Books
BRILL Numen Book Series, 2018
Book description with Table of Contents.
This is a translation and assessment of Gyōnen’s (124... more Book description with Table of Contents.
This is a translation and assessment of Gyōnen’s (1240-1321) famous Sangoku buppō denzū engi (The Narrative History of the Transmission of the Buddha Dharma in Three Countries), hereafter referred to as Transmission of the Buddha Dharma. It is the first translation of that influential text into English. The three countries referred to in the title are India, China and Japan. The text describes the transmission of Indian Buddhism to China, Chinese Buddhism to Japan, and the subsequent development of a select number of the native Buddhist schools in China and Japan.
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Buddhism Goes to the Movies: Introduction to Buddhist Thought and Practice explains the basics of... more Buddhism Goes to the Movies: Introduction to Buddhist Thought and Practice explains the basics of Buddhist philosophy and practice through a number of dramatic films from around the world. This book introduces readers in a dynamic way to the major traditions of Buddhism: the Theravāda, and various interrelated Mahāyāna divisions including Zen, Pure Land and Tantric Buddhism. Students can use Ronald Green’s book to gain insights into classic Buddhist themes, including Buddhist awakening, the importance of the theory of dependent origination, the notion of no-self, and Buddhist ideas about life, death and why we are here. Contemporary developments are also explored, including the Socially Engaged Buddhism demonstrated by such figures as the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other Buddhist activists. Finally, comparisons between filmic expressions of Buddhism and more traditional artistic expressions of Buddhism—such as mandala drawings—are also drawn.
This file is a sample from the book. It includes the cover, title page, table of contents, and list of movies that feature representations of Buddhism.
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Blue Pine Books, 2013
The seventh in the series on Buddhism and peace published by Blue Pine Books. The series collects... more The seventh in the series on Buddhism and peace published by Blue Pine Books. The series collects academically sound essays on the topic. It is hoped that the collection will shed light on various movements in Buddhism and peace, and provide grounds for thinking about the issues involved.The series has published articles by Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926), who founded the Plum Village in France, by A. T. Ariyaratne (b. 1931), who started the Sarvodaya practice of conflict management in Sri Lanka, and the writings of numerous other Buddhist activists and scholars of Buddhist Studies. The seventh volume continues in this vein by offering fourteen admirable essays toward our continuing goal of sharing the spirit of compassion and thereby transforming conflict.For this volume, the editors chose articles that reflect Buddhist peace activism around the world, that characterize their regional activities, and that are presented from a variety of perspectives. Included are those about Korean Buddhism and peace (Mun and Koo), Japanese Buddhism and peace (Ogi, Satōand the Shōgyō-ji Archives Committee), Chinese Buddhism and peace (Lee),Indian Buddhism and peace (Huynh), and Myanmar Buddhism and peace(Long). Readers will also find the topic approached from a variety of perspectives including literary (Holt), comparative (Powell), political (Huynh),philosophical (Thompson), doctrinal (Varghese), and from perspectives of Socially Engaged Buddhism (Long). There are articles that describe actions of ecumenicists (Mun and Powell) and those that reflect the actions of specific Buddhist traditions (Long).
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Religious communities are among the largest social networks in the world. With billions of people... more Religious communities are among the largest social networks in the world. With billions of people across the globe aligning themselves with these communities, the world's religions hold a great potential for spreading peace and justice throughout the planet. Unfortunately, religions have too often pitted their affiliates in wars against those of other world religions and we continue to suffer from those conflicts today. In contrast, most major religions propagate messages of peace, loving kindness, and an end to afflictions around the world. In the modern era of easy global travel and communication, it is clear that such goals can only be realized when people come to respect religious differences and celebrate common human values. This book is a resource for understanding the peace philosophies and activities of world religions. It is hoped that readers might gain an understanding of the potentials religions hold for uniting large numbers of people in order to curtail violence and suffering.
