---| --- ---| ---| | | |---| | | | | | | | | | | -- |---| |--- |--- |---| | | | | | | | | | | | | ---- | | |--- |--- | | |---| GASSHO Electronic Journal of DharmaNet International and the Global Online Sangha Volume 1, Number 2 ISSN 1072-2971 January/February 1994 ======================================================================= Editor-in-Chief: Barry Kapke dharma@netcom.com or Fidonet: 1:125/33.0 Copy Editor: John Bullitt john.bullitt@metta.ci.net Contributing Editor: Charles S. Prebish csp1@psuvm.psu.edu Board of Advisors: Robert Aitken Roshi Amaro Bhikkhu Carl Bielefeldt Bhikkhu Bodhi Thubten Chodron T. Matthew Ciolek Roger Corless Gangcen Tulku Rinpoche Maha Ghosananda Joseph Goldstein Joan Halifax Ayya Khema Anne C. Klein Jack Kornfield Jacqueline Mandell Ken McLeod Andrew Olendzki Charles S. Prebish Alan Senauke Thanissaro Bhikkhu others to be announced ======================================================================== GASSHO is a Buddhist newsletter, published by DharmaNet International, P.O. Box 4951, Berkeley, CA 94704-4951, a not-for-profit organization. ======================================================================== Table of Contents: {1} EDITORIAL: Message from the Editor {2} NEWS: Dharamsala Goes E-mailing {3} DHARMANET NEWS: Dharma Book Transcription Project; Electronic Growth in 1993 {4} LETTERS {5} DIALOGUE: The First Precept: Reverence for Life (Thich Nhat Hanh) {6} ARTICLE: The Greatest Gift (John Bullitt) {7} ARTICLE: The Academic Study of Buddhism in America: A Current Analysis (Charles S. Prebish) {8} ARTICLE: Exploring New Approaches: The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (Andrew Olendzki) {9} ARTICLE: The American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting: 1993 {10} PRACTICE: Nothing Special (Ayya Khema) {11} CALENDAR: January - March 1994 {12} REVIEWS: "Fundamentalism, Anyone?" (Richard Hayes) {13} RESOURCES: Publishers - Book, Audio, Video, Electronic {14} SANGHA: Massachusetts Dharma Centers (USA) {15} A PARTING THOUGHT {16} ABOUT GASSHO [Ed.: Page numbers are not particularly meaningful in an electronic format. Instead, each article is demarcated by a number within braces. This allows you to use the Search feature of your newsreader or file viewer program to "fast forward" to the section you want to read. Also, italics are represented in the electronic version of GASSHO by the code "//"; while this employs two characters rather than one, it was found to be more aesthetically representative of italics for low-ASCII viewing, as well as being relatively unproblematic for using the "search and replace" features of text processors to substitute other italics codes.] ======================================================================= {1} EDITORIAL ======================================================================= This issue of GASSHO focuses on the scholarly domain of Buddhist Studies, or Buddhology. When people would ask me where one could study Buddhism, what academic programs exist, what does a Buddhist Studies program study, I had to admit that I really didn't know. So I started asking a few questions and this issue is the result. As these materials will, I hope, make clear, Buddhist Studies encompass a vast terrain and a rich diversity of approaches and subjects. It is my hope that this issue is just a preliminary sketch, a first installment, and that we will continue to explore the field, and the contexts, of Buddhist Studies in future issues. It is my belief that discourses of study (theory/history/analysis) and discourses of practice can inform, and benefit from, each other. Dr. Charles Prebish provides some background about one of the largest and most influential professional organizations for scholars in Buddhist Studies, the American Academy of Religion (AAR). With the AAR's permission, GASSHO has included the full catalog of abstracts of Buddhist-related presentations from the 1993 Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. I hope this is of interest to scholar and non-scholar alike. It demonstrates a fascinating array of inquiry. I hope that some of these presentations may eventually appear in future issues of GASSHO, or that they may be added to the holdings of the online libraries of DharmaNet International. Dr. Prebish contributed his presentation from the AAR conference, entitled "The Academic Study of Buddhism in America: A Current Analysis," to this issue of GASSHO. This important work provides an objective base from which the field of Buddhist Studies can look at itself. Dr. Prebish will continue collecting data for this ongoing research project, the results of which will eventually be published in hardcopy. While these two articles provide some insights into the academic study of Buddhism, there exist many other forums of Buddhist study as well. Dr. Andrew Olendzki provides a look at another model, that of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre, Massachusetts, which explores ways of bridging the gaps between the academic study of Buddhism and the practice of Buddhism. Additionally, this issue discusses other new organizational models emerging from Buddhist practice, such as //Dhamma Dana Publications//. GASSHO seeks to create and nurture a meeting place where monks, nuns, lay teachers, Buddhologists, and lay practitioners can all share with and learn from each other. It is my intention to give representation to all these voices in each issue. GASSHO seeks to be supportive of both praxis and theory. I call on all of you to help me in this project, to be involved and to contribute to the materials from which this electronic journal is derived. In this way, the collective understanding is elevated. Future issues of GASSHO will endeavor to include at least one "refereed" article, in addition to its other features. Scholars interested in serving as "referees" for submitted materials should contact me by e-mail at "dharma@netcom.com", as should contributors. May this work benefit all beings! ======================================================================= {2} NEWS BRIEFS ======================================================================= DHARAMSALA GOES E-MAILING by Bhuchung K. Tsering After several years of feasibility study, the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala is finally on E-Mail. The idea of putting Dharamsala on the electronic mail map of the world was conceived in 1989 when a New York-based computer consultant, Ms. Indira Singh, suggested the setting up of TibetNet. Ms. Singh felt TibetNet would provide the Tibetans the technological ability to disseminate the Tibetan story worldwide. She made preliminary trials in collaboration with the Department of Information & International Relations. The then DIIR Kalon Lodi G. Gyari shared Ms. Singh's feelings saying, "TibetNet is the vehicle which will take Tibetans to the twenty-first century." Despite the unreliable telephone system, an ad-hoc connection was made in early 1990. As a simple message, "Hello from Dharamsala" made its first journey from a laptop (Indira Singh's) to the computer in Office of Tibet - New York, there was jubilation. Reporting on the event, this journal, in its March-April 1990 issue, said it was the first tottering steps the Tibetans, cooped as they are in their own little Shangri-la, are taking to catch up with what has bypassed them -- telecommunications. Since then much water has flowed down the Bhagsunath rivulet in Dharamsala. Some problems made the experiment remain as it was: just an experiment. But the Tibetans were given a taste of what was in store for us. Just as the shrewd business sense of a Tibetan does not let an opportunity pass by, this idea of a private electronic mail service became merely placed in the backburner, not totally forgotten. Meanwhile, Dharamsala's Planning Council had set up a Common Publishing Center (later rechristened as the Tibetan Computer Resource Center) to provide an organized computerized service to the Tibetan community. Simultaneously, in Canada, the Canada Tibet Committee had taken the initiative to enter Tibet into the E-Mail world actively. The offices of Tibet in New York and London followed suit. They all had the experience of Tibet Information Network (TIN) in London which had over the years become one of the few independent sources for objective news from Tibet. Dharamsala began to feel the pressure to set up a nodal point here. The TibetNet case was reopened, so to say. Discussions took place among concerned officials as well as with the Canada Tibet Committee which had set up CanTibNet. Welcoming the move, DIIR Kalon Tashi Wangdi, in a letter to Tibet-related organizations on November 3, 1993, said it would facilitate a fast and reliable exchange of information among all of us. Finally, it was decided to transfer the e-mail project from DIIR to CTRC which would explore all possibilities. The end-result became apparent when yet another simple message went from New Delhi to USA and Canada, via e-mail. Responded Conrad Richter of CanTibNet, "We are happy that the TCRC and the CTA is now able to participate in computer networking." John Maier of the International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet expressed his feelings thus: "Hallelujah! I am elated to see your message today in my e-mail mailbox. This is indeed a huge step toward establishing a consistent, inexpensive communications link with Dharamsala... Let us hope the next link is Lhasa." The technical director of the Institute for Global Communications (IGC), USA, Mr. Steve Fram, who has been instrumental in not only encouraging us to go forward in this project, but also in providing both technical and material support, became overjoyed. Said he, "(I)... cannot fully express my delight this morning [October 22, 1993 -- ed.], when I received your message from New Delhi....it is a small, but substantial step towards democracy and for the Tibetan struggle." Mr. Fram had made it possible for an official of DIIR, Tendar, to participate in a workshop on e-mail in the USA in August 1993. Mr. Phuntsok Namgyal of TCRC is currently leading the e-mail project in Dharamsala. TCRC has secured a temporary e-mail account. TCRC is in the process of working out the financial implications for getting a permanent account with ernet. For those interested in having e-mail linkages with Tibet-related organizations, a partial list of numbers follows: 1. Dharamsala (Phuntsok Namgyal): tcrc@unv.ernet.in 2. CTC National Office (Thubten Samdup) fourniel@ere.umontreal.ca 3. CanTibNet Newsletter ctn-editors@utcc.utoronto.ca 4. Int'l Committee of Lawyers for Tibet, USA (John Maier): iclt@igc.apc.org 5. International Campaign for Tibet, USA: ict@igc.apc.org, 6. Office of Tibet, New York: otny@igc.apc.org 7. Office of Tibet, London: tibetlondon@gn.apc.org 8. Institute for Global Communications, USA (Steve Fram): steve@igc.apc.org 9. Tibet Information Network, London (Robbie Barnett): robbie@gn.apc.org 10. Alaska Tibet committee: dpaljor@igc.apc.org Dharamsala going e-mail is a small step for mankind, but a giant step for the Tibetans. [This article originally appeared in TIBETAN BULLETIN, Nov/Dec 1993. TIBETAN BULLETIN is the official journal of the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and is published by the Department of Information & International Relations, Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamsala - 176215, H.P. India. Mr. Bhuchung K. Tsering is the Editor of TIBETAN BULLETIN.] ======================================================================= {3} DHARMANET NEWS ======================================================================= In 1993, DharmaNet International began its Dharma Book Transcription Project, working with book publishers such as the Buddhist Publication Society in Sri Lanka, and with individual authors and translators such as Phra Thanissaro Bhikkhu of Wat Metta in Southern California, to make electronic editions of published and original texts available for free distribution over computer networks such as DharmaNet and Internet. The books are transcribed into electronic texts ("e-texts") through the committed efforts of volunteers who "scan" or manually type the documents, and proof read, edit, format, and catalog, each text. Once an e-text has been approved for distribution, the Coordinator of the DharmaNet File Distribution Network begins the process of electronic distribution, transmitting the files via modem to official DharmaNet File Libraries, to other DharmaNet BBS sites, to the Fidonet "Filebone" whether they are further distributed by satellite, and to various online libraries on the Internet. In a very short span of time, the electronic Dharma book has been disseminated throughout many countries. With these various electronic repositories of Buddhist canonical literature, commentaries, dharma talks, essays and articles, existing worldwide, Dharma information is readily, and freely, available to virtually anyone with access to a computer and a modem. In 1993, many of the works published by DharmaNet International were from the Theravada tradition and we hope that in 1994 we will also attract materials and contributors from Zen and Vajrayana traditions as well. Some of the publications of DharmaNet International from 1993 include: AJLEE2.ZIP 3465 Keeping the Breath in Mind, #2 (Ajaan Lee Dhammadaro; Thanissaro Bhikkhu, tr.) ASOKA.ZIP 24692 Readings Selected by King Asoka (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, tr.) BIG3.ZIP 5917 3 Key Discourses: Wheel, Not-Self, Fire Suttas (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, tr.) BODHI034.ZIP 8571 Protection through Satipatthana (Nyanaponika Thera) Bodhi Leaves B34 BODHI042.ZIP 10020 Buddhism: A Method of Mind Training (L. Bullen) BODHI111.ZIP 13918 Our Real Home (Ajahn Chah) Bodhi Leaf 111 BODHI115.ZIP 12135 Anapana Sati: Meditation on Breath (Ariyadhamma) CONDENSE.ZIP 10244 Condensed Breath Meditation (Thanissaro Bhikkhu) FUANG.ZIP 49123 Awareness Itself: Teaching of Ajaan Fuang Jotiko (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, tr.) GASS0101.ZIP 43395 GASSHO Vol 1 No 1 (Nov/Dec 1993) - Maezumi Roshi, Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, et al. MNSUMM.ZIP 12758 MAJJHIMA NIKAYA summary (Bhikkhu Bodhi) NOTSELF.ZIP 9953 The Not-Self Strategy (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, tr.) PALIBREA.ZIP 5431 Breath Meditation: Excerpts from the Pali Canon (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, tr.) QUANTUM.ZIP 33473 Heart Sutra: Buddhism in the Light of Quantum Reality (Mu Soeng Sunim) STRAIGHT.ZIP 168388 Straight from the Heart (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, tr) STRENGTH.ZIP 65695 Inner Strength: 16 Talks by Ajahn Lee (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, tr.) THAI_93.ZIP 72376 Guide to Buddhist Monasteries & Meditation Centers in Thailand (Bill Weir) UNBOUND.ZIP 83632 Mind Like Fire Unbound (Thanissaro Bhikkhu) WHEEL014.ZIP 20910 Everyman's Ethics: 4 Discourses (Narada Thera) WHEEL026.ZIP 21336 The Five Mental Hindrances (Nyanaponika Thera) WHEEL061.ZIP 33440 Simile of the Cloth/Discourse on Effacement (Nyanaponika Thera) BPS Wheel 61/62 WHEEL065.ZIP 37812 Way of Wisdom: The 5 Spiritual Faculties (Conze) VINAYA.ZIP 398772 The Buddhist Monastic Code (Thanissaro Bhikkhu) These e-texts can be retrieved on the Internet by "anonymous ftp" to FTP.NETCOM.COM in the subdirectory /pub/dharma. Eventually, we hope to establish a larger "host" site for our online library, and where we can also create gopher links to these files. If you should have problems accessing these files or would like to contribute texts or help with transcribing texts, please contact Barry Kapke by email at dharma@netcom.com Additionally, these files may be retrieved via "ftpmail" for those without "anonymous ftp" capability. To obtain a listing of available files accessible via e-mail (ftpmail) from ACCESS TO INSIGHT, send an e-mail message addressed to "ftpmail@metta.ci.net". In the message body put "GET ALLFILES.LST". A copy of the file list will then be returned to you by e-mail. You can order any file from the list by ftpmail in this way. Of course, you can also download (retrieve) any of these or other files directly from any DharmaNet file library or participating DharmaNet or Fidonet site. Moreover, if you operate a BBS, you can subscribe to the DharmaNet File Distribution Network file areas and receive the files automatically as they are released. These links may be arranged through DharmaNet or Fidonet file hubs. Please contact Barry Kapke for more information by e-mail at dharma@netcom.com or by netmail at 1:125/33 (Fidonet). