Karen C. Lang
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151138
- eISBN:
- 9780199870448
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195151135.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Chapter 6 attacks the mistaken apprehension of impermanent things as permanent by pointing out the impermanence of the human body. The first half of the chapter concentrates on the need for ...
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Chapter 6 attacks the mistaken apprehension of impermanent things as permanent by pointing out the impermanence of the human body. The first half of the chapter concentrates on the need for developing an awareness of impending death; the second half concentrates on another troubling aspect of death, namely grief over the death of loved ones. Candrakiriti criticizes Brahmins’ idealized views on family life and paints a dismal portrait of family men afflicted with domineering wives and ungrateful children. He concludes that the fear of death should motivate people to renounce lay life and adopt the religious life of a monastic.Less
Chapter 6 attacks the mistaken apprehension of impermanent things as permanent by pointing out the impermanence of the human body. The first half of the chapter concentrates on the need for developing an awareness of impending death; the second half concentrates on another troubling aspect of death, namely grief over the death of loved ones. Candrakiriti criticizes Brahmins’ idealized views on family life and paints a dismal portrait of family men afflicted with domineering wives and ungrateful children. He concludes that the fear of death should motivate people to renounce lay life and adopt the religious life of a monastic.
Paul Stoller
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226775340
- eISBN:
- 9780226775364
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226775364.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
It is the anthropologist's fate to always be between things: countries, languages, cultures, even realities. But rather than lament this, the author celebrates the creative power of the between, ...
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It is the anthropologist's fate to always be between things: countries, languages, cultures, even realities. But rather than lament this, the author celebrates the creative power of the between, showing how it can transform us, changing our conceptions of who we are, what we know, and how we live in the world. Beginning with his early days with the Peace Corps in Africa and culminating with a recent bout with cancer, this book is an evocative account of the circuitous path the author's life has taken, offering a fascinating depiction of how a career is shaped over decades of reading and research. He imparts his accumulated wisdom not through grandiose pronouncements but by drawing on his gift for storytelling. Tales of his apprenticeship to a sorcerer in Niger, his studies with Claude Lévi–Strauss in Paris, and his friendships with West African street vendors in New York City accompany philosophical reflections on love, memory, power, courage, health, and illness. Graced with humor and narrative elegance, this book is both the story of a distinguished career and a profound meditation on coming to terms with the impermanence of all things.Less
It is the anthropologist's fate to always be between things: countries, languages, cultures, even realities. But rather than lament this, the author celebrates the creative power of the between, showing how it can transform us, changing our conceptions of who we are, what we know, and how we live in the world. Beginning with his early days with the Peace Corps in Africa and culminating with a recent bout with cancer, this book is an evocative account of the circuitous path the author's life has taken, offering a fascinating depiction of how a career is shaped over decades of reading and research. He imparts his accumulated wisdom not through grandiose pronouncements but by drawing on his gift for storytelling. Tales of his apprenticeship to a sorcerer in Niger, his studies with Claude Lévi–Strauss in Paris, and his friendships with West African street vendors in New York City accompany philosophical reflections on love, memory, power, courage, health, and illness. Graced with humor and narrative elegance, this book is both the story of a distinguished career and a profound meditation on coming to terms with the impermanence of all things.
J. P. Williams
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198269991
- eISBN:
- 9780191683855
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198269991.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, World Religions
The Buddha's teaching of no-self, impermanence, and especially of the extinction of the self (nirvana) have historically been all too susceptible of construal as nihilism. Modern scholarship, ...
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The Buddha's teaching of no-self, impermanence, and especially of the extinction of the self (nirvana) have historically been all too susceptible of construal as nihilism. Modern scholarship, however, has done much to restore a positive sense to them: the Buddha insisted that his work was to teach liberation, and his negations are not metaphysical but psychological, an alarm-call to ethical and meditative action to free oneself from greed, hatred, and delusion. Insofar as the Sinitization of Buddhism affected the apophatic elements of the tradition, three major trends may be noted: the influence of Taoist apophasis, and greater stresses on kataphasis and on phenomena. This chapter turns to the Mahayana and especially to the work of Nagarjuna. But first, since it has been already noted that the Buddha's concern was soteriological and therefore practical and not primarily philosophical, this chapter pays more attention to the meditative tradition that lies at the heart of Buddhist practice.Less
The Buddha's teaching of no-self, impermanence, and especially of the extinction of the self (nirvana) have historically been all too susceptible of construal as nihilism. Modern scholarship, however, has done much to restore a positive sense to them: the Buddha insisted that his work was to teach liberation, and his negations are not metaphysical but psychological, an alarm-call to ethical and meditative action to free oneself from greed, hatred, and delusion. Insofar as the Sinitization of Buddhism affected the apophatic elements of the tradition, three major trends may be noted: the influence of Taoist apophasis, and greater stresses on kataphasis and on phenomena. This chapter turns to the Mahayana and especially to the work of Nagarjuna. But first, since it has been already noted that the Buddha's concern was soteriological and therefore practical and not primarily philosophical, this chapter pays more attention to the meditative tradition that lies at the heart of Buddhist practice.
