The Buddhist Ineffable Self and a Possible Indian Political Subject

ABSTRACT

It is well known that the sovereign, the cakkavatin, in India is the one who turns the wheel of dhamma. What is not so well appreciated is that the Buddha’s dhammachakkapabbatana, the turning of the wheel of dhamma and the attainment of nibbana, can be read as a political act, involving the emergence of a political subject. It will be seen that the 4th Century AD Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu’s vijnanavadin notion of the Ineffable Self (anavilapya atman) helps us unravel the epistemological underpinnings of the political subject in consonance with the revolutionary act of turning the wheel of dhamma. Seen in this light, we can better appreciate B. R. Ambedkar’s attempt at treating Buddhism as the “Revolution” against the Brahminical “Counter-Revolution,” something whose implications unfold almost daily in India’s political struggles. What can be called (in academic-speak) Buddha’s “pluralist non-essentialist framework,” even a convergence of sorts between Buddha and Spinoza, does not necessarily exclude the notion of a revolutionary political subject. This opens up the possibility of reading Buddha's notion of the turning of the wheel of dhamma alongside more recent ideas of revolution as another turning and churning.     

中国藏传佛教研究60年(英文)

<正>Tibetan Buddhism is not only one of the two branches of Mahayana Buddhism, but also one of the two most important and evolving traditions of the contemporary Buddhism world. It has     

中国藏传佛教艺术研究的进展(英文)

In the last ten years Tibetan studies has made great strides in China.Many scholars have shifted their interests to Tibetan art and gradually realized that these artistic works,containing the ideal of wisdom and compassion,will give them the key to this mysterious     

上世纪三、四十年代僧界佛教会改革试论

上世纪三、四十年代,僧界有识之士对佛教会的会员、会务及组织形式等进行了一系列的改革,其目的主要是：通过对会员的改革以纯洁佛教会,改变其为少数人所把持、操纵的局面;通过对会务的改革以改变佛教会以护持教产为己任,而忽略内部之整顿与建设的局面;通过组织形式的改革使佛教会处在统一的佛教行政系统之下,以改变佛教会行政系统混乱的局面。尽管此次改革效果并不理想,但仍有值得肯定的积极意义,也为以后佛教会的改革提供了一定的借鉴。     

Of Palaces and Pagodas: Palatial Symbolism in the Buddhist Architecture of Early Medieval China

This paper is an inquiry into possible motivations for representing timber-frame architecture in the Buddhist context. By comparing the architectural language of early Buddhist narrative panels and cave temples rendered in stone, I suggest that architectural representation was employed in both masonry and timber to create symbolically charged worship spaces. The replication and multiplication of palace forms on cave walls, in “pagodas” (futu 浮圖, fotu 佛圖, or ta 塔), and as the crowning element of free-standing pillars reflect a common desire to express and harness divine power, a desire that resulted in a wide variety of mountainous monuments in China. Finally, I provide evidence to suggest that the towering Buddhist monuments of early medieval China are linked morphologically and symbolically to the towering temples of South Asia through the use of both palace forms and sacred ma alas as a means to express the divine power and expansive presence of the Buddha.     

The geography of religions: Comparing Buddhist and Taoist sacred mountains in China

Increasing attention has been given to geographical contributions to cultural heritage in religion. However, comparative quantitative research remains scarce. As a first attempt, this study presents findings from comparative spatial and statistical analyses of the geographical distribution and features of mountains in China sacred in Taoism and Buddhism. Because both have strong orientations to natural environments, we find more similarities than differences between them, even though the two religions have different origins, philosophies, and doctrines. The results empirically support the influences of Taoism on Buddhism in China, findings that supplement current understandings of Buddhism in China in terms of the geographical dynamics of integration and sinicisation of Chinese culture. The findings also enrich current debates, including in this journal, emphasising the importance of environmental symbols in studies on geography and religion. Connecting humanity with physical geography in light of the changes, including grief, being wrought in the Anthropocene, we hope to inspire more geographically grounded and methodologically eclectic studies on religions.     

中古时期西北佛教译经文化区域考论

佛典之翻译是佛教在中国传播的基础,汉译佛典的绝大部分完成于中古时期。中古时期,西北地区形成了西域、河西、关中三大译经文化区域,译经中心大都位于交通要道或都城附近。中古西北佛教译经文化活动重心久在西域,晋唐时期转向了关中。     

佛教美术上的仁兽

本文考察了佛教美术中仁兽的表现形式及其详细情况.     

