Thesis advisor: John J. Makransky / The purpose of this work is to differentiate the autonomous `self-compassion' of therapeutic modernist Buddhism from pre-therapeutic Mahâyâna Buddhist practices of refuge, so that refuge itself is not obscured as a fundamental Buddhist orientation that empowers the possibility of compassion for self and other in the first place. The work begins by situating issues of shame and self-aversion sociologically, in order to understand how and why self-aversion became a significant topic of concern during the final quarter of the twentieth century. This discussion allows for a further investigation of shame as it has been addressed first by psychologists, for whom shame is often understood as a form of isolating self-aversion, and then by philosophers such as Bernard Williams and Emmanuel Levinas, for whom shame attunes the person to the moral expectations of a community, and therefore to ethical commands that arise from beyond the individual self. Both psychologists and philosophers are ultimately concerned with problems and possibilities of relationship. These discussions prepare the reader to understand the importance of Buddhist refuge as a form of relationship that structures an integrative rather than destructive self-evaluation. The second chapter of the dissertation closely examines Friedrich Nietzsche's work on shame. In a late note, Nietzsche wrote that "man has lost the faith in his own value when no infinitely valuable whole works through him"; the second chapter argues that Nietzsche's vision of a relatively autonomous will to power cannot fully incorporate this important Nietzschean insight, and helps to drive the kind of self-evaluation typical of modernist `personality culture,' which is likely to become harsh. The third chapter first discusses contemporary therapeutic Buddhist responses to self-aversion, particularly practices of `self-compassion' that claim to be rooted in early Pali canonical and commentarial sources, before developing a commentary on the medieval Tibetan lojong teaching Drive all blames into one. Drive all blames into one, though often discussed in contemporary commentaries as a form of self-blame, should be understood more thoroughly as a simultaneous process of refuge and critique--a process that drives further access to compassion not only for self, but for others as well. Chapter Four discusses mourning and self-reproach in the apophthegmata of the Desert Fathers, showing how `self-hatred' in this context is in a form of irony: the self that is denigrated is not an ultimate reality, and the process of mourning depends upon both an access to love and a clear recognition of our many turns away from that love. In conclusion, I draw attention to the irony of modernist rejections of religious self-critique as supposedly harmful forms of mere shaming, even as the modernist emphasis on autonomy is what enables self-critique to become harsh and damaging. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

This study explores the idea that the Western adaptation of Tibetan Buddhism is in fact a continuum of the Protestant Reformation. With its inhospitable terrain and volatile environment, the geography of Tibet has played an important role in its assimilation of Buddhism. Demons, ghosts and gods are a natural part of the Tibetan world. Yet why is it that Tibetan Buddhism often downplays these elements in its self portrayal to the West? Why are Westerners drawn to an idealistic view of Buddhism as being rational and free from belief in the supernatural when the reality is quite different? This thesis will show that in its encounter with Western modernity Tibetan Buddhism has had to reinvent itself in order to survive in a world where rituals and belief in deities are regarded as ignorant superstition. In doing so it will reveal that this reinvention of Buddhism is not a recent activity but one that has its origins in nineteenth century Protestant values. While the notion of Protestant Buddhism has been explored by previous scholars this thesis will show that rather than solving the problems of disenchantment, Buddhist Modernism ignores the human need to find meaning in and to take control over one’s surroundings. In doing so it will argue that rather than adopting a modern, crypto-Protestant form Buddhism, Westerners instead need to find a way to naturally transplant Tibetan Buddhism onto their own surroundings.

