Teilw. zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss., 2006

Thesis (Maste). / Includes bibliographical references and webliography (p. 73-80).

in English: The aim of this thesis is to present the Korean Buddhist sculpture throughout the Korean history. The thesis presents Buddhist iconography at the beginning, focusing on the Korean art especially. Afterwards the main and most important Buddhist sculpture masterpieces are introduced. The sculptures represent certain period of Korean history. The work contains Korean Buddhist sculptures from the times of introducing Buddhism in Korea, i.e. Three Kingdoms period, and then presents the Buddhist sculpture from this time on, in Unified Silla, Koryŏ Kingdom and Chosŏn Kingdom. Key words: Buddhism, sculpture, iconography, Korea

Zugl.: Freiburg (Breisgau), Univ., Diss., 2010

Diplomarbeit Hochschule für Angewandte Psychologie Zürich, 2005.

Zugl.: Freiburg (Breisgau), Univ., Diss., 2009

Univ., Diss.--Bremen, 2005.

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.

Thangkas are Tibetan paintings which can be explained in many different points of view. Their meaning is different for Buddhist practitioners, painters, collecters, arts historians or researchers. This thesis should introduce the variaty of perspectives. The composition of the painting is given by the patron, artist or follows the Buddhist sacred scripts. Preparing the base, drawing, using colour pigments, outlining and doing final details belong to the process done by the master himself or partially by his students or monk or layman helpers. For impowering the thangka for the Buddhist praxis is necessary to do a sacrification ceremony by an educated monk. It is a religious and also social event connected with the painting. Thangkas are then used for the visualisation of figures of the Tibetan pantheon, mostly peaceful and wrathful deities. They are used in the monasteries, temples, home shrines or altars, are part of Buddhist ceremonies and festivals shown to the audience hung on the terraces or carried by the monks. Their vivid topics and colours encharme not only monks and lamas but also laymen. The expression differs according to local schools influenced by artists of Kashimiri, Bengali, Nepalese or Chinese origin. Tibetan painting style was probably created in the second half of 15th century...

The thesis deals with the problem of Buddhist approach to plants through its history and all its lands. Scientific literature and translations of primary sources translated into western languages are the main sources I use. I particularly focus on the question whether Buddhism considers plants as sentient beings and ascribes them the ability to achieve enlightenment. I also deal with pre-Buddhist ideas concerning plants in each particular region. In the case of India I especially focus on Jainism, the historical companion of Buddhism. Furthermore, I put these facts into a broader frame of Buddhist environmental ethics and Buddhist treatment of the natural world. Thus, this paper should also contribute to the discussion about how ecological Buddhism is. In the pre-Buddhist India, plants were believed to be sentient beings and were involved in the cycle of rebirths. This view was accepted by Jains, but Buddhism chose another way. Whereas early parts of the Pali cannon contain rules prohibiting harming plants, later texts explicitly exclude them from the realm of sentience beings. The topic was further dealt mainly by Eastern Buddhism and, on the contrary, mainly overlooked in other regions. Eastern Buddhism, especially in Japan, again ascribed to plants the ability to attain Buddhahood. This doctrine...