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Keywords = Buddhism in the West

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21 pages, 538 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Ming Dynasty Buddhism’s Chan Jing He Yi (Integration of Zen and Pure Land Buddhism 禪淨合一) on Buddhist Thought in Journey to the West
by Ran Wei
Religions 2025, 16(4), 428; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040428 - 27 Mar 2025
Viewed by 736
Abstract
In the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, Yunqi Zhuhong 雲栖祩宏 and Ouyi Zhixu 蕅益智旭 integrated Zen thought and Pure Land Buddhism based on the fusion of various Buddhist sects, which facilitated the transition to Chan Jing He Yi (integration of Zen and Pure Land Buddhism [...] Read more.
In the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, Yunqi Zhuhong 雲栖祩宏 and Ouyi Zhixu 蕅益智旭 integrated Zen thought and Pure Land Buddhism based on the fusion of various Buddhist sects, which facilitated the transition to Chan Jing He Yi (integration of Zen and Pure Land Buddhism 禪淨合一). In this context, Journey to the West 西遊記, published in the late Ming Dynasty, reflects the characteristic of Chan Jing He Yi (integration of Zen and Pure Land Buddhism 禪淨合一). Based on the historical fact that the monk Xuanzang 玄奘 journeyed to India to seek Buddhist scriptures during the Tang Dynasty’s Zhenguan period, four relatively complete literary works that recount the stories of this westward journey were published over nearly a thousand years, from the Tang Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty: Da Ci En Si San Zang Fa Shi Zhuan 大慈恩寺三藏法師傳, Da Tang San Zang Qu Jing Shi Hua 大唐三藏取經詩話, the Journey to the West drama 西遊記雜劇, and Journey to the West. The Buddhist ideas in these four works went through a transformation from advocating yoga theory 瑜伽論 to advocating belief in Vaisravana 毗沙門天王信仰 and then to focusing on the “mind nature 心性” theory of Zen Buddhism. Finally, in Journey to the West, Buddhist thought is aimed at achieving rebirth in the Western Pure Land and supplemented with Chan Buddhist practices, which are aligned with the trend of Chan Jing He Yi (integration of Zen and Pure Land Buddhism 禪淨合一). In Journey to the West, the concepts of Ming Xin Jian Xing (find one’s true self 明心見性) and Ji Xin Ji Fo (the mind is the Buddha 即心即佛) differ from the Zen Buddhism concept of seeing one’s own nature. Instead, it requires seeking other Buddhas and ascending to the Western Pure Land to meet Amitabha Buddha in order to achieve complete spiritual cultivation. This had changed from the Wei Xin Jing Tu (mind-only Pure Land 唯心淨土) theory advocated by Zen Buddhism to the Xi Fang Jing Tu (Western Pure Land 西方淨土) theory advocated by the Pure Land School. The numerous depictions of Pure Land cultivation methods, such as Cheng Ming Nian Fo (chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha 稱名念佛), Chi Jie (commandment keeping 持戒), and the Pure Land reincarnation-type Guanyin faith 淨土往生型觀音信仰, also appear in Journey to the West, reflecting the profound influence of Chan Jing He Yi 禪淨合一 in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty on Journey to the West. Full article
31 pages, 14010 KiB  
Article
Architectural Evolution of Stupas in the Western Regions During the Han and Tang Dynasties
by Jing Wu and Wei Yan
Buildings 2025, 15(7), 1056; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15071056 - 25 Mar 2025
Viewed by 811
Abstract
The Western Regions during the Han and Tang Dynasties served as a significant cultural intersection along the Silk Road, with stupas acting as core architectural forms of Buddhist dissemination, embodying religious, cultural, and artistic evolution. This study is a research article based on [...] Read more.
