scholarly journals Multiple Buddhisms in Ladakh: Strategic Secularities and Missionaries Fighting Decline

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 932
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg ◽  
Brooke Schedneck ◽  
Ann Gleig
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Theravada Buddhism ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Meditation Retreat ◽  
Vajrayana Buddhism ◽  
Secular Spirituality

During fieldwork in Ladakh in July–August 2018, three authors from Asian studies, anthropology, and religious studies backgrounds researched “multiple Buddhisms” in Ladakh, India. Two case studies are presented: a Buddhist monastery festival by the Drikung Kagyü Tibetan Buddhist sect, and a Theravada monastic complex, called Mahabodhi International Meditation Center (MIMC). Through the transnational contexts of both of these case studies, we argue that Buddhist leaders adapt their teachings to appeal to specific audiences with the underlying goal of preserving the tradition. The Buddhist monastery festival engages with both the scientific and the magical or mystical elements of Buddhism for two very different European audiences. At MIMC, a secular spirituality mixes with Buddhism for international tourists on a meditation retreat. Finally, at MIMC, Thai Buddhist monks learn how to fight the decline of Buddhism through missionizing Theravada Buddhism in this land dominated by Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Paying attention to this multiplicity—to “multiple Buddhisms”—we argue, makes space for the complicated, ambiguous, and at times contradictory manner in which Buddhism is positioned in regards to secularism and secularity.

scholarly journals Trois regards sur la notion de « culture chinoise »

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-116
Author(s):  
Basile Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Interactional Expertise ◽  
General Argument ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Chinese Studies

Abstract Chinese studies are going through a period of reforms. This article appraises what could constitute the theoretical and methodological foundations of contemporary sinology today. The author suggests an approach of “Chinese culture” by drawing from recent frameworks of Science and Technology Studies (STS). The paper starts with current debates in Asian studies, followed by a historical overview of the concept of culture in anthropology. Then, two short case studies are presented with regard to two different STS approaches: studies of expertise and experience and the notion of interactional expertise, and the framework of waves and forms. A general argument is thereby sketched which suggests how “Chinese culture” can be understood from the perspective of materiality.

Pearls From Bones: Relics, Chortens, Tertons and the Signs of Saintly Death in Tibet

Numen ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Martin
Keyword(s):  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Religious Culture ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Devotional Practice ◽  
Cultural Pattern ◽  
Other Substances ◽  
Critical Links ◽  
Point Of Departure

AbstractAlthough there has been much work, in recent years, on the sacrum of Christianity, and some important studies have appeared on Buddhist relic cults and related facets of Buddhism, so far very little has been written on Tibetan Buddhist relics. This paper, while offering some material for a historical perspective, mainly seeks to find a larger cultural pattern for understanding the interrelationships of a complex of factors active in Tibetan religious culture. Beginning with problems of relic-related terms and classifications, we then suggest a new assessment of the role of the Terton ('treasure revealer'). Then we discuss 'miracles' in Tibet, and the intersection of categories of 'signs of saintly death' and relics. Much of the remaining pages are devoted to those items that fall within both categories, specifically the 'pearls' that emerge miraculously from saintly remains and images that appear in bodily or other substances connected with cremations. After looking at a number of testimonials on these miraculous relics, we examine the possibility that these items might be 'deceitfully manufactured', looking at a few Tibetan polemical writings which raise this possibility. In the conclusion, we suggest that there are some critical links between three spheres of Tibetan religiosity: 1. sacrum which are not relics, 2. relics, and 3. signs of sainthood. Finally, we recommend an approach to religious studies that takes its point of departure in actual practices, and particularly the objects associated with popular devotional practice.

Modern Yoga Research as a Discursive Formation

2022 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-72
Author(s):  
Matteo Di Placido
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
The Self ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
Discursive Formation ◽  
South Asian Studies ◽  
Modern Yoga ◽  
Specific Object

The practice of yoga is on the rise, as much as its academic scrutiny. Scholars, especially within the disciplinary boundaries of religious studies, South Asian studies, Indology, anthropology, and sociology, have recently started to critically inquire into the birth and transnational developments of modern forms of yoga, tracing their genealogies and textual roots. This expanding literature has in turn contributed to the constitution of the emergent and multidisciplinary field of modern yoga research, or yoga studies. The primary aim of this article is thus to analyze the field of modern yoga research as a ‘discursive formation’ (Foucault [1971]1972), that is, an ensemble of texts constituting – or contributing to the constitution of – a specific object of analysis, namely modern yoga. In so doing, it also aims to contribute to the advancement of the discursive study of religion more in general. The article relies on a ‘discursive study of religion’ approach (e.g., von Stockrad 2003, 2010, 2013) with a focus on its archaeological leaning (e.g., Foucault 1965, 1972, [1963] 1973, [1966] 2002). More specifically, I underline the affinity that modern yoga research’s discursive references have with a number of discursive currents that characterize the disciplines it emerged from, such as radical historicism, cultural relativism, modernism, Orientalism and neo-colonialism. Finally, I conclude by summarizing the main results of this contribution and exploring their relevance to the self-reflexive development of the overlapping fields of cultural analyses and the study of religion.

