DOCSLIB.ORG

Language Learning Needs, Learning

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Language Learning Needs, Learning Copyright by Chihyang Liu 2007 The Dissertation Committee for Chih-Yang Liu Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF HOW ENGLISH IS USED AND LEARNED LIGUISTICALLY AND CULTURALLY IN A TAIWANESE BUDDHIST MONASTERY IN LOS ANGELES Committee: Zena T. Moore, Supervisor Elaine K. Horwitz Marrilla Svinicki Oliver Freiberger Nathan Bond A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF HOW ENGLISH IS USED AND LEARNED LIGUISTICALLY AND CULTURALLY IN A TAIWANESE BUDDHIST MONASTERY IN LOS ANGELES by Chih-yang Liu, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2007 Dedication May all beings have happiness, and the causes of happiness. May all be free from sorrow, and the causes of sorrow. May all never be separated from the sacred happiness which is sorrowless. And may all live in equanimity, without too much attachment and too much aversion, And live believing in the equality of all that lives. Acknowledgements I thankfully acknowledge the efforts of many people who contributed to this dissertation. My highest gratitude goes to my supervisor, Dr. Zena Moore for her insightful guidance, inspiring comments, and prompt feedback. Without her wonderful support, this dissertation would not have been completed. I am also deeply indebted to Dr. Elaine Horwitz, Dr. Marrilla Svinicki, Dr. Oliver Freiberger, and Dr. Nathan Bond, who served as the committee members of my dissertation, for their generous support and valuable comments in every step of my study. I would also like to express my heartfelt gratefulness to the sangha of Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order which has generously allowed me to conduct my research within the temple. Special thanks go to Ven. Yi-Hung, Ven. Chueh-Ching, Ven. Chueh-Chao, Ven. Miao-Shan, Ven. Hui-Ji, Ven. Hui-Sheng, Ven. Miao-Hsi, Ven. Jue-Qian, Ven. Jue- Huang, Ven. Ru An, Ven. Miao-Rang, and Ven. Jue-Wei for their insightful Dharma teachings, their dedication to the spreading of Buddha Dharma in the world, and their great compassion and unconditional love for all sentient beings. Special thanks also go to all my friends around the world—Mei-juan Huang, Mary Ho, Vickie Fu, Raymond Yeh, Priscilla Yeh, Scott Chiu, Yi-feng Lee, Jason Wei, Angela Wei, Rubi Sidharta, Greg Bloom, Alex Liu, Nathan Sires, Kaiman Chang, Elsa v Chang, Jimmy Chen, Annie McCarthy, Helen Reardon, Greg Toftey, Catherine Swan for encouraging me along the process of the study. Last, and the most, I owe my deepest appreciation and love to my beloved parents for their amazing support, spiritually and financially, without any reservation. I also like to extend this appreciation to both of my sisters for taking care of my parents all these years while I was so far away from home. My love for my family has always been the greatest source of strength keeping me company on the journey of life. vi A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF HOW ENGLISH IS USED AND LEARNED LIGUISTICALLY AND CULTURALLY IN A TAIWANESE BUDDHIST MONASTERY IN LOS ANGELES Publication No._____________ Chih-Yang Liu, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2007 Supervisor: Zena T. Moore English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has become a very important activity within Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language since 1960s. Researchers of ESP mostly focus on the issues of academic writing, business English, scientific and technology English, medical English, and legal English. However, through out the development of ESP studies, ESP learning in a religious setting, such as in a monastery has not yet caught the attentions of ESP researchers. No study so far has been conducted regarding religious English learning. Furthermore, ESP researchers rarely pay any attention to the issue of Culture Learning within the ESP context. vii Exploring how Buddhism English is used and learned linguistically and culturally by Chinese Buddhist monks and nuns is the primary focus of this ethnographic qualitative study. Using a variety of data collecting methods including questionnaire, in- depth interviews, documents and field observation, information was gathered at a Chinese Buddhist Temple in LA., CA. The following findings emerged from the analysis of 21 Buddhism speeches in English: (1) the content of the Dharma speeches, (2) the commonly used metaphors in Buddhism, (3) vocabulary in Buddhism English. From the analysis of interviews, questionnaire, and field observations, the participants’ language learning needs, learning materials and learning strategies are identified. Furthermore, the participants’’ cultural learning experience emerged next, for example, (1) the influence of their religious beliefs over the cultural learning, (2) their cultural learning experience in four aspects of culture—the culturally conditioned behaviors, the cultural connotations of words and phrases, the cultural comprehension, and attitudes toward other cultures. Finally, suggestions to Buddhism English learning and ESP learning in general are made. In particular, metaphors in Buddhism can serve as learning and teaching strategies in Buddhism English learning; language and cultural learning is interconnected. The ESP learning and teaching model should include cultural learning in the future to facilitate sociolinguistic and communicative competence of the ESP learners. viii Table of Contents List of Tables ........................................................ .............................................. xii List of Figures .................