scholarly journals Macho Buddhism: Gender and Sexualities in the Diamond Way

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-103
Author(s):  
Burkhard Scherer
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Buddhism ◽  
Gender Stereotyping ◽  
Sexual Ethics ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Historical Source ◽  
The West ◽  
Cultural Attitudes ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Previous Scholarship

Western Tibetan Buddhist movements have been described as bourgeois and puritanical in previous scholarship. In contrast, Ole Nydahl’s convert lay Karma Kagyu Buddhist movement, the Diamond Way, has drawn attention for its apparently hedonistic style. This article addresses the wider issues of continuity and change during the transition of Tibetan Buddhism from Asia to the West. It analyses views on and performances of gender, sexual ethics and sexualities both diachronically through textual-historical source and discourse analysis and synchronically through qualitative ethnography. In this way the article demonstrates how the approaches of contemporary gender and sexualities studies can serve as a way to question the Diamond Way Buddhism’s location in the ‘tradition vs modernity’ debate. Nydahl’s pre-modern gender stereotyping, the hetero-machismo of the Diamond Way and the mildly homophobic tone and content of Nydahl’s teaching are interpreted in light of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist sexual ethics and traditional Tibetan cultural attitudes on sexualities. By excavating the emic genealogy of Nydahl’s teachings, the article suggests that Nydahl’s and the Diamond Way’s view on and performance of gender and sexualities are consistent with his propagation of convert Buddhist neo-orthodoxy.

scholarly journals Rhizomatic Religion and Material Destruction in Kham Tibet: The Case of Yachen Gar

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 533
Author(s):  
Daan F. Oostveen
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Tibetan Buddhism ◽  
Field Trip ◽  
Interstitial Space ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
World Religion ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
Chinese State

This article looks at the Tibetan Buddhism revitalization in China in particular, in Kham Tibet, and the way how it was both made possible and obstructed by the Chinese state. As a case, we look at the Yachen Gar monastery in the West of Sichuan. The Yachen Gar monastery became the largest Buddhist university in China in the past decades, but recently, reports of the destruction of large parts of the Buddhist encampment have emerged. This article is based on my observations during my field trip in late 2018, just before this destruction took place. I will use my conceptual framework of rhizomatic religion, which I developed in an earlier article, to show how Yachen Gar, rather than the locus of a “world religion”, is rather an expression of rhizomatic religion, which is native to the Tibetan highlands in Kham Tibet. This rhizomatic religion could emerge because Yachen is situated both on the edges of Tibet proper, and on the edges of Han Chinese culture, therefore occupying an interstitial space. As has been observed before, Yachen emerges as a process which is the result of the revival of Nyingmapa Tibetan Buddhist culture, as a negotiation between the Tibetan communities and the Chinese state.

Tartan Buddhists

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
John McKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Potential Utility ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
The West ◽  
Dependent Relationship ◽  
Different Types

The purpose of this article is to provide a sociological typology for understanding the different types of practitioners within the Tibetan Buddhist organization, Rokpa International, in Scotland. It will be argued that the empirically derived criteria and Weber’s (1978) sociological concepts of authority, power and status allow us to understand the tensions and mutually dependent relationship between the different types. In conclusion, it will be argued that, while this typology is not presented as a challenge to existing typologies, this article demonstrates the potential utility of these sociological concepts for understanding the practice and development of Buddhism in the West.

Seeing, Touching, Holding, and Swallowing Tibetan Buddhist Texts

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 137-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Cantwell
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Buddhism ◽  
Sensory Experience ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Sacred Texts ◽  
The Senses ◽  
Rich Material ◽  
Scholarly Attention ◽  
Book Culture

The iconic dimension of holy books has drawn increasing scholarly attention in recent years (e.g. Iconic Books and Texts, James Watts, ed., London, Equinox, 2013). Asian Buddhism provides rich material for considering the ritualization of engagement with sacred texts. In Tibetan Buddhism, this aspect of book culture is perhaps especially pronounced (see, for instance, Schaeffer 2009, especially Chapter 6; Elliott, Diemberger and Clemente 2014). This paper explores the topic in relation to the engagement of the senses in Tibetan context, through seeing, touching, holding and tasting texts. It would seem that it is not the sensory experience in itself, but rather the physical experience of a transmission and incorporation of the sacred qualities from the books into the person which is emphasized in these practices. Parallels and contrasts with examples from elsewhere are mentioned, and there is some consideration of the breadth of the category of sacred books in the Tibetan context in which Dharma teachings may take many forms.

Conclusion

2019 ◽  
pp. 191-202
Author(s):  
Mary Wills
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
Royal Navy ◽  
The West ◽  
Cultural Attitudes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Naval Officers

The final chapter assesses the cultural and political significance of the West Africa squadron and the work of the naval officers involved in its operation, looking at the wider implications of the question of ‘success’ in discussions about the impact of the squadron both at the time of its operation and since. It examines the shifts and changes that took place during the sixty years of the squadron’s operation, including: perceptions of the slave trade and the best methods of suppressing it; the position of the Royal Navy in Britain’s imperial ambitions; and racial and cultural attitudes of Britons towards Africans and ‘others’. This chapter discusses the ways in which notions of duty and professionalism had changed, and how what it meant to be a Royal Navy officer in 1870 had altered as compared to 1807. It asserts the individuality and independence of naval officers, and their engagement with themes of anti-slavery, empire and identity.