J. P. Williams
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198269991
- eISBN:
- 9780191683855
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198269991.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, World Religions
Dogen's basic presentation of the Buddhist Way is entirely orthodox. He intends the practitioner to cease grasping and clinging to phenomena and to concepts, and sees the way to achieving this ...
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Dogen's basic presentation of the Buddhist Way is entirely orthodox. He intends the practitioner to cease grasping and clinging to phenomena and to concepts, and sees the way to achieving this detachment as being through an understanding of impermanence and emptiness. Similarly, he shares the traditional concern to guard against a nihilistic understanding of impermanence and emptiness. In avoiding both these extremes, he points out the Buddhist Middle Way. In his writings, the major themes of ineffability, nondualism, and emptiness address these fundamental issues. Dogen was able to resolve the issue of original versus acquired enlightenment through the notion of actualizing Buddha-nature in this-moment, but also provides the practice ‘just sitting’, in which that actualization occurs. This chapter deals with the use of affirmative speech, the constant work of ‘going beyond Buddha’, the existential application of negation, and the stance of non-thinking. It examines Dogen's apophasis and his version of the familiar nondualism of Buddhism.Less
Dogen's basic presentation of the Buddhist Way is entirely orthodox. He intends the practitioner to cease grasping and clinging to phenomena and to concepts, and sees the way to achieving this detachment as being through an understanding of impermanence and emptiness. Similarly, he shares the traditional concern to guard against a nihilistic understanding of impermanence and emptiness. In avoiding both these extremes, he points out the Buddhist Middle Way. In his writings, the major themes of ineffability, nondualism, and emptiness address these fundamental issues. Dogen was able to resolve the issue of original versus acquired enlightenment through the notion of actualizing Buddha-nature in this-moment, but also provides the practice ‘just sitting’, in which that actualization occurs. This chapter deals with the use of affirmative speech, the constant work of ‘going beyond Buddha’, the existential application of negation, and the stance of non-thinking. It examines Dogen's apophasis and his version of the familiar nondualism of Buddhism.
Bryan J. Cuevas
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195341164
- eISBN:
- 9780199851706
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341164.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book examines a little-known genre of Tibetan narrative literature about the délok, ordinary men and women who claim to have died, traveled through hell, and then returned from the afterlife. ...
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This book examines a little-known genre of Tibetan narrative literature about the délok, ordinary men and women who claim to have died, traveled through hell, and then returned from the afterlife. These narratives enjoy audiences ranging from the most sophisticated monastic scholars to pious townsfolk, villagers, and nomads. Their accounts emphasize the universal Buddhist principles of impermanence and worldly suffering, the fluctuations of karma, and the feasibility of obtaining a favorable rebirth through virtue and merit. Providing an analysis of four return-from-death tales, including the stories of a Tibetan housewife, a lama, a young noble woman, and a Buddhist monk, the author argues that these narratives express ideas about death and the afterlife that held wide currency among all classes of faithful Buddhists in Tibet. Relying on a diversity of traditional Tibetan sources, Buddhist canonical scriptures, scholastic textbooks, ritual and meditation manuals, and medical treatises, in addition to the délok works themselves, the author surveys a broad range of popular Tibetan Buddhist ideas about death and dying. He explores beliefs about the vulnerability of the soul and its journey beyond death, karmic retribution and the terrors of hell, the nature of demons and demonic possession, ghosts, and reanimated corpses. The author argues that these extraordinary accounts exhibit flexibility between social and religious categories that are conventionally polarized and concludes that, contrary to the accepted wisdom, such rigid divisions as elite and folk, monastic and lay religion are not sufficiently representative of traditional Tibetan Buddhism.Less
