"This We Have Now" is a five-movement work inspired by various spiritual texts, some liturgical, while others more secular in approach. Each one is connected by several motives that are eventually reunited within the final movement. The title comes from a poem under the same name by Rumi (1207-1273), which serves as the crux for the underlying, grander arch of this spiritually inspired work. This synthesis of sacred and secular, traditional with contemporary, is a personal expression of my own beliefs and a musical representation of the interconnecting belief systems throughout the world. / text

 This study examines the early Praj??p?ramit? s?tras through the theory of “chiasmus”. Chiasmic methodology analyses a text into two parallel halves, identifying complementary “prologue” (A) and “conclusion” (A’), and highlighting the critical “central point” (X), with sub-themes paralleled in the two halves (A-B-C-D…X…D’-C’-B’-A’). Through chiasmus theory, many ancient texts formerly considered fragmentary and incoherent have been shown to be structurally sophisticated wholes. The modern text-critical approach has re-written the traditional account of the Praj??p?ramit? s?tras. Several scholars have proposed theories regarding a pre-textual “ur-s?tra”, though with little consensus on this. In general, most agree that after the formation of an “ur-s?tra” the main body of the text was then chaotically compiled from various fragmentary sub-texts, with the Sad?prarudita Avad?na finally appended at the end. The result is the presently extant smaller s?tra. This modern scholarship then claims gradual growth through expansion into the medium and larger s?tras. The modern academic “discourse on emptiness” portrays the Praj??p?ramit? as focusing on the doctrine of “emptiness” (??nyat?). This study challenges many of these claims. On analysis, primary and secondary chiasmi were identified in the first two chapters of the s?tra. Their scope is the authority of teaching and training in the Praj??p?ramit?, and maintenance of the lineage of the Buddhas. Their central climax is definitions of “bodhisattva”, “mah?sattva” and “mah?y?na”, in the rhetorical formula “XY is ~Y”. Clearly paralleled sub-themes include “sam?dhi”, “the illusory”, “M?ra” and “entrance into certitude”. A second chiasmus comprising the entire Avad?na at the end of the s?tra was also identified. The scope is Sad?prarudita’s quest for Praj??p?ramit?, “to see and hear the Tath?gatas”. The central climax is his seeing and hearing the “Tath?gata” as one who has realized “suchness” (tathat?) or “dependent origination” (prat?tyasa?utp?da), again expressed in the form “XY is ~Y”. Paralleled sub-themes include “sam?dhi”, “M?ra” and “giving”. These two chiasmi are similar in scope, centers which define key terms through the rhetorical formula “XY is ~Y”, and sub-themes. This suggests a larger chiasmus which spans the entire text, with these chiasmi as prologue and conclusion respectively. While not conclusive, there is evidence for a central climax centered at “suchness” (tathat?), attainment of which results in the bodhisattva’s status of irreversibility. This connects the prologue and concluding chiasmi, “bodhisattvas” to “Tath?gatas”, respectively. Numerous paralleled sub-themes are more or less salient. There are major implications from the discovery of chiasmus in the Praj??p?ramit?. Critically, it suggests that the s?tra was initially composed as a complete chiasmic whole, rather than from accumulated fragmentary parts. Hermeneutically, the core message may be understood more systematically than earlier methods. It proposes “suchness” (tathat?) as the central theme, rather than “emptiness” (??nyat?). It also rejects the genre designation of the Praj??p?ramit? as a “philosophical” rather than “religious” text. This study also offers direction for uncovering other cases of chiasmus in early Mah?y?na and Buddhist literature in general, with examples. If a range of chiasmi can be analyzed, a general theory of Buddhist chiasmus can be established for use as a standard Buddhological tool. / published_or_final_version / Buddhist Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This research examined to what extent the two Muslim dynasties, the Umayyad and the Fāṭimid, applied Islamic teachings in dealing with Christian sacred places in Palestine. It also compared the two dynasties, in terms of tolerance towards Christian sacred places, with special reference to the Caliphs ‛Abd Al-Malik ibn Marwān and Al-Ḥākim Biamrillah in an attempt to explore the reasons leading to such an attitude. This research outlined a theoretical framework, which Muslims were supposed to have adopted in their dealings with Christian places based on the various opinions of the exegetes from both Sunnī and Shī‛ī interpretations of the Qur'ān besides the practice of Prophet Muḥammad and his Companions in addition to the opinions of the jurists. The outline shows that the teachings of Islamic core sources have the rules for the protection of churches and other places of worship The findings have shown that the attitude would, to a large extent, correspond with the Islamic teachings in the manner of dealing with Christian sacred places under the two different dynasties. As for the Umayyads, the historical accounts and the archaeological evidence have indicated that the old churches and monasteries were kept protected, many new churches and monasteries were erected, several of the ruined ones were rebuilt, and renovation was made. In addition, the rituals were performed publically and pilgrimage continued. The Umayyads also showed formally their respect to the Christian sacred places. However, the economic decline during that period with its natural disasters, the political situation, peaceful abandonment, and demographical changes were the main reasons behind the decline in the number of churches, rather than a passive change in the Muslims' attitude. As for the Umayyads, the historical accounts and the archaeological evidence have indicated that the old churches and monasteries were kept protected, many new churches and monasteries were erected, several of the ruined ones were rebuilt, and renovation was made. In addition, the rituals were performed publically and pilgrimage continued. The Umayyads also showed formally their respect to the Christian sacred places. However, the economic decline during that period with its natural disasters, the political situation, peaceful abandonment, and demographical changes were the main reasons behind the decline in the number of churches, rather than a passive change in the Muslims' attitude. As for the Fāṭimids, the historical accounts have proved that formally the state shared in the celebrations, permitted the Cross display and allowed the pilgrimage flow to continue. Few institutions were newly built under the Fāṭimids when compared to the number under the Umayyads. This might indicate that the Fāṭimids in particular followed a certain policy backed by the political situation. In this regard, the researcher argues that the strategic and political circumstances played a pivotal role in elevating this policy which was mainly linked to the relationship with the Byzantine Empire. Still, apart from the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre, no physical evidence showed that there was a deliberate destruction of churches and monasteries based on any formal policy. In respect to the actions of ‛Abd Al-Malik ibn Marwān and Al-Ḥākim Biamrillah, the research has revealed that the acts of both did not seem to show hostility towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the other Christian sacred places. ‘Abd Al-Malik did not consider the Holy Sepulchre as a threat. Similarly, Al-Ḥākim's action was an exception among his fellow Fāṭimid caliphs and when exploring the reasons for the destruction, it has been suggested that his personal character played a major role, which together with the political and social motivations led to his actions. The Holy Sepulchre and the other churches were rebuilt during the Fāṭimid ruling, which testified that enmity was not the attitude towards the Christian sacred places. The research has also suggested that however the two dynasties appear to be tolerant in dealing with Christian sacred places, not all the motivations that led to this attitude were very alike. It has been suggested that the Umayyads' policy in keeping the political, economic, and social stability of the Muslim state made it a necessity to keep the good relations with the influential Christian community, thus, positively deal with their sacred places. While the Fāṭimids tended to positively treat the Christians because they wanted to retain the Christians on their side as a minority supporting the Ismā‘īlī Fāṭimids who were ruling over the Sunnī majority and whom they failed to convert to the rulers' own creed.