Guitar Forum: The Flute, Viola, Guitar Trio: Its History, Literature and Performance

1986 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 73-76
Author(s):  
Douglas Hensley
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Chamber Music ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Classical Guitar ◽  
The West ◽  
Master's Degrees ◽  
Private Lessons ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Performance

Douglas Hensley has been an active chamber musician ever since he took up serious study of the classical guitar. He received bachelor and master's degrees under the direction of David Tanenbaum from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and he has studied with many other musicians in private lessons and master classes. Over the past ten years he has premiered close to fifty new compositions, performed numerous U.S. premieres and the West Coast premiere of Elliott Carter's “Changes” for solo guitar. For Opus One Records in New York he has recorded Larry Polansky's “Hensley Variations” and David Loeb's “Trois Cansos” with flautist Kenneth Kramer and violist John Casten. He has also recorded a collection of duets with Japanese shakuhachi master Masayuka Koga, “Autumn Mist,” for Fortuna Records of Novato, California. His principal activities are as cofounder (with violist/violinist John Casten) and guitarist of the San Francisco-based contemporary performance ensemble ISKRA, which is made up of flute, clarinet, guitar, violin/viola, doublebass and soprano voice. Anyone with additional information about flute, viola, guitar trios (or other chamber music with guitar), or queries, is urged to contact him at 607-A Frederick St., San Francisco, CA 94117.

scholarly journals Dancing in the 'Contact Zone'

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Wulff
Keyword(s):  
Contact Zone ◽  
The West ◽  
Cultural Encounters ◽  
Performance Space ◽  
Arts Festival ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Complex Relationships ◽  
Multicultural Arts ◽  
Embodied Practice

In October 2002 I performed and exhibited Troppo Obscura: A Peepshow of Historical Perversity at the Performance Space as part of the multicultural Arts festival, Carnivale, in Sydney, Australia. Troppo Obscura is a multimedia installation that explores some aspects of the complex relationships between the West and Asia. The work looks at a large range of possibilities, from the colonial gaze through to personal relationships forged through artistic endeavor. This paper—the first of two extended mediations on the topic—focuses on one such personal relationship addressed in the installation, namely that between traditional master mask dancer Ibu Sawitri from Cirebon on the West coast of Java, Indonesia and myself, a Sydney based contemporary dancer and performance artist. Between 1992 and 1999, the year Ibu Sawitri passed away, I spent many long-term visits learning dance and living in Ibu Sawitri’s house in Losari. This essay focuses on Ibu Sawitri’s family and dance background and how she, the younger generation of dancers, the dance context, and the dance itself, have been transformed over time as a result of rapidly changing socio-historical conditions. In the second half of this paper I move the discussion to the broader issues of cross-cultural encounters in what Pratt terms the ‘contact zone’ (1992). This includes looking at dance as an embodied practice and its function in the ‘contact zone’ as well as dealing with Spivak’s debates about the subaltern voice in reference to my telling of Ibu Sawitri’s story, both in the installation and in text. A closer analysis of the dynamics of my dance with Ibu Sawitri in the ‘contact zone’ is addressed here.

Motivations for Use of Opiates among Addicts Seeking Treatment in Shiraz

2000 ◽  
Vol 87 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1158-1164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamshid Ahmadi ◽  
Ahmad Ghanizadeh
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Social Pressure ◽  
Common Reason ◽  
Patient Treatment ◽  
Semistructured Interview ◽  
Treatment Facility ◽  
The West ◽  
Cultural Attitudes ◽  
Opiate Use

This study assessed the characteristics and motivation for substance use among addicts referred to the Shiraz Self-identified Center, an out-patient treatment facility. Data were gathered by a semistructured interview from 306 consecutive addicts seeking treatment and referred from July to September, 1998. Their mean age was 37 yr., and the majority (73.9%) were married. Of these addicts, 28.4% were workers, 13.4% drivers, and 11.4% were unemployed. Modeling or social pressure (43.1%) was identified as the first and enjoyment (fun) was the second most common reason given for opiate use. The majority (97.1%) used opium and 71.9% used alcohol; however, only 2.6% reported current use of alcohol. Other subjects were current users of cigarettes (72.2%), opium (67%), heroin (35%), hashish (2%), hallucinogens (0.3%), and cocaine (0.3%). The most common reason given for currently using opiates was habit (56.5%). About 36% of the subjects reported that they had frequently used opiates for more than a decade. These findings are quite different from those carried out in the West, although there is some overlap. Cultural attitudes toward drug use likely affect the types and amount of use.

scholarly journals The Practical Sociologist: Role and Performance of Pastoral Sociologists in the West German Catholic Church, 1945–1970

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 133-156
Author(s):  
Benjamin Ziemann
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Practical Work ◽  
The West ◽  
Sociological Work ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Church

The article is discussing the practical work of pastoral sociologists in the West German Catholic Church from 1945 to 1970. In this context the distinction between “consultant,” “practitioner,” and “researcher in a practical setting,” can be used to highlight different sets of values, forms of engagement, and conceptual approaches to sociological work in the church. Using one specific example for each of the three types, this article argues that pastoral sociology during the 1960s was increasingly self-reflexive, and that different notions of “sociological enlightenment” were an important part of pastoral sociology, in the wake of the contestation of “1968”.

Israel’s Policy in and toward the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oren Barak
Keyword(s):  
West Bank ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
The West ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Second Intifada ◽  
Political Security ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
East Jerusalem

This chapter discusses Israel’s policy in and toward the West Bank (and East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip from the Six-Day War (1967), when Israel occupied these areas, to the present. Although the focus here is on the political-security realm, other spheres (e.g., economic, social, and cultural-discursive) are also addressed. The first part of the chapter discusses Israel’s policy in and vis-à-vis the Territories in the first decade after 1967, which in retrospect was the policy’s formative period. It then examines the four decades that followed, identifying elements of continuity and change in Israel’s policy. This is followed by a discussion of the major challenges to Israel’s policy since 1967: the first Palestinian intifada, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the second intifada, and Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The concluding section tries to assess the cumulative impact of Israel’s policy in and toward the Territories.

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