<p>The attacks of September 11, 2001 have done more to focus attention on the conjunction of religion and conflict than any other event in recent history. Although much international research has focused since then on the role of Islam, religiously inspired violence is also found in countries as diverse as Thailand, Burma, or Sri Lanka, where Buddhism plays a central role. This paper addresses how these realities are reflected in two Swedish high school textbooks on religion. The thesis calls into question the manner in which Buddhism is presented in schoolbooks as the most probable candidate to be a conflict-free religion.</p><p>Using Fairclough’s discourse analysis theoretical framework and Hellspong’s structural analysis, the thesis critically examines the relationship between text, the discourse practice in which text is produced and the wider social practices. The study concludes that schoolbooks are committed to presenting Buddhism as virtually conflict-free by means of rhetorical procedures which focus mainly on what is assumed to be “the most important” message of Tibetan Buddhism and its portal figure, Dalai lama – namely peace. At the same time, the author suggests that there is a strong intertextuality between the texts of the schoolbooks and the romanticised views of Dalai lama existent in three contemporary Hollywood films.</p><p>The limits of the paper are finally addressed and various paths to future research are suggested, in an effort to improve schoolbooks, since pedagogical texts structure the students’ way of thinking about Buddhism in particular, and religion in general.</p>

This essay analyses the speech of the Dalai Lama and suggests possible effects that core aspects of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, such as the theory of selflessness, might have when a believer uses the personal pronouns I, you, he, she, we and they. Collected utterances of the Dalai Lama during the Charlie Rose Show has been used in order to conduct a threefold investigation, using pragmatic, discourse analytical and sociolinguistic backgrounds, aiming to understand these effects more thoroughly. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used for this report based on previous studies with a data-based method. These approaches enabled the researcher to find, for instance, a consistent use of the first-person personal pronoun by the Dalai Lama in the material. Other findings include an acknowledgment of philosophical influence concerning the field of intentionality, when related to religious discourse, as Buddhism establishes religious discourse as being based on the speaker’s motivation alone. The status of the Dalai Lama notwithstanding, his use of personal pronouns was also not found to match the findings of previous research on status and the use of self-mention.

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Zugl.: Louvain, Univ. Cath., Diss., 2009 u.d.T.: Löffler, Alexander: Jacques Dupuis' Religionstheologie auf dem Prüfstand

This dissertation is mainly focused on schism in the Karma-kagjü school. The death of the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje († 1981), the head of Kagjüpa plunged Karma-kagjü school to inner struggle for power and prestige. Enmity was making progress slowly and hiddenly. Situation graded in clandestine fashion and culminated in 1992 when Ogyen Trinley Dorje was enthroned in Tibet as 17th Karmapa. Some of the regents had doubt about him being the Karmapa and consequently enthroned their own candidate for 17th Karmapa. This act entirely divided the Karma-kagjü school. The primary motive and goal of my dissertation is to find presence of materialistic or postmaterialistic values defined by Ronald Inglehart (Inglehart 1997) in interviews given by 17th Karmapas. I'm looking for difference in values and my methodical instrument is critical discourse analysis. After comparison of interviews of both 17th Karmapas I find the difference in their values. My conclusion is that when Ogyen Trinley Dorje has more materialistic values than Trinley Thaye Dorje. This dissertation contains history of Tibet, history of Buddhism in Tibet and foreign relation interference in practice of Buddhism in Tibet (China and Mongolia). In addition I describe political situation of Tibet and Tibetan exile government which interfere in...

This study illustrates the link between foreign policy, public diplomacy and the media, with reference to the South African Government’s refusal in 2009 and 2011 to issue visas to the Dalai Lama. The research question is: How do the South African media frame foreign policy and how do administrators react to this actuality? As there seems to be a void in South African international political communications, this is where this study purports to contribute. The aim is to investigate how the media frames foreign policy, specifically regarding the case study. Therefore, the media, human rights and foreign policies, and the diplomatic practices of the South African government are studied. The objective is not necessarily to prove or disprove the causal effect of media and public opinion on foreign policy but rather to illustrate the interaction between these elements in the case of the South African government’s denial of visas to the Dalai Lama. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)