Framing the Sacred revisits the significance of ekphrasis, the verbal rendering of a visual representation, in modern and contemporary American poetics. Although a seemingly marginal strain of lyric poetry, ekphrasis is a literary crucible in which the problems of representation converge, catalyzing a unique process of enchantment and disenchantment. Through an examination of a number of twentieth- and twenty-first-century poems, I argue that this enchantment has bearing on how we envision the import of religion in twentieth- and twenty-first-century America and its literature. On account of its liminal status--a text that is "betwixt and between" the verbal and visual--ekphrasis does not need to meditate explicitly on spiritual, sacred, or religious objects to undermine and destabilize our definitions of such terms. Each chapter in Framing the Sacred examines the manifestation of a single trope of containment--the figure of the frame, the genre of still life, the genre of the self-portrait, and the acts of collection and curation--and discovers the various ways the ekphrastic work of William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, Charles Wright, A.E. Stallings, and Jorie Graham constructs and deconstructs such tropes. The pattern that emerges from a number of dramatically different ekphrases reveals the generative value of loosening the frames through which we consider the sacred in the study of literature and the visual arts.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Louis Sullivan’s “form ever follows function” had a profound influence on architecture. Although often confused as synonymous with modernism, functionalism is more closely related to positivism in its bias toward science and its rejection of introspective knowledge. This dismissal of the superfluous (such as aesthetic form or ornamentation) diminished the intuitive “human” in architecture by assuming universal rationality. This thesis re-examines functionalism in a contemporary setting: a vertical Buddhist temple set in between two tenement buildings within a New York City plot. Influenced by the work of Lars Lerup and the early work of Diller and Scofidio, the design explores the poetic tensions and obsessions between the profane world of the inhabitants and the sacred world of the temple through abstraction without any attempt to resolve them.

En una Noche Oscura, Canticle II, is a musical composition scored for a capella chorus in eight parts, with occasional solo passages in some voices. The piece takes its title from St. John-of-the-Cross, and is in one sense a musical response to the spiritual journey undertaken by the pilgrim of St. John's text, of Job, of David, and of countless other mystics, Christian and otherwise. / I have divided the accompanying analysis of the work into two parts: first, an introductory discussion of the technical ideas behind the composition of Canticle II, and second, a more thorough, section-by-section analysis of the composition itself. The introduction outlines the formal, rhythmic, and harmonic approaches taken in the composition of this piece, while the close analysis shows more specifically how these ideas are reflected in the actual score.