Buddhism, cultural studies, a profession of faith

 The thesis examines the reciprocity between Buddhist teachings and ethical understandings in cultural theory and continental philosophy. It establishes channels of hospitable exchange between sacred and scholarly commitments, and demonstrates that faith is a necessary affective response of trust that supports the aspirations of ‘believers’ and ‘non-believers’ alike.

Sakyadhita International: gender equity in ultramodern Buddhism

The nexus between religion and violence has been widely debated in the public sphere at the turn of the twenty-first century. Much of these discourses have centered on direct violence, and on terrorism in particular. Yet, structural violence also remains endemic within many religious traditions, including Buddhism. Buddhist women, and men, continue to challenge these gender inequalities in various ways, notably Sakyadita, the International Association of Buddhist Women founded in 1987, is committed to improving conditions for Buddhist women worldwide. This article investigates how Sakyadhita is promoting gender equity in global Buddhism. It explores Sakyadhita’s origin, and focuses on the 13th Sakyadhita Conference, to examine the role of religious social movements in advancing gender parity. It also proposes an innovative ultramodern Buddhism framework for understanding contemporary global Buddhism, building on existing Buddhist studies, critical feminist and sociological theories. While focused on a Buddhist women’s social movement, this article provides new knowledge that may assist diverse religious communities in addressing gender disparities both locally and internationally.

Meditación Zen y fenómenos de sincronización y resonancia en el sistema cardiorespiratorio. Análisis Wavelet

[ES] El interés científico en la meditación ha crecido significativamente en las últimas décadas. La meditación es, tal vez, la práctica más adecuada para investigar las propiedades intrínsecas del Sistema nervioso autónomo (SNA), dado que conlleva un estado de total inmovilidad física y de cierto aislamiento del exterior (interiorización). En meditación, ya que no hay movimiento físico, el patrón respiratorio es ajustado según el proceso mental. Así, la modulación que ejerce la respiración sobre la frecuencia cardiaca está relacionada a la cualidad y al enfoque de la atención en la práctica. De los resultados obtenidos en nuestra investigación, podemos concluir que hay patrones específicos de variabilidad de la frecuencia cardiaca (VFC) que parecen reflejar fases o etapas en la práctica. Así, sujetos con una experiencia en meditación similar tienden a mostrar patrones análogos de variabilidad cardiaca. A medida que se progresa en la práctica meditativa, los diferentes sistemas oscilantes tienden a interaccionar entre ellos, hasta culminar con la aparición de un efecto resonante que establece un ?nuevo orden? en el sistema. Este proceso parece reflejar cambios graduales en la actividad del SNA para alcanzar un "modo de funcionamiento de bajo coste", donde los diversos mecanismos oscilatorios que intervienen en el control de la circulación sanguínea operan a la misma frecuencia. El fenómeno de resonancia implica un ?modo de funcionamiento de bajo coste? que probablemente favorece la práctica de la meditación. Así, este estado de ?orden? (aunque no sin variabilidad) podría ser considerado un atractor, al cual el sistema tiende a evolucionar cuando se haya alcanzado un nivel avanzado de mindfulness. El concepto de atractor, procedente de las modernas teorías que tratan con la dinámica de sistemas complejos no-lineales, parece mostrarse útil para describir de manera heurística el comportamiento del sistema en estados meditativos profundos. Los resultados obtenidos en esta tesis apoyan y complementan otros trabajos anteriores, además se añade la idea de una adaptación fisiológica gradual a la práctica de la meditación mindfulness, caracterizada por cambios específicos en la regulación autonómica de la VFC en las diferentes etapas de la práctica. Para el análisis de las series fisiológicas, de carácter fuertemente no lineal, se han implementado técnicas basadas en el análisis Wavelet y Dinámica Simbólica.

