My thesis brings into conversation, Buddhist spiritual teachings with the medieval contemplative Christian understanding and modern ontological thoughts, to investigate the dynamic characteristics of spiritual transformation. The thesis explores the following questions: Is there a spiritual journey? To what extent the journey itself is the transforming energy? To whom is transformation happening? How do we become the truth uncovered? Have we always been living in a ‘plenum’ with respect to the Buddha nature teaching? Is the Buddha and his teachings revolutionary agents of continuous transformation. Does the spiritual path focus on the cultivation of a Nirvanic-mind only, what about the body? My conversations revealed the following: That it is possible to become aware that conditioned thoughts are thinking the person. That it is possible for the conditioned (klesha) mind to become aware of its own Nirvanic mind-nature. A deluded mind uncovers its own wisdom nature by practising an unconstructed knowing. Thus, the enlightened mind perfects ‘objectless awareness’ and encounters reality as wisdom itself. The transformative power of failure is a yoga and as such it is perfected in the Bodhisattva vow to save all beings. Central to sustaining the spiritual path is to have a question such as ‘Is what I am doing what God is doing’. Life and the spiritual path are unpredictable; the unpredictable challenges the mind’s tendencies to conceptualize experience. The body holds the unpredictable energy of the disowned, which relates to as ‘flashing’ energies in the body. Transformation is the recognition of the first pure moment of awareness which also recognizes that goodness is at the heart of all things. The liberating doctrine is that everything is open (empty) and unbounded thus all matter is redemptive and as such we are always in the realm of truth.

Thesis (M.A.)--Simon Greenleaf School of Law, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 339-342).

Thesis (M.A.)--Simon Greenleaf School of Law, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 339-342).

Thesis (M.A.)--Simon Greenleaf School of Law, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 339-342).

In our interconnected, multi-religious world, how should religious people engage with religious others? What and how can theologians learn from religious others, from their traditions and their scriptures? Amongst those who engage in theological reasoning about these issues, two distinct approaches have been identified. The established discipline of theology of religions considers it necessary to examine the sources of one’s own tradition to come to some broad assessment about the value of religious diversity – usually identified through some version of the classic typology of inclusivism, exclusivism and pluralism (Alan Race). Others have criticised theology of religions, seeing it as prescriptive, biased towards pluralism, distorting of religious difference, and as making definitive judgments as to the presence of truth and possibility of salvation through other religions (e.g. Francis Clooney, George Lindbeck and Michael Barnes). These critics, working within the emerging field of interreligious hermeneutics, prefer direct engagement with other traditions in their particularities, learning from the religious other, yet often without reflecting on internal sources or arguing theologically for the possibility of finding truth in other religions. This thesis seeks to make a contribution to this discourse about method in the theological engagement to the religious other. It argues that the work of theology of religions is necessary to support theological learning from the religious other, particularly given that the scriptures of major religions (notably the New Testament, Qur’an and Pali Canon) are generally perceived to discourage this kind of activity. It also responds to criticisms, and works to make theology of religions more attuned to the insights of interreligious hermeneutics, so that it can be seen as capable of attending to the complexity and uncertainty that is inevitable in any realistic attempt to relate religious traditions to one another. Chapters 1 and 2 survey the development of theology of religions and of the alternative approaches found in the emerging field of interreligious hermeneutics. These are examined and as a result an adapted typology is presented which may be related fruitfully to interreligious hermeneutics. Chapters 3 and 4 explore interreligious hermeneutics further through two of its most prominent practices, scriptural reasoning and comparative theology, as carried out by some of its most notable practitioners. The extent to which these practices can be regarded as theologically ‘truth-seeking’ is analysed, and the usefulness of the adapted typology in reviewing the findings of these practices is assessed. Chapter 5 offers a detailed example of the kind of approach to the religious other present in a particular religious scripture, by focusing on the Buddha’s approach to the Brahmins as recorded in the Pali canon. This is done in order to demonstrate that the ‘plain sense’ of scriptures often does not support the approach to religious others advocated by scholars of interreligious hermeneutics. Finally, Chapter 6 outlines ‘soft pluralism’ as a particular approach within theology of religions which can support interreligious hermeneutics of the deepest, most adventurous ‘truth-seeking’ kind, without succumbing to the problems associated with pluralism in its classic (hard) form. This position can be supported by the work of a growing number of scholars (including Catherine Cornille, Rose Drew and Marianne Moyaert) who, far from seeking to eschew or downplay deep differences between traditions, believe that it is precisely at these points of tension or impasse, where traditions are offering insights that cannot be simply reconciled to one another, that we stand to learn the most from the religious other.