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DharmaNet International's dream of a world-wide web of electronically interlinked Dharma centers, practitioners, and teachers, has begun to manifest. In 1993, DharmaNet established BBS linkages throughout much of the USA and parts of Canada, England, Sweden, Republic of South Africa, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong, with new growth occurring each week. With the bridging of DharmaNet and Internet, this connectivity expands exponentially. In Massachusetts, ACCESS TO INSIGHT provides electronic linkage to the Insight Meditation Society and to the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and explores ways for the BBS to serve as both bridge and vehicle for Dharma information //and// practice. Other Dharma centers are beginning to show interest in discovering how this medium might serve their own communities. In past months I've seen electronic footprints suggesting that online resources are being explored by Robert Aitken, John Daido Loori, Joseph Goldstein, Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Ken McLeod, Henepola Gunaratana, and others. Many of the leading Buddhist scholars are online. Tibetan support and service organizations, the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, //Tricycle// Magazine, and other Buddhist resources are developing online capabilities. This is wonderful to see unfolding and to be a part of. DharmaNet International has assembled a truly remarkable Board of Advisors, from the spheres of Buddhist practice and scholarship. We are very fortunate and grateful for their guidance and grounding. GASSHO, with this being only its second edition, is now subscribed to electronically by over two hundred individuals and is being distributed to all parts of the world. These numbers are multiplied when taking into account the various copies downloaded by individuals from DharmaNet, Fidonet, and Internet sites. May these electronic "currents" spread the Dharma far and wide in 1994. May this work benefit all beings. ======================================================================= {4} LETTERS ======================================================================= [Ed.: I had expected to present comments to the "Dialogue" feature, or to other articles, here, but none have been forthcoming. Please send letters to the Editor via e-mail to "dharma@netcom.com" with notation in the subject line directing it to the Editor. Thanks.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tipitaka CD-ROM ---------------------------------------------------------------------- May I firstly compliment you, in your capacity as "Editor in Chief" of GASSHO, on a very good first issue. It was both uplifting and informative. I look forward to many more similar. Secondly, it was mentioned in GASSHO > Distinguished service awards were presented to Yehan Numata (who >could not be present), and to Mahidol University for its completion >of inputting the entire Pali Tipitaka and Atthakatha onto CD-ROM. >Professor Supachai demonstrated the database software (BUDSIR) that >can be used to search and retrieve all occurrences of any given word >or phrase in the entire 105 volumes of now-digitized text. I trust that the next edition of Gassho will tell us more about this, and if meanwhile you know anything about when it will be available, where, etc. I would be very grateful for a brief note. (John Richards, jhr@elidor.demon.co.uk) [Ed.: I had intended to reprint an article for this issue detailing the various Buddhist databases and input projects, of which there are many, but was unable to organize it in time. It will appear in a future issue of GASSHO. Professor Supachai may be reached at: Mahidol University Computing Center Faculty of Science Tel: (662) 245-5410 Rama 6 Road FAX: (662) 246-7308 Bangkok 10400 THAILAND It is my understanding that the American Academy of Religion, FAX: (404) 727-7959, will be the distributor for the Siamese CD-ROM edition of the Pali canon.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Kind Words ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A sangha friend forwarded the Nov/Dec93 copy of GASSHO and has opened up a new world to me. What a wonderful issue! Gabrielle Yensen ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for sending me a copy of GASSHO and for adding me to the mailing list. I have read through the journal once already and I'm sure I will be returning to it for further understanding and insight. I stand in continual awe of the communicative power of the Internet, and this journal has certainly been one of its most interesting fruits for me. Here's to its continuing growth and instruction. Erika Reiman ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I've just received the first issue of GASSHO - the bimonthly electronic magazine of DharmaNet International. The quality and content are superb - beyond my own expectation. John Nguyen ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [Ed.: I've been quite touched by the numerous messages of appreciation and support I've received. Thank YOU!] ======================================================================= {5} DIALOGUE ======================================================================= THE FIRST PRECEPT: REVERENCE FOR LIFE by Thich Nhat Hanh Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I vow to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life. Life is precious. It is everywhere, inside us and all around us; it has so many forms. The First Precept is born from the awareness that lives everywhere are being destroyed. We see the suffering caused by the destruction of life, and we vow to cultivate compassion and use it as a source of energy for the protection of people, animals, plants, and minerals. The First Precept is a precept of compassion, //karuna// -- the ability to remove suffering and transform it. When we see suffering, compassion is born in us. It is important for us to stay in touch with the suffering of the world. We need to nourish that awareness through many means -- sounds, images, direct contact, visits, and so on -- in order to keep compassion alive in us. But we must be careful not to take in too much. Any remedy must be taken in the proper dosage. We need to stay in touch with suffering only to the extent that we will not forget, so that compassion will flow within us and be a source of energy for our actions. If we use anger at injustice as the source for our energy, we may do something harmful, something that we will later regret. According to Buddhism, compassion is the only source of energy that is useful and safe. With compassion, your energy is born from insight; it is not blind energy. We humans are made entirely of non-human elements, such as plants, minerals, earth, clouds, and sunshine. For our practice to be deep and true, we must include the ecosystem. If the environment is destroyed, humans will be destroyed, too. Protecting human life is not possible without also protecting the lives of animals, plants, and minerals. The //Diamond Sutra// teaches us that it is impossible to distinguish between sentient and non-sentient beings. This is one of many ancient Buddhist texts that teach deep ecology. Every Buddhist practitioner should be a protector of the environment. Minerals have their own lives, too. In Buddhist monasteries, we chant, "Both sentient and non- sentient beings will realize full enlightenment." The First Precept is the practice of protecting all lives, including the lives of minerals. "//I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life.//" We cannot support any act of killing; no killing can be justified. But not to kill is not enough. We must also learn ways to prevent others from killing. We cannot say, "I am not responsible. They did it. My hands are clean." If you were in Germany during the time of the Nazis, you could not say, "They did it. I did not." If, during the Gulf War, you did not say or do anything to try to stop the killing, you were not practicing this precept. Even if what you said or did failed to stop the war, what is important is that you tried, using your insight and compassion. It is not just by not killing with your body that you observe the First Precept. If in your thinking you allow the killing to go on, you also break this precept. We must be determined not to condone killing, even in our minds. According to the Buddha, the mind is the base of all actions. It is most dangerous to kill in the mind. When you believe, for example, that yours is the only way for humankind and that everyone who follows another way is your enemy, millions of people could be killed because of that idea. Thinking is at the base of everything. It is important for us to put an eye of awareness into each of our thoughts. Without a correct understanding of a situation or a person, our thoughts can be misleading and create confusion, despair, anger, or hatred. Our most important task is to develop correct insight. If we see deeply into the nature of interbeing, that all things "inter-are," we will stop blaming, arguing, and killing, and we will become friends with everyone. To practice nonviolence, we must first of all learn ways to deal peacefully with ourselves. If we create true harmony within ourselves, we will know how to deal with family, friends, and associates. When we protest against a war, for example, we may assume that we are a peaceful person, a representative of peace, but this might not be true. If we look deeply, we will observe that the roots of war are in the unmindful ways we have been living. We have not sown enough seeds of peace and understanding in ourselves and others, therefore we are co-responsible: "Because I have been like this, they are like that." A more holistic approach is the way of "interbeing": "This is like this, because that is like that." This is the way of understanding and love. With this insight, we can see clearly and help our government see clearly. Then we can go to a demonstration and say, "This war is unjust, destructive, and not worthy of our great nation." This is far more effective than angrily condemning others. Anger always accelerates the damage. All of us, even pacifists, have pain inside. We feel angry and frustrated, and we need to find someone willing to listen to us who is capable of understanding our suffering. In Buddhist iconography, there is a bodhisattva named Avalokitesvara who has one thousand arms and one thousand hands, and has an eye in the palm of each hand. One thousand hands represent action, and the eye in each hand represents understanding. When you understand a situation or a person, any action you do will help and will not cause more suffering. When you have an eye in your hand, you will know how to practice true nonviolence. To practice nonviolence, first of all we have to practice it within ourselves. In each of us, there is a certain amount of violence and a certain amount of nonviolence. Depending on our state of being, our response to things will be more or less nonviolent. Even if we take pride in being vegetarian, for example, we have to acknowledge that the water in which we boil our vegetables contains many tiny microorganisms. We cannot be completely nonviolent, but by being vegetarian, we are going in the direction of nonviolence. If we want to head north, we can use the North Star to guide us, but it is impossible to arrive at the North Star. Our effort is only to proceed in that direction. Anyone can practice some nonviolence, even army generals. They may, for example, conduct their operations in ways that avoid killing innocent people. To help soldiers move in the nonviolent direction, we have to be in touch with them. If we divide reality into two camps -- the violent and the nonviolent -- and stand in one camp while attacking the other, the world will never have peace. We will always blame and condemn those we feel are responsible for wars and social injustice, without recognizing the degree of violence in ourselves. We must work on ourselves and also work with those we condemn if we want to have a real impact. It never helps to draw a line and dismiss some people as enemies, even those who act violently. We have to approach them with love in our hearts and do our best to help them move in a direction of nonviolence. If we work for peace out of anger, we will never succeed. Peace is not an end. It can never come about through non-peaceful means. Most important is to //become// nonviolence, so that when a situation presents itself, we will not create more suffering. To practice nonviolence, we need gentleness, loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity directed to our bodies, our feelings, and other people. With mindfulness -- the practice of peace -- we can begin by working to transform the wars in ourselves. There are techniques for doing this. Conscious breathing is one. Every time we feel upset, we can stop what we are doing, refrain from saying anything, and breathe in and out several times, aware of each in-breath and each out-breath. If we are still upset, we can go for walking meditation, mindful of each slow step and each breath we take. By cultivating peace within, we bring about peace in society. It depends on us. To practice peace in ourselves is to minimize the numbers of wars between this and that feeling, or this and that perception, and we can then have real peace with others as well, including the members of our own family. I am often asked, "What if you are practicing