Numerical lists of foundational knowledge in early Chinese and early Buddhist traditions

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-484
Author(s):  
Yegor Grebnev
Keyword(s):  
Theravada Buddhism ◽  
Early China ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Textual Tradition ◽  
Pali Canon ◽  
Early Buddhism ◽  
Peculiar Form ◽  
Knowledge Practice ◽  
Hierarchical Groups

Abstract In this paper, I compare the material in the Pāli canon of Theravada Buddhism, a textual tradition famous for the abundance of numerical lists, with certain chapters of the Yi Zhou shu 逸周書 and chapter “Hong fan” 洪範 of the Shang shu 尚書, where numerical lists are equally important. I propose a classification of the insufficiently studied numerical lists in the Yi Zhou shu and point out the divergences in them, suggesting that they were produced by competing communities that developed slightly discordant systems of knowledge. I compare the evolution of complex frameworks of numerical lists in the Buddhist traditions and in early China, arguing that both created comprehensive systems of knowledge-practice out of simpler lists. The peculiar form of numerical lists as vehicles of systematised knowledge-practice attested in both cultures may have originated in hierarchical communities with indisputable knowledge authority. Such communities are known to have existed in early Buddhism, and they have convincing parallels in China’s contemporary political practice, where numerical lists are used to unify the patterns of thinking and behaviour in hierarchical groups.

Divination in theHan shuBibliographic Treatise

Early China ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 45-101 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Early China ◽  
Scientific Observation ◽  
Textual Tradition ◽  
Systematic Inquiry ◽  
Major Exception

With the major exception of theYi jing, we have neither formal canons nor commentaries for most early Chinese mantic traditions. Indirect reflections on these traditions appear in scattered commentaries, in biographical narratives, and, importantly, in excavated texts. The major source for mantic materials from the received textual tradition is the lists of their titles inHan shu30, the “Yiwen zhi” or Bibliographic Treatise. It is a guide to the categories of knowledge used by Han thinkers, and created an influential paradigm for the classification of texts and knowledge. The present study provides a necessarily selective survey of mantic texts in the “Yiwen zhi,” with a specific view to: (1) how it underscored the authority of some techniques and marginalized others; (2) its relation to what we know of Han mantic practices; and (3) what it reveals about the role of the mantic arts as constituents of scientific observation and systematic inquiry in early China.

Ethics, Meditation, and Wisdom

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin S. Whitaker ◽  
Douglass Smith
Keyword(s):  
Hand Washing ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pali Canon ◽  
Early Buddhism ◽  
Pāli Canon

The Pāli Canon presents a number of summaries of the Buddha’s teaching, one of the most concise being that of the Three Trainings (or Three Disciplines): ethics, meditation, and wisdom. The purpose of this chapter is to explicate the various formulations of these Three Trainings as well as to discuss their relationship to one another and other Pāli Buddhist teachings. Its focus is on the Pāli material of early Buddhism and Theravāda in particular. It discusses the Three Disciplines and their interrelations, along with analyses of what comes before the discipline, namely the ordinary worldling or person, and what comes after, namely the awakened person. The Three Trainings can be analytically divided, but the development of each reciprocates the development of the others. An illustration from the Pāli Canon, leaving out meditation, suggests that ethics and wisdom act ‘like one hand washing the other’.

Buddhist scriptures for Non-Buddhists The Pāli Canon - an overview

1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-190
Author(s):  
M. Clasquin
Keyword(s):  
Theravada Buddhism ◽  
Pali Canon ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pāli Canon

AbstractThis article discusses the history and structure of the Pali canon (Tipiţaka). The main sections of this, the canonical scripture of Theravada Buddhism, are outlined, placed in context and displayed in diagram format. The role and history of the Pāli language are also discussed.

scholarly journals Potyczki Kryszny z Buddą. Kilka uwag o polemicznej wymowie Bhagawadgity wobec wczesnego buddyzmu