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Conference Presentations
ASIANetwork Conference, 2024
This paper examines the rich and complex cosmological views held during the late Nara and early H... more This paper examines the rich and complex cosmological views held during the late Nara and early Heian periods in Japan, focusing on the contributions of two eminent Buddhist scholars, Gomyō (758-843) and Kūkai (774-835). Through an in-depth analysis of their writings, we explore the multifaceted Buddhist understanding of the universe and multiverse, encompassing its evolutionary cycles, structural organization, and the intricate geography of its worlds. As shown in other studies, knowledge of medicine, civil engineering, architecture, and other areas were often spread from other countries to Japan by Buddhist travelers and Indian Buddhist texts. 2 Gomyō's writing containing the description of the geography of the earth and beyond is Chapters Providing a Brief Study of the Mahāyāna Yogācāra (Daijō hossō kenjenshō, Taishō 2309) and Kūkai's is the Mysterious Maṇḍala of the Ten Abodes of Mind (Himitsu mandara jūjūshinron, Taishō 2425). Both of these writing are believed to have been composed in response to an imperial order around the year 830. They are considered to by a part of the Tenchō era Writings of Six Schools (Tenchō rokuhon shūsho).
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30th Annual ASIANetwork Conference, 2023
Using various media, Kūkai's biographies over the centuries have represented events in his life i... more Using various media, Kūkai's biographies over the centuries have represented events in his life in ways the correspond to his semiotic theory, which we are also doing in our project. The paper describes how Kūkai's view of simulacra, including that found in maṇḍala, are important to Kūkai's version of Shingon in relation to awakening.
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AAR Indian and Chinese Religions Compared Unit, 2018
This paper examines the influence of writings by Silla Yogācāra Buddhists on the formation of ort... more This paper examines the influence of writings by Silla Yogācāra Buddhists on the formation of orthodox interpretations within the Hossō tradition, Japanese Yogācāra. Part One, considers the frequency of citations of Silla masters and their texts in principal Hossō writings and suggests several implications of this. Some of the Silla writings used by Hossō thinkers in support of their views were specifically condemned by the Chinese Faxiang tradition. This contradicts descriptions by Gyōnen and other historians of Hossō as an imported copy of Faxiang. Part Two of the paper assesses four points of argument that persisted for centuries in Japanese Yogācāra and the relationship of these arguments to Silla interpretations. These arguments challenge Faxiang understandings of epistemology, ontology, and logic.
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PowerPoint on Nosatsu and Pilgrimage Signs along Shikoku Henro (750 miles / 1,200 kilometers). In... more PowerPoint on Nosatsu and Pilgrimage Signs along Shikoku Henro (750 miles / 1,200 kilometers). Includes discussion of recent allegations of discrimination against Korean pilgrims in Shikoku and Shikoku's bid for recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Presented at the 2017 Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast (ASPAC) conference, Salem, Oregon.
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Presented at the annual meeting of American Academy of Religion
San Francisco, November 19-22, 20... more Presented at the annual meeting of American Academy of Religion
San Francisco, November 19-22, 2011
This paper suggests that the early portrayals of the social work activities of the Japanese Buddhist Gyōki (668–749 CE) could have been based on, or related to, the Bodhisattva-bhūmi section of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra. The paper does not presume to know what Gyōki was thinking or if he really did any of the things attributed to him, but only addresses how he is represented in the official imperial history of the time, the Shoku Nihongi. It responds to a number of scholars who have opposed the possibility that Gyōki was influenced by the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra and who have offered commentary related to this topic.
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This is an annotated translation of selections from Shinzai’s Introduction to Kūkai’s Collected P... more This is an annotated translation of selections from Shinzai’s Introduction to Kūkai’s Collected Prose and Poetry and Kūkai’s poem “Interest in Going to the Mountains”. Kūkai’s collected prose and poetry is titled Henjō Hakki Shōryōsyū also called Henjō Hakki Seireishū (遍照発揮性霊集 Collection Divining the Spiritual Nature of Henjō), Henjō being Kūkai’s esoteric transformation name. Shinzai was one of Kūkai’s followers. The classical Chinese text used for these translations are found in the Kōbō Daishi Kūkai Zenshū, Volume 6. This paper also includes translations of the Japanese footnotes from those texts. “Interest in Going to the Mountains” is the third poem in Henjō Hakki Shōryōsyū / Seireishū.
That paper was present at the Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies. The footnotes were discussed as a part of the examination of Confucian and Daoist motifs.