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................1 Rationale ........................................................................................................1 Theoretical Background..................................................................................3 Motivation of the Study ……………………………………………………..5 Research Questions………………………………………………………….7 The Scope of the Study……………………………………………………...8 Limitations of the Study………….………………………………………….8 Significance of the Study……………………………………………………9 Chapter 2 Literature Review.................................................................................11 What is English for Specific Purposes..........................................................11 The Development of ESP.....................................................................12 The Definition of ESP…......................................................................13 The Classifications of ESP...................................................................16 Need Analysis in ESP.. .................................................................................20 What is Meant by Needs?... .................................................................20 Register analysis and Linguistic Analysis… .......................................25 Discourse Analysis in ESP…...............................................................26 Genre Analysis in ESP.........................................................................29 Target Situation Analysis, Present Situation Analysis, and Means Analysis…............................................................................................32 Metaphors in ESL, ESP, and Buddhism… ...................................................34 The Development of Metaphor Theory… .......................................…36 Metaphor and Culture..........................................................................40 Metaphoric Competence in ESL..........................................................44 Metaphor Teaching in ESL..................................................................47 ix Metaphor Teaching and Learning in ESP............................................52 Metaphor and Buddhism......................................................................56 Chapter 3 Methods................................................................................................60 Rationale for Qualitative Research ...............................................................60 Research Questions.......................................................................................61 Study Site, Gaining Entry, and Developing Rapport....................................62 Individual Profile of the Participants ............................................................64 Data Collection .............................................................................................70 Questionnaire .......................................................................................71 Interviews.............................................................................................71 Field Observation.................................................................................72 Documents ...........................................................................................73 Data Analysis................................................................................................73 Document Analysis..............................................................................74 Questionnaire, Interview, and Field Observation Analysis .................76 The Issues of Verification.............................................................................79 The Issues of Generalizability ......................................................................80
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Academic Catalog Cover Placeholder 2020- 2021
    ACADEMIC CATALOG COVER PLACEHOLDER 2020- 2021 2020 • 2021 Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Summer 2021 ACADEMIC CATALOG University of the West has made every effort to ensure the information in this catalog and other published materials is accurate. University of the West reserves the right to change policies, tuition, fees, and other information in this catalog, with prior approval from the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) where applicable. University of the West strives to inform students and stakeholders of changes in a timely fashion, but reserves the right to make changes without notice. University of the West is a private, non-profit, WSCUC-accredited campus founded by and affiliated with the Taiwan-based Buddhist order of Fo Guang Shan. The University of the West name, abstract lotus logo, and calligraphic logo are copyrighted to the university. Additional information is available at our website, www.uwest.edu. University of the West does not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, age, race, color, religion, status as a veteran, physical disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or national and ethnic origin in its educational programs, student activities, 1409 Walnut Grove Avenue, Rosemead, CA 91770 employment, or admission policies, in the administration of its scholarship and loan programs, or in any other school- Telephone 626.571.8811 administered programs. This policy complies with requirements of the Internal Revenue Service Procedure 321-1, Title VI of the Fax 626.571.1413 Civil Rights Act, and Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendments Email [email protected] as amended and enforced by the Department of Health and Human Services.