试论佛教石窟中的飞天

本运用史籍献、实物资料探讨了佛教石窟寺绘塑造像中的飞天在佛教弘传中的功用。飞天造形艺术的产生、发展,外来中国化的演变过程。     

Conceiving the Republic of Mankind: The Political Thought of Anacharsis Cloots

During the French Revolution, Jean-Baptiste “Anacharsis” Cloots (1755–1794) developed a theory of the world state as the means to guarantee perpetual peace for mankind. Though his ideas have largely been misunderstood, Cloots's political writings were in fact an extensive plea for a more cosmopolitan understanding of the French Revolution. His system adapted institutions and concepts of the French revolutionary republic for a world state, the republic of mankind. This essay recovers his political vision and connects it both to the heritage of eighteenth-century political thought, especially Rousseau, and to revolutionary political culture. The goal is to retrieve the meaning of Cloots's universal republic, and with it a chapter in the history of cosmopolitan thought.     

从鸠摩罗什的生平活动和译经来看佛教在中土的弘传

鸠摩罗什是我国古代著名的译经学家,也是我国佛教史上的中心人物之一。罗什七岁出家,学习佛法,聪慧特异,悟解出众。入华后罗什曾滞留凉州多年,这为他以后的译经事业奠定了一定的基础。罗什的译经及其对佛教的弘传,从中国佛教史上来看,可以说获得了极大的成功,但他自己并不满意。罗什最为遗憾之处,当是对佛教学理探究层次的深浅以及方法论的问题,这也反映出中外文化的差异。     

米兰佛寺考

一、发掘、调查与研究回顾 1906年,斯坦因于新疆塔里木盆地东南的偏远小镇——米兰发掘了几座佛教寺院,发现早期佛教壁画和文书,著名的如“有翼天使”等佛画,     

佛教美术中的维摩诘题材释读

维摩诘题材是中国佛教美术中最为重要且常见的题材之一。早在佛教东渐之初的两汉时期,以维摩诘为主角的《维摩诘经》已经被介绍来中国,伴随经典的翻译传播,维摩诘所代表的融通世、出世间,注重理、行不二的大乘佛教理念在中国寻得了大众,特别是具有儒家传统而兼出世情怀的士大夫阶层的普遍认可,而经中表述的丰富多彩的情节与生动鲜明的形象更使得维摩诘成为远自魏晋以来,广及绘画、雕塑以及诗歌、戏剧、音乐等各个艺术门类的重要题材[1],这使得它在中国文化发展史上的作用,甚至超出了其于宗教范畴内的意义。本文拟就维摩诘作为美术题材的发生、发展及其通例表现形式的宗教蕴意作通览性的考察与探究。     

云冈石窟佛衣类型

云冈石窟主要雕凿于北魏中后期,分为三期。第一期及第二期造像为太和改制以前流行的佛衣,多沿袭印度传统,其中勾联纹覆肩袒右佛衣可能是在云冈形成的样式。第二期太和改制以后及第三期盛行的佛衣,偏重汉地传统,大概多与南朝的影响有关。甘肃天水麦积山石窟与敦煌莫高窟早期洞窟中流行勾联纹覆肩袒右佛衣,推测两地早期洞窟中佛像始凿的时间不早于云冈第一期。北魏迁都洛阳后,云冈的佛衣在龙门石窟继续发展。     

Painted Textiles in a Buddhist Temple

Abstract

This article investigates women's dye practice at a time when natural dyes were deemed obsolete, or when created by men working from an artisanal studio, transformed into idealized labour more consistent with the ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The objective of this article is to assess the extent to which gender plays a role in the historical and contemporary determination of the aesthetic, cultural, and social value of natural dyeing. Another goal is to move away from the term 'craft work' with its acquired pejorative context and locate dyeing within 'artisanal practice' as an occupational choice. Current studies on women's participation in the Arts and Crafts Movement raise questions as to the distinction between amateur and professional status among practitioners in many media. The only dyer deemed to be 'professional' was William Morris; yet in north-west Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, and England's Lake District, female dyers contemporary with Morris also made important contributions. That their production of colour originated from the separate sphere of home need not mitigate against professional status nor historical value, but there is a lingering perception that men such as Morris possessed inherently superior abilities. The focus of this article is also to analyze the mythology of natural dyeing which has limited the opportunity to recognize female dyers whose practice aligned with the utopian ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Three examples are discussed here against a brief summary of centuries of women's involvement in the business and trade of dyeing. The Arts and Crafts dyers discussed in this paper are also compared to Morris. Women's abilities as colourists were as worthy of professional designation as were those same skills when they emanated from men who comprised the Movement's elite.