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Tetra-lemma with four truth values "true", "false", "true and false", "neither true nor false" appeared in Buddhist logic. Why is Tetra-lemma interesting forus? It is for its avatars, in some cases, in the context of Western epistemology. In these fugitive notes, without claiming completeness, we will focus on how Tetra-lemma slipped in some systems of Western philosophy.
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Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), one of the greatest contemporary Indian thinkers, discussed the problem of comparative study of religion and faith on the grounds of global pluralism and religious diversity. He presented his views in numerous poetical works but he also delivered many speeches, mostly addressed to Western audiences. In his writing, Tagore often uses the English term “religion” and the Sanskrit term dharma interchangeably. This article focuses on both key terms and on the question whether they may be seen as equivalent according to him. To answer this question one needs to consider their etymological meanings but also Tagore’s concepts of the so called “Man the Eternal” and “Divinity in Man”.
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The paper deals with the issue as to whether early Buddhism can be defined as a philosophy or as a religion. My analysis starts with the definition of the Buddha as the discoverer of the Dharma — the ancient and ennobling path (purāṇa‑, ariya‑magga) — which has made him the exalted teacher of gods and people. Then, after characterizing the possible meanings of Abhidharma in the context of their presence in canonical statements expressing Dharma, I draw conclusions about the connection or lack of connection between philosophy and soteriology in the teaching of the Buddha. Finally, after recalling the canonical statements of Buddha on his status, I conclude that the characterization of early Buddhism as a religion is also questionable.
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The paper offers a close examination of the Mahābhārata’s adhyāya 5,70, one of the more interesting and representative chapters to analyse Yudhiṣṭhira’s attitude on the dharma of the king and warfare. In this long chapter addressing Kṛṣṇa (before the latter’s diplomatic mission to Kauravas), the king deprived of his kingdom presents two different attitudes. On one hand, he states that even though peaceful conflict resolution would be the best to regain the kingdom, the war must be accepted if it is inevitable. On the other hand, he expresses his disapproval of war as evil in any form (MBh 5,70.44-66). Yudhiṣṭhira’s ambivalent utterance is analysed against the background of early Buddhist ethics (as represented in the Pāli Canon), totally condemning war, and other passages from the Mahābhārata, especially those glorifying the dharma of kṣatriyas.
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In the present article some unpublished Buddhist Sogdian texts belonging to the German Turfan collection are studied. Apart from a small fragment from the Sogdian version of the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-mahā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra , I selected those texts which belong to categories unknown or not well represented among the Buddhist Sogdian texts published so far. Thus, specimens of the vinaya literature, Zen Buddhism and apocryphal texts are cited. One group of fragments contains Tocharian loanwords and is likely to have been translated from Tocharian, while another group is unique in that it is provided with a colophon in the Uighur language. Finally, various forms denoting “bodhisattva” are collected and in light of their distribution and number of occurrences among the texts I challenge the generally accepted view that they came into Sogdian via Parthian, and that the Uighur form bodisavt had its origin in Sogdian.
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The subject matter of this paper is Buddhist economics in theory and practice. The goal is to point out the main concepts of Buddhist economics, which is different from Western mainstream economics, and then explain how applying Buddhist teachings to business can possibly improve societal well-being and the condition of the natural environment. The main contribution of the article is twofold. Firstly, it aims to plumb the literature to identify characteristics of Buddhist economics, which is a relatively new field. Secondly, it compares Buddhist enterprises to relatively well-known social enterprises, showing the main differences between them. “Buddhist ideas in practice” are illustrated by examples of such companies as Benefit System or Patagonia. The main conclusion is that money and wealth are allowed in Buddhism, but religion reminds people not to become attached to their possessions and to share them with others. Examples described in the paper lead to an awareness that economic activity can be a means to a noble life. New criteria of assessment of business success including social engagement and care for the environment should be created. Thus, deep institutional changes which redefine the roles and duties of business would be required. The paper is based on literature, documents and online sources. The research methods used are the critique of literature covering the subject matter, comparative analysis and elements of case studies.