This book examines a little-known genre of Tibetan narrative literature about the délok, ordinary men and women who claim to have died, traveled through hell, and then returned from the afterlife. These narratives enjoy audiences ranging from the most sophisticated monastic scholars to pious townsfolk, villagers, and nomads. Their accounts emphasize the universal Buddhist principles of impermanence and worldly suffering, the fluctuations of karma, and the feasibility of obtaining a favorable rebirth through virtue and merit. Providing an analysis of four return-from-death tales, including the stories of a Tibetan housewife, a lama, a young noble woman, and a Buddhist monk, the author argues that these narratives express ideas about death and the afterlife that held wide currency among all classes of faithful Buddhists in Tibet. Relying on a diversity of traditional Tibetan sources, Buddhist canonical scriptures, scholastic textbooks, ritual and meditation manuals, and medical treatises, in addition to the délok works themselves, the author surveys a broad range of popular Tibetan Buddhist ideas about death and dying. He explores beliefs about the vulnerability of the soul and its journey beyond death, karmic retribution and the terrors of hell, the nature of demons and demonic possession, ghosts, and reanimated corpses. The author argues that these extraordinary accounts exhibit flexibility between social and religious categories that are conventionally polarized and concludes that, contrary to the accepted wisdom, such rigid divisions as elite and folk, monastic and lay religion are not sufficiently representative of traditional Tibetan Buddhism.
Paul K. Moser
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199656417
- eISBN:
- 9780191742163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199656417.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
What, if anything, is the bearing of flux, or impermanence, as found in this world on the case for the Jewish-Christian God? This chapter argues that the bearing is positive rather than negative, ...
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What, if anything, is the bearing of flux, or impermanence, as found in this world on the case for the Jewish-Christian God? This chapter argues that the bearing is positive rather than negative, given the redemptive character and aims of this mysterious God. It proposes that a distinctive agape struggle involving humans and God is an elusive indicator of permanence in connection with this God. Philosophers of religion typically have neglected this important lesson, often as a result of looking for permanence in the wrong places. It identifies the upshot of this lesson for human knowledge of God. The chapter offers a rather broad vision of such knowledge on the basis of plausibility considerations that would receive more elaboration and analysis in a larger project. Such a vision opens up some new prospects in the philosophy of religion.Less
What, if anything, is the bearing of flux, or impermanence, as found in this world on the case for the Jewish-Christian God? This chapter argues that the bearing is positive rather than negative, given the redemptive character and aims of this mysterious God. It proposes that a distinctive agape struggle involving humans and God is an elusive indicator of permanence in connection with this God. Philosophers of religion typically have neglected this important lesson, often as a result of looking for permanence in the wrong places. It identifies the upshot of this lesson for human knowledge of God. The chapter offers a rather broad vision of such knowledge on the basis of plausibility considerations that would receive more elaboration and analysis in a larger project. Such a vision opens up some new prospects in the philosophy of religion.
Schaeffer Kurtis R.
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195152999
- eISBN:
- 9780199849932
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195152999.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
The life story of Orgyan Chokyi contains ten chapters. The first one is concerned with the suffering which arose in her youth. The second is about her time as a goatherd and how that time was ...
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The life story of Orgyan Chokyi contains ten chapters. The first one is concerned with the suffering which arose in her youth. The second is about her time as a goatherd and how that time was sorrowful. The third chapter details her cutting her hair, her time herded horses, and how the feeling impermanence arose. The fourth chapter is about her request for religious teachings and her studies of stillness and movement. The fifth one details her pilgrimages to Kathmandu and Tise to offer prayers. The sixth is about a time when she worked in the kitchen at the temple and felt a great deal of mental anguish. The next chapter describes her quitting herding and turning to meditation and reciting oṁ maṇi padme hūṁ. The eighth chapter is all about how she lived in solitude and the joyous experiences of that time. The nineth details how she preserved her commitment and vows. Finally, the last chapter describes how she further saw impermanence through death.Less
The life story of Orgyan Chokyi contains ten chapters. The first one is concerned with the suffering which arose in her youth. The second is about her time as a goatherd and how that time was sorrowful. The third chapter details her cutting her hair, her time herded horses, and how the feeling impermanence arose. The fourth chapter is about her request for religious teachings and her studies of stillness and movement. The fifth one details her pilgrimages to Kathmandu and Tise to offer prayers. The sixth is about a time when she worked in the kitchen at the temple and felt a great deal of mental anguish. The next chapter describes her quitting herding and turning to meditation and reciting oṁ maṇi padme hūṁ. The eighth chapter is all about how she lived in solitude and the joyous experiences of that time. The nineth details how she preserved her commitment and vows. Finally, the last chapter describes how she further saw impermanence through death.
