Since 1950s, the concept of Kongwu (空無, Emptiness, Nothingness) has migrated into American-European experimental performances, including those of John Cage and Cage-influenced artists who developed Happenings, Fluxus, and intermedia practices. This research-through-practice investigates how the concept of kongwu, an intercultural synthesis of Chinese Daoism and Indian Buddhism, may shape the principles underlying performance making and how performance may, in turn, elucidate Kongwu way of making sense the world. The installation-performance, Poem without Language contemplates Kongwu’s distrust of language by undermining the communicative purpose of writing and responds to Nam June Paik’s approach to media language. The research practice, One Street, Three Persons, Different Narratives, and Different Memories responds to John Cage’s use of silence to revise time and measurement, and exposes the habit, how we experience the ‘present’ as accumulations of the past, and how we order experiences as a linear continuity, which we call ‘time’. My performance, … is Present suggests different definitions of the ‘meditative mind’ and ‘being-here-and-now’ and critiques the relationship between embodiment and identity in Marina Abramović’s construction of ‘suchness’. Three works offer one response to the poetics and politics of intercultural encounters in the context of Chan/Zen in intermedia performance. My research-through-practice sheds light on Kongwu way of experiencing, particularly Kongwu’s attitude towards language, time, and self.

This thesis researches the phenomenon of (mostly human) power from the point of view, from which human accepts it and believes in it. At first, it deals with the phenomenon of power in the work of Machiavelli (The Ruler) and it points out the possible danger of its absolutisation. For insight into thinking of Machiavelli, it deals with the analysis of Ľubomír Belás and also with the viewpoint of Anna Hogenová, Jan Patočka, Ernst Jünger, Václav Bělohradský and other authors. The thesis also shows the Comenius' criticism of Machiavelli. There comes a sort of revelation of the principle of power which disregards other values and the thesis warns against it. In the next step, the thesis researches the conception of Václav Klaus (Blue, not a Green Planet) and with the help of Jan Keller's statements and some scientifical opinions in ecological issues (Ravi Kumar Kooparapu) the thesis finds it closed in a certain way of economical thinking, guestioning-suppressive and thus somewhat power-based. Further, this thesis researches the form of strong distortion of the picture of the world which appears in the work of ideologist Alexander Dugin (The Great War of Continents). It shows dangerous power - demagogic features in his work and compares it with the similarities in the orations of Rudolf Goebbels. The...

Consolatio vacui (joy, deligt, consolation of void) is a conceptual piece exploring the idea of void and emptiness in contrast to the concept „horror vacui,“ which is wide-spread in the subconsciousness of the west culture. The piece deals with void as a field of possibilities, as a space without which there were no particular things. These questions are examined first in general, then in the field of objects and eventually in the specific field of book, asking the questions of ways and effects of communication, relationship of sign and void, purpose of empty space in the book (and in general). The piece consists of 24 books, 99 mostly empty pages each, which symbolizes the wide field of possible consideration of the issues solved in each book on one or a few pages. The 24th book is a summary of all the ideas with commentary.