nonviolence and someone breaks into your house and tries to kidnap your daughter or kill your husband? What should you do? Should you still act in a nonviolent way?" The answer depends on your state of being. If you are prepared, you may react calmly and intelligently, in the most nonviolent way possible. But to be ready to react with intelligence and nonviolence, you have to train yourself in advance. It may take ten years, or longer. If you wait until the time of crisis to ask the question, it will be too late. A this-or-that kind of answer would be superficial. At that crucial moment, even if you know that nonviolence is better than violence, if your understanding is only intellectual and not in your whole being, you will not act nonviolently. The fear and anger in you will prevent you from acting in the most nonviolent way. We have to look deeply every day to practice this precept well. Every time we buy or consume something, we may be condoning some form of killing. While practicing the protection of humans, animals, plants, and minerals, we know that we are protecting ourselves. We feel in permanent and loving touch with all species on Earth. We are protected by the mindfulness and the loving kindness of the Buddha and many generations of Sanghas who also practice this precept. This energy of loving kindness brings us the feeling of safety, health, and joy, and this becomes real the moment we make the decision to receive and practice the First Precept. Feeling compassion is not enough. We have to learn to express it. That is why love must go together with understanding. Understanding and insight show us how to act. Our real enemy is forgetfulness. If we nourish mindfulness every day and water the seeds of peace in ourselves and those around us, we become alive, and we can help ourselves and others realize peace and compassion. Life is so precious, yet in our daily lives we are usually carried away by our forgetfulness, anger, and worries, lost in the past, unable to touch life in the present moment. When we are truly alive, everything we do or touch is a miracle. To practice mindfulness is to return to life in the present moment. The practice of the First Precept is a celebration of reverence for life. When we appreciate and honor the beauty of life, we will do everything in our power to protect all life. [Excerpted from FOR A FUTURE TO BE POSSIBLE: COMMENTARIES ON THE FIVE WONDERFUL PRECEPTS, by Thich Nhat Hanh, with the kind permission of Parallax Press, Berkeley, CA, 1993, pp. 13-19. The chapters on the remaining four precepts will appear in the subsequent four issues of GASSHO. THICH NHAT HANH is a Zen Buddhist monk, peace activist, scholar, and poet. He is the founder of the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon, has taught at Columbia University and the Sorbonne, and now lives in southern France, where he gardens, works to help those in need, and travels internationally teaching "the art of mindful living." Martin Luther King, Jr., nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967, saying, "I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize than this gentle monk from Vietnam."] ======================================================================= {6} ARTICLE ======================================================================= THE GREATEST GIFT by John Bullitt //sabbadanam dhammadanam jinati// The gift of Dhamma excels all other gifts. (Dhammapada 354) In many Buddhist countries a traditional way of supporting and spreading the Dharma has been to sponsor the publication of Dharma books for free distribution. This time-honored system offers one the opportunity to practice //dana// (freely-offered generosity), while helping make the teachings available to many others who might not otherwise have access to them. This tradition has been rather slow to catch on here in the West, where the prevailing attitude has often been the rather skeptical: "You can't get something for nothing. After all, if something is offered at no charge, surely there must be a catch somewhere." Yet as we all know, there needn't be a catch. Giving can be its own reward; that reward is magnified all the more when the gift itself is Dharma. I want to note briefly an example of a publishing-for-//dana// endeavor recently begun here in the U.S., in the hope that it may encourage others to support the development of publishing and free distribution of Dharma books. Last spring the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (the "Study Center") started a fund -- the Dhamma Dana Publications Fund -- to support publication and free distribution of Dharma books. The manuscript selected by the editorial committee for its inaugural publication was "The Mind Like Fire Unbound" by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. In this book the author, an American monk who trained in the forests of Thailand for 12 years, explores the use of fire imagery in the Pali Canon as a metaphor to describe the nature of clinging (//upadana//) and its cessation (//nibbana//). The author provides extensive quotations from the Pali Canon, newly translated, making this a useful sourcebook for anyone wanting to encounter Buddhist teachings in their earliest known context. Over a period of several months a small number of donors came forward to offer their support for this book. There was no fund-raising drive in the conventional sense; when these people learned of the project they simply offered to give. Eventually donors contributed enough funds (about $3,500) to print 2,500 copies of this 128-page 6" x 9" paperback, complete with a stunning full-color cover. Copies of this book are now freely available at the Study Center (see address below). I hope GASSHO readers will consider supporting this kind of Dharma publishing in their own communities. The quality of affordable desk- top publishing (DTP) continues to improve so rapidly that, even if one cannot afford to print 10,000 professional-quality bound books, a modest home office with a limited budget can easily produce 100 copies of a small booklet. You might then offer a supply of these books or pamphlets to your local meditation center, or to a teacher; they can then in turn offer them to others. This chain of generosity is beautiful to witness, and a delight to experience. With //dana// as the motivation, everyone involved shares a happy reward. [JOHN BULLITT is a vipassana student, computer consultant and sysop for //Access to Insight BBS//. He is currently helping Wisdom Publications prepare Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation of the //Majjhima Nikaya// for publication. When he's not proofreading or debugging, he's sledding in the backyard with his daughter. For more information about Dhamma Dana Publications, write to: Dhamma Dana Publications, c/o Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, Lockwood Road, Barre, MA 01005 USA. E-mail: dana@metta.ci.net] ======================================================================= {7} ARTICLE ======================================================================= THE ACADEMIC STUDY OF BUDDHISM IN AMERICA: A CURRENT ANALYSIS by Charles S. Prebish Scholarly studies chronicling the academic investigation of Buddhism by Western researchers are extremely sparse in the literature. Since 1950, only a handful of reliable publications has emerged to inform our understanding of the discipline to which we have devoted our professional lives. The most useful of these include: (1) U.N. Ghosal's "Progress in Buddhist Studies in Europe and America," in P.V. Bapat's //2500 Years of Buddhism// (1956), (2) Edward Conze's "Recent Progress in Buddhist Studies," in //The Middle Way// 34 (1959), (3) William Peiris's //The Western Contribution to Buddhism// (1973), (4) Jan W. de Jong's "A Brief History of Buddhist Studies in Europe and America" in //The Eastern Buddhist// NS 7 (1974), de Jong's follow-up: "Recent Buddhist Studies in Europe and America 1973-83," in //The Eastern Buddhist// NS 17 (1984), his eventual book //A Brief History of Buddhist Studies in Europe and America// (2nd, revised edition; Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1987), and (5) Charles Prebish's "Buddhist Studies American Style: A Shot in the Dark," in //Religious Studies Review// 9 (1983). Much of this work has been summarized, and expanded upon, by Russell Webb's "Pali Buddhist Studies in the West," serialized in the now defunct //Pali Buddhist Review//, and his highly readable "Contemporary European Scholarship on Buddhism," in Tadeusz Skorupski's edited volume //The Buddhist Heritage// (Tring: Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1989). What each of the above studies has lacked is a statistical component. The need for such data as a survey might provide, of course, is not without current precedent. Professor Ray Hart, former editor of the //Journal of the American Academy of Religion//, recently was afforded 112 pages of journal space in the Winter 1991 issue of the //Journal of the American Academy of Religion// for his narrative and survey entitled "Religious and Theological Studies in American Higher Education." Thirty-five pages of Hart's study were devoted to a presentation of statistical evidence gleaned from a questionnaire distributed to 678 faculty members at eleven types of institutions. The extremely useful findings of Hart's study are already being widely utilized in the discipline, reflecting the perceived importance of self-definition and self-recognition within the broad profession of religious studies. The academic study of Buddhism in America, however, has nothing like Hart's evidence. Nor has it ever had the benefit of a systematic analysis of its collective faculty. Consequently, this paper aims to build upon the results of data collected during the academic year 1992-93. In October 1992, the idea of such an undertaking was proposed to the administration of the Buddhism Section of the American Academy of Religion. This sub-unit of the largest national organization devoted to the study of religion is the most appropriate and extensive network organization of scholars devoted to the study of Buddhism in the United States. Professor Malcolm David Eckel, the American Academy of Religion's external evaluator of the unit, noted in 1991 that "The most important achievement of the Buddhism Group and Section at the AAR in the last ten years has been to create a safe and reliable forum for Buddhist scholars who represent a wide variety of approaches, disciplines, and geographical orientations to exchange views and build bonds of cooperation and understanding that create an active and imaginative scholarly community." With the support of the Buddhism Section's leadership, a list off 125 scholars was collected from a larger sample compiled primarily by Professor Jamie Hubbard of Smith College. The larger sample also included names of scholars of other Asian religions and non-specialist comparativists, but for this study, only scholars whose primary teaching and research responsibilities were in Buddhist Studies were targeted for study. Requests for data and narrative statements were distributed to these 125 individuals whose major teaching and research work fell into the discipline of "Buddhist Studies." The request was repeated at the Annual Business Meeting of the Buddhism Section in November in San Francisco, and a second letter of request was mailed in early January 1993. As of this date, the percentage responding with the requested data is quite consistent with that achieved by Hart's survey (Hart's survey achieved a 64% response rate; Prebish's survey had a response rate of 69.6%). On an individual level, the results collected provide an ample look at the demographics of Buddhist Studies in America. With regard to individual training, I am now able to document the gender, educational background, language facility, and the like for those polled. Institutionally, I have tracked the respective academic rank of the respondents, the type of university in which they teach, and the specific disciplinarity of the department that employs each. I have collected data on memberships in professional organizations, editorships held, geographic area(s) of specialization, grants and fellowships received, professional papers presented, and honors awarded. I have organized information on faculty research productivity into categories reflecting both the type of publication and period of publication, the latter item being subdivided into five-year and overall categories. I have also assembled a conglomerate of concern voiced by respondents in the narrative portions of their submissions. As such I have determined a sense of the sample's collective perception of those issues deemed critical to the development and advancement of the discipline. In addition to the individual scholars surveyed, in consultation with colleagues, a list of fifteen universities with well developed undergraduate and/or graduate programs in the study of Buddhism has been generated. These institutions are currently responding to requests for data regarding the history and scope of their respective programs in the study of Buddhism. This information will be in place before the end of the current academic year. Thus, on an institutional level, I will soon be able to document fully the development of the discipline of Buddhist Studies in the United States, a task I began in my above mentioned article "Buddhist Studies American Style: A Shot in the Dark." In that study, I was able to describe the earliest development of Buddhist Studies in those American universities that pioneered the effort to understand the philology, history, doctrine, and practice of Buddhism in its Asian setting. In so doing, I was able to highlight the research and publication of Henry Clark Warren, Charles Rockwell Lanman, Paul Carus, William Dwight Whitney, W.Y. Evans-Wentz, Winston King, Richard Gard, Kenneth K.S. Ch'en, and others. Moreover, I was able to describe the initial programs of study in Buddhist Studies at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Yale Universities along with the publication series they fostered. My latest work will document the progress of the next three generations of Buddhologists and the expansive spread of Buddhist Studies institutionally into major American universities. Not only will the new avenues of publication in Buddhist Studies be outlined, but the various electronic means of networking and publication be explored. Thus this paper reflects a highly significant research design that is already underway to a timely and expedient conclusion. It is rather noteworthy, I think, that a perusal of the 1993 Directory of Departments and Programs of Religious Studies in North America (edited by David G. Truemper), reveals only two North American universities with more than three full-time faculty whose work falls exclusively within the discipline of Buddhology (albeit approached from a variety of potential approaches and methodologies): the University of Virginia (Jeffrey Hopkins, Paul Groner, Karen Lang, David Germano, and