    [Show full text]
  • The Meaning of “Zen”
    MATSUMOTO SHIRÕ The Meaning of “Zen” MATSUMOTO Shirõ N THIS ESSAY I WOULD like to offer a brief explanation of my views concerning the meaning of “Zen.” The expression “Zen thought” is not used very widely among Buddhist scholars in Japan, but for Imy purposes here I would like to adopt it with the broad meaning of “a way of thinking that emphasizes the importance or centrality of zen prac- tice.”1 The development of “Ch’an” schools in China is the most obvious example of how much a part of the history of Buddhism this way of think- ing has been. But just what is this “zen” around which such a long tradition of thought has revolved? Etymologically, the Chinese character ch’an 7 (Jpn., zen) is thought to be the transliteration of the Sanskrit jh„na or jh„n, a colloquial form of the term dhy„na.2 The Chinese characters Ï (³xed concentration) and ÂR (quiet deliberation) were also used to translate this term. Buddhist scholars in Japan most often used the com- pound 7Ï (zenjõ), a combination of transliteration and translation. Here I will stick with the simpler, more direct transliteration “zen” and the original Sanskrit term dhy„na itself. Dhy„na and the synonymous sam„dhi (concentration), are terms that have been used in India since ancient times. It is well known that the terms dhy„na and sam„hita (entering sam„dhi) appear already in Upani- ¤adic texts that predate the origins of Buddhism.3 The substantive dhy„na derives from the verbal root dhyai, and originally meant deliberation, mature reµection, deep thinking, or meditation.
    [Show full text]
  • BUDDHISM, MEDITATION, and the NEGOTIATION of the PUBLIC SPHERE by Leana Marie Rudolph a Capstone Project Submitted for Graduatio
    BUDDHISM, MEDITATION, AND THE NEGOTIATION OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE By Leana Marie Rudolph A capstone project submitted for Graduation with University Honors May 20, 2021 University Honors University of California, Riverside APPROVED Dr. Matthew King Department of Religious Studies Dr. Richard Cardullo, Howard H Hays Jr. Chair University Honors ABSTRACT This capstone serves to map and gather the oral histories of formerly undocumented Buddhist communities pertaining to their lived experiences in the Inland Empire. The ethnographic fieldwork conducted of 11 sites over the period of 12 months explored the intersection of diaspora, economy, and religious affiliation. This research begins to explore this junction by undertaking a qualitative and quantitative study that will map Buddhist life in the Inland Empire today. It will include interviews, providing oral histories, and will be accessible through a GIS map, helping Religious Studies and Anthropologist scholars to locate these sites and have background information on these locations. The Inland Empire represents many heavily populated, post-agricultural, and manufacturing areas in America today, which since the 1970s and especially since 2008 has suffered from many economic and social crises related to suburban poverty, as well as waves of demographic changes. Taking the Inland Empire as a petri dish for broader trends at the intersection of religion, economy, and the social in the American public sphere today, this capstone project hopes to determine how Buddhism forms at these intersections, what new stories about life in the Inland Empire Buddhist sites and communities help illuminate, and what forms of digital interfacing best brings anthropological analyses to the publics it examines.