Neste trabalho apresentamos a obra O Urso e o Gato montês da autora japonesa Kazumi Yumoto. Esse é o terceiro livro de Yumoto traduzido para o português trata da temática da morte, os outros dois são livros infanto-juvenis. Nesse livro, junto com a ilustradora Komako Sakai, Yumoto constrói uma narrativa ímpar em que o leitor se depara com o luto de forma delicada e percorre o processo de negação até a aceitação em que o personagem caminha. Fazemos uma análise da morte nos baseando na teoria de Kubler-Ross sobre os estágios do luto, juntamente com o vazio gerado por ela pela ausência da pessoa amada tendo em vista os conceitos de Okano sobre o vazio oriental, e por fim o amor, que é o laço condutor de tudo e que nos é apresentado nos personagens constituintes dessa narrativa. Embasados em teorias de análise de imagens, psicologia e pedagogia, nos debruçamos em um estudo da obra pensando na função da literatura como papel de formação e humanização do indivíduo. / In this work we present the book The Bear and the Wild Cat by the Japanese author Kazumi Yumoto. This is the third of her books translated to Portuguese that deals with the theme of death, it is also approached in two other of her children\'s books. In this book, along with illustrator Komako Sakai, Yumoto constructs a unique narrative in which the reader is confronted with mourning and goes through the process of denial until the acceptance in which the character walks to. We make an analysis of death based on Kubler-Ross\'s theory of the stages of mourning, with the emptiness generated by it by the absence of the loved one taking Okanos point of view about the empty orient, and finally, the love that is the connection link of everything, which is presented to us in the characters of this narrative. Based on theories of image analysis, psychology and pedagogy, we focus on a study of the book thinking about literature playing a role of training and humanization of the individual.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T17:26:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andrei Venturini Martins.pdf: 1778229 bytes, checksum: 55fe21833ba1001bae979fbe899bfda2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-11-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The main goal of this inquiry is to analyze the issue of human condition after the Adamic Fall, according to Blaise Pascal. We have chosen his Lettre that dates from October 17th, 1651, as our main object of analysis. This Lettre is anything but a marginal text within the author s work, representing, on the contrary, the debut of several meditations on themes such as death, compassion, providence, consolation, sacrifice, original sin, self-love, the infinite emptiness, the horror of death before and after the Fall, the love of live before and after the Fall. Our departing hypothesis is that, according to Blaise Pascal, man lives on attempting to deflect the infinite emptiness that dwell in him and fill it somehow, even though only Jesus Christ, as a mediator, is capable of fulfilling the void left by God. To sustain this hypothesis, two major concepts - that of self-love and that of infinite emptiness - present in the foresaid Lettre shall be analyzed throughout the two parts that form this research: A Theory of Original Sin and its Consequences and The Infinite Emptiness of man without God . In Part I, the focus is on the Jansenist spiritual direction of the XVIIth century, and its implications with regards to our object (First chapter). The second chapter focuses on the concepts of Self-Love and Infinite Emptiness, and there we raise the question whether, to Pascal, self-love as detachment from God is the root of all evil and all vices, and whether it is the cause of the infinite emptiness that dwells in man. Apart from Self-Love and Infinite Emptiness, the Lettre also mentions the will to domination and laziness as other consequences of the Adamic Fall. At the end of the first part (Third chapter), we intend to demonstrate the consequences of the Fall as Pascal puts them in the Écrits sur la Grâce: ignorance, concupiscence, guilt and eternal death. Thus, we shall have a more thorough perspective on the consequences of the Fall - something we shall name subjective collage , since we bring the Lettre near to the Écrits sur la Grâce and compose a picture with the consequences of the Fall. In Part II, titled The Infinite Emptiness of man without God , we have elaborated two chapters in order to meditate about human condition based on the concept of infinite emptiness. Chapter IV (the first in Part II) focuses on the relation between infinite emptiness and the Pascalian concept of divertissement; finally, the fifth and last chapter brings the concept of infinite emptiness near to that of Christ as Mediator / O principal objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar a condição humana depois da Queda Adâmica em Blaise Pascal, tendo como objeto central a Lettre de 17 de outubro de 1651. Este texto não pode ser considerado um texto marginal na obra do filósofo francês, mas sim o início de inúmeras reflexões temáticas como a morte, a compaixão, a providência, a consolação, o sacrifício, o pecado original, o amor próprio, o vazio infinito, o horror da morte antes e depois da queda, o amor pela vida antes e depois da queda. A hipótese que norteia este trabalho é que o homem tenta desviar-se e preencher esse vazio infinito causado pela queda através do divertissement, mas só o Cristo Mediador pode ocupar o vazio que Deus deixou. Para demonstrá-la, são investigados dois conceitos capitais na Lettre o Amor Próprio e o Vazio Infinito , ao longo das duas partes que compõem este trabalho: Teoria do pecado original e suas consequências e O Vazio Infinito do homem sem Deus . Na primeira, é investigado o contexto da direção espiritual jansenista no século XVII e seus ecos na Lettre, o que constitui o capítulo I; é trabalhado o conceito de Amor Próprio e Vazio Infinito, no capítulo II, com o intuito de saber se para Pascal o amor próprio desligado de Deus está na raiz de todos os males e de todos os vícios, assim como a causa do vazio infinito no homem sem Deus, pois, além do amor próprio e do vazio infinito, encontra-se na Lettre o desejo de dominação e a preguiça como consequências da queda; e, para finalizar a primeira parte, no capítulo III, são mostradas as consequências da queda expressas nos Écrits sur la Grâce, como a ignorância, a concupiscência, culpa e morte eterna, para que se possa ter, assim, uma visão mais completa, o que foi denominado, neste trabalho, colagem subjetiva , em função da aproximação da Lettre aos Écrits sur la Grâce. Na segunda parte, elaborada em dois capítulos, a fim de refletir a condição humana a partir do conceito de vazio infinito, é estudada, de forma específica, a relação do vazio infinito e o divertissement e, no último capítulo, o mesmo conceito de vazio infinito é aproximado ao Cristo Mediador