Keywords:
Buddhist Literature, Buddhist Studies, Kūkai ( Kukai ), Kōbō Daishi, Buddhist Poetry
空海の詩, 性霊集弘法大師, 弘法大師空海全集
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Buddhism and the Environment
A study of Japanese Shingon Buddhist Cosmology, particular as it is represented in the Pilgrimage... more A study of Japanese Shingon Buddhist Cosmology, particular as it is represented in the Pilgrimage to 88 Temples in Shikoku. The paper describes the relationship of Shingon and the pilgrimage to Six Element theory, the Dual Mandala, the Three Mysteries, and Sokushin jōbutsu.
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This paper looks at how Masanobu Fukuoka adopts Chan Buddhist philosophy in relation to his Zen n... more This paper looks at how Masanobu Fukuoka adopts Chan Buddhist philosophy in relation to his Zen natural farming method. To understand this, it examines the development in Chinese Buddhism that allowed and required Buddhist to farm, defining farming as Buddhist practice. The paper is organized as follows.
I. Seeds in the Mahāyāna
II. Roots in Chan monastic regulations
III. Farming satori, Fukuoka’s writing on awakening.
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Drafts
This is a draft translation of the first fascicle of Kukai's Himitsu Mandala Jujushinron, Treatis... more This is a draft translation of the first fascicle of Kukai's Himitsu Mandala Jujushinron, Treatise on the Mysterious Mandala of the Ten Abodes of Mind.
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This paper examines what has been described as the most basic and essential element of Kūkai’s (7... more This paper examines what has been described as the most basic and essential element of Kūkai’s (774-835) religio-philosophical system (Yamasaki 1988:190), meditation on the Sanskrit syllable ‘A’. According to Shingon Buddhist tradition, Kūkai introduced the meditation on the
syllable ‘A’ (hereafter referred to as the Ajikan) into Japan in the early 9th century, at the time he transmitted the Shingon Dharma to that country from China. Materials clearly showing the origin and development of the Ajikan before Kūkai’s time have either not been discovered or have not
been analyzed in relationship to the Ajikan. Indeed, some researchers have argued that the use of ‘A’ as a device for meditation arose as either a Chinese or a Japanese mistranslation of the Mahavairocana-sūtra. The present paper is an attempt to contribute to research on the
development of the Ajikan by pointing to related references in writings typically associated with earlier traditions.
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This paper describes Kuiji’s detailed analysis of individual capacities, which is the philosophic... more This paper describes Kuiji’s detailed analysis of individual capacities, which is the philosophical basis of his entire system of enlightenment. Our treatment of his scheme includes a description of his breakdown of (1) Two aspects of Buddha-Nature, (2) Three Steps in the Process of Transformation (3) Two Divisions of the Basis (4) Five Gotras, and (5) Three types of icchantika. We begin by describing the background to Kuiji’s understanding.
Draft prepared for presentation at the 2017 meeting of the South Carolina Society for Philosophy.
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This is an annotated translation of the 103rd entry in the Henjō hokki shōryōshū (or seireishū), ... more This is an annotated translation of the 103rd entry in the Henjō hokki shōryōshū (or seireishū), which is the second entry in scroll 10 of that document: "Dedication of the memorial image commemorating the late Venerable Master Gonzō, with preface (故贈僧正勤操大徳影讚并序)."
The translation is based on the classical Chinese text found on pages 772-3 in Volume 6 of the Kōbō Daishi Kūkai Zenshū (KKZ) with reference to the Japanese translations on pages 651-8 and the endnotes on pages 701-7 in that collection.
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Ceremony for the establishment of the Shugei Shuchiin School, with preface (綜藝種智 院式幷序). "Shugei S... more Ceremony for the establishment of the Shugei Shuchiin School, with preface (綜藝種智 院式幷序). "Shugei Shuchiin" is the Institution for Cultivating Knowledge of a Broad Weaving of Arts. This an annotated translation entry 102 in the Henjō Hakki Shōryōshu, the 1st entry in Scroll Number 10 of that document found in Volume 6 of the Kōbō Daishi Kūkai Zenshū. In this talk, Kūkai explains his idea and solicits funds to help establish Shugei Shuchiin, which became one of the first non-governmental and non-aristocratic schools in Japan. It was a school open to all people and encouraged education in a broad array of arts and sciences. Shugei Shuchiin became a long-enduring school in Heian (Kyoto) and its location is still commemorated there today.
