Embracing the Paradox: A Bodhisattva Path

This article addresses the significance of paradox as a steady presence in our lives. Contradictions and ambiguities often lead to aversive states of anxious uncertainty where straightforward answers are often unavailable yet sought after to alleviate existential insecurities. In conditions where narratives of ambivalence intensify, such as during the worldwide COVID-19 crises, our traditional socio-evolutionary inclinations to avoid them either through denial or active resistance become more noticeable. It also leads to distress in intersubjective spaces especially when uncertainty and perceptions of threat stand as correlates, and we start to fear what we do not understand. In this paper, I consider wisdom responses from a Buddhist perspective to help us acknowledge the value of paradox, highlighting how changes in the formulation of our self-concept can help with that. I draw upon select principles and insights from the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra, two texts within the Mahaprajnaparamita sutras of Mahayana Buddhism. Through these, I examine some inherent paradoxes as vital components of a larger ontological unity, the recognition of which can act as an enabler to the Bodhisattva path. This path is worthy of exploration, allowing us to move past the need for closure and instead focus on reconciliation, disclosure, and epistemic humility.

Buddhism and Urbanism in Post-Soviet Buryatia

Buddhism and Urbanism in Post-Soviet BuryatiaWith the collapse of the Soviet Union the traditionally Buddhist regions of Russia, including the Republic of Buryatia, experienced the revival of religion. Along with the traditional Gelug school of Mahayana Buddhism existing on the territories around Lake Baikal for more than three hundred years, the globalized model of Buddhism started to spread quickly in Buryatia in the 1990s. Tibetan Buddhist teachers started to establish new Buddhist organizations in Buryatia and thus to transform the urban landscape of Ulan-Ude, the capital of the republic. The article traces how global and local Buddhist organizations become represented in the urban landscape of Ulan-Ude and considers the anti-urban position of Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheev. Зүблэлтэ үеын удаадахи Буряадай Буддизм ба хотожолтоЗүблэлтэ гүрэнэй задаран унаhаар Росси уласай уламжлалта буддын шажанта орон нютагууд, энээнэй дотор Буряад Улас, шажинаа дахин hэргээжэ эхилhэн түүхэтэй. Гурбан зуу гаран жэлэй туршада Байгал нуур оршомой нютаг дэбисхэр дээрэ оршон тогтожо байhан Махаяна буддизмын уламжлалта Гэлэгба hургуулиин гадна, 1990-ээд онhоо Буряад нютагуудта бурхан шажанай даяаршаhан загбар хурдан таража эхилбэ. Түбэдэй бурхан шажанай багшанар Буряад нютагуудта буддын шажанай шэнэ эмхинүүдые байгуулган, Буряад уласай Улаан-Үдэ нийслэлэй хото h уурин дүрсые хубилгажа эхилбэ. Энэ үгүүлэл дэлхэйн болон орон нютагай буддын шажанай эмхинүүдэй Улаан-Үдэ хотодо хэрхэн түлөөлэгдэжэ байhание харуулhан ба Хамбо лама Дамба Аюшеевын хотожохо ябадалые бууруушаhан hанамжыень абажа үзэнэ.Buddyzm a urbanistyka w poradzieckiej BuriacjiWraz z upadkiem Związku Radzieckiego w tradycyjnie buddyjskich regionach Rosji, w tym w Republice Buriacji, zaczyna się proces odrodzenia religijnego. Wraz z tradycyjną szkołą gelug buddyzmu mahajany, funkcjonującej na terytoriach wokół jeziora Bajkał od ponad trzystu lat, w Buriacji rozprzestrzenia się nowy zglobalizowany model buddyzmu. Tybetańscy nauczyciele buddyjscy w okresie poradzieckim zaczęli zakładać nowe organizacje buddyjskie i przekształcać w ten sposób miejski krajobraz stolicy republiki, Ułan-Ude. Autorzy artykułu stawiają pytanie, w jaki sposób globalne i lokalne organizacje buddyjskie są reprezentowane w miejskim krajobrazie Ułan-Ude, oraz rozważają antyurbanistyczne stanowisko Khambo Lamy Damby Ayusheeva.

The Debate of a Paṇḍita Dog with a Monk: Critique of Buddhist Monastics in üg Genre Works of Agvaanhaidav

It is in the nineteenth century that the üg genre of Mongolian literature became a favorite literary form for Mongolian writers. Most works written in this genre are didactic teachings on compassion for domestic animals, the ills of the transient nature of saṃsāra, and a critique of misconduct among Buddhist monastic communities in Mongolia. Through the words of anthropomorphized animals or even of inanimate objects, the authors of the works belonging to the üg genre expressed their social concerns and criticism of their society. One of such authors was a Mongolian monk scholar of the nineteenth century by name Agvaanhaidav (Tib: Ngag dbang mkhas grub), who in his works of the üg genre strongly advocated the development and preservation of the spirit of Mahāyāna Buddhism in Mongolia, and of the Geluk monasticism and scholarship in particular.