This thesis is premised on the fundamental notion of religious translation as a process of interpretation and adaptation that arises out of a complex iinguistic and cultural interplay. Its aim is to examine the types of interpretative problems one encounters as a society deeply rooted in Biblical and Christian practices struggles to integrate the rituals and formulae of Buddhism. As part of a cultural system, the translation of a religion cannot be explored in a vacuum, but needs to be viewed in the mutual interdependence with other elements of such system. Starting from Giambattista Vico's hypothesis that 'whenever men can form no idea of distant and unknown things, they judge them by what is familiar and at hand' (1744) this thesis aims to look at the interplay of local and foreign traditions in the translation and domestication of a Japanese new religious movement, Soka Gakkai, that has migrated from East to West. Through the notion of 'cultural repertoire', i.e. the aggregate of options utilized by a group of people for the organization of life', this work explores the extent in which Catholicism in Italy has influenced the formation of both religious sense and religious vocabulary. It will be argued that in Italy, the translation of an entire set of Japanese key-concepts pertaining to the sphere of religion has been measured on the yardstick of Christian vocabulary, and thus influenced by the search of 'perfect equivalences'. This operation has, in time, secured the successful dissemination of Soka Gakkai in the territory. At the same time, however, the overlap of Catholic and Buddhists practices has given rise to a peculiar form of hybrid religion that can be defined as 'Catho- Buddhism'.

In Chapter 2, the ways how Abe interprets the Buddhist idea of sunyata for his western audience are explored. There are three characteristics in his interpretation, namely clarifying the meaning of sunyata in comparison with the western philosophical and religious concepts, emphasizing the subjective aspect of sunyata, and taking sunyata as a dynamic activity rather than a static state. Among these characteristics, the dynamic interpretation of sunyata is of the most importance. Abe's interpretation goes beyond the classical meaning of sunyata formulated by Nagarjuna, and distinguishes itself from the traditional Chinese Buddhist thought. This dynamic interpretation of sunyata is arguably an original interpretation made by Abe and might have been inspired by the western thought he dialogued with. / In Chapter 3, this thesis scrutinizes closely Abe's proposal of "kenotic God" and summarizes the Christian responses attracted. According to Abe, the kenosis of Christ involves the kenotic understanding of God, which means the original nature of God is self-emptying. Abe was not satisfied with the traditional Christian doctrine of Trinity, and proposed "Great zero" or "Absolute nothingness" as the ground of the divine Trinity. Except very few Christian theologians who totally agree or disagree to Abe's idea, most of them accept his idea of "kenotic God", but refuse to take "Absolute nothingness" instead of Trinity as the ultimate divine reality. It can be said that Abe's proposal of "kenotic God" aims at offering a Buddhist interpretation, which is based on the experience of sunyata, as an aid to help Christians to deepen their understanding of God. Although his idea is not completely accepted by most of the Christian theologians, it exercises some sort of transformative influence. Many Christian theologians admitted that their understandings of God had been significantly changed by Abe. / In chapter 4, the present study examines if the ideal of "mutual transformation" is fulfilled in Abe's endeavour in Buddhist-Christian dialogue. As demonstrated in Chapter 3, Abe's proposal of "kenotic God" aims at deepening the Christian understanding of the divine ultimate reality from a Buddhist perspective. And it does have some transformative effects among some Christian theologians, in this regard, one side of the "mutual transformation" is realized. The remaining side to be explored is if Abe's understanding of Buddhism has also been transformed by the Christian insight. On the social-historical level, Abe points out that Buddhism should learn from Christianity, especially its view of justice. Abe also attempted to develop the Buddhist social ethics and a Buddhist view of history through encountering Christian theologians. However, on the ultimate level, as Cobb criticizes, Abe shows a strong self-confidence in the Buddhist understanding of ultimate reality and an equally strong resistance to change. Nevertheless, through a comparative study of his interpretation of sunyata and process thought, it is found that Abe's understanding of ultimate reality, namely "Dynamic sunyata", might have probably been inspired by the dynamic structure of process thought together with its idea about the bipolar nature of God. It therefore can be concluded that Abe's understanding of Buddhism has also been transformed in a fundamental way by Christian thought. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) / Masao Abe was probably the most prominent and active Buddhist scholar in Buddhist-Christian Dialogue in the last few decades. / This thesis consists of five major parts: In Chapter 1, Abe's theory about interfaith dialogue, which includes the necessity of dialogue, the methodological issues, its final goal, and how to understand the plurality and unity of world religions, will be discussed. According to Abe, nowadays the validity of religion in general is seriously challenged by anti-religious ideologies, especially scientism and nihilism. To cope with this challenge, interfaith dialogue must go beyond mutual understanding, and engage in mutually creative transformation. For him interfaith dialogue should involve two steps: first, clarify one's own religious idea, and make ideas from different traditions encounter with each other; second, liberate oneself from one's traditional framework of doctrine and practice and learn from each other in order to realize mutually creative transformation. Only in a transformative dialogue, can religions demonstrate their deepest authentic spirituality and overcome the anti-religious ideologies. In respect of religious pluralism, Abe proposed to take the Buddhist three-body doctrine as a working hypothesis to establish the dynamic unity of world religions. Through comparing Abe's proposal with that of John Hick and John B. Cobb, Jr. respectively, this thesis argues that although Abe's proposal is more capable of explaining the plurality and unity of world regions as well as giving a theoretical support for mutual learning, the proposal also implies a kind of Buddhist superiority, which may prevent Buddhists from learning from other religions at the ultimate or inner most level. / 李宜靜. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2007. / 參考文獻(p. 195-212). / Adviser: Pan-Chiu Lai. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0639. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2007. / Can kao wen xian (p. 195-212). / Li Yijing.