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Wabi-Sabi may be associated with sprezzatura in terms of its use and meaning. Faultlessness and perfection creates feelings of doubt about authenticity and legitimacy as provoking feeling of artificiality in our senses. Sprezzatura may be regarded as a balancing factor against synthetic feelings of perfection. It is a prevalent opinion that hedonism and over indulgence may turn into depression and eventually turn into an existential crisis. Cha no yu is a ceremonial tea ritual structured in the 16th Century Japan by Rikyū based on a philosophy to contemplate about existence. Tranquility and peace experienced during this ritual constructed around Zen philosophy, as a contemplative process in the spirit of Wabi Sabi. Wabi Sabi and sprezzatura, both require authenticity and effortlessness in unification with nature and existence. The values related to Wabi-Sabi such as simplicity, austerity, modesty, humility, imperfection, authenticity, and asymmetry are the reflections of spiritual-existential reality and they also show associations with sprezzatura. Wabi-Sabi and sprezzatura are investigated in this study within their stylistic characteristics, roots, and philosophical backgrounds. The study was designed as phenomenology. Conceptual discourse analysis and content analysis methods were employed to analyze information. Wabi-Sabi is also investigated in relation to Stoicism, Janteloven, and minimalism.
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The Hungarian — Mongolian Joint Expedition aiming to investigate the languages and folk culture of West-and North-Mongolian ethnic groups started its research in 1991. Taking part in the activity of the expedition I had the opportunity to observe the renewed activity of the monks’ communities that became possible due to the political changes in 1990. In this article I will present a few folksongs with Buddhist content recorded from old Dsakhchin monks. This noteworthy new source material substantially contributes to the study of the Buddhist culture among the Mongols. A short description of genre analysis will be attached to each song.
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The Period of Old Uighur Turkish It is a period in which cultural concepts, terms and words are exchanged in written language dimension within the historical development and change of Turkish. Especially in the period when Buddhism was effective and widespread, many of the words, concepts and terms related to religious terminology have been translated into Turkish by translating the themed and themed works into Turkish by Kagan and the commanders. These terms, concepts and words that are translated into Turkish; It is related to the disciplines of social sciences (religion, literature, politics, etc.) as well as to the disciplines of science. Thanks to the interdisciplinary link, the belief that birth and death in Buddhism is not only mystical; In the biological dimension, it is seen that the biological terminology formed in the works written in the written language also occurs. The language features of the texts of the period, the ability of the language to express concepts and terms have emerged through the interlingual translations. Jens Wilkens' research is also valuable and remarkable in this respect. In this study, J. Wilkens' Human Embryos According to Old Uighur Buddhist Texts was translated into Turkish and presented to the attention of researchers.
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As humans are finite beings, they have sought to understand and find the infinite throughout history. Theologians, philosophers, physicists, logicians, and mathematicians among those of other disciplines have all emphasized and tried to explain the notion of infinity in different ways. Ancient Greek philosopher Anaximander was one of the first Westerners to delve into this topic. Indian holy books serve as the first Eastern examples. In Buddhism, the concept colti nayuta literally meaning too many to count expresses infinity. One particular manuscript, the Surya Prajnapti, divides numbers into those that are countable, uncountable, and infinite. Several Old Uyghur translations of Buddhist texts contain many a word that loosely describes infinity. This study will explore that, and examine how the Uyghurs used to perceive infinity by examining between language and thought.
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This paper deals with the bodily attractiveness of heroines and heroes, as described in one of the two most important epics of India. The basis for this analysis is the love stories and episodes included in the main plot of the Vanaparvan, the third book of the Mahābhārata. The stories from this book have been taken into consideration due to their numerous occurrences, which are a sufficient ground for generalizations. many characteristic features of their protagonists are repeated in different sub ‑stories. Also, the images of female and male characters, princesses, queens and kings are presented and discussed in detail. the external beauty of such female heroines as Damayantī, Sāvitrī, Sukanyā, Suśobhanā and Sitā; as well as the attractiveness of two semi‑goddesses, called Apsarases, are described and analysed. the names of the Apsarases discussed in the context of female beauty are Urvaśī and menakā. Besides this, the image of an unnamed courtesan is discussed, as it is the most detailed description of a female character and probably follows the ideal of female beauty as shown in the Mahābhārata. As far as the male protagonists are concerned, the images of heroes such as nala, Bhīma, Aśvapati, Rāma and Daśaratha are taken into consideration. The examples of male attractiveness also include features of the five main heroes of the Mahābhārata: the Paṇḍava brothers.