Schaeffer Kurtis R.
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195152999
- eISBN:
- 9780199849932
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195152999.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter relates how impermanence arose when Orgyan Chokyi herded horses. One day, as described in this chapter, she went to sell horses at the meadow of Dechen Thang near the Cholung Bum ...
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This chapter relates how impermanence arose when Orgyan Chokyi herded horses. One day, as described in this chapter, she went to sell horses at the meadow of Dechen Thang near the Cholung Bum Monastery. She spent a few nights in the temple, during which time a foal was born to a golden mare. Fifteen days went by, when one night a leopard came from nowhere and killed the foal. The mother let out a great cry of anguish. Chokyi came to the door as she neighed loudly, causing a commotion in the meadow. She continued to neigh, so on the following morning Chokyi went out to search for the corpse of the foal. Chokyi found it above a spring, carried it back, and set it down on the meadow above the monastery. For Chokyi, great impermanence arose from this event, the likes of which she had never known, and she wept a great deal.Less
This chapter relates how impermanence arose when Orgyan Chokyi herded horses. One day, as described in this chapter, she went to sell horses at the meadow of Dechen Thang near the Cholung Bum Monastery. She spent a few nights in the temple, during which time a foal was born to a golden mare. Fifteen days went by, when one night a leopard came from nowhere and killed the foal. The mother let out a great cry of anguish. Chokyi came to the door as she neighed loudly, causing a commotion in the meadow. She continued to neigh, so on the following morning Chokyi went out to search for the corpse of the foal. Chokyi found it above a spring, carried it back, and set it down on the meadow above the monastery. For Chokyi, great impermanence arose from this event, the likes of which she had never known, and she wept a great deal.
Schaeffer Kurtis R.
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195152999
- eISBN:
- 9780199849932
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195152999.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter relates the joyous experiences which dawned upon Orgyan Chokyi when she lived in solitude. Having been through great impermanence, Orgyan Chokyi avoided the problem of cause and effect. ...
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This chapter relates the joyous experiences which dawned upon Orgyan Chokyi when she lived in solitude. Having been through great impermanence, Orgyan Chokyi avoided the problem of cause and effect. She chose virtue and shunned sin. She contemplated the meaning of hearing the Dharma. Hearing, contemplation, and meditation were a necessity for Chokyi. In gaining independence, self-serving and self-empowered, she has escaped people. She attained autonomy. She felt that she had found happiness. In her rocky cave, Chokyi was not bothered by snow and rain. She did not hear the noisy sounds of birds and bees. Her rocky cave was not lit up by the kitchen fire. Chokyi felt that there was no rock like this one in the meditation cells of Tadru.Less
This chapter relates the joyous experiences which dawned upon Orgyan Chokyi when she lived in solitude. Having been through great impermanence, Orgyan Chokyi avoided the problem of cause and effect. She chose virtue and shunned sin. She contemplated the meaning of hearing the Dharma. Hearing, contemplation, and meditation were a necessity for Chokyi. In gaining independence, self-serving and self-empowered, she has escaped people. She attained autonomy. She felt that she had found happiness. In her rocky cave, Chokyi was not bothered by snow and rain. She did not hear the noisy sounds of birds and bees. Her rocky cave was not lit up by the kitchen fire. Chokyi felt that there was no rock like this one in the meditation cells of Tadru.
Mariane C. Ferme
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520225428
- eISBN:
- 9780520925717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520225428.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines the politics of impermanence and mobility in rural Sierra Leone. It attempts to provide a better understanding of the different social networks and imagined socialities by ...
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This chapter examines the politics of impermanence and mobility in rural Sierra Leone. It attempts to provide a better understanding of the different social networks and imagined socialities by analyzing the smaller objects or enclosures within larger spaces. It discusses the formation of gendered perspectives on and strategic positions on the “extended household”. It investigates what accounts for the range of residential arrangements grouped under the single category of the big house and presents a biography or social life of the Kamara big houses in Kpuawala.Less
This chapter examines the politics of impermanence and mobility in rural Sierra Leone. It attempts to provide a better understanding of the different social networks and imagined socialities by analyzing the smaller objects or enclosures within larger spaces. It discusses the formation of gendered perspectives on and strategic positions on the “extended household”. It investigates what accounts for the range of residential arrangements grouped under the single category of the big house and presents a biography or social life of the Kamara big houses in Kpuawala.
