Path as a Structure for Buddhist Ethics

This chapter examines the use of the path metaphor in Buddhist ethics, connecting it to the emphasis on moral phenomenology and to the particularism of Buddhist ethics. It discusses how the concept of a path is used in Buddhist literature, in both the internal and external sense, as well as how these paths may be both followed and cultivated by practitioners. Various uses of this metaphor are addressed throughout the chapter, as well as the objectives and methods associated with each. Discussion includes the eightfold path, the path of purification, the graduated path, the bodhisattva path, and the tantric path.

Buddhist Ethics

This volume is one of a series of monographs on Buddhist philosophy for philosophers. It presents an outline of Buddhist ethical thought, presenting Buddhist ethical reflection as a distinct approach, or rather set of approaches, to moral philosophy. The book draws on a range of Buddhist philosophers to exhibit the internal diversity of the tradition as well as the lineaments that demonstrate its overarching integrity. This includes early Pāli texts, medieval Indian commentarial literature and philosophical treatises, Tibetan commentaries and treatises, and contemporary Buddhist literature. It argues that Buddhist ethics is best understood not as a species of any Western ethical tradition, but instead as a kind of moral phenomenology, and that it is particularist in its orientation. The book addresses both methodological and doctrinal issues and concludes with a study of the way that Buddhist ethical thought is relevant in the contemporary world.

The Bön Tradition of Dzogchen

Dzogchen (“Great Perfection”) is a philosophical and yogic tradition largely developed within the Bönpo tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Its first datable sources surface on the religious scene of Tibet sometime around the late 10th to the early 11th century with the discoveries of Treasure text (gter ma) that are supposed to have been hidden during the 8th century and earlier, as well as with the seminal composition of texts and commentaries that are based on these Treasures. Some of its teachings are also presented as having been transmitted orally from archaic, undatable times through an uninterrupted lineage of masters. Groups of lay Bönpo practitioners, later followed by monastics of the same tradition, started to gather around the discoverers and authors of these works, thus creating the first postdynastic religious communities of Bön dispersed throughout Tibet. Deeply enriched by the integration of a vast amount of traditional Buddhist literature, the Bön tradition absorbed teachings from all other Tibetan Buddhist lineages. The core of these teachings is made up of profoundly secret instructions said to enable practitioners to reach the state of total Buddhahood in a single lifetime. The quintessence of these teachings focuses upon yogic techniques centered on the contemplation of light sources, such as the sun, the moon, or a butter lamp. Particular methods are also applied in a completely dark room in which special visualizations are combined with yogic devices that lead to visionary experiences which are unique throughout Buddhist teachings. These practices based on colored visions produce various signs manifesting at the end of the practitioner’s life such as the famed Rainbow Body (‘ja’ lus).

Understanding the relevance of Dhammapada in modern mind: A conceptual study

Lord Buddha was the great preacher of non-violence and humanism. Dhammapada is an essential treatise on Buddhism. It regards as the most concise expression of Buddha's teachings from ancient to the present day. After the passing away of Lord Buddha, Arhants were accumulating to exercise his teaching. They collected some poetic speeches and many pieces of advice of Buddha, which is known as Tripitaka. We find Dhammapada as a part of Khuddaka Nikāya of the Sutta pitaka. Dhammapada is a reflective and poetical thought in Buddhist literature. Today we are facing different kinds of challenges. Especially the new generation becomes intolerant and violent because they are confused and sometimes, they are misguided. They do not have a clear path in their lives. As a result, they become frustrated. This paper attempts to show how the Dhammapada can become a significant and essential text to reduce the aggressive manifestation of intolerance from the early to modern-day. This paper also focuses on some positive teachings of Lord Buddha, such as 'Four Noble Truths, 'Eight-Fold Paths,' 'Pratitya samudpāda,' which offer definite ways to be patient and tolerant some extent.

Further Reflections on Zhi Qian’s Foshuo Pusa Benye Jing: Some Terminological Questions

Zhi Qian (支謙, fl. ca. 220–257 CE), a prolific Yuezhi-Chinese translator of Indian Buddhist scriptures into Chinese, is widely known for his broad range of styles and terminology. For several decades, his translation activities and his legacy in the history of Chinese Buddhist literature have been a rich field of research, particularly within the context of the transmission of Buddhism from India to China. In the present article, as a follow-up study to “Buddhism for Chinese readers: Zhi Qian’s Literary Refinements in the Foshuo pusa benye jing,” recently published by the authors in this journal, we offer additional reflections on distinctive features of Zhi Qian’s language. We focus on four unusual and interesting renderings in the Foshuo pusa benye jing (佛說菩薩本業經, T. 281), namely (1) santu 三塗; (2) shezui 捨罪; (3) kong 空, wu xiang 無想 and bu yuan 不願; and (4) sishi buhu 四時不護. Through an analysis of these words and phrases, we discuss Zhi Qian’s translation techniques and lexical idiosyncrasies, highlighting their significance in our understanding of the dynamics of language contact and change in the early period of the Chinese Buddhist tradition. Thus, the paper investigates some key Buddhist terms as coined by the early translators on the basis of the classical Chinese and illustrates the semantic changes of the Chinese language taking place in the period as well as influence of Buddhist regimes of knowledge.

Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature, edited by Rafal K. Stepien.

Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature, edited by Rafal K. Stepien. State University of New York Press, 2020. 398pp. Hb. $95.00, ISBN-13: 9781438480718; Pb. $26.95, ISBN-13: 9781438480701.

UNDERSTANDING ETIOPATHOGENESIS OF SHEETAPITTA – A CRITICAL REVIEW

The disease Sheetapitta (NAMC, Disease morbidity code ED 14) was kept forth by Madhavakara in Rigvinis- chayam. Vinaya Pitaka, a book from Buddhist literature of about 500 BCE mentioned a disease named Chavidosha- badha (literally mean skin disease) or Julpittee1 (a disease which causes red coloured wheals and itching on the body). Sheetapitta like manifestations named Udarda, Kotha, Utkotha., were explained in different contexts since the Samhita period. On the contrary with Ushna and Tikshna guna of Pitta, Sheeta guna was used to name the disease, Sheetapitta. Sheetapitta is characterized by Varati dastavat shotha, Kandu, Daha, Thoda, Jwara, Chardi, where all the tridosha involvement is seen. In this regard, there is uncertainty in determining the Nidana, Samprapthi and Samprapthi ghataka of the disease. Hence, here my present study deals with the nomenclature, detailed nidana, Samprapthi and Chikitsa of Sheetapitta. Keywords: Sheetapitta, Nomenclature, Nidana, Samprapthi, Chikitsa.