scholarly journals BuddhistRoadPaper 5.6 "Light on ‘Art in the Dark’: On Buddhist Practice and Worship in the Mogao Caves"

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik H. Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Profound Impact ◽  
Buddhist Practice ◽  
Cultural Sphere ◽  
Buddhist Ritual ◽  
Cave Art ◽  
Ritual Practices

This piece has partly been written in response to a series of claims put forward by Robert Sharf almost a decade ago in his article Art in the Dark in which he argues that the Buddhist caves in Dunhuang (and elsewhere in China and Central Asia) were not for worship, but were created as a sort of ancestral memorials, or decorated mausoleums meant to be left in the dark. Given that the implications of such reading of Buddhist cave-art in the Sinitic cultural-sphere would surely have a profound impact on our overall understanding of Buddhist ritual practices and cave-art, should Sharf’s readings turn out to be correct, the evidence and speculations he uses as underpinnings for his line of argument in particular merit closer scrutiny. Moreover, as he touches upon a range of other related issues, all of which concern Buddhist ritual practices one way or another, it seems worthwhile to devote a lengthier essay to a more detailed discussion.

scholarly journals The shamanistic universe of Central Asian nomads: wolves and she-wolves

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-240
Author(s):  
Aktolkyn Kulsariyeva ◽  
Madina Sultanova ◽  
Zhanerke Shaigozova
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Cultural Sphere ◽  
Cultural Code ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Central Characters

The article deals with the semantic nature of the images of a wolf and a she-wolf in the shamanistic natural philosophy of the nomadic Turkic-speaking population of Central Asia. The focus here is an archetypal image of a wolf and a she-wolf as ancestors, defenders and guardians of the Turks’ cultural code – one of the most powerful, large-scale and sustainable Eurasia cultures, united by common linguistic roots and mentality. The majority of studies of the semantics of zoomorphic characters in Central Asian cultures focus on a wolf, while a she-wolf’s image at most is in the sidelines, although it appears in almost all Turkic genealogical legends as one of the central characters. The authors are of the opinion that the study of natural philosophical underpinnings of images of a wolf and a she-wolf from the point of view of traditional shamanistic ritualism can expand the long-held beliefs about transformation and specificity of functioning of mental values in the cultural sphere of modern society.

The “Kalgutinsky” Style in the Rock Art of Central Asia

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 12-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. I. Molodin ◽  
J.-M. Geneste ◽  
L. V. Zotkina ◽  
D. V. Cheremisin ◽  
C. Cretin
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Technological Properties ◽  
Special Group ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Desert Varnish ◽  
Ukok Plateau ◽  
Cave Art

On the basis of petroglyphic sites Kalgutinsky Rudnik (Kalgutinsky mine) on the Ukok Plateau, Baga-Oigur and Tsagaan-Salaa in northwestern Mongolia, a distinct “Kalgutinsky” style of rock art of the Russian and Mongolian Altai is described. The distance between these sites is about 20 km. This group is marked by very specifi c stylistic features, common technological properties, a narrowly defi ned motif, featuring only animals, and a very intense desert varnish. All these features and the proximity of the sites suggest that they should be regarded as a special group, which we term the “Kalgutinsky” style and date to the Upper Paleolithic on the basis of several criteria. Images of mammoths at Baga-Oigur and Tsagaan-Salaa are similar to those known in the classic Upper Paleolithic cave art of Western Europe. An entire set of stylistic features typical of the “Kalgutinsky” canon is seen also in the representations of mammoths, and this manner is consonant with that of European Upper Paleolithic rock art. Our fi ndings suggest that a peculiar “Kalgutinsky” style existed and, moreover, that it represented a separate Central Asian locus of Upper Paleolithic rock art.

scholarly journals Arguing over the Buddhist Pedigree of Tibetan Medicine: A Case Study of Empirical Observation and Traditional Learning in 16th- and 17th-Century Tibet

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 530
Author(s):  
James Duncan Gentry
Keyword(s):  
17Th Century ◽  
Tibetan Medicine ◽  
Traditional Learning ◽  
Empirical Observation ◽  
Buddhist Practice ◽  
Medical Tradition ◽  
Theory Of Medicine ◽  
Buddhist Ritual ◽  
The Relationship

This article examines the relationship between the practice and theory of medicine and Buddhism in premodern Tibet. It considers a polemical text composed by the 16th–17th-century Tibetan physician and tantric Buddhist expert Sokdokpa Lodrö Gyeltsen, intending to prove the Buddhist canonical status of the Four Medical Tantras, the foundational text of the Tibetan medical tradition. While presenting and analyzing Sokdokpa’s polemical writing in the context of the broader debate over the Buddhist pedigree of the Four Tantras that took place during his time, this discussion situates Sokdokpa’s reflections on the topic in terms of his broader career as both a practicing physician and a tantric Buddhist ritual and contemplative specialist. It suggests that by virtue of Sokdokpa’s tightly interwoven activities in the spheres of medicine and Buddhism, his contribution to this debate gives voice to a sensibility in which empiricist, historicist, and Buddhist ritual and contemplative inflections intermingle in ways that resist easy disentanglement and classification. In this it argues that Sokdokpa’s reflections form an important counterpoint to the perspectives considered thus far in the scholarly study of this debate. It also questions if Sokdokpa’s style of argumentation might call for a recalibration of how scholars currently construe the roles of tantric Buddhist practice in the appeal by premodern Tibetan physicians to critical and probative criteria.