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-69
Author(s):  
Przemysław Szczurek
Keyword(s):  
Religious Thought ◽  
Pali Canon ◽  
Early Buddhism ◽  
Buddhist Doctrine ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Pāli Canon

Krishna’s skirmishes with the Buddha. Remarks on the polemical meaning of the Bhagavadgītā towards early Buddhism: The paper discusses the issue of the confrontation of the Bhagavadgītā with some aspects of the early Buddhist doctrine as presented in the Pāli canon. The confrontation points to the Bhagavadgītā as being a poem of the (broadly understood) orthodox current of Indian religious thought, which also contains some polemical elements, these mostly addressed to the most powerful heterodox religious current in the first centuries B.C. (which is most probable the date of the Bhagavadgītā’s composition). Several parts of the famous Sanskrit poem are compared and confronted with the respective parts of the Pāli canon in order to demonstrate, firstly, the different approaches of both currents, mostly in ethics and metaphysics, and secondly, the Bhagavadgītā’s reaction to particular elements of early Buddhism. The first six chapters of the Sanskrit poem have been subjected to analysis in this respect.

scholarly journals Kathāvatthu (“Points of Controversy”) as a Primary Source of Early Buddhist Philosophy

2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 81-101
Author(s):  
Anastasiya V. Lozhkina
Keyword(s):  
Indian Philosophy ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Buddhist Literature ◽  
Buddhist Text ◽  
Pali Canon ◽  
Early Buddhism ◽  
Logical Method ◽  
Philosophical Texts ◽  
Pāli Canon

This article focuses on the under-researched Buddhist text Kathāvatthu (“Points of Controversy”) and aims to better determine its place within Indian philosophy. We consider how the text was compiled, its contents, and main characteristics (such as its genre, its classification lists – mātika). To understand some of those characteristics, we suggest viewing them as shared with the whole Pali Canon (a large body of heterogeneous texts, of which the Kathāvatthu is part). This article also illustrates the issues of translating religious and philosophical texts from the Pāli language. Particularly, we highlight that the Kathāvatthu belongs to the part of Pāli Canon known as the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, and consider how this influences the philosophical discourse presented in this text. We analyze the historical and philosophical content of the Kathāvatthu. We argue that such content of this work is consistently revealed in the discussion of issues controversial for the schools of Early Buddhism. At the beginning of the text, there are the most significant questions for Early Buddhism (about the subject (pudgala), about the one who has reached perfection – arhat). As we get closer to the end of the text, the importance of the issues discussed diminishes. Its final part contains the latest questions. The discussion in each question depends on the logical method of the eight refutations, the use of lists (mātika), and the position of the Theravada school to which the final version of the text belongs. In the article, special attention is paid to the determination of the Kathāvatthu genre. We conclude that the genre of this work can be considered as a unique example of religious and philosophical dialogue in Early Buddhist literature.

scholarly journals Handling a double-edged sword: Controlling rhetoric in early China

2014 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 1021-1068
Author(s):  
Matthias L. Richter
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Early China ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Multiple Texts ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
Technical Terms

Abstract The present essay discusses rhetorics as an instrument of both persuasion and deception. Early Chinese political thought shows a keen awareness of the deceptive potential immanent in rhetorical skills. Multiple texts warn against certain types of rhetorical behaviour that entail a potential threat to the ruler's control over political power. Yet, at the same time rhetorical skills were also a desirable qualification. While most texts from early China discuss rhetorical skills in general terms as an asset or a threat to the ruler's power, some texts reflect rhetorical skills in more detail, describing specific types of rhetorical behaviour. This essay introduces examples of such texts that were probably first composed as pragmatic texts for application in political practice, before they were integrated into larger compilations or literary texts for argumentative purposes. The essay also shows that these pragmatic texts used a set of technical terms, some of which were no longer recognized in the later transmission, which often led to changes in the texts.