Methodological pluralism through the lens of the buddhist doctrine of time kālacakra: an interview with dr. Jensine Andresen

2021 ◽  
Vol - (2) ◽  
pp. 165-183
Author(s):  
Olena Kalantarova
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Western Science ◽  
Methodological Pluralism ◽  
Effective Solution ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Buddhist Doctrine ◽  
Canonical Literature

Modern dialogue between Western science and Buddhism raises an enormous range of cognitive issues that require interdisciplinary research. The idea of methodological pluralism (MP) arises here as an effective solution for such projects. Having immersed in the study of the background of its opponent, Western science touched the fairly old and specific way of reality cognition, which in certain aspects actually can be identified as a Tibetan-Buddhist version of the MP. In an interview with the professor from the United States, who for many decades has been engaged in research on the boundaries of various science disciplines, ethics, and religious studies, we tried to clarify the specifics of this so-called version of MP, which is set out in the Buddhist doctrine of time, K lacakra. Texts of this doctrine are included in the corpus of Buddhist canonical literature and form the basis for two classical Buddhist sciences: the science of stars (which is actually “social astronomy”); and the science of healing (which looks like a certain version of “psycho-medicine”). During the interview, we went directly to the possibility of using the Buddhist version of MP at least within the dialogue “Buddhism-Science”, to the need to understand the specifics of such an implementation, and to the mandatory combination of MP with an integrated approach. The interview was intended to raise the question that deals with transgressing the abovementioned dialogue from the “consumer” level (when we are looking for something that could be useful to the Western neuro-cognitivist) to the philosophical one, in order to formulate a criterion for recognizing a different way of thinking, and finally, to move on toward the semantic discussion, without which the integration phase of any kind of MP is impossible.

A Dictionary of Sikh Studies

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pashaura Singh
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Major Focus ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Sacred Sites ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
South Asian Studies ◽  
Northern India ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

Over 350 entries This new dictionary provides accessible definitions of the terms that the growing number of students of Sikhism will encounter. It covers beliefs, practices, festivals, sacred sites, and principal languages, as well as the social and religious processes through which Sikhism has evolved. A major focus is the teachings of the founder of Sikhism, Gurū Nānak, and doctrinal developments under subsequent Gurūs. Incorporating the 500-year history of Sikhism, from its birth in northern India to its more recent spread around the world, it covers the interplay between the Sikh tradition and other religious traditions, including Hindu and Sufi. It is an invaluable first reference for students and teachers of Sikhism, religious studies, South Asian studies, philosophy, and the related disciplines of history, sociology, and anthropology, as well as for all practising Sikhs and anyone with an interest in Sikh religion and culture.

scholarly journals Contemplative Practice, Doxographies, and the Construction of Tibetan Buddhism: Nupchen Sangyé Yeshé and The Lamp for the Eye in Meditation

Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 360
Author(s):  
Manuel Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Ninth Century ◽  
Original System ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Buddhist Tradition ◽  
Buddhist Practice ◽  
Intellectual Context

In this article, I would like to reframe our understanding of the role played by doxographies or classification of views (Skt. siddhānta, Ch. panjiao 判教, Tib. grub mtha’) in the Buddhist tradition as it pertained to Tibetan attempts at defining and organizing the diversity of Buddhist contemplative practices that made their way into Tibet since the introduction of Buddhism to the Tibetan plateau in the seventh century, all the way up to the collapse of the Tibetan Empire in the ninth century. In order to do that, this article focuses on one such doxography, the Lamp for the Eye in Meditation (bsam gtan mig sgron), composed in the 10th century by the Tibetan scholar Nupchen Sangyé Yeshé. The first part of the article will place Nupchen’s text in the larger historical and intellectual context of the literary genre of doxographies in India, China, and Tibet. The second part of the article will argue that Nupchen used the doxographical genre not only as a vehicle for organizing and articulating doctrinal and contemplative diversity, but also as a tool for the construction of a new and original system of Tibetan Buddhist practice known as ‘the Great Perfection’ (rdzogs chen). Finally, and as a small homage to the recent passing of the great religious studies scholar Jonathan Z. Smith, I would also like to reflect on the importance that the issues of definition, comparison, and classification—central concerns of Nupchen’s as well as of Smith’s works—have in creating and articulating religious difference.

scholarly journals Book Review: The Politics of Language Contact in the Himalaya

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-124
Author(s):  
Tikaram Poudel
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Border Region ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Area Studies ◽  
Politics Of Language ◽  
Multidisciplinary Nature ◽  
The Himalaya

The arguments of The Politics of Language Contact in the Himalaya are grounded in the multidisciplinary nature of area studies i.e., linguistics, political science, anthropology and geography. Focusing on the area study of the trans-border region of the Himalaya, the contributors enrich their arguments through specific case studies of their respective areas. For all the contributors, the issues of language contact are central and all of them provide contextual analyses of this issue. The contributors raise placing their issues in the emerging discourse of language contact making the collection accessible not only to linguists but also to scholars interested in anthropology, sociolinguistics, political science and Asian studies.

scholarly journals Gastronomy as a Sign of the Identity and Cultural Heritage of Tourist Destinations: A Bibliometric Analysis 2001–2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12531
Author(s):  
Min-Pei Lin ◽  
Estela Marine-Roig ◽  
Nayra Llonch-Molina
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Tourist Destinations ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Tourism And Hospitality ◽  
Key Terms

Gastronomy represents a significant part of the cultural heritage and identity of tourist destinations; however, related scientific literature is scarce. Considering these aspects within the field of tourism and hospitality, and selecting the articles written in English indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus from 2001 to 2020, the objective of this research is twofold: (1) to present a bibliometric analysis of the literature on gastronomic heritage (71 articles); and (2) to analyze some aspects (main topics, frequency of key terms, methods, and data sources) of the research on case studies in Asia and Europe (46 articles), as they are the most prominent regions on the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity (UNESCO). The study shows the temporal evolution of the literature on gastronomic heritage in parallel with UNESCO’s actions on cultural heritage. The results reveal that most articles relate gastronomic heritage to the sustainability of tourist destinations, and that European case studies address sustainability more than Asian studies do. Regarding the methodology to analyze Asian and European case studies, qualitative research predominates. Within quantitative studies, the use of online content generated by consumers and marketers as a data source is rare.

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