Susan J. Stabile
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199862627
- eISBN:
- 9780190258337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199862627.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter describes a Tibetan Buddhist analytic meditation that has been adapted for Christian prayer, followed by a commentary that explains the Buddhist goals for and principles underlying the ...
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This chapter describes a Tibetan Buddhist analytic meditation that has been adapted for Christian prayer, followed by a commentary that explains the Buddhist goals for and principles underlying the meditation, and the reasoning behind the adaptations made. Impermanence—the idea that nothing is permanent and everything changes moment by moment—is one of the fundamental truths of Buddhism. This meditation addresses a fundamental delusion in how we see the world and ourselves. It aims to develop the recognition that things are in a constant state of flux, to accept the fundamental truth that impermanence is the state of all things.Less
This chapter describes a Tibetan Buddhist analytic meditation that has been adapted for Christian prayer, followed by a commentary that explains the Buddhist goals for and principles underlying the meditation, and the reasoning behind the adaptations made. Impermanence—the idea that nothing is permanent and everything changes moment by moment—is one of the fundamental truths of Buddhism. This meditation addresses a fundamental delusion in how we see the world and ourselves. It aims to develop the recognition that things are in a constant state of flux, to accept the fundamental truth that impermanence is the state of all things.
Peggy Levitt
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474428231
- eISBN:
- 9781474438391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474428231.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
The goal of this volume is to reconsider citizenship, integration, and diversity in the context of heightened mobility and permanent impermanence, where large numbers of migrants are long-term ...
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The goal of this volume is to reconsider citizenship, integration, and diversity in the context of heightened mobility and permanent impermanence, where large numbers of migrants are long-term partial members of their societies of origin and settlement. Although cultural institutions are often sites where these categories are (re) negotiated, they are often left out of the scholarly conversation. In the first part of this chapter, I explore how one type of cultural institution—museums—are responding to immigration and globalization around the world. I ask if and how they are changing notions of citizenship, nationhood, and pluralism. The second half looks at new forms of transnational social protection that arise in response to the current world on the move.Less
The goal of this volume is to reconsider citizenship, integration, and diversity in the context of heightened mobility and permanent impermanence, where large numbers of migrants are long-term partial members of their societies of origin and settlement. Although cultural institutions are often sites where these categories are (re) negotiated, they are often left out of the scholarly conversation. In the first part of this chapter, I explore how one type of cultural institution—museums—are responding to immigration and globalization around the world. I ask if and how they are changing notions of citizenship, nationhood, and pluralism. The second half looks at new forms of transnational social protection that arise in response to the current world on the move.
Steve Bein
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835101
- eISBN:
- 9780824868505
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835101.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter presents a tourist's guide to reading Shamon Dōgen. It first considers the nature of faith and the role of responsibility in Watsuji Tetsurō's vision of Dōgen's Zen. It then explains the ...
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This chapter presents a tourist's guide to reading Shamon Dōgen. It first considers the nature of faith and the role of responsibility in Watsuji Tetsurō's vision of Dōgen's Zen. It then explains the technical terms of Dōgen's philosophy that Watsuji rarely employs directly but whose influence is significant nonetheless. Examples of these terms are body–mind, non-ego, and impermanence. Included in this analysis of terminology is a brief discussion of the role of written language itself in Dōgen's philosophy based on an apparent contradiction: Dōgen, an accomplished poet, spurns efforts at writing poetry. Finally, the chapter examines important beliefs shared by Watsuji and Dōgen, suggesting that perhaps some of the themes in Watsuji's later philosophy first took root as he delved into Dōgen's ideas.Less
This chapter presents a tourist's guide to reading Shamon Dōgen. It first considers the nature of faith and the role of responsibility in Watsuji Tetsurō's vision of Dōgen's Zen. It then explains the technical terms of Dōgen's philosophy that Watsuji rarely employs directly but whose influence is significant nonetheless. Examples of these terms are body–mind, non-ego, and impermanence. Included in this analysis of terminology is a brief discussion of the role of written language itself in Dōgen's philosophy based on an apparent contradiction: Dōgen, an accomplished poet, spurns efforts at writing poetry. Finally, the chapter examines important beliefs shared by Watsuji and Dōgen, suggesting that perhaps some of the themes in Watsuji's later philosophy first took root as he delved into Dōgen's ideas.