Parameters of Reform and Unification in Modern Japanese Buddhist Thought: Murakami Senshō and Critical Buddhism

Reform is a word that, one might easily say, characterizes more than any other the history and development of Buddhism. Yet, it must also be said that reform movements in East Asian Buddhism have often taken on another goal—harmony or unification; that is, a desire not only to reconstruct a more worthy form of Buddhism, but to simultaneously bring together all existing forms under a single banner, in theory if not in practice. This paper explores some of the tensions between the desire for reform and the quest for harmony in modern Japanese Buddhism thought, by comparing two developments: the late 19th century movement towards ‘New Buddhism’ (shin Bukkyō) as exemplified by Murakami Senshō 村上専精 (1851–1929), and the late 20th century movement known as ‘Critical Buddhism’ (hihan Bukkyō), as found in the works of Matsumoto Shirō 松本史朗 and Hakamaya Noriaki 袴谷憲昭. In all that has been written about Critical Buddhism, in both Japanese and English, very little attention has been paid to the place of the movement within the larger traditions of Japanese Buddhist reform. Here I reconsider Critical Buddhism in relation to the concerns of the previous, much larger trends towards Buddhist reform that emerged almost exactly 100 years previous—the so-called shin Bukkyō or New Buddhism of the late-Meiji era. Shin Bukkyō is a catch-all term that includes the various writings and activities of Inoue Enryō, Shaku Sōen, and Kiyozawa Manshi, as well as the so-called Daijō-hibussetsuron, a broad term used (often critically) to describe Buddhist writers who suggested that Mahāyāna Buddhism is not, in fact, the Buddhism taught by the ‘historical’ Buddha Śākyamuni. Of these, I will make a few general remarks about Daijō-hibusseturon, before turning attention more specifically to the work of Murakami Senshō, in order to flesh out some of the similarities and differences between his attempt to construct a ‘unified Buddhism’ and the work of his late-20th century avatars, the Critical Buddhists. Though a number of their aims and ideas overlap, I argue that there remain fundamental differences with respect to the ultimate purposes of Buddhist reform. This issue hinges on the implications of key terms such as ‘unity’ and ‘harmony’ as well as the way doctrinal history is categorized and understood, but it also relates to issues of ideology and the use and abuse of Buddhist doctrines in 20th-century politics.

Liberation as Revolutionary Praxis: Rethinking Buddhism Materialism

While it is only in recent decades that scholars have begun to reconsider and problematize Buddhist conceptions of “freedom” and “agency,” the thought traditions of Asian Buddhism have for many centuries struggled with questions related to the issue of “liberation”—along with its fundamental ontological, epistemological and ethical implications. With the development of Marxist thought in the mid to late nineteenth century, a new paradigm for thinking about freedom in relation to history, identity and social change found its way to Asia, and confronted traditional religious interpretations of freedom as well as competing Western ones. In the past century, several attempts have been made—in India, southeast Asia, China and Japan—to bring together Marxist and Buddhist worldviews, with only moderate success (both at the level of theory and practice). This paper analyzes both the possibilities and problems of a “Buddhist materialism” constructed along Marxian lines, by focusing in particular on Buddhist and Marxist conceptions of “liberation.” By utilizing the theoretical work of Japanese “radical Buddhist” Seno’o Girō, I argue that the root of the tension lies with conceptions of selfhood and agency—but that, contrary to expectations, a strong case can be made for convergence between Buddhist and Marxian perspectives on these issues, as both traditions ultimately seek a resolution of existential determination in response to alienation. Along the way, I discuss the work of Marx, Engels, Gramsci, Lukàcs, Sartre, and Richard Rorty in relation to aspects of traditional (particularly East Asian Mahāyāna) Buddhist thought.

A Blueprint for Buddhist Revolution: The Radical Buddhism of Seno’o Girō (1889–1961) and the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism

In the early decades of the twentieth century, as Japanese society became engulfed in war and increasing nationalism, the majority of Buddhist leaders and institutions capitulated to the status quo. One notable exception to this trend, however, was the Shinkō Bukkyō Seinen Dōmei (Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism), founded on 5 April 1931. Led by Nichiren Buddhist layman Seno’o Girō and made up of young social activists who were critical of capitalism, internationalist in outlook, and committed to a pan-sectarian and humanist form of Buddhism that would work for social justice and world peace, the league’s motto was “carry the Buddha on your backs and go out into the streets and villages.” This article analyzes the views of the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism as found in the religious writings of Seno’o Girō to situate the movement in its social and philosophical context, and to raise the question of the prospects of “radical Buddhism” in twenty-first century Japan and elsewhere.