The Western Regions during the Han and Tang Dynasties served as a significant cultural intersection along the Silk Road, with stupas acting as core architectural forms of Buddhist dissemination, embodying religious, cultural, and artistic evolution. This study is a research article based on typological analysis, integrating historical documents and archaeological site data to explore the stylistic evolution of stupa architecture in the Western Regions during the Han and Tang Dynasties, revealing the changes in religious beliefs and the process of cultural adaptation and integration of Buddhism in a multicultural context. The study demonstrates that the distribution of stupas shifted from being concentrated in areas such as Shanshan and Shule during the Han Dynasty to expanding across a wider region during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, eventually forming a Gaochang-centered pattern in the Tang Dynasty. Architectural styles evolved from the simplicity of domed stupas to diversification and then to standardization. The number of niches increased from none to many before decreasing again, while the proportions of the stupa bases gradually increased. This evolution highlights the transition of stupa styles from a singular form to diversification, eventually achieving standardization in the Tang Dynasty. This transformation not only reflects the optimization of the temple layout, gradually shifting from a stupa-centered to a Buddha hall-centered structure, but also illustrates the evolution of stupas from symbols of the Buddha’s tomb to carriers for Buddha statues and ultimately to representations of the Mount Sumeru cosmological concept. This transition also mirrors the shift in Buddhist beliefs, evolving from Theravāda to Mahāyāna Buddhism and then returning to Theravāda practices. This not only facilitated the regionalization of stupa forms and the integration of artistic styles but also provided a significant medium for cultural exchange between China and the West. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Architectural Design, Urban Science, and Real Estate)
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16 pages, 340 KiB  
Article
Buddhist Faces of Indigenous Knowledge in Highland Asia: Rethinking the Roots of Buddhist Environmentalism
by Dan Smyer Yü and Zhen Ma
Religions 2025, 16(3), 367; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16030367 - 14 Mar 2025
Viewed by 740
Abstract
This article is written as part of the ongoing multidisciplinary inquiry into how ecologically focused Buddhism is and whether or not the faith-based “Buddhist ecology” and the natural scientifically conceived discipline of ecology—which studies the relation of organisms to their physical environments—communicate well [...] Read more.
This article is written as part of the ongoing multidisciplinary inquiry into how ecologically focused Buddhism is and whether or not the faith-based “Buddhist ecology” and the natural scientifically conceived discipline of ecology—which studies the relation of organisms to their physical environments—communicate well and are mutually complementary with each other. It addresses these questions by linking regionally specific Buddhist traditions with modern Buddhism and Buddhist studies in the West, which are, respectively, known for initiating Buddhist environmentalism in the public sphere and shaping Buddhist ecology as an academic field. Situated in the eastern Himalayan-Tibetan highlands, this article offers a twofold argument. First, many ecological practices in Buddhist societies of Asia originate in pre-Buddhist indigenous ecological knowledges, not in the Buddhist canon. Second, understood either from the Buddhist environmentalist perspective or as an academic field, Buddhist ecology originates in the modern West, not in Asia, as a combined outcome of Western Buddhists’ participation in the greater environmental movement and their creative interpretation of Buddhist canonical texts for the purpose of establishing a relational understanding of ecobiologically conceived lifeworlds. This argument is based on the case studies of long se, or spirit hills, in Dai villages in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, and of lha-ri, or deity mountains, in the Tibetan Plateau. Both long se and lha-ri are often discerned as a spiritual-environmental basis of Buddhist ecology. While Dai and Tibetan societies are predominantly Buddhist, the cultural customs of long se and lha-ri are pre-Buddhist. Through the comparable cases of human-spirit-land relations among the Dai and the Tibetans, this article concludes that, conceived in the West, Buddhist ecology entails a body of syncretized approaches to the relational entanglements of all life communities. These approaches find their origins mostly in the ecologically repositioned Buddhist soteriology and ethics as well as in the modern scientific environmentalist worldview. Full article
17 pages, 569 KiB  
Article
Re-Examining Issues in the Study of Korean Buddhism: Questions Related to Degeneration of Chosŏn Buddhism, Colonialism, and Doctrine-Based Approaches
by Sung-Eun Thomas Kim and Won-il Bang
Religions 2025, 16(3), 299; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16030299 - 27 Feb 2025
Viewed by 871
Abstract
When the historical past in the study of Chosŏn Buddhism is unearthed, one would discover that Buddhist studies was in fact closely tied to Korea’s recent history of colonization by Japan and to the postcolonial influences of the West. This paper is an [...] Read more.