Steve Bein
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835101
- eISBN:
- 9780824868505
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835101.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter discusses the method and meaning of self-cultivation according to Dōgen. At the heart of Dōgen's teachings is the manifestation of eternal values. Therefore, the destruction of all ...
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This chapter discusses the method and meaning of self-cultivation according to Dōgen. At the heart of Dōgen's teachings is the manifestation of eternal values. Therefore, the destruction of all worldly values must be the starting point of his project. Dōgen expressed this destruction of worldly values through the traditional Buddhist expression “You should contemplate impermanence.” The destruction of the values of this world is nothing but a reversal of values in order to attain this ideal life right away. This reversal of worldly values gave birth to the search for the eternal value of truth. The chapter talks about Dōgen's advocacy of single-minded zazen as the core of Buddhist practice and reveals that the proper attitude of Dōgen's self-cultivation is strictly defined in terms of self-power and enlightenment. It also considers the difference between Pure Land Buddhism and Dōgen's Buddhism.Less
This chapter discusses the method and meaning of self-cultivation according to Dōgen. At the heart of Dōgen's teachings is the manifestation of eternal values. Therefore, the destruction of all worldly values must be the starting point of his project. Dōgen expressed this destruction of worldly values through the traditional Buddhist expression “You should contemplate impermanence.” The destruction of the values of this world is nothing but a reversal of values in order to attain this ideal life right away. This reversal of worldly values gave birth to the search for the eternal value of truth. The chapter talks about Dōgen's advocacy of single-minded zazen as the core of Buddhist practice and reveals that the proper attitude of Dōgen's self-cultivation is strictly defined in terms of self-power and enlightenment. It also considers the difference between Pure Land Buddhism and Dōgen's Buddhism.
Michael F. Marra
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824834609
- eISBN:
- 9780824870546
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824834609.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter focuses on the concepts of impermanence (mujo) and contingency. Mujo has become a catchphrase used to explain the psychology, the logic, and the sentiments of a nation and an ethnicity. ...
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This chapter focuses on the concepts of impermanence (mujo) and contingency. Mujo has become a catchphrase used to explain the psychology, the logic, and the sentiments of a nation and an ethnicity. The enormous interest recently shown by scholars in the notion of mujo is directly related to the importation to Japan from the West of existential philosophies, which were challenged by nihilism and skepticism toward the belief that religions and philosophies could save human beings from the crises of the modern world. Meanwhile, guzensei is the Japanese word used today to translate the English “contingency.” The topic of contingency is particularly cherished by thinkers whose knowledge of Buddhist thought had acquainted them with the idea of the impermanent nature of reality.Less
This chapter focuses on the concepts of impermanence (mujo) and contingency. Mujo has become a catchphrase used to explain the psychology, the logic, and the sentiments of a nation and an ethnicity. The enormous interest recently shown by scholars in the notion of mujo is directly related to the importation to Japan from the West of existential philosophies, which were challenged by nihilism and skepticism toward the belief that religions and philosophies could save human beings from the crises of the modern world. Meanwhile, guzensei is the Japanese word used today to translate the English “contingency.” The topic of contingency is particularly cherished by thinkers whose knowledge of Buddhist thought had acquainted them with the idea of the impermanent nature of reality.
George Kouvaros
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780816695560
- eISBN:
- 9781452953540
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816695560.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Chapter 5 connects Frank’s obsession with the fragment to a view of human history as defined by an essential transitoriness. The piles of photographs, letters and souvenirs that the filmmaker returns ...
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Chapter 5 connects Frank’s obsession with the fragment to a view of human history as defined by an essential transitoriness. The piles of photographs, letters and souvenirs that the filmmaker returns to again and again operate as enigmatic reminders of what the narrator in Chris Marker’s Sunless (1983) calls “the impermanence of things.” The feelings of loss and estrangement inspired by Frank’s treatment of everyday objects challenge the possibility of providing a full account of either the life or the work. They reveal and, at the same time, hide truth.Less
Chapter 5 connects Frank’s obsession with the fragment to a view of human history as defined by an essential transitoriness. The piles of photographs, letters and souvenirs that the filmmaker returns to again and again operate as enigmatic reminders of what the narrator in Chris Marker’s Sunless (1983) calls “the impermanence of things.” The feelings of loss and estrangement inspired by Frank’s treatment of everyday objects challenge the possibility of providing a full account of either the life or the work. They reveal and, at the same time, hide truth.