Embodied Wisdom

This chapter takes up the central theme of early Mahayana Buddhism, the “perfection of wisdom” as a quest to experience the “emptiness” of all things, their impermanence, their contingency, and their lack of essence. This realization of “emptiness” is described as giving rise to a profound sense of fearlessness, and Vimalakirti links this capacity to the openness and selflessness of bodhisattva life. The chapter analyzes the Buddhist teaching of “no-self” as it appears in the sutra and describes what selfless living would be like, a life without interior compulsions, a kind of open receptivity to see the world without self-centered projections.

The External World

The Yogācāra school of Mahāyāna Buddhism denies the existence of external objects, holding that only mental entities are ultimately real. This chapter examines the arguments developed by Yogācāra philosophers for that thesis, as well as objections raised by Buddhist realists. It begins with examination of Buddhist arguments against physicalism, which were principally aimed at the Cārvāka school of Indian materialism. It then discusses the route to idealism by way of the representationalist theory of sense perception that was supported by a time-lag argument. Idealism as such was subsequently supported by appeal to parsimony, as well as by considerations to do with infinite divisibility, and arguably by the claim that physical objects and cognitions are never grasped separately.

The Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā and the Sky as a Symbol of Mahāyāna Doctrines and Aspirations

The Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā is a Mahāyāna dharmaparyāya and is the eighth chapter of the great canonical collection of Mahāyāna Buddhism, the Mahāsaṃnipāta. The text is lost in the original Indic, but survives in Chinese and Tibetan translations, with several passages of the Sanskrit version preserved as quotations in later commentaries. It has been regarded as an authoritative canonical source throughout the intellectual history of Mahāyāna Buddhism, but scant scholarly attention has been paid to this important text. Thus, this paper aims to provide a concise yet comprehensive introduction of the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā, including its textual history, its basic structure, and its reception in Indian, Tibetan, and East Asian Buddhist traditions. It also examines how the fundamental concepts of Mahāyāna Buddhism, such as emptiness, endlessness, and imperishability, are signified in the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā by the image of the sky (Skt. gagana), the central metaphor of the text.

The religious prism of South East - Asia

When two or more religious belief systems are combined into a new system, this is known as religious syncretism. It may also be defined as the incorporation of beliefs from unconnected traditions into a religious tradition. Polytheism and numerous religious affiliations, on the other hand, are seen as diametrically opposed to one another. These situations can arise for a variety of reasons, with the latter scenario occurring quite frequently in areas where multiple religious traditions coexist in close proximity to one another and are actively practised in the culture. It can also occur when a culture is conquered, with the conquerors bringing their religious beliefs with them but not succeeding in completely eradicating the old beliefs, and especially the old practises. Faiths' beliefs or histories may have syncretic components, however members of these so-labeled systems sometimes object to the label's use, particularly those who belong to "revealed" religious systems, such as Abrahamic religions, or any system that takes an exclusivist stance. Syncretism is viewed as a betrayal of the pure truth by some supporters of such beliefs. According to this logic, introducing a belief that is incompatible with the original religion corrupts it and renders it untrue altogether. Indeed, detractors of a certain syncretistic trend may occasionally use the term "syncretism" as a derogatory pejorative, meaning that individuals who attempt to adopt a new idea, belief, or practise into a religious system are really distorting the original faith by doing so. A fatal compromise of the integrity of the prevailing religion is, according to Keith Ferdinando, as a result of this development. Religions that are not exclusivist, on the other hand, are likely to feel free to absorb other traditions into their own systems of thought. Many traditional beliefs in East Asian civilizations have become entwined with Buddhism due to the assumption that Buddhism is compatible with local religions. The Three Teachings, or Triple Religion, which harmonizes Mahayana Buddhism with Confucian philosophy and elements of Taoism, and Shinbutsu-shg, which is a syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism, are two examples of notable concretizations of Buddhism with local beliefs. The Three Teachings, or Triple Religion, harmonizes Mahayana Buddhism with Confucian philosophy and elements of Taoism, and Shinbutsu-shg, which East Asian religious beliefs, practises, and identities (who, by any measure, constitute the majority of the world's Buddhists) frequently incorporate elements of other religious traditions, such as Confucianism, Chinese folk religion.

An Unfinished Jigsaw

Setting Out on the Great Way: Essays on Early Mahayana Buddhism, edited by Paul Harrison. Equinox Publications, 2018. 320pp. Hb. £75.00, Pb/eBook. £26.99. ISBN 13: Hb. 9781781790960, Pb. 9781781798539, eBook 9781781796856.