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The 'Ba'-rom-pa subsect of the Tibetan Buddhist Bka'-brgyud-pa sect played an instrumental role in establishing the cult of Mahākāla at the court of the last Tangut emperors. The cult was a major element in ritual Tibetan Buddhist practices utilised to empower these Tangut emperors in the mundane world. It is from this tradition that the practice of propitiating Mahākāla came to be adopted by the Tangut state's Mongol conquerors. Over the last several years, a number of new sources have become available that detail aspects of the 'Ba'-rom-pa role at the Tangut court. Using them allows for a deeper understanding of the life of Ti-shrī Ras-pa, the last Tibetan imperial preceptor at that court, and of his place in the transmission of teachings that included the explicitly power-oriented Mahākāla instructions transmitted by Rtsa-mi lo-tsā-ba. These sources also cast new light on the existing accounts of the Mongol siege of the Tangut capitol, from a Tibetan perspective, and permit us to make some reasonable identifications of the Tangut emperors mentioned in Tibetan sources with those mentioned in Chinese sources.
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Corruption is the greatest pitfall of Indian democracy; it gradually erodes the faith of the Indian citizens in parliamentary democracy. Another disconcerting trend is the crim-inalization of politics which has emerged as a natural corollary to political corruption. The failure to deal with political corruption and criminalization has led to the deprava-tion of political morality in India. It is against this backdrop that the article would exam-ine the issues of political corruption and criminalization of politics in India. The article would end by providing the “Gandhian” solution to this problem.
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Mahatma Gandhi was a visionary, a supreme leader, a social activist, a philosopher, and a great freedom fighter. He was the pioneer of truth, love, peace, and non-violence (ahimsa) as the means for a peaceful world. This paper deals with the theoretical and practical relevance of Indian ethics concerning the Gandhian concept of Sarvodaya, used to achieve sustainability, social, economic and environmental uplift. The paper critically evaluates the western model of sustainability, and highlights various theoretical aspects of Indian ethics. Specifically, it focuses on the Gandhian sustainability model in Sarvodaya, and attempts to balance the two theories for the practical purpose of sustainability and the need for the present situation.
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The notion of the Subaltern has come to have deep roots in understanding postcolonial history. Established by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, it has come to define the essence of global cultural relations, as we perceive them today. However, the origin of this theory could not have been less regional, with a starting point in Calcutta in the first half of the 20th century. The way in which it describes the relations of power between India and the British Empire gives place to a global understanding of a dominant culture took control of subjects in minority. This paper is going to seek to expose the roots of the notion of Subalterns, not refraining from touching upon disparities between genders, nations, and traditions.
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Time is one of the main themes in Olga Tokarczuk’s work. The title of her most famous novel, Prawiek i inne czasy (Primeval and Other Times), refers to time; also it is time which separates the protagonists of Dom dzienny, dom nocny (House of Day, House of Night) from the God; the characters from Księgi Jakubowe (The Books of Jacob) and Podróż ludzi księgi (Journey of the People of the Book) are immersed into it, and time is the object of thought in Ostatnie historie (Latest Stories). Creating different worlds, Tokarczuk uses a concepts of time (and space) typical for Gnosticism; she also refers to Kaballah of Isaac Luria and Zen Buddhism, or she evokes the theological concepts of two times: chronos and kairos. The aim of this article is to reconstruct a picture of time which appears in Tokarczuk’s works and find the sources of those concepts. The protagonists belief that time is a side effect of a cosmic catastrophe, in Kabbalah known as shevirat ha-kelim – “the breaking of the vessels” is an interesting one. In Prawiek i inne czasy every protagonists, and also animals and objects, has its own, separate time. There is also an image of time and space – taken from Gnosticism – as a prison in which man was imprisoned by the evil Demiurge. Over the world of the protagonists, trapped in historic time, there are space of myth in which time is not flowing, whereas for plants and animals there is only the present time. Olga Tokarczuk is one of the authors in whose novels time – as a topic and phenomenon – appears very often, and the image of time, although unique and typical for her works, is composed of images taken from various religious traditions.