Chris Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816653546
- eISBN:
- 9781452946184
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816653546.003.0005
- Subject:
- Art, Art History
This chapter details the meeting organized between Joseph Beuys and the Dalai Lama, and its aftermath. The meeting took place in Germany during the 1980s by one of Beuys’ contemporaries, Louwrien ...
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This chapter details the meeting organized between Joseph Beuys and the Dalai Lama, and its aftermath. The meeting took place in Germany during the 1980s by one of Beuys’ contemporaries, Louwrien Wijers. Both her mentor, Beuys, as well as the Dalai Lama, share the same ideals of impermanence and compassion, although the meeting itself had proved inconclusive. Beuys had received no great insight on art and its capacity for social change—the historic event was, in a word, uneventful. Nothing happened and kept on happening, yet within this sphere of nothingness the two men were able to engage in an interhuman intrigue that would affect both Beuys and his fellow Fluxus artists for the years to come. And perhaps Beuys himself had, in some small way, been able to influence the political rift between China and Tibet in the years to come.Less
This chapter details the meeting organized between Joseph Beuys and the Dalai Lama, and its aftermath. The meeting took place in Germany during the 1980s by one of Beuys’ contemporaries, Louwrien Wijers. Both her mentor, Beuys, as well as the Dalai Lama, share the same ideals of impermanence and compassion, although the meeting itself had proved inconclusive. Beuys had received no great insight on art and its capacity for social change—the historic event was, in a word, uneventful. Nothing happened and kept on happening, yet within this sphere of nothingness the two men were able to engage in an interhuman intrigue that would affect both Beuys and his fellow Fluxus artists for the years to come. And perhaps Beuys himself had, in some small way, been able to influence the political rift between China and Tibet in the years to come.
The Cowherds
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190260507
- eISBN:
- 9780190260538
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190260507.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book examines ethics, which in Buddhism is intimately connected with the metaphysics of non-self and impermanence. According to Buddhism, the misconception of the self as substantial, ...
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This book examines ethics, which in Buddhism is intimately connected with the metaphysics of non-self and impermanence. According to Buddhism, the misconception of the self as substantial, unchanging, and eternal lies at the root of the psychological patterns that lead to immoral behavior. In order to develop ethical virtues to the extraordinary degree that Buddhism claims is possible, the practitioner must recognize the absence of any real self and the impermanence of the various changing factors that make up the empirical personality. The destruction of self-centered desires, then, necessarily depends on the realization that the elements of our experience arise and cease in each moment. But there is not just one Buddhist ethical view. The Buddhist tradition is rich and complex, and contains many voices. Indeed, with a very large number of authors—from a wide range of geographical regions and over a long period of time—having contributed to Buddhist discussions of how to live, it would be surprising if they all agreed on the full range of normative issues that they consider. Does it follow that Buddhist ethical teachings cannot be brought under any one single ethical theory? This book explores, in the context of the Madhyamaka form of Buddhist philosophy, how metaphysical teachings and ethical values that at first may seem contradictory can in fact support each other, enabling the practitioner to work for the benefit of all sentient beings.Less
This book examines ethics, which in Buddhism is intimately connected with the metaphysics of non-self and impermanence. According to Buddhism, the misconception of the self as substantial, unchanging, and eternal lies at the root of the psychological patterns that lead to immoral behavior. In order to develop ethical virtues to the extraordinary degree that Buddhism claims is possible, the practitioner must recognize the absence of any real self and the impermanence of the various changing factors that make up the empirical personality. The destruction of self-centered desires, then, necessarily depends on the realization that the elements of our experience arise and cease in each moment. But there is not just one Buddhist ethical view. The Buddhist tradition is rich and complex, and contains many voices. Indeed, with a very large number of authors—from a wide range of geographical regions and over a long period of time—having contributed to Buddhist discussions of how to live, it would be surprising if they all agreed on the full range of normative issues that they consider. Does it follow that Buddhist ethical teachings cannot be brought under any one single ethical theory? This book explores, in the context of the Madhyamaka form of Buddhist philosophy, how metaphysical teachings and ethical values that at first may seem contradictory can in fact support each other, enabling the practitioner to work for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Michael O'Neill
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- April 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198833697
- eISBN:
- 9780191874147
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198833697.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
This chapter addresses the question of poetic identity in the works of and literary relationship between Shelley and Byron. It identifies the mutual responsiveness of the two poets as well as their ...