scholarly journals Ethics and Ontology in the Theravāda Buddhism: Talks on ethically good and bad deeds in “Kathāvatthu” I.1.200–I.1.216

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-123
Author(s):  
Anastasiya Vitalievna Lozhkina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Main Part ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Russian Translation ◽  
Buddhist Philosophy ◽  
Theravada Buddhism ◽  
Buddhist Text ◽  
Good Deed ◽  
Early Buddhism ◽  
Good And Evil

This article focuses on the development of ethical issues in early Buddhism. The author focuses on the concepts “good deed” (kālyana-kamma) and “bad deed” (pāpa-kamma). These concepts are discussed in the text “The Section on Ethical Goodness” from “The Points of Discpute” (Kathāvaththu). The article begins with a brief description of “Points of Discpute”. The author then analyzes the semantics of the concepts of good and evil in early Buddhism. Beside therms kālyana – pāpa, a pair of concepts kusala – akusala is used in early Buddhist philosophy. The author concludes that the concepts kusala – akusala are used in later Buddhist texts and their use is more regular. The main part of the article is an analysis of the “The Section on Ethical Goodness”. Using specific examples, the discussion techniques characteristic of the Kathāvattu are revealed: interrogation, repetition and reduction to absurdity. It is demonstrated that scrutinizing of ethical topics in the Buddhist text cannot be separated from solving of metaphysical issues, that of the existence of the substantial doer besides deeds being most important one. Just this issue proved fundamental in discordance in opinions between the orthodox Buddhism of the therāvada school and heterodox lines of the puggalavāda. Attached is the first Russian translation from Pali of sections I.1.200, I.1.201, I.1.212 from Kathāvaththu text of the Abhidhamma-piţaka.

scholarly journals Balance, Moderation, and the 'Middle Path': Toward Trust between Muslims and Theravada Buddhists in Southern Thailand

ICR Journal ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 556-560
Author(s):  
Christoph Marcinkowski
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Deep South ◽  
Theravada Buddhism ◽  
Central Administration ◽  
The South ◽  
Religious People ◽  
Early Buddhism ◽  
Southern Thailand

When looking at strategies leading toward conflict-resolution in the troubled Muslim-dominated deep South of Thailand one should also take into account existing touching-points between Islam - understood by many of its followers as an all-encompassing approach toward life that is, nevertheless, grounded in spirituality - and Theravada Buddhism which is practised by the overwhelming rest of the Thai citizens. Theravada (Pali for ‘Teaching of the Elders’ or ‘Ancient Teaching’) is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It is relatively conservative and generally closest to early Buddhism. Elsewhere this writer has argued that the currently ongoing conflict in southern Thailand is mainly not a religious one, but rather the result of mutual deep distrust between a far-away central administration in Bangkok and the local Malay Muslims in the South. However, this writer would like to argue that a meaningful dialogue between truly religious people on both sides of the fence could help to dissolve tensions and misconceptions.

scholarly journals Max Ladner (1889–1963) und die frühe Rezeption des Buddhismus in der Schweiz

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Frey
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Theravada Buddhism ◽  
World War ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Pali Canon ◽  
Four Books ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Second World ◽  
Independent Thinking

AbstractSwitzerland has been an important place in the reception of Buddhism since the nineteenth century. Especially during the Second World War and the 1950s, the Buddhist Community Zürich, with its founder Max Ladner (1898–1963), was one of the most prominent institutions in making Buddhist teachings available in Europe. Ladner wrote four books and several articles, which demonstrate his interpretation of a presumed “authentic” Buddhism (“Urbuddhismus”) preserved in the Pāli-canon. For Ladner, self-responsibility and independent thinking were of utmost importance. He saw these values represented in Theravāda Buddhism. His interpretation of Buddhism was at first formulated in a critique of Nietzsche’s interpretation of Buddhism. Ladner aimed at refuting Nietzsche’s portrayal of Buddhism as a pessimistic and nihilistic doctrine. With the foundation of the

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