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Le Traité qui montre la nature de bouddha, écrit par le 3e Karmapa Rangjoung Dorjé (1284-1339), est un texte important de la lignée Karma Kagyü du bouddhisme tibétain. En effet, il indique la nature véritable de chaque être, le véritable Soi, et la pratique méditative du mahāmudrā qui est propre à cette lignée se fonde sur cette vue. Notre thèse propose une traduction en français du Traité qui montre la nature de bouddha et d’un commentaire écrit par Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Tayé (1813-1899). Cette traduction est accompagnée d’une réflexion sur le sens de la présence en tous les êtres de la nature de bouddha et des raisons pour lesquelles la pratique méditative se base sur sa compréhension. Puisque la nature de bouddha désigne un état de conscience indicible, nous proposons de l’appréhender en suivant le chemin que la conscience ordinaire doit parcourir pour reconnaître ce qu’elle est véritablement, à savoir la vacuité-luminosité. / The Treatise which shows buddha nature, written by the 3rd Karmapa Rangjoung Dorjé (1284-1339), is an important text in the Karma Kagyü lineage of tibetan buddhism. It indicates indeed the true nature of every being, the true self, and the mahāmudrā meditative practice which is specific to this lineage is grounded on that understanding. This study proposes a french translation of the Treatise which shows buddha nature and of a commentary written by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Tayé (1813-1899). We also try to understand the meaning of Buddha nature presence and the reasons why we should know it to practice mahāmudrā meditation. Since Buddha nature points out an inexpressible state of consciousness, we propose to apprehend it by following the path that the ordinary consciousness should go through, in order to recognize what is true, which is emptiness-luminosity.

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the life of Wordsworth as presented in The Prelude through the approach of Ch¡¦an (Zen) Buddhism. Three other topics will be touched on in addition to an introduction to Ch¡¦an: language, I and nature. Basic notions of Ch¡¦an are introduced to form a basis for the understanding of and interpretation of later chapters. The language of Wordsworth is analyzed to show two key points: the empty essence of language and Wordsworth¡¦s attachment to abstractions. The emptiness of abstractions in this chapter also serves as a basis for the discussions of nature in chapter four. The notion of self in The Prelude is examined in the episodes of Wordsworth¡¦s life to see his attachments and detachments; joy and sadness. Nature is then analyzed and divided into ¡§nature as it is¡¨ and ¡§nature as is meant¡¨ through the examination of The Prelude. The research finds that Wordsworth¡¦s early exposure to nature helps cultivate a much selfless ¡§I,¡¨ which explains his devotion to the French Revolution as he pursues it for the welfare of the public. His experiences of oneness with nature helps him experience rare cases of beauty, sublimity, develop imagination, and are later used as a powerful momentum to fight the conflict and pain in life. Yet as his experiences of one with nature gradually fade away from his memories under the constant conflict of his later grown-up life, he is more and more sucked into the gyration of differentiation. The mistakening of empty abstractions for his life¡¦s ideal gets him into the web of transcendental signifiers without any real solace. Attaching to abstractions only makes him stay away from the real and trap in the world of distinction and illusion. Only when he is back in nature and reality can he regain his pleasantness and joy.