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This chapter addresses the question of poetic identity in the works of and literary relationship between Shelley and Byron. It identifies the mutual responsiveness of the two poets as well as their responsiveness to the self in poetry. For both poets, there is a great awareness of the possibility to re-imagine the self through poetry: to ‘multiply’ and be multiplied, to become ‘immortal’ through the continuance of one’s ideas and poetic visions, and to be born again in the minds and hearts of those readers who are receptive to the poet’s creations. Both poets, through their poetic works, explore the value of poetry through different forms. Byron’s narrative form provides means by which he can explore the self through opposing poles. As the chapter points out, for Byron, ‘Stories fix and identify; but they are also the doorways towards novelty and escape’. Shelley’s intense lyricism provides an opportunity to test the imagination’s capacity for movement between poles, to be at once fixed and fluid. Both poets present identity through the lens of poetic surrogates through whom they explore notions of isolation, the concept of heroism, a sense of suffering, and the very mortal wish for the timelessness of the soul. The two authors also deftly probe the relationship between author and reader. The chapter also explores the converging and diverging ways in which Byron and Shelley respond to Wordsworthian ideas of identity. It details how the poets’ friendship and intellectual exchange ‘changed who they were as poets’. Throughout, the chapter examines the skill with which each poet creates his works, and traces how poetic form corresponds to poetic idea.Less
This chapter addresses the question of poetic identity in the works of and literary relationship between Shelley and Byron. It identifies the mutual responsiveness of the two poets as well as their responsiveness to the self in poetry. For both poets, there is a great awareness of the possibility to re-imagine the self through poetry: to ‘multiply’ and be multiplied, to become ‘immortal’ through the continuance of one’s ideas and poetic visions, and to be born again in the minds and hearts of those readers who are receptive to the poet’s creations. Both poets, through their poetic works, explore the value of poetry through different forms. Byron’s narrative form provides means by which he can explore the self through opposing poles. As the chapter points out, for Byron, ‘Stories fix and identify; but they are also the doorways towards novelty and escape’. Shelley’s intense lyricism provides an opportunity to test the imagination’s capacity for movement between poles, to be at once fixed and fluid. Both poets present identity through the lens of poetic surrogates through whom they explore notions of isolation, the concept of heroism, a sense of suffering, and the very mortal wish for the timelessness of the soul. The two authors also deftly probe the relationship between author and reader. The chapter also explores the converging and diverging ways in which Byron and Shelley respond to Wordsworthian ideas of identity. It details how the poets’ friendship and intellectual exchange ‘changed who they were as poets’. Throughout, the chapter examines the skill with which each poet creates his works, and traces how poetic form corresponds to poetic idea.
Alistair Fair
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198807476
- eISBN:
- 9780191845406
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198807476.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter examines how the idea of the modern playhouse as a substantial, purpose-built structure was challenged between the 1960s and the 1980s. It begins with theatres conceived in a spirit of ...
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This chapter examines how the idea of the modern playhouse as a substantial, purpose-built structure was challenged between the 1960s and the 1980s. It begins with theatres conceived in a spirit of impermanence and then continues, after brief discussion of more ‘participatory’ spaces, with mobile performance venues. The second half of the chapter considers a trend which became prominent during the 1970s, namely the restoration of Victorian and Edwardian theatres. Although in one sense the rehabilitation of these theatres represented a critique of modern architecture, the nature of the alterations made to these buildings in fact developed many of the same themes that also shaped the design of contemporaneous new theatres, as the concluding examples of York Theatre Royal and Liverpool Playhouse demonstrate.Less
This chapter examines how the idea of the modern playhouse as a substantial, purpose-built structure was challenged between the 1960s and the 1980s. It begins with theatres conceived in a spirit of impermanence and then continues, after brief discussion of more ‘participatory’ spaces, with mobile performance venues. The second half of the chapter considers a trend which became prominent during the 1970s, namely the restoration of Victorian and Edwardian theatres. Although in one sense the rehabilitation of these theatres represented a critique of modern architecture, the nature of the alterations made to these buildings in fact developed many of the same themes that also shaped the design of contemporaneous new theatres, as the concluding examples of York Theatre Royal and Liverpool Playhouse demonstrate.