When the historical past in the study of Chosŏn Buddhism is unearthed, one would discover that Buddhist studies was in fact closely tied to Korea’s recent history of colonization by Japan and to the postcolonial influences of the West. This paper is an effort to re-examine the modern study of Korean Buddhism to trace the effects of past colonial forces that Korean Buddhist studies have experienced. The process of Japanese colonization of Korea was similar to the pattern of subjugation initially adopted by the early European discoverers, where academic developments synchronized with the colonizing process—the labeling of the subject culture as primitive and inferior as a basis and justification for colonization. In the past, it was claimed Korean folk religions and Buddhism were rife with cultic and superstitious practices, signs of backwardness, which coincided with the view that Korean society and people were underdeveloped and uncivilized. This paper, after discussions of the colonization process and its connection to the study of Korean Buddhism, makes an argument for a shift in the methodological approach to the study of Chosŏn Buddhism from an etic to an emic approach by taking into account how Buddhism was practiced on the ground and situated within the historical context of the Chosŏn period. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Re-Thinking Religious Traditions and Practices of Korea)
26 pages, 11845 KiB  
Article
Bidirectional Transmission Mapping of Architectural Styles of Tibetan Buddhist Temples in China from the 7th to the 18th Century
by Tianyi Min and Tong Zhang
Religions 2024, 15(9), 1120; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091120 - 16 Sep 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2576
Abstract
Architecture is the stone book of history, and the evolution of architectural styles showcases a non-verbal history constructed through images. As an important part of China’s historical and cultural heritage, the architectural forms and styles of Tibetan Buddhist temples were initially modeled on [...] Read more.
Architecture is the stone book of history, and the evolution of architectural styles showcases a non-verbal history constructed through images. As an important part of China’s historical and cultural heritage, the architectural forms and styles of Tibetan Buddhist temples were initially modeled on Tang dynasty temple architecture and gradually evolved into the most significant architectural types in regions such as Tibet and Qinghai in China. Religious architecture has also played a significant role in shaping regional cultural landscapes. Existing research on Tibetan Buddhist temples is primarily focused on qualitative studies of individual temple buildings. This research takes the spatiotemporal evolution of architectural styles of Tibetan Buddhist temples as an entry point and, for the first time, employs ArcGIS technology to visualize the spatial and geographical distribution of Tibetan Buddhist temples from the 7th to the 18th century, establishing a comprehensive academic vision that encompasses both historical stratification and cross-regional spatial correlations. By analyzing the cultural symbolic features embodied in the construction styles of Tibetan Buddhist temples and the visual characteristics reflected in their decorative arts, we propose two spatiotemporal dimensions for the formation and transmission of Tibetan Buddhist temple architectural styles: “Westward Transmission” and “Eastward Diffusion”. Firstly, from the 7th to the 9th centuries, the architectural style and construction techniques of Tang dynasty Buddhist temples were transmitted westward along the Tang–Tibet ancient road, integrating with local Tibetan elements to form the Tubo architectural style, which was further refined into the “Sino–Tibetan Combined Style” with strong visual characteristics around the 13th century. Subsequently, along with the spread of Tibetan Buddhism, this temple architectural style underwent an eastward diffusion from the 13th to the 18th century, reaching regions, such as Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and Beijing, presenting a spatial gradient from west to east in the geographical dimension. On this basis, in this research, we construct a historical evolution mapping of Tibetan Buddhist temple architectural styles based on bidirectional transmission, attempting to elucidate that the intrinsic driving forces are religious and the cultural identity that guided the bidirectional transmission mechanism of these architectural styles under the historical context of the formation and dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism from the 7th to the 18th century. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Buddhist Art, Artifact and Culture Worldwide)
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22 pages, 20209 KiB  
Essay
Spatio-Temporal Distribution Characteristics of Buddhist Temples and Pagodas in the Liaoning Region, China
by Jiaji Gao, Jingyi Wang, Qi Wang and Yingdan Cao
Buildings 2024, 14(9), 2765; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14092765 - 3 Sep 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1474
Abstract
Buddhist culture in Liaoning has a long and rich history. The continuous spread of Buddhism has promoted the development of Buddhist architecture, leaving us a rich architectural art heritage. Furthermore, it has also profoundly influenced China’s architectural characteristics, social culture, and economic development. [...] Read more.