Professor Senaviratne) and Chicago (Frank Reynolds, Paul Griffiths, Gary Ebersole, and Steven Collins). A number of universities have three full-time Buddhist Studies faculty: Harvard (Masatoshi Nagatomi, Helen Hardacre, Charles Hallisey), Columbia University (Robert Thurman, Matthew Kapstein, Ryuich Abe), University of Michigan (Luis Gomez, Donald Lopez, T. Griffith Foulk), Princeton University (Gananath Obeyesekere, Jacqueline Stone, Steven Teiser), and McMaster University (Robert Scharf, Phyllis Granoff, and K. Shinohara). Universities having two full-time Buddhist Studies faculty include the University of Wisconsin (Minoru Kiyota and Geshe Sope), Stanford University (Bernard Faure and Carl Bielefeldt), U.C.L.A. (Robert Buswell and William Bodiford), the University of California at Berkeley (Lewis Lancaster and Padmanabh Jaini), Northwestern University (George Bond and Isshi Yamada), University of Hawaii (David Chappell and David Kalupahana), Carleton College (Bardwell Smith and Roger Jackson), Pennsylvania State University (Charles Prebish and Steven Heine), University of Calgary (Leslie Kawamura and A.W. Barber), University of Saskatchewan (Braj Sinha and Julian Pas), and McGill University (Richard Hayes and Arvind Sharma). This list is, of course, subject to correction and addition (and I have been rather generous in making these determinations). Further, this does not mean to say that there are not ancillary faculty members in many institutions whose work falls partly under the Buddhist Studies disciplinary umbrella. If the results to be obtained from the study described above are acknowledged to be largely demographic in focus, then it must also be conceded that much of what is to be reported here is both obvious and unexciting. What is not unexciting is the knowledge that those of us engaged in Buddhology now have some hard data which can be compared externally to the field in religious studies and internally to the sub-discipline of Buddhist Studies. Regarding basic demographics, in Hart's survey, 85.4% of the respondents were male, 14.4% female, with .2% non-responsive. In my sample, 85.1% was male, 14.9% female. As one would expect, the respondents in both surveys presented uniformly outstanding credentials. In Hart's survey, 90% of the respondents had one or more doctoral degrees (9% had no doctoral degree, while 1% were expecting the doctoral degree). In my sample 98.8% (86 of 87) had Ph.D./Th.D. In my sample, the granting year for the terminal degree was 1975.9. This is especially interesting because the average age of those responding to this item was 53.1 years, whereas the average age in Hart's sample was 50.6. Comparing the two samples, we find: Hart Sample Prebish Sample Age Range 30-39 16.1% 7.3% 40-49 31.1% 39.0% 50-59 30.2% 24.4% 60 & Over 22.6% 29.3% Extrapolating backward, we can determine that Buddhological scholars appear to earn their doctorate around an average age of 35. The majority of the respondents in my study earned their doctorates at the following universities: University of Wisconsin 10 Harvard University 10 University of Chicago 8 University of Virginia 7 Yale University 6 Columbia University 5 Temple University 5 University of California, 4 Berkeley Princeton University 3 Northwestern University 3 In the Buddhist Studies sample, 44.9% of those responding taught in various public institutions, while 55.1% were employed by private institutions. The vast majority of my sample (65.8%) taught in Departments of Religion/Religious Studies. Another 6.6% taught in Asian Languages and Literatures Departments, with 3.9% teaching in East Asian Languages and Cultures Departments and an equal percentage teaching in Religious Studies Programs. Regarding rank, in the Buddhist Studies sample, 36.0% hold the rank of Full Professor, 31.4% hold the rank of Associate Professor, and 22.1% hold the rank of Assistant Professor. The remainder of the sample holds a variety of positions including Lecturer, Adjunct Professor, Dean, Acting Dean, and Retired (Emeritus). In terms of area of specialization, 37.0% of the sample reported Japan/East Asia. 29.6% reported India/South Asia, while 23.5% reported Tibet/Inner Asia. Other areas cited include China/East Asia (6.2%) and Korea/East Asia (2.5%). In the overall sample, 47 individuals listed Sanskrit among their professional languages, 40 cited Japanese, 31 cited Chinese, 30 cited Pali, and 26 cited Tibetan, with multiple citations, of course, the norm. With regard to membership in Professional and Learned Societies, Hart's study produced surprising results considering the nature of his sample. Of the seven most populated professional organizations, four had traditionally Asian Studies constituencies: The Association for Asian Studies (2nd, 22%), American Oriental Society (4th, 17%), International Association of Buddhist Studies (6th, 8%), and Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy (6th, 8%). The American Academy of Religion topped the list with 67%, Society of Biblical Literature was third with 19%, and the American Historical Association was fifth with 14%. In the Buddhist Studies sample, a wide variety of Professional Societies was noted, with eleven gleaning statistically meaningful responses: American Academy of Religion 75.9% (66) Association for Asian Studies 57.5% (50) International Association of Buddhist Studies 43.7% (38) Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies 19.5% (17) Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy 17.2% (15) American Oriental Society 16.1% (14) Society for the Study of Japanese Religions 10.3% (9) Society for the Study of Chinese Religions 8.0% (7) Tibet Society 8.0% (7) Pali Text Society 6.9% (6) International Society of Shin Buddhist Studies 6.9% (6) As expected most respondents had reported multiple memberships. In the four most heavily subscribed societies, the Buddhist Studies sample reported significant administrative positions as well. In the American Academy of Religion, twelve individuals served as Unit Chair or Unit Co-Chair, twenty-four respondents served on various Unit Steering Committees, and one member served on the AAR Board of Directors. In the Association for Asian Studies, the sample produced one officer, one member of the Board of Directors, two Committee Chairs, and two Committee members. In the International Association of Buddhist Studies, the sample yielded three officers and five members of the Board of Directors. Finally, in the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies, there were two officers and five members of the Board of Directors. The sample has shown a remarkably high level of activity in presenting scholarly papers at the annual meetings of these professional societies. For reporting purposes, I have delineated two distinct types of professional paper. In the first category, I have included papers presented at international meetings and papers presented at the annual meeting of a professional society. In the second category, I have included all other professional presentations, especially represented by regional meetings of professional societies and thematic conferences sponsored by various institutions (even though some of these attracted a national audience). In the former category, the Buddhist Studies sample presented an average of 7.0 papers, while in the latter category, they presented 12.8 papers. Thus the average respondent has made 19.8 professional presentations during the expanse of his or her academic career. The Buddhist Studies sample presented a high degree of success in grant acquisition. No less than 57 grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities were reported. 35 Fulbright/Fulbright-Hays grants were also noted. In the National Defense Education Act, Title VI Program, 31 grants were awarded. In decreasing order, respondents reported 14 grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, 13 grants from the Japan Foundation, 11 grants from the American Institute of Indian Studies, 10 from the Social Science Research Council, 8 Ford Foundation grants, 6 Mellon Faculty Fellowships in the Humanities, and a number of others from the Danforth Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and the like, as well as literally hundreds of grants internally administered by the respondents' host institutions. Just as the Buddhist Studies sample presented success in grant acquisition, it also demonstrated a high degree of accomplishment in securing editorial positions with leading journals and presses. No less than eight individuals reported editorial positions with //Buddhist-Christian Studies//, six with //Pacific World//, five with the //Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies//, four with //Religious Studies Review//, four with //Buddhist Text Information/ Buddhist Research Information//, three with the //Journal of Religious Ethics//, and two each with the //Journal of the American Academy of religion//, //Journal of Buddhist Philosophy//, and //History of Religions//. Other editorial positions were reported in no less than twenty-two other journals, ranging from //Philosophy East and West// to the //Journal of the Pali Text Society//. Five respondents have served on the editorial board of the University of Hawaii Press and two on the editorial board of the University of California Press. Other editorial board citations are numerous, including, for example, Asian Humanities Press and the State University of New York Press. Additionally, fourteen individuals have functioned as Series Editor for various publication ventures by these major presses. Although it has never been altogether clear precisely how to report publication data, Hart's study utilizes three categories: (1) Books, (2) Articles, Essays, Chapters, and (3) Book Reviews. For these categories, he reports publication rates for the immediately past five year period. The categories are at once somewhat problematic in that Hart's delineation does not distinguish between refereed and non- refereed publications, a distinction that virtually all colleges and universities are necessarily, if ungraciously, requiring. Equally, Hart makes no distinction between books authored and books edited, another distinction that is part of the politically correct protocol of the American system of higher education evaluation. Nonetheless, Hart's sample yield's the following result: Books 1.1 Articles, Essays, Chapters 7.6 Book Reviews 5.6. In the immediately past five year period, the Buddhist Studies sample reports: Books 1.6 Articles, Essays, Chapters 7.6 Book Reviews 2.5. In an attempt to be more responsive to the exigencies of the system in which we labor, I have sought to redefine Hart's categories somewhat in favor of presenting more meaningful statistics. In so doing, I have separated the book category into two categories: (a) books authored/co-authored and (b) books edited/co-edited. I have also separated Hart's articles, essays, chapters category into (a) refereed articles and chapters (taking the bold stand, not shared in all university evaluations, that chapters are indeed refereed, often bringing to bear a higher standard than many refereed journals) and (b) other publications (essentially including essays, encyclopedia articles, dictionary articles, and the like). In so doing, I can thus present: Books Authored/Co-authored 1.0 Books Edited/Co-edited 0.6 (Total 1.6) Refereed Articles and Chapters 5.2 Other Publications 2.4 (Total 7.6) Book Reviews 2.5 (Total 2.5). Hart's study presents no career publication data, a statistic which may well be more revealing than his five year information. I, however, have collected career figures which are instrumental in evaluating professional productivity. In my schema, the following career results can be reported: Books Authored/Co-authored 2.4 Books Edited/Co-edited 1.7 (Total 4.1) Refereed Articles and Chapters 16.8 Other Publications 7.9 (Total 24.7) Book Reviews 12.7 (Total 12.7). In working with the Buddhist Studies sample, it was also possible to delineate and rank those scholarly journals and book publishers most often utilized as publication avenues for Buddhist Studies. The ranked list of journals includes, in order: 1. //Philosophy East and West// 2. //Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies// 3. //History of Religions// 4. //The Eastern Buddhist// (tie) 4. //Journal of Buddhist-Christian Studies// (tie) 6. //Journal of Chinese Philosophy// (tie) 6. //Journal of the American Oriental Society// (tie) 6. //Journal of the American Academy of Religion// (tie) 9. //Japanese Journal of Religious Studies// 10. //Pacific World// 11. //Cahiers d'Extreme-Orient// (tie) 11. //Tibet Journal// (tie) 11. //Monumenta Nipponica// (tie) 14. //Journal of Asian Studies// (tie) 14. //Numen// (tie). The ranked list of university presses includes, in order: 1. University of Hawaii Press 2. State University of New York Press 3. Princeton University Press 4. Cambridge University Press (tie) 4. Oxford University Press (tie) 6. Pennsylvania State University Press (tie) 6. University of Chicago Press (tie). The ranked list of other, commercial publishers includes, in order: 1. Snow Lion 2. Wisdom Publications 3. Asian Humanities Press (tie) 3. Motilal Banarsidass (tie) 5. Harper & Row (tie) 5. Shambhala (tie). While Ray Hart concludes that the data forming the basis for his generalizations "cannot be reported in a form that is statistically meaningful" (p. 763), I would argue that the data is nevertheless meaningful in evaluating the productivity of those scholars in the discipline of Buddhist Studies, and in demonstrating how the field defines itself. In this regard, the narrative statements submitted by many individuals have provided additional shape to the raw data collected. If there is any one consistent and abiding sentiment that emerges from the prose comments offered by various respondents in this study, it would be an overwhelming reaction against the "pressures of accountability and competitiveness" that are dominating the humanities in general and comparatively smaller departments of religion. This does not mean to say that Buddhist Studies as an academic discipline is not without its own reflective critique. One scholar suggested that "I find the Buddhist Studies academic world, with some notable exceptions, alienating and disaffecting (these two words chosen for all their reverberating qualities), and I do not really identify with it, although I am certainly a constituent element." In terms of major emphases, two shifts were repeatedly cited. The first, rather obvious I think, reflects the number of colleagues who have come to the study of Buddhism, and hence to academe, as a result of their "strong personal commitment" to Buddhism as a religious tradition. For many, this has created a tension between scholarship and religious commitment, between Buddhology and personal faith. The second shift is a movement away from Buddhist texts and philosophy (the Buddhist "theology" which some of us have been unaffectionately accused of propagating) to an investigation of Buddhism's contextual relationship with culture. Along with this latter shift is a renewed interest in Buddhist social institutions in the wider perspective of Buddhism as a genuinely world religion. In light of these two shifts, we are faced with on-going methodological questions, ones that must be resolved if we are to avoid the assessment of one respondent that "My perception is that most Buddhologists would prefer to ignore the problems raised by culture criticism and remain a hermetically sealed and rather elitist discipline." [CHARLES S. PREBISH is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of //Buddhist Monastic Discipline//, //American Buddhism//, //Historical Dictionary of Buddhism//, and //A Survey of Vinaya Literature// (forthcoming).] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Editor's note: Dr. Prebish has announced his intention to continue collecting data for the study described above. If you would like to assist in this project, please send a copy of your up-to-date vitaes to him. His primary interest is in North American scholars in Buddhist Studies, but he will also collect data from European and Asian Buddhologists as well. Dr. Charles S. Prebish Pennsylvania State University E-Mail: csp1@psuvm.psu.edu Religious Studies Program Voice Mail: 814/865-1121 108 Weaver Building Fax: 814/863-7840 University Park, Pa 16802 ======================================================================= {8} ARTICLE ======================================================================= EXPLORING NEW APPROACHES: THE BARRE CENTER FOR BUDDHIST STUDIES by Andrew Olendzki How many ways are there to...how do I put it? Study Buddhism? Understand the Dharma? Train in the //sasana//? Explore the Buddhist tradition? Follow the path? Engage in Buddhist Studies? Inquire into the nature of reality? You see the problem already. There are a lot of ways of going about doing whatever-you-call-it, and what you call it makes a significant difference to what you actually wind up doing. The word "Buddhism" itself, as we are all no doubt aware, is a modern word. It is an abstract noun created in English to situate a vast range of phenomena in a Western tradition of intellectual inquiry. "Study," too, has a specific meaning in the Western academic community. It refers to a special kind of focused investigation that tends to take place in classrooms, offices, studies and libraries, the fruits of which are shared and communicated in books, papers, articles, lectures and conferences. To "study Buddhism," then, is a uniquely modern and Western enterprise, one that takes as its object, for the most part, something ancient and Eastern. All this, of course, is something quite alien to the 2500 year Buddhist tradition itself. The teaching of the Buddha was generally referred to as the //dharma// or //dhamma//, and the closest ancient word we can find to denote the larger movement set off by this teaching is the //sasana//, the "religion" or "dispensation" or "tradition" founded by the Buddha. Training in the //sasana// seems always to have entailed a good deal of "study," at least to the extent that a fairly large and complex curriculum needs to be addressed, memorized, cross-referenced and investigated. This is especially true for the monks and nuns, who not only had to know the 227 rules of the monastic order, but who presumably also were expected to have mastered a prodigious amount of doctrinal material. The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path were only the beginning. Between aggregates and elements, body parts and other objects of meditation, powers and absorptions and perfections, and on and on -- there was a lot to learn. Even lay-followers had a few things to keep track of besides the precepts. School children in Sri Lanka today, for example, still learn the //Dhammapada// by heart. How divergent are the traditional monastic and the Western academic ways of going about training or study? At first glance, they can seem quite similar in some of their more doctrinal inquiries. Both, for example, have a strong interest in the texts and their interpretation. A sound knowledge of the canonical languages -- primarily Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese -- and of the vast literatures composed in these languages, is a shared area of concentration. Beyond this, however, the two approaches appear to go significantly separate ways. For traditional Buddhists, the texts, treatises and commentaries are only a part of something much greater. The whole point to the teaching, and presumably of its study, is to bring about freedom from suffering for oneself and others -- to achieve liberation. Study can be a very useful tool for dispelling delusions, for inducing right view, and for augmenting wisdom. But it is only one of several tools, the others including such things as the practice of meditation, morality, renunciation and service. Study in isolation of practice, or study that is not itself a form of practice, is limited and -- many Buddhists would say -- a somewhat shallow and limited pursuit. The Western scholar of Buddhism, I think, would also agree that textual study is only a piece of a much larger picture, but quite a different picture. The study of Buddhism does include a strong component of trying to decipher what the Buddha and his followers through the centuries taught, but it also goes far beyond this to include whole realms of the human situation covered by such disciplines as history, sociology, psychology, philosophy, archaeology, mythology, art, architecture, and many, many others. All of these can be brought to bear on the Buddhist tradition, but do not inherently emerge from it. The Western academic tradition, from its Greek origins, Renaissance rejuvenation and astounding proliferation in the 19th and 20th centuries, is essentially a study of mankind and the human condition. From this perspective, the study of Buddhism is both worthwhile in itself, insofar as it is an exercise in fathoming a unique human world view, and valuable to the much larger endeavor of providing data for the disciplines. But the academic study of any religion comes with its own special dangers. A common view is that for the study to be truly academic it must at least suspend belief -- and possibly even disbelieve -- statements of religious truth. Otherwise, it stands to lose the precious (though perhaps imaginary) perspective of objectivity. When disciplined intellectual activity is put into the service of the converted, the argument goes, then we have not the study of religion but the practice of religion. For many academics, maintaining a clear distinction between study and practice is crucial. So here we come to a fundamental divergence. For the Buddhist, study should be a form of practice if it is to be at all worthwhile; while for the academic, if study crosses over into practice it becomes greatly diminished in value. But how clear is this distinction? Must the two approaches remain forever at odds? There are a few places in the world that are trying to find a new approach to the subject, one that draws upon the strengths of each perspective and attempts to bring them a bit closer together. Whether or not this can be done remains to be seen. I for one am quite optimistic. As a product of the academy, with a degree in Religious Studies and a specialization in Buddhism, I am basically very sympathetic of the larger ideal of studying the human situation by drawing on a number of disciplines and maintaining some academic "objectivity." As the current director of the Insight Meditation Society and a practitioner of //vipassana// meditation, I have also come to appreciate the indispensability of meditation as a tool for Buddhist Studies. And yet I don't find myself fitting easily or fully into either camp -- I sometimes find much of what is written in Buddhism scholarship to be limited, somehow missing the point, and yet also have a lot of trouble describing myself to anyone as "Buddhist." Perhaps that is why I feel so comfortable at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. A relatively new institution, the Study Center (as it is informally called) has emerged from the Insight Meditation Society and still stays closely associated with this well-established meditation retreat center. Yet its mission extends well beyond either just the preservation and propagation of Theravada Buddhism or the purely academic study of Buddhism. The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies is trying to form a meaningful bridge between study and practice, between the communities of scholars and meditators, between the ancient orthodox tradition and the modern spirit of critical inquiry. There is a whole generation today of brilliant scholars who have more than dabbled in the practice of meditation without losing their critical faculties. There is also a growing corps of experienced practitioners who have an eager appetite for learning more about the tradition that has helped bring so much generosity, compassion and wisdom to their lives. The Study Center is for both these groups of people, and for many others who are in the forefront of changing paradigms that no longer fit into inherited dichotomies. From long- time meditators who are forming study sessions to meet the interests of their sitting groups, to therapists and professional care-givers who use meditation to help their patients out of various difficulties, to college professors who more and more are including meditation practice as part of their courses in religion or psychology, to monks who have been Western-educated or who have left the //sangha// and are trying to find new ways of serving the //dhamma// in lay life -- the list goes on and on. Many people today, like myself, are more interested in learning about the moon than the finger pointing it out, and yet are not so bound by tradition to shy away from asking awkward questions or trying out bold new perspectives. The ancient Buddhist tradition brings to its subject a deep respect and an appreciation of its profundity and transformative significance that is often overlooked by some scholars. The modern academic tradition brings an attitude of critical examination and comparative perspective that is often lacking in the more orthodox monastic approaches. The encounter of these two ways of doing whatever-you-call-it in Barre is exciting and alive with possibilities. What I find so exciting is that we do not really know what we are doing. There is no set plan, no particular way that we expect things to go. It is all a great experiment, one that relies on the creative participation of practitioners and scholars alike. If you have ideas, or if you have any interest in helping us explore this interface between study and practice, then please give us a call or stop by for a visit. [ANDREW OLENDZKI holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Lancaster. He has served as Executive Director of the Insight Meditation Society since 1989, and as Executive Director of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies for the past year.] ======================================================================= {9} ARTICLE ======================================================================= THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION ANNUAL MEETING: 1993 A Summary Report by Charles S. Prebish A variety of scholarly, professional organizations exist in North America that include the study of Buddhism as an integral part of their mission. However, in recent years, none has been more instrumental in offering a forum for Buddhist Studies as the American Academy of Religion. Each year the American Academy of Religion holds a joint annual meeting with the Society of Biblical Literature. It has grown to become one of the largest professional meetings in the United States, with attendance often exceeding 5,000. This year's meeting, in Washington, D.C., was no exception. The Buddhism "Section" of AAR is one of fourteen units so named. A "Section" is the largest Program Unit, followed in decreasing order (of size) by "Groups," "Seminars," and "Consultations." The history of the Buddhism Section is rather exemplary of the growth of interest in Buddhist Studies in the United States over the last fifteen years. Originally constituted as the "Indian Buddhism Consultation" by Arvind Sharma in the late 1970's, in 1981 the unit was elevated to "Group" status with George Bond of Northwestern University and Charles Prebish of Penn State University as Co-Chairs. This status elevation allowed the unit to present two yearly panels devoted to Buddhism. In 1986, at the culmination of its five year term, the unit was again upgraded to its current status as "Section" with Collett Cox of the University of Washington and Leslie Kawamura of the University of Calgary as Co- Chairs. This new status allowed for five yearly panels on Buddhism at the annual meeting. In 1991, the unit was renewed for another five year term under its current Co-Chairs: Jan Nattier of Indiana University and John McRae of Cornell University. What follows is a listing of all activities related to the study of Buddhism at this year's annual meeting. I have first listed all panels sponsored solely by the Buddhism Section. Then, panels jointly sponsored by the Buddhism Section and another unit are listed. Following the joint panels, I have listed other panels devoted to topics of Buddhist interest, and finally, individual papers devoted to Buddhism. Additionally, the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies held two panels and a Business Meeting, there was a tour on the Arts of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam at the Freer Gallery, and there was a Buddhism Section Reception sponsored by the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley. Finally, there was an incredible diversity of things Buddhist at AAR. The quality of papers was outstanding, and the directions taken at the Section's annual Business Meeting encouraging in view of the diversity of opinions expressed as well as the willingness to work together for the cooperative advancement of the discipline. ======================================================================= BUDDHISM SECTION PANELS ======================================================================= BUDDHISM SECTION - PANEL NUMBER 1 John Makransky, Boston College, Presiding Theme: The Rebirth Doctrine and Buddhist Practice in Asia ======================================================================= "Rebirth and the Sense of Community in Thai Buddhism" Charles Hallisey, Harvard University We get a misleading impression of the role of the doctrine of rebirth in Buddhist cultures if we limit our considerations only to questions about the continuity of individuals over time. In this paper, I will show how the doctrine of rebirth has contributed to the social morality found traditionally among Thai Buddhists. The paper has two parts. First, I look at the role that the doctrine of rebirth plays in Theravadin cosmological thinking, and how these traditional cosmologies defined and justified the structures of Thai society. Second, the paper looks at the way that concepts and rituals connected with rebirth stand in a relation of reciprocity with various "non-Buddhist" concepts and rituals associated with the spirit cults of Thailand. These patterns of structural complementarity between Buddhist and non-Buddhist rituals allow us to see how the doctrine of rebirth has played an integral role in maintaining the complex and stable systems of social ethics found in Theravadin societies. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Rebirth and Justice: Medieval Japanese Views and Their Continuing Societal Impact" William R. LaFleur, University of Pennsylvania The relatively few references to trajectories of rebirth in contemporary Japan belies the importance of this concept in the medieval period. My paper will cite specific uses of rebirth narrative in the medieval epoch to argue that this period, one of great importance for Japanese thinking about society and politics even today, was deeply impacted by this notion. I will focus on how the rebirth concept functioned in public discourse about justice -- with results that appear to have been both positive and negative. Narratives about the rebirth of rulers publicly justified their rule even when by other criteria they might have been rejected. The large role of this concept meant that competing views, especially the Chinese notions about "the mandate of heaven" (as articulated by Mencius) were gradually excluded. The nexus between this and the long tradition of "conservative" -- that non-revolutionary -- shape of socio-political thinking in Japan deserves close examination and, perhaps, some basic rethinking about a variety of things. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "New Bodies for the Ancestors: Rebirth and the Practice of Medieval Chinese Buddhism" Stephen F. Teiser, Princeton University It has long been recognized that the influx of Buddhism occasioned many changes in the Chinese understanding of the afterlife. This paper examines one particular problem in the assimilation of Indian ideas of rebirth in the Chinese context, namely, how the notion of rebirth in the six paths was joined to pre-Buddhist ideas of existence after death. The paper focuses on one of the most widespread practices of Chinese religion, death ritual and memorialization. It utilizes a wide variety of texts, both canonical and noncanonical, including liturgies and other texts related to ritual, vernacular literature, apologetic writings, and essays by middle-brow monks. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Rebirth in Japanese Pure Land Buddhism" Taitetsu Unno, Smith College In Japanese Buddhism the notion of rebirth has been understood on two levels: literal and symbolic. The literal focuses on the material dimension and the symbolic on its transformational powers (not to be confused with the metaphorical or psychological). The latter may be classified into three categories. First, the general world-view summed up in a popular saying, "Even the brushing of sleeves is due to connections in past lives," suggesting that no human encounter should be treated lightly and in fact should be cherished. Second, the working of Great Compassion which embraces the timeless past and timeless future. Third, the understanding of rebirth as empirical reality but devoid of ontological status, the Pure Land being symbolic of both liberation from the cycle of rebirths and the source of salvific power for those carrying this infinite burden. ========================================================================= BUDDHISM SECTION - PANEL NUMBER 2 Janet Gyatso, Amherst College, Presiding Theme: Topics in Buddhist Studies ========================================================================= "'Social Engagement' in Buddhist Ethics: Heritage or Heresy?" Christopher S. Queen, Harvard University In the context of the Western presentation of Buddhism as "a specifically unpolitical ad anti-political status religion" (Max Weber) which harbors a "deep distrust of physical-action good will and social service" in its quest for solitary enlightenment (Winston King), the essay examines the debate over Buddhist political action and social service which accompanied the publication of Walpola Rahula's //The Heritage of the Bhikkhu// in 1946. Beginning with the words "Buddhism is based on service to others," Rahula presented a highly original account of Buddhist social teachings and monastic practice from the time of the Buddha to his own era of post- independence Sri Lanka. Following a discussion of the rise of Western scholarly interest in Buddhist ethics and the concomitant rise of Buddhist social activism in the Theravada countries of South and Southeast Asia, we evaluate the reception of Rahula's work as a political tract, as an historical reconstruction, and as a manifesto for Buddhist "social engagement" today. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Changing Patterns of Authority in Buddhism" Paul Kocot Nietupski, John Carroll University This paper describes ancient patterns of Buddhist authority and how they were adapted by Gunaprabha, a pre-eminent Later Gupta //Vinaya// specialist. Sakyamuni Buddh's enlightenment experience, and his subsequent formulation of rules for personal and social behavior modification provided the basic behavioral paradigms for later Buddhists. Gunaprabha acknowledges Buddha's experience as the source for his ideas, and proceeds to formulate rules appropriate for Later Gupta social, religious, political, and economic realities. The process is made clear in Gunaprabha's writings, as discussed in detail in this paper. Further, Gunaprabha's works are recognized as a major source of Buddhist monasticism in Tibet, where the process is repeated. That is, the Tibetans considered Buddha's enlightenment as the primary authority, and adapted their social and monastic structures to accord with Tibetan society, using Gunaprabha's works as guidelines. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Buddhist Inscriptions and Images: //Yiyi// as Patrons in the Longmen Guyang Cave" Stanley K. Abe, Dartmouth College Among the patrons of Chinese Buddhist art under the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534) was a type of religious association known as //yiyi//. This paper will be a discussion of the four earliest image inscriptions dedicated by //yiyi// at the Longmen cave site just south of the Northern Wei capital of Luoyang. The inscriptions, dated to 502 and 503 C.E., are among a dozen or so of the earliest dedications at the Longmen site, which are all located in the Guyang Cave. The inscriptions and teir accompanying images allow us to situate the concurrent activities of different kinds of //yiyi// at the Longmen site. In the paper I will compare and contrast the //yiyi// in terms of their lay or clerical leadership, class composition and religious goals. The evidence indicates that //yiyi// were organized by members of the elite as well as common classes around a variety of religious, social and political interests. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Padmasambhava and the Hermeneutics of Conversion" Richard Kohn, University of California, Berkeley In 775 AD, Padmasambhava cam to Tibet as a guest of King Trisong Detsen. Four years later, Buddhism was proclaimed the state religion of Tibet. Tibetans consider Padmasambhava the father of their tantric Buddhist tradition. Western scholarship, however, has doubted his importance in the early period. One of the functions tradition assigns Padmasambhava is the conversion of Tibet's indigenous deities. A critical examination of ritual texts dedicated to these deities throws new light on Padmasambhava's role. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Academic Study of Buddhism in America: A Current Analysis" Charles S. Prebish, University of Calgary Scholarly studies chronicling the academic investigation of Buddhism by Western researchers are extremely sparse in the literature, the most recent of which was published in 1989. A further complication can be noted in that each of the existing studies lacks a statistical component. This paper reports the findings of an extremely preliminary pilot study undertaken in Fall 1992 with the support of th Buddhism Section of the American Academy of Religion. The data included in the paper is based on the compiled responses to 125 requests distributed to scholars actively engaged in the study of Buddhism. The paper provides not only a look at the demographics of the academic study of Buddhism in America, but also a summary of the voiced concerns of the responding sample with regard to the future of the discipline in its academic setting. ======================================================================= BUDDHISM SECTION - PANEL NUMBER 3 Jacqueline I. Stone, Princeton University, Presiding Theme: New Voices in Buddhist Studies ======================================================================= "Maranasati: Textual Interpretation and Modern Practice" Mathieu Boisvert, Universite du Quebec a Montreal This paper will introduce the discipline of //maranasati// as one of the many important forms of Buddhist meditation, and will aim at circumscribing its soteriological implications. The first part of the paper will analyze pertinent canonical and post-canonical literature (primarily the //Visuddhimagga//) in order to help us understand the origins and the prescribed procedure of //maranasati//. The second and major part of the paper will offer an anthropological account of such practice in modern Sri Lanka. Monks and nuns may attend autopsies in hospitals with the precise intention of contemplating cadavers. After witnessing such an event in Sri Lanka, and having the opportunity to converse extensively with certain //maranasati yogis//, I will present an objective description of this peculiar practice. I will conclude by establishing a parallel between //maranasati// and the more prevalent Theravada meditation practices of //aniccasati// and //vipassana//. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Translation as a Cross Cultural Event: A Look at the Third Century Translator Dharmaraksa" Daniel Boucher, University of Pennsylvania In light of recent, more holistic approaches to translation studies, my paper will examine the translation idiom of one of the most prolific figures in the transmission of Buddhism from India to China. Dharmaraksa, a third century Indo-Scythian monk from Tun-huang, translated over 150 texts into Chinese over a forty year period. Despite the enormity of his corpus, his translations have largely been ignored, due in large part to the difficulties of his language. It is my contention however that the specific features of his literary style encapsulate the congruences and fissures of a particular juxtaposition of the Indian and Chinese Buddhist worlds. By unlocking such a goldmine of data, we should be able to gain not only a clearer picture of the processes involved in the Chinese consumption of Buddhism, but also a tentative glimpse at contemporary Indian Buddhism centuries before our first Indic manuscripts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Domestic Help: The Monastic Cult of Hariti in Context" Richard S. Cohen, University of Michigan This paper explores the 'domestication' of the fifth-century Buddhist community at Ajanta through the examination of a particular ritual: the diurnal feeding of the yaksi Hariti. A demoness domesticated in the Dharma's service, a bringer of death who grants life: the conflicting symbolisms that Hariti attracted to herself as a cult object in turn attracted support for the samgha, which, through performing this daily feeding rite, provided immediate boons for the local population in general (warding off disease) and the king in particular (legitimating his rule, since a healthy realm is indexical of a virtuous king). Investigating the mechanisms by which this rite transformed and advanced the social standing of Ajanta's samgha, I focus upon the significance of this ritual as a response to certain challenges posed by the theory of causation found in Vasubandhu's //Abhidharmakosa//. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "In the Absence of the Buddha: The Authority of the Teacher in the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Traditions" David Need, University of Virginia The Buddhist tradition is often characterized as placing considerable value on independent self-certification of doctrine, thereby evincing a program of free critical inquiry. In particular, the Ge-luk-ba (dge lugs pa) tradition in Tibet represents the Buddha as advocating a reasoned, empirical approach to his teaching, one that brooks no authority other than the standard of reasoned proof. This approach to the Buddhist Doctrine down-plays or conceals the considerable role authority and tradition have had in the authorization of interpretations of Buddha's word. In this paper, I will discuss (1) evidence pointing to the early and ever growing importance of the //teacher// as a source of authoritative instruction within the disparate Buddhist communities in India, and (2) th specific case of the Ge-luk-ba tradition where the advocacy of reasoned inquiry goes hand-in-hand with a tantric ethos in which one is directly enjoined to accept the instructions of one's teacher without question. ======================================================================= BUDDHISM SECTION - PANEL NUMBER 4 "A Discussion of M. David Eckel's //To See the Buddha: A Philosopher's Quest for the Meaning of Emptiness//" Collett Cox, University of Washington, Presiding ======================================================================= M. David Eckel's //To See the Buddha// (Harper San Francisco, 1992) is a study and annotated translation of a section discussing the nature of the Buddha from Bhavaviveka's //Madhyamakahrdayakarika// (3.266- 360, with auto-commentary, the //Tarkajvata//). In addition, this book offers "an attempt to re-vision the Buddha through the eyes of a classical Indian philosopher," that is, "to see again what it meant for an Indian intellectual...to gaze on the figure of the Buddha and examine its meaning." The author argues that we must not simply follow Bhavaviveka's analysis but also be attentive to his use of metaphor, irony, an narrative device, as integral parts of his vision of Buddhism. This "re-visioning" work, in which Eckel questions many traditional assumptions and disciplinary boundaries, will be the subject of a panel discussion by scholars from different fields of Buddhist Studies. ======================================================================= BUDDHISM SECTION - PANEL NUMBER 5 "Teaching Zen in the University Classroom: Major Approaches" Miriam Levering, University of Tennessee, Presiding ======================================================================= This panel, in terms of the academic teaching of religion, consists of specialists with distinct expertise in such major approaches to the study of Ch'an and Zen, as art and literature, biography and text, conceptual expression, monastic existence, and practice as soteriology. Each participant has applied such expertise to create a unique university course. Panel members will have exchanged, carefully examined, and reacted to these course materials in advance, to present a wide-ranging discussion for a broad audience that covers the important ways to teach Ch'an and Zen in various classroom situations. All panel members' course materials will be made available o disk, and using the "hands-on" classroom experience of panel members, such issues as goals, themes, formats, models, student assignments, bibliographies, approaches, viability, etc., will be examined. ======================================================================= JOINT PANEL WITH THE CHINESE RELIGIONS GROUP Stanley Weinstein, Yale University, Presiding Theme: Living Words: Scriptural Transformation and Meaning in Tiantai ======================================================================= "The Tiantai Vision: Reclamation and Reorientation in Siming Zhili (960-1028)" Daniel Getz, Bradley University In the history of the Tiantai school Siming Zhili (Chih-li; 960-1028) stands as one of te three great formulators of the tradition. Together with Zhanran (Chan-jan) he was responsible for rearticulating and clarifying what he believed to be the original and unique Tiantai vision as proposed by the school's founder Zhiyi (Chih-i). Zhili was further responsible for thoroughly incorporating Pure Land Buddhism into the Tiantai system of thought and practice. In this paper I propose to explore how these two themes, of Zhili insistence on the unique nature of Tiantai doctrine and his identification of Pure Land practice with Tiantai teaching, are dealt with in one of his most important works, the //Miaozong chao// (his subcommentary on the //Guanjing shu//, putatively composed by Zhiyi). These themes will be discussed within the context of the issue of authority as determined through the complex relationship between personal vision and sacred text. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Making and Remaking Tradition: Chan-jan and the T'ang T'ien-t'ai Agenda" Linda Penkower, University of Pittsburgh The classification of the teachings schemes (p'an-chiao) and the doctrinal issue of who, and ultimately, what, possesses Buddha-nature are arguably the two greatest contributions to the signification of Buddhism. In the case of T'ian-t'ai, these two concerns first came together in the writings of Chan-jan (711-782) who broke a near two hundred year literary silence to produce the first major commentaries on Chih-i (538-597), and who stands as the spokesperson for T'ang T'ien-t'ai. As a product of a general atmosphere dominated by sectarian polemics, Chan-jan employed these two issues in tandem to redefine and reinterpret T'ien-t'ai structure and content. This paper explores the nature and function of textual authority and seeks to define the balance between tradition and innovation grounded in contemporary dialogue. It focuses upon Chan-jan's introduction to the idea of Buddha-nature of the insentient as an example of using, ignoring and/or redefining scripture in the service of new ideas, and the importance of language in promoting these ideas. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ritual Text, Tradition, and Performance in Sung T'ien-t'ai" Daniel B. Stevenson, University of Kansas The four forms of samadhi were central practices within the exhaustive ritual and meditative literature produced by the T'ien-t'ai founders, Hui-ssu (515-577) and Chih-i (528-597). While the four samadhis endured as a defining practice within T'ien-t'ai, their ritual and literary paradigms were adapted to accommodate any number of new forms of devotion. This paper will consider the issue of paradigm and authority in the ritual tradition of the four samadhis. First T'ien-t'ai ritual will be examined to see the conventions it establishes, and the way in which these conventions inform the continuing production of ritual texts through later periods. Second, the function of ritual texts of the four samadhis (and other meditative literature) will be explored within the context of T'ien-t'ai monastic life to see how these texts were configured into ritual performances, which texts were used, and their role in shaping the rhetoric of T'ien-t'ai religious practice and experience. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Say What!? Chih-i's Use (and Abuse) of Scripture" Paul Swanson, Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, Nagoya, Japan The doctrinal treatises of Chih-i, the founder of the T'ien-t'ai Buddhist tradition, rely heavily of the argumentative device of proof- texts. There are many passages, however, that seem misrepresentations of the original source. These passages suggest a number of problems. Which texts does Chih-i rely on most frequently, and why? If these texts seem to be misquoted, can this be attributed to deliberate misrepresentation? If so, what is the significance of the passage, and what does this imply? What broader implications can be drawn concerning the question of authority and the role of scripture in East Asian Buddhism? My paper examines specific passages from //Fa hua hsuan i// and //Mo ho chih kuan// and attempts to reach some conclusions concerning Chih-i's use of scripture and the implications for an understanding of T'ien-t'ai philosophy. ======================================================================= JOINT PANEL WITH THE JAPANESE RELIGIONS GROUP Sallie King, James Madison University, Presiding Theme: "Critical Buddhism" (Hihan Bukkyo): Issues and Responses to a New Methodological Movement ======================================================================= "Critical Buddhism and the Debate Concerning the 75-Fascicle and the 12-Fascicle //Shobogenzo// Texts" Steven Heine, Pennsylvania State University The hallmark of Critical Buddhism has been several far-ranging and rather controversial conclusions that are aimed at undermining the status quo in East Asian Buddhist orthodoxy and conventional scholarship of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. The aim of this paper is to examine the view of Critical Buddhism in relation to Dogen's //Shobogenzo// text, its perspective on original enlightenment thought, and the contemporary significance of Dogen Zen in light of the way conventional Buddhist scholars interpret these issues and have responded to the Critical Buddhist exponents. The claims of Critical Buddhism that the later, more instructional 12-fascicle text rather than the earlier, more philosophical 75-fascicle text represents the authentic //Shobogenzo// will be framed and evaluated in a larger context of understanding Buddhist scholasticism and hermeneutics; that is, how the tradition interprets its medieval sources from a foundational standpoint and in terms of distinctively modern concerns. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "A Critical Appraisal of Critical Buddhism" Jamie Hubbard, Smith College This paper examines the socially critical aspect of Hakamaya's Critical Buddhism approach. Clearly moving from the descriptive to the prescriptive, Hakamaya is not at all reticent in using his notion of what te truth of Buddhism is as a yardstick by which to judge cultural constructs and their ideological origins. In this regard he has singled out indigenous Japanese ideas and their Buddhist conflations as contributing to social injustice, a process that he sees at work particularly in the development of the idea of "original enlightenment," the Japanese notion of //wa// or "harmony," the Kyoto school of philosophy, and the ethnocentrism of the //nihonjinron// thesis. The aim of my presentation will be to introduce Hakamaya's notion of "Critical Buddhism" in relation to th targets of his critique, and to offer comments (and criticism) about how such a methodology fits into the current discussions of doctrine, the issue of belief vs. practice in Japanese religiosity, and the emerging (largely Western) mode of "engaged Buddhism." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Critical Buddhism: Returning to the Sources" Dan Lusthaus, Bates College This paper will outline some of the historical issues involved in the "sinification" process, give a brief overview of the spectrum of concerns of Critical Buddhism, and then discuss comparable developments elsewhere in Asia. The paper consists of three parts: (1) a brief discussion of some of the issues that have been used by East Asian Buddhists to define themselves while examining the extent to which these positions distance them from their Indian roots; (2) a brief overview of the scope of concerns raised by Critical Buddhism -- including a critique of substrative transcendentalism, a social critique, exhortations to think critically, and an encouragement to rediscover "authentic" Buddhist positions; (3) an examination of comparable developments elsewhere in Asia, particularly recent Taiwanese interest in Tibetan and Early Buddhism as well as some current Indian critiques of neo-Vedantin ideology that raise many issues in a context that parallel the concerns of Critical Buddhism's view of East Asia. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Critique of 'Dhatu-Vada' in Critical Buddhism" Nobuyoshi Yamabe, Yale University This paper analyzes the arguments of Critical Buddhism concerning the problematics of //tathagatagarbha// theory. According to Critical Buddhism, authentic Buddhism should be based on the notion of //pratityasamutpada//, and //pratityasamutpada// consists of causally linked momentary and insubstantial individual dharmas without any solid basis. But the basic structure of the //tathagatagarbha// theory, which is shared by Yogacara Buddhism as well, is defined by the Critical Buddhists as "dhatu-vada." In this dhatu-vada structure, a universal "locus" (//dhatu//) is introduced under the names of //tathata//, or //buddhadhatu// (literally "Buddha Nature," but in their opinion //dhatu// means "locus," not "nature"), as a substantial basis from which all the dharmas ("super-locus") arise. Although the "dhatu" is one and the same, the dharmas are manifold, yet the apparently profound universal "locus" in theory serves only to obscure discrimination in actuality. ======================================================================= OTHER PANELS: ======================================================================= HIMALAYAN AND TIBETAN RELIGIONS CONSULTATION Todd T. Lewis, College of the Holy Cross, Presiding Theme: Tibetan Cultural Identities ======================================================================= "Nomadic Religiosity and the Myth of Legality: Early Tantric Thought, Narratives of the Past and Cultural Identity in Tibet" David Germano, University of Virginia While the Great Perfection (rDzogs-Chen) tradition of Tantric Buddhism has been frequently referred to in 20th century Western scholarship for its supposed non-scholastic bent and rhetorical recourse to the simplicity of contemplative experience, it is in fact characterized by an intricate scholastic tradition little understood in the West, either in its own structure or in its contextualization within Tibetan civilization from the 10th to 14th centuries. This paper will discuss the nature and structure of this immense scholastic literature concerning the Great Perfection, and in particular focus on its religious revalorization of mediated experience in conjunction with its stylistic emphasis on the poetic capacities of the Tibetan language. In addition, it will link these issues to the wider questions of the relationship of these traditions to the momentous reshaping of Tibetan civilization during this period, in particular the movements towards institutionalization taking place in terms of hermeneutics, textual production, religious communities, governmental structures, and other dimensions of Tibetan life. What is at stake during this period is senses of collective Tibetan identity (in terms of community and religio-philosophic ideology) as shaped and expressed in mythologized views of the past as well as contemporary expositions of religious thought/praxis, and this paper will trace the intimate interrelations between thought, rhetoric, religious practice, community, and mythologized histories in these early Great Perfection traditions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Synthesis of Lam-'Bras and Virupa's Hagiography" Ronald M. Davidson, Fairfield University Early Tibetan models of lineal authority depended on the verification of certain structures within a putative line of descent. While not all the models proposed identical structures, there was remarkable consistency between the dominant paradigms when they are first being set down in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Sa-skya-pa relied on two systems, formal and informal. Formally, the 'Four Auditory Streams' served to establish continuity of (i) consecration, (ii) benediction, (iii) instruction, and (iv) teaching. Informal models concerned with verifying the 'historicity' of the transmission from Indic master to Tibetan disciple. Issues included the presence of verses as the essence of the teaching to be passed on, the composition of a chronicle associated with the verses, and the reliability of the individuals involved. The reliability of the Lam-'bras transmission accordingly hinged on bolstering the claims surrounding the hagiography of the Indian Siddha Virupa and its transmission to 'Brog- mi by Gayadhara. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Stopping Hail: Religious and Social Dimensions in Tibet" Anne C. Klein, Rice University This paper outlines the interplay between Tibetan Buddhist tantra and the practice of protecting crops from hail. Although tantric initiations and practices are considered essential preparation for the //mantrika// who undertakes to protect an area from hail, there is a fundamental tension between his task of destroying the beings who bring hail and the Bodhisattva ideal on which his ritual efficacy is based. This paper draws from the Tent for (Holding Off) Ferocious Fire and Water, a Hail-Stopping text associated with Hariagriva, and from discussions with the Tibetan scholar and former Hailmaster Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche. In addition to describing the ritual itself, the paper discusses the kinds of power and danger that accrue to the hailmaster, and the social organization that structures his relationships with the villagers whose crops he protects. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Historiography in Tibet: A Rhetoric of Identity?" Georges Dreyfus, Williams College This essay inquires into the role of history in the different Buddhist traditions. My essay is a preliminary study of te nature and role of historiography among Tibetan traditions where history is often a focus of collective identity. Buddhists in general seem predisposed to view their own situation in historical terms as a way to relate their horizon to that of the founder of their tradition. History is not, however, only used as a focus of collective religious identity by Buddhist groups, but also as a rhetorical device in their dispute with other Buddhist traditions. I analyze the works of several Tibetan historians to capture the ways in which they use history to undermine other traditions to heighten the status of their tradition. ======================================================================= PANEL SPONSORED BY THE JAPANESE RELIGIONS GROUP Ruben L.F. Habito, Southern Methodist University, Presiding Theme: Innate Enlightenment (Hongaku) in Japanese History: A Re-examination ======================================================================= "Taking Teachings on Innate Enlightenment Seriously: Reading the Kanko Ruiju" Paul Groner, University of Virginia Many studies of innate enlightenment (//hongaku//) treat the topic as either a decline from earlier Chinese T'ien-T'ai or Japanese Tendai teachings. Other scholars have viewed it as a transitional phase, leading from corrupt Tendai teachings to the new schools of the Kamakura period. While both of these approaches have some merit, they relegate the teachings of innate enlightenment to secondary importance, ignoring the problems of defining //hongaku// thought and its role in Tendai thought over the centuries. In order to examine and define the role of hongaku thought in medieval Tendai, the //Kanko ruiji// is examined to: (1) elucidate its institutional background, particularly in regards to the Tendai examination tradition; (2) suggest possible reasons why historical traditions are fabricated in such a blatant manner; (3) explain the idiosyncratic manner in which Chih-i's //Mo-ho chih-kuan// is read; and (4) survey the doctrinal peculiarities of the text. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Philosophical Climaxes and Moral Quagmires: Reconsidering Assumptions in the Study of Tendai //Hongaku// Thought" Jacqueline I. Stone, Princeton University Medieval Tendai "original enlightenment" (//hongaku//) discourse asserts that all phenomena are inherently enlightened, just as they are. Recent scholarship has generally interpreted this position as an uncritical "world affirmation" that denied even the necessity of Buddhist practice and encouraged moral laxity. A corollary assumption is that the new Buddhist schools of the Kamakura period (1185-1333) were reacting against this "corruption." However, as textual evidence suggests, Tendai //hongaku// thought did not deny the need for practice, and its moral ambiguities must be understood in the context of the upheavals of the late Heian period (794-1185), when it emerged. At a time of crisis over perceived human inability to cultivate virtue, the claim that enlightenment is "originally inherent" served as reassurance that liberation was still possible. With the new Kamakura schools, Tendai //hongaku// thought reflects an emerging paradigm of Buddhist practice that stressed the immediacy of Buddhahood while divorcing the issues of morality and liberation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Two Contradictory Aspects in the Teachings of Innate Enlightenment (//Hongaku//) in Medieval Japan" Fumihiko Sueki, University of Tokyo The //Sanju-shi-ka no kotogaki// (article consisting of thirty-four items, author unknown) is one of the most important works on the theory of innate enlightenment in the Tendai School in medieval Japan. However, the text contains two teachings that would seem to contradict each other. First, the phenomenal world is identified with the eternal world. Although similar views may be found in many Mahayana texts, most maintain that although the two realms have the same basis, a transformation must occur in order to go from one to the other. In contrast, according to the teachings on innate enlightenment, no such transformation is necessary; the phenomenal realm is identified with the eternal realm. However, if no transformation is necessary, then Buddhist practices and studies would be useless. This text also suggests that a transformation is necessary. This paper explores the relationship between these seemingly contradictory stances. ======================================================================= INDIVIDUAL PAPERS IN VARIOUS UNITS ======================================================================= "Written Canons in Buddhism: Episodes from the Social Life of Things" Steven Collins, University of Chicago In this paper I discuss (i) the presence (and absence) of closed canons in Buddhism; (ii) the interdependence of attitudes to historicality and to textual authority in different parts of South Asia; and (iii) the idea of social memory, in relation to the social status of institutions, to oral/written/printed textual modes, and to the role of non-textual objects in the theatre of Buddhist culture. Alluding to the anthropological language of 'the technology of the intellect' (J. Parry) and 'the social life of things' (A. Appadurai) I argue that pre-modern South Asian Buddhist texts were composed, transmitted and performed through a more complex combination of oral and written modalities, where manuscripts were more than merely informational tools, and that from the 19th century, colonialism, printing and modernity have radically changed the place of texts in Buddhist life. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Contemporary Buddhist Environmentalism, East and West" Kenneth Kraft, Lehigh University Buddhists from various countries are responding to current environmental issues by developing new forms of spiritual practice. Groups have created family ecology rituals, earth relief ceremonies, rites on behalf of animals, and meditation retreats for environmentalists. A ritual called the Council of All Beings aims to give participants an experience of "ecological self." Some practitioners mentally recite a mindfulness verse as they wash their hands: "Water flows over these hands./May I use them skillfully/to preserve our precious planet." This paper examines the ways in which todays green Buddhism seems to depart from Buddhism's past. For example, nature is valued as a stimulus to engagement rather than a haven for withdrawal,and the influence of women's perspectives is unprecedented. The relative lack of environmental activism among Buddhists in certain countries, notably Japan, provides a basis for crosscultural comparison. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Theravadan Buddhist Masters and Ignatian Spiritual Directors: Gurus Who Work Themselves Out of a Job" Sarah Victoria Lewis, University of San Francisco The wisdom and spirituality of a tradition is actualized in a successful guru-student relationship. In Theravadan Buddhist and Ignatian spiritual practice the student's own experience with transcendent reality is the indispensable teacher, and the guru's primary task is to enable the student to function without needing the guru's guidance. The Buddhist disciple learns to perceive for herself wisdom and what brings release from suffering; the Ignatian retreatant discover's God's voice speaking through his own affectivity. To induce such development, the guru must continually thrust the student into direct experience rather than interpret; turn student trust in the guru into self-trust; maintain a balance between wearing the mask of guru and revealing personal history; know when to solace and when to scold. These are lived traditions, not intellectually attainable doctrines. Actual guru-student encounters from each spiritual path will be cited to illustrate the relational dynamics. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Insight into the Student-Teacher Dynamic: Reflections on the Teaching of Vipassana Meditation" Philo H. Hove, Mount Royal College Growing Western participation in Theravada Buddhism's method of vipassana, or "insight" meditation, offers fertile ground for an inquiry into the subtle dynamics of the student-teacher relationship. In order to appreciate the range of this interrelational experience it is essential, first, to orient it within the context of Theravada's delineations of meditative technique. Personal reflections upon intensive retreat circumstances -- as both a student and a teacher -- serve to stimulate the consideration of a variety of developmental and ethical questions. These resolve upon issues such as: expectation, attachment, authority and responsibility. For instance, how, in active teaching practice, can a balance be found between the seemingly antithetical attitudes of detachment and responsibility? Novel responses are offered through an engagement with current phenomenological theory in the philosophy of education -- an approach that also promises elucidation of potential pedagogic commonalities between the educational and religious domains. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Peirce, Dignaga and Dharmakirti on Signs" Richard P. Hayes, McGill University Writing in sixth century India, the Buddhist philosopher Dignaga developed a theory of signs (//linga//) and the constraints under which they can correctly be interpreted in order to add to the knowledge of a person who has awareness of them. Later interpreters of Dignaga, such as the seventh century philosopher Dharmakirti, enriched Dignaga's original theories, producing a system that in some ways anticipated the work of the American Pragmatist, Charles S.Peirce. What I propose to do is first of all to try to ascertain to what extent there is a significant compatibility between the ideas of Peirce and Dharmakirti on the interpretation of signs. Secondly, once this comparison is done, I propose to try to assess the relative strengths an weaknesses of the Dignagan, the Dharmakirtian and the Peircean approaches to the interpretation of signs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Social Self in American Pragmatism and Japanese Buddhism: A Comparative Study of G.H. Mead and Nishida Kitaro" Steve Odin, University of Hawaii This paper is a comparative analysis between models of the Social Self developed by Mead in American pragmatism and Nishida Kitaro in Japanese philosophy. Nishida's Jamesian empirical view of self as "pure experience" is later reformulated through a doctrine of the "social self" (//shakaiteki jiko//). It is shown that not only do both thinkers formulate an explicit doctrine of the social self; both underscore the //bipolar// nature of the self through what Mead calls his dialectic of I and Me, and what Nishida calls his dialectic of "I and Thou" (//watashi to nanji//). Both underscore the creativity, individuality, and autonomy of the "I" as over against the social aspects of the self. Finally, it us shown that both thinkers articulate not only the "social" aspects of self as a field of relationships, but also the //temporal// dimensions of self as a stream of discontinuous events in the creative advance of nature. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Mysticism of the 'Thus-Gone': An Early Buddhist Interpretation of Mystical Experience and Its Relevance to Morality" Kartikeya C. Patel, California Institute of Integral Studies This paper analyzes the nature of mystical experience and its bearing on the issue of morality with reference to modern mystical research. The main focus of my paper is early Buddhism which provides us with an opportunity to construe and analyze mystical experiences in terms of its moral foundation. In this paper, I analyze the experience of the Tathagata (i.e., the "thus-gone") who has realized that undifferentiated state of consciousness in which the mediating factors of thought (//vitakka, vicara//), perception (//sanna//), and feeling (//vedana//) which lead to a moral behavior are entirely "extinguished." To this end, //samatha// and //vipassana// are discussed as the spiritual means that helps one eliminate the mediating factors. It is argued that (a) because of the dynamics of attachment, and (b) the adequacy of these means to comprehend non-mediational reality, the spiritual means are also transcended in early Buddhism to experience that which is not mediational. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "From Discipline to Understanding: The Pali //Vinaya Pitaka// as Paradigm for Religious Studies Methodology" Terry C. Muck, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary One of the tasks of teaching the introductory course in religion is to begin to develop in students an attitude toward religions other than their own that includes respect and humility that, hopefully, eventuates in understanding. This paper is an analysis, comparison, and application of a process used by Buddhist //bhikkhus// for the purpose of developing understanding that can helpfully inform the beginning religious studies student. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Immigrant Theravada Buddhist Temples in the United States" Paul D. Numrich, College of St. Francis Some 125 immigrant Theravada Buddhist temples, virtually all established since 1970, represent a significant new presence on the contemporary American religious landscape. Yet scholars have paid very little attention to this new immigrant presence, due in part to the perception of American Buddhism generally as a "new religious movement" comprising mostly non-Asian, American converts. The American-convert expression does play a role in the development of Theravada Buddhism in America, but in a more complex manner than hitherto recognized. This paper draws from the author's research among the Sinhalese Theravada temples of Los Angeles and the Thai Theravada temples of Chicago. Describing themes common to the establishment and development of all immigrant religious institutions, this paper also identifies a new dynamic in the Americanization of immigrant Theravada Buddhist temples -- the existence of ethically-defined "parallel congregations" within these institutions. One congregation, the majority, consists of Asian immigrants practicing the traditional, ritual-centered Theravada of their homelands. The other, smaller congregation consists of non- Asian, American converts holding a largely philosophical interest in Theravada, particularly in its distinctive form of meditation, //vipassana// or insight meditation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "The 1893 World's Parliament of Religions: Views from India and Ceylon" Tessa Bartholomeusz, Florida State University In this paper, I focus upon the contribution of Swami Vivekananda, the Hindu delegate, and Anagarika Dharmapala, the "Southern" Buddhist delegate, to the World's Parliament of Religions. I also explore the ways that Vivekananda's and Dharmapala's addresses to the Parliament helped to stimulate interest in Hinduism and Theravada Buddhism in America and Europe, and to revitalize interest in those faiths in South Asia. Both delegates perceived the Parliament as an excellent opportunity to introduce their faiths to Americans and Europeans -- an opportunity to draw attention to the plight of Hinduism and Buddhism under colonial governments -