Neste trabalho apresentamos a obra O Urso e o Gato montês da autora japonesa Kazumi Yumoto. Esse é o terceiro livro de Yumoto traduzido para o português trata da temática da morte, os outros dois são livros infanto-juvenis. Nesse livro, junto com a ilustradora Komako Sakai, Yumoto constrói uma narrativa ímpar em que o leitor se depara com o luto de forma delicada e percorre o processo de negação até a aceitação em que o personagem caminha. Fazemos uma análise da morte nos baseando na teoria de Kubler-Ross sobre os estágios do luto, juntamente com o vazio gerado por ela pela ausência da pessoa amada tendo em vista os conceitos de Okano sobre o vazio oriental, e por fim o amor, que é o laço condutor de tudo e que nos é apresentado nos personagens constituintes dessa narrativa. Embasados em teorias de análise de imagens, psicologia e pedagogia, nos debruçamos em um estudo da obra pensando na função da literatura como papel de formação e humanização do indivíduo. / In this work we present the book The Bear and the Wild Cat by the Japanese author Kazumi Yumoto. This is the third of her books translated to Portuguese that deals with the theme of death, it is also approached in two other of her children\'s books. In this book, along with illustrator Komako Sakai, Yumoto constructs a unique narrative in which the reader is confronted with mourning and goes through the process of denial until the acceptance in which the character walks to. We make an analysis of death based on Kubler-Ross\'s theory of the stages of mourning, with the emptiness generated by it by the absence of the loved one taking Okanos point of view about the empty orient, and finally, the love that is the connection link of everything, which is presented to us in the characters of this narrative. Based on theories of image analysis, psychology and pedagogy, we focus on a study of the book thinking about literature playing a role of training and humanization of the individual.

Ce mémoire étudie les représentations de la volonté humaine dans le Soûtra de l’Entrée dans la dimension absolue. L’exégèse du récit révèle dans un premier temps que l’insatisfaction (duḥkha s.) qui imprègne l’existence est en partie causée par la soif (tṛṣṇā s.). Or, notre analyse montre que c’est en faisant usage de leur volonté – source à priori de liberté et de possibilité infinies – que les êtres s’abandonnent systématiquement à leurs sentiments assoiffés et, à terme, perpétuent le cycle infernal des existences. C’est donc sans surprise que la volonté est désignée comme une faculté négative à proscrire de la pratique par les maîtres spirituels du soûtra. Cette indication, simple, mais capitale, doit absolument être suivie par le pratiquant pour qu’il atteigne l’Éveil et participe au bien commun. Le problème, cependant, est que la libération implique nécessairement l’usage de la volonté – dans les voeux, la compassion et la persévérance par exemple. La volonté présente en cela des aspects positifs, mais son potentiel négatif demeure et une question surgit : comment l’éthique du soûtra peut-elle effectivement mener à des effets positifs en étant liée à cette faculté ? Pour répondre à cette question, nous nous rapportons à la conception de la dimension absolue, l’enseignement final du soûtra. Dans cet espace, la volonté se libère de tout conditionnement et une nouvelle manière d’appréhender la posture psychologique des êtres éveillés apparait : la non-volonté. / This dissertation considers representations of human will in chapter 39 of The Flower Ornament Scripture, entitled “Entering the Realm of Reality”. An exegesis of the narrative reveals that the dissatisfaction (duḥkha s.) that permeates existence is partly caused by thirst (tṛṣṇā s.). However, our analysis shows that by exercising their will – a source a priori of infinite freedom and possibility – beings systematically abandon themselves to their thirsty feelings and, in the long run, perpetuate the infernal cycle of existence. Unsurprisingly, will is considered a negative faculty, to be proscribed from practice by the spiritual masters of the sutra; this simple but essential teaching must be followed by the practitioner so that he can reach Enlightenment and participates in the common good. The problem, however, is that liberation necessarily implies the exercise of will, for example in taking vows or practicing compassion and perseverance. Though the exercise of will can have positive aspects, its negative potential remains, leading us to ask: how can the ethics of the sutra actually lead to positive effects if it is connected to will? To answer this question, we refer to the conception of the realm of reality, the final teaching of the sutra. In this realm, the will frees itself from all conditioning and a new way of apprehending the psychological posture of enlightened beings appears: the non-will.