This notion is anchored only in the misconception that eastern thought is somehow. Japanese philosophy a sourcebook edited by james w. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Buddhist hermeneutics buddhism oxford bibliographies. Tibetan buddhist master dzongsar jamyang khyentse, one of the most creative and innovative lamas teaching today, throws down the gauntlet to the buddhist world, challenging common misconceptions, stereotypes, and fantasies. I start from the observation that in tracing an arc from the existential human. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. A ccording to buddhist doctrine, there can be only one buddha for each historical age. As the buddhist hermeneutics of zen experiencing upon beholding the buddhist nature. Buddhist ethics and morality buddhist path way of life.
He is the author of buddhism penguin, 2000, ri 2002 and modern buddhism penguin, 2002. Mar 25, 2004 donald lopez is professsor of buddhist and tibetan studies in the department of asian languages and cultures, university of michigan. While buddhism has no central text such as the bible or the koran, there is a powerful body of scripture from across asia that encompasses the dharma, or the t. Lamotte pays little attention to the role of tradition, custom, and buddhist notions of authority in this process. According to lopez, there is hermeneutics in buddhism and buddhist hermeneutics started with the buddhas instruction to. Hermeneutics as a philosophical discipline of rational interpretation of a traditional canon of. Jul 26, 20 in this lecture, donald lopez provided a history of the various associations of buddhism with science, beginning with the polemical responses of buddhist monks to christian missionaries in the. Buddhist hermeneutics, nagarjuna, madhyamaka, emptiness. The purpose of the conference was to assemble a group of buddhologists to assess the development of buddhist hermeneutics as formulated by the major donald s. Lopez, on the interpretation of the mahayana sutras, in buddhist. On attaining buddhahood in this lifetime wnd i nichiren.
Buddhist scriptural exegesis has always been driven by the soteriological needs of the tradition to find the true meaning artha of buddhist scriptures. Japanese philosophy a sourcebook nanzan university. Pdf buddhist hermeneutics research summary veerachart. The buddhist concept of upaya skillful means is another common theme in buddhist hermeneutics, and holds that the buddha sometimes taught things that were not literally true as a skillful teaching strategy, and also taught many different things to different people, depending on their ability to understand. While interpreters of religion, as those in all other fields, are doomed to perform their work. Reading koans from the blue cliff record caifang zhu despite the fact that chan, especially koan chan is highly unconventional and perplexing, there are still some principles with which to interpret and appreciate the practice.
Buddhist hermeneutics refers to the interpretative frameworks historical buddhists have used to. Pdf nagarjunas challenge to ancient buddhist hermeneutics. Bhante gunaratana was born in 1927 in a small village in sri lanka and was ordained at the age of 12 as a buddhist monk. The lord buddha himself was an eminent philosopher. A new buddha appears in the world only when the teachings of the previous buddha have been completely forgotten, with no remnanta text, a statue, the ruins of a pagoda, or even a reference in a dictionaryremaining. Includes index a hymn of praise to the buddhas good qualities paul j. Five precepts 149 in the case of the fifth precept, although the partaking of intoxicants appears to involve oneself only, it is the most dangerous because it can lead to the violation of all the precepts thereby causing more harm to oneself and others.
There are tales of the buddhas past lives, a discussion of qualities and qualifications for a monk, and an exploration of the many meanings of. Throughout history, however, buddhisms mythology, scriptures, heroes, and its promise for salvation from rebirth have been the buddhist teachings that most people have known. Thurman abstract hermeneutics as a philosophical discipline of rational interpretation of a traditional canon of sacred scriptures authoritative for a religious community has usually been considered peculiar to the west. Another important issue in buddhist hermeneutics is the problem of which sutras are to be taken to be buddhavacana, the word of the buddha and also which sutras contain the correct teachings.
By endeavoring to break the circularity of the knowledge process, by which we recognize as buddhist only what we already think of as buddhist, lopez has opened a new course for a self. Thus one who keeps the five precepts is an asset to oneself and others. Buy buddhist hermeneutics studies in east asian buddhism reprint by donald s. If you chant myohorengekyo with deep faith in this principle, you are certain to attain buddhahood in this lifetime. The present volume of essays by leading western buddhologists surveys the rich variety of strategies employed by buddhist thinkers of india, tibet, china, and japan to interpret their sacred texts. Essays originally presented at a conference held at the kuroda institute for the study of. That is why the sutra states, after i have passed into extinction, one should accept and uphold this sutra. A companion to buddhist philosophy a handful of leaves. Link distinguished university professor of buddhist and tibetan studies at the university of michigan, in the department of asian languages and cultures.
Centralto the various methods of interpretation employed by these texts is the concept of the gradual path to nibbdnaas a hermeneuticaldevice or strategy to explain the logic and. Much of what we hear about buddhism today in the west focuses on its philosophy, and how it can change ones life. Each of the five houses or lineages of chan has its idiosyncratic hermeneutic rules. According to donald lopez in his introduction, for the purposes of this volume, hermeneutics. The middle way the blessed one began by condemning each of two extremes, saying sensual indulgence is low, vulgar, worldly, ignoble, and useless, whereas selftorture is painful. Searching for a possibility of buddhist hermeneutics. In this lecture, donald lopez provided a history of the various associations of buddhism with science, beginning with the polemical responses of buddhist monks to christian missionaries in. The buddhist philosophy has clearly envisages that man can overcome from his problems by. Son of the deputy director of the smithsonian national air and space museum donald s. Description of the book what makes you not a buddhist. Issues in indian esoteric buddhism spring 2012 2 week five 23 april 2012.
A companion to buddhist philosophy edited by steven m. Exegesis and hermeneutics in the buddhist tradition the practice and theory of scriptural interpretation faced conflicting sources and concepts of authority, a voluminous canon of relatively late compilation, and a complex history of interpretations that may be described as hermeneutic pluralism. Page 12 buddhist thinkers seeking to decide what can legitimately be considered the word of the buddha. Swearer sutra on the merit of bathing the buddha daniel boucher reading others minds carl bielefeldt the prayer of the original buddha matthew kapstein myoes letter to the island george j. Pdf the present article aims at setting the issue of the relationship between. Such a person assuredly and without doubt will attain the buddha way. Contents acknowledgments page ix epigraph x preface xiii part i a sketch of the buddha and the dhamma 1 1 the life of siddhattha gotama 3 2 the contexts for the. A companion to rawls, edited by jon mandle and david reidy a companion to foucault, edited by chris falzon, timothy oleary, and jana sawicki a companion to derrida, edited by leonard lawlor and zeynep direk. This new edition contains many texts presented in english for the first time, as well as new translations of some wellknown works, and also includes an informative introduction and prefaces to each chapter by scholar of buddhism donals s. In this paper i lay out the ground for a creative dialogue between buddhist thought and contemporary nursing. The gradual path as a hermeneutical approach to the dhamma in lopez, buddhist. Hermeneutics and modern philosophy is a collection of interpretive and critical essays on philosophical hermeneutics, focusing on the seminal work of heidegger and gadamer. The principles of buddhist psychology light within. The presence of such manifoldness within hermeneutics contradicts the fact that hermeneutics always has sought to attain universal value.
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