    [Show full text]
  • Training in Wisdom 6 Yogacara, the ‘Mind Only’ School: Buddha Nature, 5 Dharmas, 8 Kinds of Consciousness, 3 Svabhavas
    Training in Wisdom 6 Yogacara, the ‘Mind Only’ School: Buddha Nature, 5 Dharmas, 8 kinds of Consciousness, 3 Svabhavas The Mind Only school evolved as a response to the possible nihilistic interpretation of the Madhyamaka school. The view “everything is mind” is conducive to the deep practice of meditational yogas. The “Tathagatagarbha”, the ‘Buddha Nature’ was derived from the experience of the Dharmakaya. Tathagata, the ‘Thus Come one’ is a name for a Buddha ( as is Sugata, the ‘Well gone One’ ). Garbha means ‘embryo’ and ‘womb’, the container and the contained, the seed of awakening . This potential to attain Buddhahood is said to be inherent in every sentient being but very often occluded by kleshas, ( ‘negative emotions’) and by cognitive obscurations, by wrong thinking. These defilements are adventitious, and can be removed by practicing Buddhist yogas and trainings in wisdom. Then the ‘Sun of the Dharma’ breaks through the clouds of obscurations, and shines out to all sentient beings, for great benefit to self and others. The 3 svabhavas, 3 kinds of essential nature, are unique to the mind only theory. They divide what is usually called ‘conventional truth’ into two: “Parakalpita” and “Paratantra”. Parakalpita refers to those phenomena of thinking or perception that have no basis in fact, like the water shimmering in a mirage. Usual examples are the horns of a rabbit and the fur of a turtle. Paratantra refers to those phenomena that come about due to cause and effect. They have a conventional actuality, but ultimately have no separate reality: they are empty. Everything is interconnected.
    [Show full text]
  • Bridging Worlds: Buddhist Women's Voices Across Generations
    BRIDGING WORLDS Buddhist Women’s Voices Across Generations EDITED BY Karma Lekshe Tsomo First Edition: Yuan Chuan Press 2004 Second Edition: Sakyadhita 2018 Copyright © 2018 Karma Lekshe Tsomo All rights reserved No part of this book may not be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage or retreival system, without the prior written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations. Cover Illustration, "Woman on Bridge" © 1982 Shig Hiu Wan. All rights reserved. "Buddha" calligraphy ©1978 Il Ta Sunim. All rights reserved. Chapter Illustrations © 2012 Dr. Helen H. Hu. All rights reserved. Book design and layout by Lillian Barnes Bridging Worlds Buddhist Women’s Voices Across Generations EDITED BY Karma Lekshe Tsomo 7th Sakyadhita International Conference on Buddhist Women With a Message from His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama SAKYADHITA | HONOLULU, HAWAI‘I iv | Bridging Worlds Contents | v CONTENTS MESSAGE His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii INTRODUCTION 1 Karma Lekshe Tsomo UNDERSTANDING BUDDHIST WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD Thus Have I Heard: The Emerging Female Voice in Buddhism Tenzin Palmo 21 Sakyadhita: Empowering the Daughters of the Buddha Thea Mohr 27 Buddhist Women of Bhutan Tenzin Dadon (Sonam Wangmo) 43 Buddhist Laywomen of Nepal Nivedita Kumari Mishra 45 Himalayan Buddhist Nuns Pacha Lobzang Chhodon 59 Great Women Practitioners of Buddhadharma: Inspiration in Modern Times Sherab Sangmo 63 Buddhist Nuns of Vietnam Thich Nu Dien Van Hue 67 A Survey of the Bhikkhunī Saṅgha in Vietnam Thich Nu Dong Anh (Nguyen Thi Kim Loan) 71 Nuns of the Mendicant Tradition in Vietnam Thich Nu Tri Lien (Nguyen Thi Tuyet) 77 vi | Bridging Worlds UNDERSTANDING BUDDHIST WOMEN OF TAIWAN Buddhist Women in Taiwan Chuandao Shih 85 A Perspective on Buddhist Women in Taiwan Yikong Shi 91 The Inspiration ofVen.