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This translates the 112 classical Chinese titles in the 10-scroll collection of Kūkai’s poems, wo... more This translates the 112 classical Chinese titles in the 10-scroll collection of Kūkai’s poems, works of prose, prayers, dedications, birthday wishes, appeals for funding, etc., gathered by his disciple Shinzai under the title Henjō Hakki Shōryōshu (“Divining the Spiritual Nature of The Everywhere-illuminating”, i.e., Kūkai.). Whereas most of the other writings in the Complete Works of Kōbō Daishi Kūkai expound Shingon doctrine, these are largely either poetic renderings or matters of practical business. Because Kūkai was interested in special uses of language, his poems are of particular importance. The practical writings can inform us of the actual early history of the Japanese Shingon tradition.
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An introduction to and translation of the opening sections of the Shikoku Henro Diary of Japanese... more An introduction to and translation of the opening sections of the Shikoku Henro Diary of Japanese free-verse haiku poet and itinerant Buddhist priest Taneda Santōka (1882-1940).
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Books
This is a translation and assessment of Gyōnen’s (1240-1321) famous Sangoku buppō denzū engi (The Narrative History of the Transmission of the Buddha Dharma in Three Countries), hereafter referred to as Transmission of the Buddha Dharma. It is the first translation of that influential text into English. The three countries referred to in the title are India, China and Japan. The text describes the transmission of Indian Buddhism to China, Chinese Buddhism to Japan, and the subsequent development of a select number of the native Buddhist schools in China and Japan.
This file is a sample from the book. It includes the cover, title page, table of contents, and list of movies that feature representations of Buddhism.
Conference Presentations
San Francisco, November 19-22, 2011
This paper suggests that the early portrayals of the social work activities of the Japanese Buddhist Gyōki (668–749 CE) could have been based on, or related to, the Bodhisattva-bhūmi section of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra. The paper does not presume to know what Gyōki was thinking or if he really did any of the things attributed to him, but only addresses how he is represented in the official imperial history of the time, the Shoku Nihongi. It responds to a number of scholars who have opposed the possibility that Gyōki was influenced by the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra and who have offered commentary related to this topic.
That paper was present at the Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies. The footnotes were discussed as a part of the examination of Confucian and Daoist motifs.
Keywords:
Buddhist Literature, Buddhist Studies, Kūkai ( Kukai ), Kōbō Daishi, Buddhist Poetry
空海の詩, 性霊集弘法大師, 弘法大師空海全集
Buddhism and the Environment
I. Seeds in the Mahāyāna
II. Roots in Chan monastic regulations
III. Farming satori, Fukuoka’s writing on awakening.
Drafts
syllable ‘A’ (hereafter referred to as the Ajikan) into Japan in the early 9th century, at the time he transmitted the Shingon Dharma to that country from China. Materials clearly showing the origin and development of the Ajikan before Kūkai’s time have either not been discovered or have not
been analyzed in relationship to the Ajikan. Indeed, some researchers have argued that the use of ‘A’ as a device for meditation arose as either a Chinese or a Japanese mistranslation of the Mahavairocana-sūtra. The present paper is an attempt to contribute to research on the
development of the Ajikan by pointing to related references in writings typically associated with earlier traditions.
Draft prepared for presentation at the 2017 meeting of the South Carolina Society for Philosophy.
The translation is based on the classical Chinese text found on pages 772-3 in Volume 6 of the Kōbō Daishi Kūkai Zenshū (KKZ) with reference to the Japanese translations on pages 651-8 and the endnotes on pages 701-7 in that collection.
This is a translation and assessment of Gyōnen’s (1240-1321) famous Sangoku buppō denzū engi (The Narrative History of the Transmission of the Buddha Dharma in Three Countries), hereafter referred to as Transmission of the Buddha Dharma. It is the first translation of that influential text into English. The three countries referred to in the title are India, China and Japan. The text describes the transmission of Indian Buddhism to China, Chinese Buddhism to Japan, and the subsequent development of a select number of the native Buddhist schools in China and Japan.
This file is a sample from the book. It includes the cover, title page, table of contents, and list of movies that feature representations of Buddhism.