Pong, Seong Teresa. / Thesis submitted in: October 2006. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-173). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / The Symbols --- p.1 / Thesis Objectives --- p.11 / Literature Review --- p.15 / Research Methods --- p.26 / Summary --- p.32 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- "The ""Modernization"" of Hong Kong Buddhism" --- p.40 / Modernized Buddhism closer to home --- p.41 / F6 Guang Shan --- p.42 / Dharma Drum Mountain [Fagu Shan Education Foundation] --- p.46 / ClJT Gongdehui --- p.49 / What are they teaching? --- p.50 / Independent Religiosity --- p.54 / The impact of TBO's in Hong Kong --- p.58 / """Cultural Buddhism"" of Chi Lin" --- p.62 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- The Rise of Chi Lin Nunnery --- p.67 / Chi Lin's History --- p.67 / The Tang Dynasty Reproduction --- p.73 / Chi Lin's attempt to replicate the past --- p.75 / Discussion on the architecture of the redeveloped Chi Lin Nunnery --- p.80 / The Other Hardware - The Hammer Hill Road Garden --- p.82 / The Significance of Chinese Temples' Surroundings --- p.85 / The Software - Services offered --- p.88 / The Designer and her Team --- p.92 / What do the outsiders think? --- p.100 / Summary --- p.101 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- The Proselytes --- p.104 / Why Buddhism? --- p.104 / Conversion to Buddhism --- p.108 / From Folk Religion to Buddhism --- p.110 / From Christianity to Buddhism --- p.117 / The Rites of Passages with divisions in beliefs --- p.125 / Summary --- p.129 / Chapter Chapter 5 - --- Conclusion --- p.136 / Proselytes: Who was the instigator? --- p.136 / The two major groups of proselytes --- p.137 / Social Leveling in Hong Kong --- p.140 / The Concept of Belief Intensity Cycles --- p.144 / The Role of Chi Lin Nunnery --- p.153 / Conclusion --- p.156 / Appendix 1 --- p.166 / Bibliography --- p.170

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Baylor University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-134).

As a South Asian iteration of “modern Buddhism,” Ambedkarite Buddhism’s place in the modern Euro-American Religious Studies academy has been under-articulated and, considering the profile of its founding figure, this absence is conspicuous. By providing a detailed exposition of the unique and defining features of Ambedkarite Buddhism this project aims to address this gap in the literature. B.R. Ambedkar’s position as a Dalit, activist, Columbia University-trained scholar, pragmatist, and Buddhist offers a unique point of departure to re-examine some of the core assumptions about Buddhist approaches to ethics and action in the world. This dissertation aims to articulate a theological (or dharmalogical) framework at work in Ambedkar’s American Pragmatist-inspired, social justice-oriented Buddhism. Inside India, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is perhaps the single most well-known and revered social justice figure for the oppressed classes of all time, with numerous universities, neighborhoods, roads, foundations, and airports named in his honor. And yet, his profile has remained largely provincial. As a major religious leader in India, Dr. Ambedkar is almost completely obscured by Gandhi’s shadow in the Euro-American mind, yet it was his deep interest in religion and his famous public conversion to Buddhism, along with millions of his followers, that animated so much of his action and continues to inspire his followers today. In his introduction to The Buddha and His Dhamma Ambedkar identified four main problems that, in his view, hindered the Buddhist tradition in its ability to reach its potential as the religion most adapted to modernity. This dissertation is organized around those questions, as Ambedkar framed them. First, Ambedkar was dissatisfied with traditional explanations for the Siddhārtha’s decision to leave his comfortable palace life in pursuit of the life of a renunciate. In place of the psycho-spiritual angst that drives the Siddhārtha found in most traditional source texts, Ambedkar presents Siddhārtha as a socially-motivated renunciate in his Buddha narrative. The second problem relates to the set of teachings commonly known as the “four noble truths.” He sees these teachings as problematic for various reasons, including that, in his view, they lead to nihilism, and he seeks to undermine their authority while offering an alternative frame. The third problem relates to the Buddhist teachings on karma and rebirth. He argues that Brahminical readings of these terms have inflected Buddhist understandings of them and consequently rendered them incompatible with the Buddha’s intended meaning. He seeks to clarify the Buddha’s original intent regarding these terms. The fourth and final problem relates to the community of monks and nuns. Specifically, Ambedkar seeks to rectify an inconsistency he identifies between the social message of the Buddha as he understands it and the inward orientation of the monastic saṅgha as he sees it around the Buddhist world. Ambedkar succeeded in the creation of a pan-Indian anti-caste movement, the likes of which had never before been seen. Instead of rejecting religion completely, as perhaps may be expected of a Western educated, liberal-minded thinker whose disaffection with Hinduism was near total, he instead moved toward it. His enchantment with the Buddha from a young age as the first and most effective anti-Brahminical champion of equality coupled with his sense of the need for a social consciousness to morally orient not only Dalits but all of Indian society inspired him to pragmatically carve out a Buddhism that he found fit for the job. / Religion

Thesis (PhD--Anthropology)--University of Auckland, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.