    [Show full text]
  • The Depth Psychology of the Yogacara
    Aspects of Buddhist Psychology Lecture 42: The Depth Psychology of the Yogacara Reverend Sir, and Friends Our course of lectures week by week is proceeding. We have dealt already with the analytical psychology of the Abhidharma; we have dealt also with the psychology of spiritual development. The first lecture, we may say, was concerned mainly with some of the more important themes and technicalities of early Buddhist psychology. We shall, incidentally, be referring back to some of that material more than once in the course of the coming lectures. The second lecture in the course, on the psychology of spiritual development, was concerned much more directly than the first lecture was with the spiritual life. You may remember that we traced the ascent of humanity up the stages of the spiral from the round of existence, from Samsara, even to Nirvana. Today we come to our third lecture, our third subject, which is the Depth Psychology of the Yogacara. This evening we are concerned to some extent with psychological themes and technicalities, as we were in the first lecture, but we're also concerned, as we were in the second lecture, with the spiritual life itself. We are concerned with the first as subordinate to the second, as we shall see in due course. So we may say, broadly speaking, that this evening's lecture follows a sort of middle way, or middle course, between the type of subject matter we had in the first lecture and the type of subject matter we had in the second. Now a question which immediately arises, and which must have occurred to most of you when the title of the lecture was announced, "What is the Yogacara?" I'm sorry that in the course of the lectures we keep on having to have all these Sanskrit and Pali names and titles and so on, but until they become as it were naturalised in English, there's no other way.
    [Show full text]
  • American Buddhists: Enlightenment and Encounter
    CHAPTER FO U R American Buddhists: Enlightenment and Encounter ★ he Buddha’s Birthday is celebrated for weeks on end in Los Angeles. TMore than three hundred Buddhist temples sit in this great city fac- ing the Pacific, and every weekend for most of the month of May the Buddha’s Birthday is observed somewhere, by some group—the Viet- namese at a community college in Orange County, the Japanese at their temples in central Los Angeles, the pan-Buddhist Sangha Council at a Korean temple in downtown L.A. My introduction to the Buddha’s Birthday observance was at Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, just east of Los Angeles. It is said to be the largest Buddhist temple in the Western hemisphere, built by Chinese Buddhists hailing originally from Taiwan and advocating a progressive Humanistic Buddhism dedicated to the pos- itive transformation of the world. In an upscale Los Angeles suburb with its malls, doughnut shops, and gas stations, I was about to pull over and ask for directions when the road curved up a hill, and suddenly there it was— an opulent red and gold cluster of sloping tile rooftops like a radiant vision from another world, completely dominating the vista. The ornamental gateway read “International Buddhist Progress Society,” the name under which the temple is incorporated, and I gazed up in amazement. This was in 1991, and I had never seen anything like it in America. The entrance took me first into the Bodhisattva Hall of gilded images and rich lacquerwork, where five of the great bodhisattvas of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition receive the prayers of the faithful.
    [Show full text]
  • The Real Christ Is Buddhi-Manas, the Glorified Divine Ego V
    The real Christ is Buddhi- Manas, the glorified Divine Ego The real Christ is Buddhi-Manas, the glorified Divine Ego v. 13.13, www.philaletheians.co.uk, 21 March 2018 Page 1 of 61 THE REAL CHRIST IS BUDDHI-MANAS ABSTRACT AND TRAIN OF THOUGHTS Abstract and train of thoughts Was Jesus as Son of God and Saviour of Mankind, unique in the world’s annals? The real Saviours of Mankind all descend to the Nether World, the Kingdom of Darkness, of temptation, lust, and selfishness. And, after having overcome the Chrēst condition or the tyranny of separateness, their astral or worldly ego is enlightened by Lucifer, the Glorified Divine Ego (Buddhi-Manas), who is the real Christ in every man. 5 Pythagoras, Buddha, Apollonius, were Initiates of the same Secret School. 7 The Sun is the external manifestation of the Seventh Principle of our Planetary System while the Moon is its Fourth Principle. Shining in the borrowed robes of her Master, she is saturated with and reflects every passionate impulse and evil desire of her grossly material body, our earth. 9 Jesus as “Son of God” and “Saviour of Mankind,” was not unique in the world’s annals The “infallible” Churches made up history as they went along. 11 Building up the Apostolic Church on a jumble of contradictions. 12 See how the Fathers have falsified Jesus’ last words and made him a victim of his own success. 12 “My God, my Sun, thou hast poured thy radiance upon me!” concluded the thanksgiving prayer of the Initiate, “the Son and the Glorified Elect of the Sun.” 14 And thus his Father’s name was written on his forehead.