Buddhist culture in Liaoning has a long and rich history. The continuous spread of Buddhism has promoted the development of Buddhist architecture, leaving us a rich architectural art heritage. Furthermore, it has also profoundly influenced China’s architectural characteristics, social culture, and economic development. This paper takes Buddhist temples and pagodas in Liaoning as the research objects and uses methods such as the geographic concentration index, nearest neighbor index, kernel density estimation, and standard deviation ellipse to analyze their spatio-temporal distribution characteristics and influencing factors across different periods. 1. Temporal distribution. During the Liao Dynasty (907–1125 AD) and the Qing Dynasty (1636–1912 AD), the construction of Buddhist temples and pagodas was the highest, with a linear increase in the Qing Dynasty. 2. The overall spatial distribution of Buddhist temples and pagodas in Liaoning is uneven, showing an agglomeration distribution state. The distribution status of different periods was different, and the Ming (1368–1644 AD) and Qing dynasties (1636–1912 AD) showed obvious aggregation distribution. The overall state is “more in the west and less in the east” and “more in the north and less in the south”. 3. In different periods, the spatial distribution direction of Buddhist temples and pagodas in Liaoning was relatively obvious and was southwest–northeast, and the center of gravity gradually shifted to the northwest. 4. The kernel density of different periods presents the density distribution and area of each period. The overall distribution is dense to scattered and then to highly dense. 5. The spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of Buddhist temples and pagodas in Liaoning are mainly composed of deep-seated political factors, rapid economic development and stable social environment, diverse culture, natural geography, cultural relics protection, and the artistic value of Buddhist architecture in the Liaoning region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Architectural Design, Urban Science, and Real Estate)
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11 pages, 332 KiB  
Article
A Comparative Study of Shame as Denoted by Hrī, Apatrāpya, and Xiuwuzhixin
by Chao Zhang (Ven. Hongliang) and Benhua Yang
Religions 2024, 15(9), 1053; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091053 - 29 Aug 2024
Viewed by 995
Abstract
Mencius’ concept of shame has emerged as a space of comparison between shame cultures in the East and West in cross-cultural research. However, comparative research on shame in Buddhist and Confucian cultures is scarce. Hence, this study examines the Buddhist psychological Shame concepts [...] Read more.
Mencius’ concept of shame has emerged as a space of comparison between shame cultures in the East and West in cross-cultural research. However, comparative research on shame in Buddhist and Confucian cultures is scarce. Hence, this study examines the Buddhist psychological Shame concepts of “hrī” (Can 慚, shame) and “apatrāpya” (Kui 愧, abashment) and the Confucian “xiuwuzhixin” (羞惡之心, the mind of shame) as representative examples that reveal a subject boundary that restricts shame to human beings and explores the similar subject-subordinate structures of these concepts. The study then analyzes the internal and external forces that induce shame. Finally, it discusses the goodness ascribed to shame and how deviation from shame leads to evil. Results reveal fundamental differences in the understanding of shame between the two cultures. In particular, “hrī” and “apatrāpya” in Buddhism are rooted in the psychological consciousness function, whereas “xiuwuzhixin” in Confucian culture is rooted in the ethics function. This cross-cultural comparison of shame highlights the tension and complexity inherent in this concept. Full article
16 pages, 4385 KiB  
Article
Emptiness/Nothingness as Explained by Ryu Yongmo (Tasŏk) (1890–1981) and Isaac Jacob Schmidt (1779–1847): A Cross-Cultural Study of the Integration of Asian Intellectual Heritage into the Worldview of Two Protestant Christians
by Kaspars Kļaviņš
Religions 2024, 15(7), 871; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070871 - 19 Jul 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1670
Abstract
The concepts of emptiness and nothingness are extremely important in Eastern as well as Western spiritual traditions. In East Asia, they are relevant in Daoism, Confucianism (in the context of integrating Daoist ideas) and Buddhism (in Śūnyatā), while in the European Christian discourse [...] Read more.