scholarly journals Early Japanese Philosophers in Konjaku monogatari shū

2018 ◽  
pp. 23-45
Author(s):  
N. N. Trubnikova
Keyword(s):  
Early Learning ◽  
Japanese Buddhism ◽  
Buddhist Practice ◽  
The Arts ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Buddhist Ritual ◽  
State Protection

The paper deals with the tales on the origins of Japanese Buddhism from the 11th scroll of the Konjaku monogatari shū (early 12th century). Particular attention is paid to the stories about Saichō (767–822) and Kūkai (774–835), the founders of the Tendai and Shingon schools, thinkers, whose writings have built two versions of the doctrine of the Buddhist ritual aimed at “state protection” and “benefits in this world.” From the elements familiar to the Western reader – “lives, opinions and sayings,” according to Laertius, – in these stories the first one dominates. Brief information about the doctrines of the famous teachers in Konjaku is embedded in the narrative about their practical activities. The objectives of this activity are, firstly, to adopt in China and root in Japan the Chinese traditions of Buddhist practice, which go back to the Indian models; secondly, to arrange monasteries and monastic orders best suited to serve the country and its inhabitants. The legends about Saichō and Kūkai in Konjaku are placed in context of the narratives about the builders of temples and about the monks who visited the mainland in search of Buddha’s Teaching. This context helps to understand the principle of selecting (pseudo)biographical details for each of the sages in Konjaku. The themes of a wonderful birth and early learning successes are common in these stories; the theme of appeasement of kami deities or the treaty with them also sounds in many of these stories. In the legends about Kukai and Saichō, the themes of the arts in its Buddhist meaning (calligraphy, sculpture) and the separation of the school within the Buddhist community are also important: according to the plan of their founders, the “secret” schools, preaching enlightenment for all, follow their own special path of practice.

Maxims of Foreign Policy

Itinerario ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-79
Author(s):  
W.J. Boot
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Cultural Sphere ◽  
Japanese Identity

In the pre-modern period, Japanese identity was articulated in contrast with China. It was, however, articulated in reference to criteria that were commonly accepted in the whole East-Asian cultural sphere; criteria, therefore, that were Chinese in origin.One of the fields in which Japan's conception of a Japanese identity was enacted was that of foreign relations, i.e. of Japan's relations with China, the various kingdoms in Korea, and from the second half of the sixteenth century onwards, with the Portuguese, Spaniards, Dutchmen, and the Kingdom of the Ryūkū.

The Russian Conquest of Central Asia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia

ANALISIS FAKTOR-FAKTOR MINAT NASABAH MEMILIKI KARTU KREDIT BCA PADA PT. BANK CENTRAL ASIA CABANG MANGGA BESAR RAYA

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2B) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Asna Manullang ◽  
Debih Arliana
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Product Price ◽  
Physical Evidence ◽  
Place Promotion ◽  
Promotion Process

Tingkat pencapaian minat nasabah untuk memiliki kartu kredit BCA dipengaruhi oleh delapan kelompok variabel yang dikenal sebagai 8P yaitu Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Process, Physical evidence, People dan Produktivity and quality. Penelitian dilakukan di PT.Bank Central Asia, Jalan Mangga Besar Raya No. 128 Jakarta Pusat. Tujuan dari penelitian adalah untuk mengetahui bagaimana pengaruh faktor-faktor minat nasabah memiliki kartu kredit BCA. Penelitian ini menggunakan 2 metoda yaitu metoda deskriptif yaitu mengembangkan produk dan jasa yang sudah ada dan analisa kuantitatif dibagi menjadi dua analisa yang pertama analisa uji validitas dan analisa uji reabilitas. Data yang dianalisa yaitu analisis faktorfaktor yang menjadi daya tarik konsumen untuk memiliki kartu kredit BCA dapat dihitung dan diteliti langsung, data dianalisis dengan menggunakan SPSS versi 16.0. Responden telah mengisi 33 pertanyaan yang disebut dengan variabel dengan nilai skor dan dibagi berdasarkan kelompok sebagai faktornya. Hasil analisis dapat disimpulkan daya tarik konsumen untuk memiliki kartu kredit BCA ada 7 faktor utama. Faktor pertama Produk dengan nilai varians (11,74), faktor ke dua adalah Harga dengan nilai varians (10,73%), faktor ke tiga adalah Distribusi dengan nilai varians (8%), faktor ke empat adalah Promosi dengan nilai varians (7,77%), faktor ke lima adalah Proses dengan nilai varians (6,75%), faktor ke enam adalah Fisik dengan nilai varians (6,28%) dan faktor ke tujuh adalah Kualitas dengan nilai varians (5,76%). Faktor produk merupakan faktor yang paling mempengaruhi konsumen untuk memiliki kartu kredit BCA. Faktor ini dapat menerangkan keragaman data (varians) sebesar 11,74%. Dari beberapa analisis yang diperoleh bahwa faktor produk sangat berpengaruhi positif terhadap keputusan konsumen dalam memiliki kartu kredit BCA karena konsumen menginginkan produk yang baik agar dapat mempermudah transaksi dimana saja dan kapan saja. Kata Kunci: BCA, kartu kredit, Keputusan Nasabah

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