林津. / 論文(神學碩士) -- 香港中文大學硏究院宗敎及神學學部, 1995. / 參考文獻: leaves 61-64. / Lin Jin. / Chapter 第一章： --- 導論 --- p.一 / 基督敎對其他宗敎的立場 / 絶對主義 --- p.四 / 包容主義 --- p.七 / 相對主義 --- p.九 / 以上三個立場的共同困難 --- p.十二 / 宗敎對話 / 宗敎對話的立場 --- p.十五 / 宗敎對話的條件 --- p.十七 / 宗敎對話的落實 --- p.十九 / 本文所選取的對話範圍 / 死亡作爲宗敎對話的起點 --- p.二十一 / 佛敎作爲中國傳統思想的代表 --- p.二十二 / 兩點補充 --- p.二十五 / Chapter 第二章： --- 佛敎與基督敎的死亡觀 / 佛敎中的死亡觀 / 宇宙和人類的根源 --- p.二十六 / 人的組成部份 --- p.二十七 / 人生的目的 --- p.二十八 / 人生的景況 --- p.二十九 / 死亡的定義 --- p.三十 / 死亡出現的原因 --- p.三十一 / 每人死亡的次數 --- p.三十二 / 人死後即時的景況 --- p.三十三 / 人死後最終的歸宿 --- p.三十五 / 基督敎中的死亡觀 / 宇宙和人類的根源 --- p.三十六 / 人的組成部份 --- p.三十七 / 人生的目的 --- p.三十八 / 人生的景況 --- p.三十九 / 死亡的定義 --- p.四十二 / 死亡出現的原因 --- p.四十二 / 每人死亡的次數 --- p.四十三 / 人死後即時的景況 --- p.四十五 / 人死後最終的歸宿 --- p.四十六 / 佛敎與基督敎死亡觀之比較 --- p.四十九 / Chapter 第三章： --- 不同立場在宗敎對話中可能出現的情況 / 絶對主義與宗敎對話 --- p.五十一 / 包容主義與宗敎對話 --- p.五十二 / 相對主義與宗敎對話 --- p.五十三 / 宗敎對話立場中可考慮的幾點 --- p.五十五 / 結語 --- p.五十九 / 附件： 書目 / 英文書藉 --- p.六十一 / 中文書藉 --- p.六十二 / 期刊文章 --- p.六十三 / 工具書藉 --- p.六十四

蘇遠泰. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2002. / 參考文獻 (p. 288-301). / 中英文摘要. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Su Yuantai. / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2002. / Can kao wen xian (p. 288-301).

李智浩. / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 230-248). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Li Zhihao.