The concepts of emptiness and nothingness are extremely important in Eastern as well as Western spiritual traditions. In East Asia, they are relevant in Daoism, Confucianism (in the context of integrating Daoist ideas) and Buddhism (in Śūnyatā), while in the European Christian discourse they are significant in the context of creatio ex nihilo, kenotic theories, individual self-emptying out of humility and Nihilianism. These concepts have formed and continue to form the basis of important intercultural interactions, influencing philosophical and scholarly discourse in both the “East” and “West” to the present day. This article compares the perception of emptiness/nothingness from two representatives of Protestantism: the Korean Christian philosopher Ryu Yongmo (1890–1981, pen name Tasŏk) and the Moravian missionary Isaac Jacob Schmidt (1779–1847), who was a pioneer of Buddhist studies in Europe. A comparison between Schmidt and Tasŏk is important, because tracing the evolution of the worldview of both thinkers reveals a great similarity in how they reconciled the spiritual heritage of Asia with the principles of Western Protestant Christianity despite their different backgrounds. It also could shed new light on the possibility of dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism, especially in the context of two major philosophical systems of Mahāyāna Buddhism: Yogācāra and Mādhyamika, which were once so important in East Asia. In addition, it is exactly the interpretation of emptiness/nothingness that forms the cornerstone of the analogy of the religious–philosophical ideas of the two thinkers compared in the article. Full article
13 pages, 12982 KiB  
Article
Constructing Heaven: Ceilings of the Stone Tombs in Northeast Asia (1st to 7th Century CE)
by Xuan Chen
Religions 2023, 14(12), 1455; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14121455 - 23 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1988
Abstract
This paper discusses the spread of several special techniques for tomb ceiling construction in Northeast Asia from the 2nd to the 5th centuries and the mixed beliefs of Buddhism and the cult of the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu 西王母) that [...] Read more.
This paper discusses the spread of several special techniques for tomb ceiling construction in Northeast Asia from the 2nd to the 5th centuries and the mixed beliefs of Buddhism and the cult of the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu 西王母) that were embedded in the design of these ceilings. In the 2nd century, stone tombs with ceilings formed by stepped layers of stone slabs flourished in Shandong and northern Jiangsu. These tombs are usually believed to be the prototypes of the stone tombs with more complicated stepped ceilings that appeared in the Goguryeo Kingdom on the Korean Peninsula in the 4th century. However, the way in which the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 CE) stone tombs in eastern China influenced the Goguryeo tombs over relatively long distances in the following centuries is open for discussion. This paper argues that Youzhou 幽州, i.e., the Province of You 幽 ruling the areas including Beijing, northern Hebei, Liaoning, and the northwest of the Korean Peninsula, was a crucial area for the dissemination of these special ceilings of stone tombs. The officials of the Province of You were keen to introduce highly developed masonry craftsmanship from Shandong to construct their ideal shelters for an afterlife in an age full of regional wars and unexpected deaths. Newly introduced Buddhism and traditional beliefs in the immortal land of the Queen Mother of the West were potential driving forces for the dissemination and popularity of these stone ceilings as spaces for worship. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Space for Worship in East Asia)
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26 pages, 12179 KiB  
Article
Lute, Sword, Snake, and Parasol—The Formation of the Standard Iconography of the Four Heavenly Kings in Chinese Buddhist Art
by Tianshu Zhu
Religions 2023, 14(6), 798; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060798 - 16 Jun 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 6173
Abstract
The Four Heavenly Kings, Sida Tianwang 四大天王, are the guardians of the four quarters of the world in Buddhism. They are among the most frequently represented protective deities in Buddhist art across different traditions. In their standard iconographies developed in China popular during [...] Read more.
The Four Heavenly Kings, Sida Tianwang 四大天王, are the guardians of the four quarters of the world in Buddhism. They are among the most frequently represented protective deities in Buddhist art across different traditions. In their standard iconographies developed in China popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911), they wear full armor, and each holds exclusive attributes—lute (pipa 琵琶), sword, snake, and parasol—from the east, south, west, to the north respectively. There is no direct textual base in the Chinese cannon for such iconographies. Neither can we find prototypes in India or central Asia. Indeed, how did this iconographic group develop in China? In the past, since the standard iconographies of the Four Heavenly Kings are clear, and identification is no problem, comprehensive in-depth study on this is lacking. Actually, those attributes came from a Tantric tradition related to Tibetan Buddhism filtered through the Xi Xia (1036–1227) and Yuan (1206–1368). What revealed in the development of this iconography is the complex relationship among the Tibetan, Tanguts, Mongols, and Chinese Buddhism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Art of Medieval China)
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24 pages, 1012 KiB  
Article
The Therapy of Desire in Times of Crisis: Lessons Learned from Buddhism and Stoicism
by Xiaojun Ding, Yueyao Ma, Feng Yu and Lily M. Abadal
Religions 2023, 14(2), 237; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020237 - 9 Feb 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5267
Abstract
Desire is an important philosophical topic that deeply impacts everyday life. Philosophical practice is an emerging trend that uses philosophical theories and methods as a guide to living a eudaimonic life. In this paper, we define desire philosophically and compare different theories of [...] Read more.
