Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis explores the nature of the socialization and commitment process in the Western Buddhist context, by investigating the experiences of practitioners affiliated with two Buddhist Centres: the Theravadin Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre and the Gelugpa Tibetan Vajrayana Institute. Commitment by participants is based on the recognition that, through the application of the beliefs and practices of the new religion, self-transformation has occurred. It follows a process of religious experimentation in which the claims of a religious reality are experientially validated against inner understandings and convictions, which themselves become clearer as a result of experimental participation in religious activity. Functionally, the adopted worldview is seen to frame personal experience in a manner that renders it more meaningful. Meditative experience and its interpretation according to doctrine must be applicable to the improvement of the quality of lived experience. It must be relevant to current living, and ethically sustainable. Substantively, commitment is conditional upon accepting and succesfully employing: the three marks of samsaric existence, duhkha, anitya and anatman (Skt) as an interpretive framework for lived reality. In this the three groups of the Eight-fold Path, sila/ethics, samadhi/concentration, and prajna/wisdom provide a strategy for negotiating lived experience in the light of meditation techniques, specific to each Buddhist orientation, by which to apply doctrinal principles in one’s own transformation. Two theoretical approaches are found to have explanatory power for understanding the stages of intensifying interaction that lead to commitment in both Western Buddhist contexts. Lofland and Skonovd’s Experimental Motif models the method of entry into and exploration of a Buddhist Centre’s shared reality. Data from participant observation and interview demonstrates this approach to be facilitated by the organizational and teaching activities of the two Western Buddhist Centres, and to be taken by the participants who eventually become adherents. Individuals take an actively experimental attitude toward the new group’s activities, withholding judgment while testing the group’s doctrinal position, practices, and expected experiential outcomes against their own values and life experience. In an environment of minimal social pressure, transformation of belief is gradual over a period of from months to years. Deeper understanding of the nature of the commitment process is provided by viewing it in terms of religious resocialization, involving the reframing of one’s understanding of reality and sense-of-self within a new worldview. The transition from seekerhood to commitment occurs through a process of socialization, the stages of which are found to be engagement and apprehension, comprehension, and commitment. Apprehension is the understanding of core Buddhist notions. Comprehension occurs through learning how various aspects of the worldview form a coherent meaning-system, and through application of the Buddhist principles to the improvement of one’s own life circumstances. It necessitates understanding of the fundamental relationships between doctrine, practice, and experience. Commitment to the group’s outlook and objectives occurs when these are adopted as one’s orientation to reality, and as one’s strategy for negotiating a lived experience that is both efficacious and ethically sustainable. It is also maintained that sustained commitment is conditional upon continuing validation of that experience.

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.

Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis explores the nature of the socialization and commitment process in the Western Buddhist context, by investigating the experiences of practitioners affiliated with two Buddhist Centres: the Theravadin Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre and the Gelugpa Tibetan Vajrayana Institute. Commitment by participants is based on the recognition that, through the application of the beliefs and practices of the new religion, self-transformation has occurred. It follows a process of religious experimentation in which the claims of a religious reality are experientially validated against inner understandings and convictions, which themselves become clearer as a result of experimental participation in religious activity. Functionally, the adopted worldview is seen to frame personal experience in a manner that renders it more meaningful. Meditative experience and its interpretation according to doctrine must be applicable to the improvement of the quality of lived experience. It must be relevant to current living, and ethically sustainable. Substantively, commitment is conditional upon accepting and succesfully employing: the three marks of samsaric existence, duhkha, anitya and anatman (Skt) as an interpretive framework for lived reality. In this the three groups of the Eight-fold Path, sila/ethics, samadhi/concentration, and prajna/wisdom provide a strategy for negotiating lived experience in the light of meditation techniques, specific to each Buddhist orientation, by which to apply doctrinal principles in one’s own transformation. Two theoretical approaches are found to have explanatory power for understanding the stages of intensifying interaction that lead to commitment in both Western Buddhist contexts. Lofland and Skonovd’s Experimental Motif models the method of entry into and exploration of a Buddhist Centre’s shared reality. Data from participant observation and interview demonstrates this approach to be facilitated by the organizational and teaching activities of the two Western Buddhist Centres, and to be taken by the participants who eventually become adherents. Individuals take an actively experimental attitude toward the new group’s activities, withholding judgment while testing the group’s doctrinal position, practices, and expected experiential outcomes against their own values and life experience. In an environment of minimal social pressure, transformation of belief is gradual over a period of from months to years. Deeper understanding of the nature of the commitment process is provided by viewing it in terms of religious resocialization, involving the reframing of one’s understanding of reality and sense-of-self within a new worldview. The transition from seekerhood to commitment occurs through a process of socialization, the stages of which are found to be engagement and apprehension, comprehension, and commitment. Apprehension is the understanding of core Buddhist notions. Comprehension occurs through learning how various aspects of the worldview form a coherent meaning-system, and through application of the Buddhist principles to the improvement of one’s own life circumstances. It necessitates understanding of the fundamental relationships between doctrine, practice, and experience. Commitment to the group’s outlook and objectives occurs when these are adopted as one’s orientation to reality, and as one’s strategy for negotiating a lived experience that is both efficacious and ethically sustainable. It is also maintained that sustained commitment is conditional upon continuing validation of that experience.