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This paper deals with critical analysis of western hedonism in the light of Indian theory of peace. Indian Philosophers have made ‘peace’ the goal of worldly human life, which is keeping equidistance from pleasure and pain. Attachment is the reason behind the presence of these two ‘sovereign masters’ of Human life. External thing or any other human being is not capable of indulging us either of them; it is the worldly attachment which brings Pleasure and pain. Pleasure and pain always come together. Western Hedonists could not go to the root of pleasure or pain in life. Their observation was mere empirical. Indian thinkers, except those of Carvaka school, have given a particular philosophy which is Peace oriented and which finds worldly pleasures or pains temporary and mostly ‘man-made’.
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Could the presuppositions behind the distinction between theory and practice in the realm of yoga be misguided, if not misleading? To approach this question, this paper drafts a meta-perspective gleaned from the thought of three thinkers credited with the earliest Indian doxographies, namely the sixth-century philosopher of Madhyamaka Buddhism, Bhāviveka, the seventh-century Jaina logician Haribhadra Sūri, and the eighth-century Advaita-Vedānta philosopher Śaṅkarācārya. The paper examines the notion of “view” entertained in Indian thought, and suggests that yoga is particularly interested in shaping views. It draws a distinction between the notions of “practice” and “praxis,” arguing that the latter best captures the “yoga” of our authors. The paper then discusses the transformative role of hermeneutics and how, when combined with dialectic, it captures the essence of “scholastic praxis.” Finally, it presents a traditional framework to elucidate the interplay of hermeneutic praxis and soteriology within Buddhism, with brief references to similar patterns in the work of our two non-Buddhist authors. The self-transformative aspect of hermeneutics has so far received little attention and requires further research. This paper is an attempt in that direction.
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Religion plays a significant role in structuring and maintaining a society by enforcing certain morals and norms. Like any other religion, Hinduism has guided the Hindus to live in a particular way since time immemorial. India is predominantly a Hindu society and Hinduism has had a huge impact on the structure, function and culture of Indian societies. Ancient Hindu scriptures like the Vedas and Upanishads show profound respect for the feminine principle. It is the Supreme Being, from who all emanate. A woman is a Goddess to be worshipped. During ancient times, the condition of women was in conformity with the religion and they enjoyed freedom, equality and liberty in all spheres of life. However, subsequently, the emergence of texts like the Epics, Smritis, Sastras, vernacular writings and oral traditions, redefined an ideal woman and led to the practices where women were subservient to men. This dissonance and conflict between religious beliefs and practices has strengthened in present times, and has witnessed a steep rise in the number of crimes against women. Increasing domestic violence, sexual violation, female feticide, dowry deaths, declining ratio of women and men and the taboos (arising from having a female body, such as, menstruation) are causing not only distress but also widespread criticism and revolt among women and society at large. Despite the Indian Constitution rejecting any kind of discrimination against women and deeming it unlawful, these inhuman atrocities against women are on the rise. More than ever, there is a need to take refuge in the religion (early Vedic period), not to be too staunch, but to be flexible, democratic and liberal in our outlook with dynamic times and ever shifting contexts. This paper proposes to study (with particular reference to India), the religious beliefs in Hinduism concerning women, and the gradual discord between the beliefs and practices leading to discrimination against women in many spheres today.
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In this study the concept of trinity, father, son and holy spirit, which are considered as Three Elements of Christianity, will be compared with “Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu”, the Indian Trinity, which co-symbolizes the Christian Trinity and the Pantheon of Hinduism. Trinity means trilogy. Accordingly, in the Christian faith Jesus Christ is a God. He was born without a father. Trinity of God means that Jesus and the Spirit are Incorporated in the same person. According to the Indian Trimurtis, Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu are the holy trinity of God. These three coexist with three heads in one body and form one God. Brahma signifies the so-called creator, Vishnu the protector and Shiva the destroying power. According to this understanding, Manu is a man just like Jesus Christ, and it is God Brahma who created him. God Vishnu descended to the earth in order to teach people how an exemplary person should be. This politheistic belief in incarnation is called “Avatara.. In this study, these two beliefs and cultures will be compared, in particular, the Trinity Concept. However, the disagreement between a single God which cannot be considered higher than himself and the incarnation of more than one God in the same body will be discussed. The similarities and differences between Christian and Indian Trinity will be manifested. This problem will be explained within the framework of the concepts that make up the dynamics of these approaches. In addition, in order to clarify the subject, monotheism in general, in particular the concept of monotheism in Islam, will be clarified to make ambiguous points comprehensible by comparing with the Trilogy.
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