Desire is an important philosophical topic that deeply impacts everyday life. Philosophical practice is an emerging trend that uses philosophical theories and methods as a guide to living a eudaimonic life. In this paper, we define desire philosophically and compare different theories of desire in specific Eastern and Western traditions. Based on the Lacanian conceptual–terminological triad of “Need-Demand-Desire”, the research of desire is further divided into three dimensions, namely, the subject of desire, the object of desire, and the desire itself. The concept of desire is then analyzed from this triad and these three dimensions through different philosophical theories. This paper selects Buddhism as the representative of Eastern tradition, and Stoicism as the representative of the West, paying special attention to Stoicism’s “spiritual exercises” following Pierre Hadot. By exploring and comparing the Buddhist paths to liberation from suffering (i.e., the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path) and the two theoretical pillars in Stoicism (i.e., the notions of “living according to nature” and “the dichotomy of control”), practical guidance is then provided for understanding and regulating desire in times of crisis. This understanding and regulation of desire constitutes a philosophical therapy for today’s troubles, particularly those caused by excessive or irrational desires. Full article
9 pages, 236 KiB  
Article
The Contemplative Approach of Indian Philosophies & Science Education: A Concentration on the Buddhist Principle of Pratityasamutpada
by Raaghav Pandya
Religions 2023, 14(1), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010054 - 28 Dec 2022
Viewed by 2580
Abstract
Contemporary science pedagogy, especially at the secondary level, seeks to emphasize Dewey’s idea of science as a method. More specifically, factors of the nature of science that highlight inquiry-based learning have been popularized and applied in science curricula and classrooms. Simultaneously, the West [...] Read more.
Contemporary science pedagogy, especially at the secondary level, seeks to emphasize Dewey’s idea of science as a method. More specifically, factors of the nature of science that highlight inquiry-based learning have been popularized and applied in science curricula and classrooms. Simultaneously, the West has experienced exponential growth in studios, seminars, and interventions involving mindfulness, yoga, and Eastern practices. Whether it be for physical health or corporate productivity, these practices have entered the contemporary culture, often with an aspect of cultural appropriation. While these practices have undoubtedly proven to improve performance and control anxiety among young people, this paper argues that adopting the paradigm and premise of philosophies such as yoga, Vedanta, and Buddhism alter student understanding of science and their interaction with the world. This paper will do so by presenting science as an experience of inquiry by the subject, as explained by Dewey, Spencer, and Kuhn. This paper will contrast the approach of these contemplative schools to Cartesian dualism, particularly concerning the idea of subjective awareness. By doing so, this paper will present how a pedagogy based on the paradigm and approach of yoga and mindfulness (not just its meditation practices) can influence students’ experience of oneness with others and their environment, science as inquiry, and being a contributing member of a community. More specifically, this paradigm application allows for a student’s experience of first-person inquiry and awareness that leads to an interconnectedness (pratityasamutpada) and citta vrtti nirodha (stilling of the fluctuating states of mind). In a time when students are heavily engaged in a technology-dependent, pandemic learning environment, this shift in science pedagogy offers an alternative approach that improves student understanding of the role of empathy and sustenance in science. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Buddhist Practice for the Crises That Face Us)
12 pages, 279 KiB  
Concept Paper
Right Mindfulness in Teacher Education: Integrating Buddhist Teachings with Secular Mindfulness to Promote Racial Equity
by Lindsay E. Romano and Doris F. Chang
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(11), 778; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12110778 - 2 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3816
Abstract
Despite decades of reform efforts, disparities in schooling persist based on race, threatening the economic and social wellbeing of the United States. Why are there still significant opportunity gaps despite decades of reform efforts to curb inequities? For one, these efforts often overlook [...] Read more.