San Francisco, November 19-22, 2011
This paper suggests that the early portrayals of the social work activities of the Japanese Buddhist Gyōki (668–749 CE) could have been based on, or related to, the Bodhisattva-bhūmi section of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra. The paper does not presume to know what Gyōki was thinking or if he really did any of the things attributed to him, but only addresses how he is represented in the official imperial history of the time, the Shoku Nihongi. It responds to a number of scholars who have opposed the possibility that Gyōki was influenced by the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra and who have offered commentary related to this topic.
That paper was present at the Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies. The footnotes were discussed as a part of the examination of Confucian and Daoist motifs.
Keywords:
Buddhist Literature, Buddhist Studies, Kūkai ( Kukai ), Kōbō Daishi, Buddhist Poetry
空海の詩, 性霊集弘法大師, 弘法大師空海全集
I. Seeds in the Mahāyāna
II. Roots in Chan monastic regulations
III. Farming satori, Fukuoka’s writing on awakening.
syllable ‘A’ (hereafter referred to as the Ajikan) into Japan in the early 9th century, at the time he transmitted the Shingon Dharma to that country from China. Materials clearly showing the origin and development of the Ajikan before Kūkai’s time have either not been discovered or have not
been analyzed in relationship to the Ajikan. Indeed, some researchers have argued that the use of ‘A’ as a device for meditation arose as either a Chinese or a Japanese mistranslation of the Mahavairocana-sūtra. The present paper is an attempt to contribute to research on the
development of the Ajikan by pointing to related references in writings typically associated with earlier traditions.
Draft prepared for presentation at the 2017 meeting of the South Carolina Society for Philosophy.
The translation is based on the classical Chinese text found on pages 772-3 in Volume 6 of the Kōbō Daishi Kūkai Zenshū (KKZ) with reference to the Japanese translations on pages 651-8 and the endnotes on pages 701-7 in that collection.
of Kukai's prose, poems, and prayers known as the Henjō hakki seireishū (or shōryōshū), (遍照発揮性霊集, Collected Works Divining the Spiritual Nature of Henjō, i.e., Kūkai), preserved in the sixth volume of the Kōbō Daishi Kūkai zenshū (KKZ, 弘法大師空海全集, Complete Works of Kōbō Daishi Kūkai. It begins with Kūkai's explanatory prose, which he added after returning to Japan.
When translating Kūkai 's Chinese, we consulted the Japanese translation and commentary notes included in the Volume 6 of the KKZ as well as other dictionaries and encyclopedias. We also referred to other writings by Kūkai in the KKZ.
Kūkai described his knowledge of esoteric Buddhism as coming directly from Huiguo. Therefore, his portrayal of the master is particularly useful for understanding the early development of Shingon as well as Kūkai himself.
He moved to Tobe, a town located in Iyo District, Ehime Prefecture, Japan and set up a residence he called "Tanpopodo" (Dandilion Hall). It was his daily routine to get up at 1 o'clock every morning to offer an early prayer at the nearby Shigenobu River. Many of his poems are easy to understand and everyone from elementary school students to business workers loved them. His poem “If you pray, flowers will bloom” is particularly well loved and it has been translated into many languages.
While Astro Boy is Tezuka’s best known work in America, he equally portrays Buddha as an innocent boy who rejects the political intrigues and imperialism drawn around him. In this way, Tezuka’s Buddha retains an original purity in his heart, a Japanese post-war ideal and optimistic portrayal of the future potential of the country and the world. With reference to some of his other works, the paper describes how Buddha represents Tezuka’s own ideas as much as the canonical Buddhist telling of the life story.
Issue 2 Fall 2015 Article 4.
The thesis begins with a critical review of the Sociology of Time literature. It them proposes an organizational scheme for what the author sees as distinctive and sometimes incompatible subdivisions within the Sociology of Time. These include areas of study as disparate as the subjective passing of duration (studies in ethnomethodology that use theories by Husserl and Heidegger) to the social impact of the organization timetable of train schedules and time zones in America.
The thesis concludes by applying Karl Mannheim's theory of religious views of time found in Ideology and Utopia to a content analysis of public statements made by members to the the West German Green Party (Die Grünen) in the 1980s.