with the title "Eye of the Storm: Historical and Political Context" is largely explanatory. After a brief analysis of violence, warfare and social discrimination within Buddhism and specifically Japanese traditions, some important background to the context in which Critical Buddhism arose is recalled. In addition, the development of so-called Imperial Way Zen (kodozen )---which represents in many respects the culmination of the 'false' Buddhism the Critical Buddhists attack---is examined. The following chapter on the roots of topica analyses a number of the larger epistemological and ethical issues raised by CB, in an attempt to reinterpret both 'criticalism' and 'topicalism' with reference to four key motifs in Zen tradition: experience (jikishi-ninshin: "directly pointing to the human mind [in order to realize the Buddha-nature]" [B.]); tradition (kyoge-betsuden: "an independent transmission apart from written scriptures" [M. 6, 28]); language (furyu-moji or furyu-monji: "not relying on words and letters" [M. 6]); and enlightenment (kensho jobutsu: "awakening to one's original Nature [and thus becoming a Buddha]" [Dan. 29]). Here and in Chapter 4, on "New Buddhisms: Problems in Modern Zen Thought," the CB argument against the many sources of topical thinking is outlined, paying particular attention to question of 'pure experience' (junsui keiken) developed by Nishida Kitaro and the Kyoto School. Chapter 5 on "Criticism as Anamnesis: Dempo/Dampo" develops the positive side of the CB case, i.e., a truly 'critical' Buddhism, with respect to the place of historical consciousness and the weight of tradition. Chapter 6, "Radical Contingency and Compassion," develops the theme of radical contingency, based on the core Buddhist doctrine of pratitya-samutpada (Jp. engi) as the basis for an effective Critical Buddhist epistemological and ethical strategy. The conclusion elaborates a paradigm for comparative scholarship that integrates the insights of Western philosophical hermeneutics, pragmatism, CB, and so-called 'Buddhist theology'. The implications of the Critical Buddhist project on the traditional understanding of the relation between scholarship and religion are examined, and also the reconnection of religious consciousness to social conscience, which CB believes to be the genius of Buddhism and which makes of CB both an unfinished project and an ongoing challenge.

This dissertation is about the preservation of Buddhist teachings by means of seemingly unconventional methods. When lineages and factions competed for authority and for teachings that were believed to be in danger of being corrupted, or lost altogether, scholar monks of the Chūin-ryū lineage at Kōyasan restored, reinstated, and redelivered certain teachings through oracles given by the mountain gods, through paintings and their inscriptions, and through rituals. In the first part of the dissertation I examine the Chūin-ryū and its connection to the role of leadership of the mountain-based community, and an oracular possession that functioned to transmit teachings from a hitherto obscure god named Daishi Myōjin. The background to this was extreme violence between two major factions in the community, and the subsequent exiles of some of the participants, which exacerbated—or perhaps provided a reason for—concerns about the decline of the lineage and even the entire community through the loss, via both corruption of teachings and exile of teachers, of embodied teachings. In the second part I examine paintings that I suggest were produced by the Chūin-ryū and involved important Chūin-ryū scholar monks who strove to restore scholarship after the exiles had exerted a damaging effect on the institutions of education. The paintings are linked to the oracle examined in the previous section and they, as well as those figures to which the paintings and inscriptions on them are linked, are connected to debate and mondō ceremonies, and to the kami worship rites they involved. I then move into an examination of Daishi Myōjin and its character as an amalgamate deity comprised of patriarchs and kami, appropriate as both the ultimate authority in teaching, and as arbiter of justice. Furthermore, this deity seems to have been appropriated and defined by the Chūin-ryū. It was of great use at a time when they sought control of the community and consolidation of their position, via knowledge transmission, worship, and punishment, for Daishi Myōjin performed all these functions. I then examine scholarship at Kōyasan, and the most prominent debates from the Kamakura to the Muromachi periods, noting that the development of the kami iconography seems to have been related to that of scholarly institutions. Finally, I look at the scholarship-related ceremonies and related rituals and discern that they involve considerable “re-enactments” of events and encounters that were important to the Chūin-ryū and to their authority as prime lineage at Kōyasan.