Despite decades of reform efforts, disparities in schooling persist based on race, threatening the economic and social wellbeing of the United States. Why are there still significant opportunity gaps despite decades of reform efforts to curb inequities? For one, these efforts often overlook the internal habits of mind, or inner nature of inequity, and the ways in which educators may perpetuate racism through unexamined racial biases. Secular mindfulness and its Buddhist origins could help address these harmful habits of mind and transform systems by providing tools for educators to examine their internalized beliefs around race. Realizing the potential of these practices to combat racial inequities in the classroom requires building a stronger bridge between Eastern Buddhism and the individual psychological emphasis of Westernized mindfulness. This critical theoretical paper will examine opportunities for mindfulness interventions in the United States educational context to address inequities through a deeper integration with Eastern contemplative traditions. Implications for researchers and practitioners will be presented to explore how mindfulness practices in the West might be expanded and utilized in service of racial justice. Full article
16 pages, 1789 KiB  
Article
The Bible between Literary Traditions: John C. H. Wu’s Chinese Translation of the Psalms
by Xiaochun Hong
Religions 2022, 13(10), 937; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100937 - 9 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3894
Abstract
In the history of Chinese Bible translation, the Psalms have been a privileged site for the encounter between biblical thinking, poetics, and Chinese classical literature. This encounter was initiated by the translators of the Delegates’ Version, followed by John Chalmers, and outstandingly represented [...] Read more.
In the history of Chinese Bible translation, the Psalms have been a privileged site for the encounter between biblical thinking, poetics, and Chinese classical literature. This encounter was initiated by the translators of the Delegates’ Version, followed by John Chalmers, and outstandingly represented in particular by John C. H. Wu吳經熊. In his version of the Psalms, underpinned by his cultural stance of “beyond East and West”, Wu borrows numerous Chinese idioms and popular verses and transposes Chinese traditions from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Specifically, Wu’s rendition inaugurates an intertextual dialogue between the Psalms and Shijing, involving the disciplines of both comparative literature and comparative scripture at the same time. By adapting various Chinese classical poetry styles for his version of the Psalms, Wu transforms their spiritual traditions and broadens their representation spaces by injecting a Judeo-Christian spirit. Relocating the biblical texts among multifarious Chinese literary traditions, Wu’s translation of the Psalms achieves a deep interaction between the Bible and Chinese culture, provokes questions, and provides insights regarding the relation between biblical theology and intercultural poetics. Full article
15 pages, 890 KiB  
Article
On the Historical Background and Ideological Resources of the Confluence of Islam and Confucianism
by Wei Wang
Religions 2022, 13(8), 748; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13080748 - 16 Aug 2022
Viewed by 5117
Abstract
From the Yuan to the mid-Ming period, the people of Huihui (回回人) in mainland China gradually Sinicized in terms of their languages, family names, marriages, costumes, and ethical values. There was close interaction between these Muslims and Confucian scholars in China. Most of [...] Read more.
From the Yuan to the mid-Ming period, the people of Huihui (回回人) in mainland China gradually Sinicized in terms of their languages, family names, marriages, costumes, and ethical values. There was close interaction between these Muslims and Confucian scholars in China. Most of the mosque inscriptions in this period were written by Confucian scholars, who were the first to try to interpret Islam in Confucian terms. Around the mid-Ming period, the Chinese language became the lingua franca of Muslims in mainland China, and the teaching of Arabic and Persian classics in Chinese became an urgent need at this time. It was at this time that the Confucian academies were revived with the government’s permission. Thereupon, the Muslim scholar Hu Dengzhou (胡登洲) founded a rejuvenated educational system known as Jingtang education (經堂教育), which produced a group of Muslim scholars who wrote in Chinese. Islam thus entered the historical arena of interaction with traditional Chinese religions. During the middle and late Ming period, changes in political and economic structures led to changes in the general mood of society. The rise of Wang Yangming’s Mind Study (心學) brought a lively academic atmosphere and a relaxed cultural environment to intellectual circles. The concept of “The same mind and the same principle of the sages in the East and the West” advocated by Lu Jiuyuan (陸九淵) and Wang Yangming (王陽明) was taken seriously by Muslim scholars and became a crucial theoretical reference in their writing process. In the late Ming and early Qing periods, the classical learning of the Shandong school and the Jinling school of Jingtang education focused on the study of Xingli (性理學). The theory of Sufism shared many common ideas with the Three Teachings (Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism) which showed a tendency towards confluence in the Song, Yuan, and Ming periods. Chinese Muslim scholars, known as Huiru (回儒), drew intellectual resources from all of these traditions to construct their study of Xingli. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Humanities/Philosophies)
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