Cette thèse est consacrée à l’étude de la question tibétaine et des différents aspects sous lesquels elle est traitée : géographique, économiques, stratégiques et politiques. Nous étudions l’évolution des attitudes et les divergences d’opinion selon une polarisation allant du conservatisme au progressisme. Nous en mesurons les influences dans l’histoire récente et nous projetons les développements probables à court et moyen termes.- Cette thèse s’attache à démontrer que le Tibet reste un enjeu important pour la Chine et qu’à ce titre, la ligne de chemin de fer reliant le Qinghai au Tibet symbolise la politique et la solution chinoise vis-à-vis du Tibet. - Cette thèse s’attache à démontrer que le dalaï-lama est toujours considéré par les tibétains comme la seule instance à même de pouvoir résoudre les problèmes tibétains, et ceci en dépit des nombreuses crises auxquelles le chef spirituel a pu être confronté.- Enfin, cette thèse s’attache à démontrer que la société chinoise est en train d’évoluer vers une attitude plus progressiste. Sur cette question notamment, les intellectuels chinois ont acquis davantage d’influence que par le passé, influence qui pourrait, à l’avenir, se développer davantage. Ce travail, relevant d’un champ d’analyse pluridisciplinaire, couvre l’essentiel du XXème siècle et de l’époque actuelle. Il se focalise particulièrement sur la période postérieure aux années 1980, qui a été le témoin d’une internalisation plus poussée de la question tibétaine. / This thesis focuses on the Tibetan issue in its various aspects: geographic, economic, strategic and political. We examine the evolution of attitudes and differences of opinion according to their polarization ranging from conservatism to progressivism. We assess their influences in recent history and we project the likely developments in the near future.- This thesis aims at showing that Tibet remains an important matter at stake for China. Hence the Qinghai-Tibet rail link embodies the Chinese national policy as well as the Chinese solution vis-à-vis Tibet.- This thesis aims at demonstrating that the Dalai Lama is still regarded by Tibetans as the key to the resolution of Tibetan problems despite the many crises the spiritual leader has had to face.- Finally this thesis aims at pointing out that the Chinese society is evolving towards a more progressive attitude. On this issue Chinese intellectuals have acquired more influence than before and this influence could develop even further in the future. This work belongs to an inter-disciplinary field of study and covers most of the 20th century and present times. It focuses especially on the post 1980’s period when the Tibetan issue became more international.

The 14th Dalai Lama-Tenzin Gyatso (DL) has expressed strong support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). While this may seem to be consistent with his outspoken promotion of basic "human values" and "universal responsibility" (Piburn, 2002), there is an unresolved metaphysical conflict between his endorsement of the UDHR and concomitant ideas like "inherent dignity" and "inalienable rights," on the one hand, and, on the other, his espousal of the Buddhist "Middle Way" or "Centrist" (Madhyamaka) thesis that all phenomena (i.e., persons, things, and ideas like "human rights") lack "intrinsic existence" (svabhāva). In this dissertation I argue that an "unforced consensus" (Taylor 2011) on rights can be achieved through an application of the Madhyamaka interpretation of the "two truths" (dvasatya; bden pa gnyis). Metaphysics, however, is only one dimension of the Madhyamaka account of reality. There is an equally (if not more) important "cognitive dimension" that pertains to how one sees and interacts with the world (Westerhoff, 2009). I believe this can be effectively applied to an analysis of the psychology of human rights foundationalism (i.e., the mindset that reifies rights). The DL believes that ultimately the safeguarding of human rights culture depends on a cognitive shift at the individual level. I explore the philosophical implications of this belief, and I contend that it is consistent with the concept of human development and education in the UDHR. I conclude that Tibetan Buddhist ideas and practices can potentially help bridge the divide between human rights foundationalism and anti-foundationalism in a manner that reinvigorates the utility of the UDHR, and yet does not philosophically yield to an essentialist world-view.

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This study illustrates the link between foreign policy, public diplomacy and the media, with reference to the South African Government’s refusal in 2009 and 2011 to issue visas to the Dalai Lama. The research question is: How do the South African media frame foreign policy and how do administrators react to this actuality? As there seems to be a void in South African international political communications, this is where this study purports to contribute. The aim is to investigate how the media frames foreign policy, specifically regarding the case study. Therefore, the media, human rights and foreign policies, and the diplomatic practices of the South African government are studied. The objective is not necessarily to prove or disprove the causal effect of media and public opinion on foreign policy but rather to illustrate the interaction between these elements in the case of the South African government’s denial of visas to the Dalai Lama. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)