Comment se fait le processus de conversion de certains acteurs sociaux occidentaux au bouddhisme dzogchen ? Afin de répondre à ce questionnement, cette étude, qui repose sur une méthodologie qualitative, a été menée auprès des groupes français et italiens de deux réseaux associatifs : la communauté dzogchen Internationale et Rigpa. Elle s’inscrit dans le courant de la sociologie compréhensive et cherche à rompre avec l’idée selon laquelle la conversion est une affaire exclusivement individuelle ou une expérience soudaine. En effet, cette recherche met en lumière les dynamiques relationnelles et processuelles qui permettent d’appréhender ce fait de conversion. Dans un contexte marqué par l’occidentalisation du bouddhisme et par les transformations du paysage religieux contemporain, la conversion au dzogchen s’opère, tout d’abord, par l’action « missionnaire » de certains agents, représentants d’une institution née de la routinisation du charisme du « maître ». Mais la conversion de l’acteur résulte également d’une adéquation aux propositions institutionnelles, qui entraîne l’acquisition d’un nouveau récit, d’une nouvelle manière de gérer ses émotions et prévoit la mobilisation de certains dispositifs rituels. Ce processus d’apprentissage a notamment lieu lors d’interactions intersubjectives entre les pratiquants dzogchen eux-mêmes et, entre les pratiquants dzogchen et les représentants de l’institution tibétaine. Ainsi, l’exemple des groupements dzogchen nous permet de mettre en valeur la dimension relationnelle de cette forme de religiosité, qui offre à l’individu qui se convertit des espaces de socialisation propres à une communitas / How does the conversion processes of certain western social actors to Dzogchen Buddhism work ? In order to answer such question, this study, carried out using qualitative research method, was conducted among French and Italian groups of two association networks: the International Dzogchen Community and Rigpa. This research is in line with the field of comprehensive sociology and tries to break away from the idea according to which conversion is solely an individual matter or a sudden experience. In fact, this research highlights the relational and procedural dynamics that allow the understanding of this type of conversion. In a context characterized by the westernization of Buddhism and by the transformations of the contemporary religious landscape, Dzogchen conversion results from two factors. First of all, conversion is an outcome of the “missionary” action of certain agents, representatives of an institution born from the routinization of the “master’s” charisma. The second less observed factor is how the conversion of a social actor results also from the adoption of institutional proposals, which leads to the acquisition of a new narrative, a new way of managing emotions and takes into account the involvement of certain rituals. This process of learning happens especially during intersubjective interactions between Dzogchen practitioners amongst themselves as well as between Dzogchen practitioners and representatives of the Tibetan institution. Therefore, through the example of such Dzogchen group we are able to highlight the relational dimension of this kind of religion, which provides the individual who converts with some socialization spaces proper to a communitas

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This dissertation analyzes Jewish religious views of Buddhism in a broad historical perspective, from the end of 18th century down to the present. Through an analysis of Jewish religious texts, it shows the ways Buddhism has been contextualized and tries to uncover Buddhism's role in modern Judaism. From these texts Buddhism emerges as 1) a tool of polemics and self-definition, 2) a form of spirituality fully compatible with Judaism, and 3) a competitor of Judaism, endangering its social and ideological integrity. While Jewish religious views of Christianity and Islam have been dealt with extensively in the academic literature, the role of Buddhism in various forms of modern Judaism has been either completely overlooked or at best reduced to the JUBU phenomenon. This dissertation aims to help fill this gap.

UNIVERZITA KARLOVA V PRAZE Fakulta humanitních studií Katedra Obecné antropologie Mgr. Jan Honzík BUDDHISMUS NA ZÁPADĚ ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA Disertační práce Školitel práce: PhDr. Jiří Holba, Ph.D. Praha 2014 Abstract This paper discusses Buddhism in the Czech Republic. It deals with Buddhism as a complex phenomenon consisiting of philosophical, religious, socio-cultural, psychological and ethical planes. These categories are related to the basic structures of human existence and therefore are subject to a science of humanity - anthropology. In this sense, the paper is presented as anthropological work. The first chapter, entitled "Buddhism from Buddha to the present" introduces the major Buddhist schools, their common resources, basic teachings, characteristics, specifics and development. Furthermore, the chapter describes the process of Buddhism establishing in the West up to the present and explores the fundamental features of contemporary Western Buddhism. The second chapter, entitled "Buddhism in the Czech Republic" deals with the history of Buddhism in the Czech Republic and maps the current Czech Buddhist scene. It provides an overview of Czech Buddhist groups, centers and charitable initiatives, looking into their values, practices, methods, regular activities and their relationship to the Buddhist...

UNIVERZITA KARLOVA V PRAZE Fakulta humanitních studií Katedra Obecné antropologie Mgr. Jan Honzík BUDDHISMUS NA ZÁPADĚ ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA Disertační práce Školitel práce: PhDr. Jiří Holba, Ph.D. Praha 2014 Abstract This paper discusses Buddhism in the Czech Republic. It deals with Buddhism as a complex phenomenon consisiting of philosophical, religious, socio-cultural, psychological and ethical planes. These categories are related to the basic structures of human existence and therefore are subject to a science of humanity - anthropology. In this sense, the paper is presented as anthropological work. The first chapter, entitled "Buddhism from Buddha to the present" introduces the major Buddhist schools, their common resources, basic teachings, characteristics, specifics and development. Furthermore, the chapter describes the process of Buddhism establishing in the West up to the present and explores the fundamental features of contemporary Western Buddhism. The second chapter, entitled "Buddhism in the Czech Republic" deals with the history of Buddhism in the Czech Republic and maps the current Czech Buddhist scene. It provides an overview of Czech Buddhist groups, centers and charitable initiatives, looking into their values, practices, methods, regular activities and their relationship to the Buddhist...