    [Show full text]
  • Hsi Lai Temple Hacienda Heights Hello Again, Everybody! It’S a Little Different This Month – We Visit the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights
    8 APRIL 2016 City Employees Club of Los Angeles • Alive! Angel Gomez, Club Director of Sales 8 Angel’s Be Alive! Hsi Lai Temple Hacienda Heights Hello again, everybody! It’s a little different this month – we visit the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights. If you hike the Hellman trail in Whittier, you can see the very top of the temple, which from there looks about the size of your hand. I always wanted to go see the inside of the temple but never got around to making the trip. So for this month, we did. I told my family, “Today, we are going to the temple in Hacienda Heights.” They all said “okay,” so off we went. That was easy! I should have done it a long time ago. History: The temple was built in 1988 and took more than 10 years to plan and construct. The founder of Hsi Lai Temple is Venerable Master Hsing Yun. This temple serves as a center for people interested in Buddhism and Chinese culture. “Hsi Lai” means “coming to the West.” Architecture found in the temple is loyal to the Ming and Ching dynasties. This includes buildings, gardens and statues. The Hsi Lai Temple covers 15 acres and 102,432 square feet. In the middle of the entire temple there is a cement area that is very open and spacious. The Hsi Lai Temple also has many information centers with Year of the Monkey decorations. detailed knowledge of Buddhism. We happened to go on the last day of the Chinese New Year celebra- tions.
    [Show full text]
  • Humanistic Buddhism from Venerable Tai Xu to Grand Master Hsing Yun1
    Humanistic Buddhism From Venerable Tai Xu to Grand Master Hsing Yun1 By Darui Long ABSTRACT The present essay aims at a historical. anal.ysis of Humanistic Buddhism that was preachedby Master Tai.Xu in the 1930s andthe great contribution Grand Master Hsing Yun has madeto the development of HumanisticBuddhism. What is Humanistic Buddhism? Why did Tai. Xu raise this issue of construcfing Humanistic Buddhism as his guiding principle in his reform of Chinese Buddhism? What did he do in his endeavors to realke his goal.? Did he succeed in bringing back the humanistic nature of Buddhism? What contributions has Grand Master Hsing Yun made to this cause? This essay makes attempts to answer these questions. It is divided into four parts. The first deals with the history of Humanistic Buddhism. It was Sakyamuni who first advanced Humanistic Buddhism. He lectured, meditated, propagated his way of life, and finally attained his Nirvana in the world. Hui-neng (638- 713 CE) emphasized that Buddhism is in theworld and thatit is not realiudapart from the world. The second chapter touches upon the historical. background of development and decline of Chinese Buddhism. It ilb4strates in detail how Buddhism declined in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasti.es. Corrupt officials vied with one another to confiscate the property of Buddhism in the late Qing and early years of the Republic of China. Even the lay Buddhist scholars made strong commentaries on the illness of Buddhism and Buddhists. Chapter 3 discusses the life and reform career of Venerable Tai. Xu (1889-1947). Being a revolutionary monk, Tai.
    [Show full text]
  • The Yogācāra Theory of Three Natures: Internalist and Non-Dualist Interpretation
    Comparative Philosophy Volume 9, No. 1 (2018): 18-31 Open Access / ISSN 2151-6014 www.comparativephilosophy.org THE YOGĀCĀRA THEORY OF THREE NATURES: INTERNALIST AND NON-DUALIST INTERPRETATION MATTHEW MACKENZIE ABSTRACT: According to Vasubandhu’s Trisvabhāvanirdeśa or Treatise on the Three Natures, experiential phenomena can be understood in terms of three natures: the constructed (parikalpita), the dependent (paratantra), and the consummate (pariniṣpanna). This paper will examine internalist and anti-internalist or non-dualist interpretations of the Yogācāra theory of the three natures of experience. The internalist interpretation is based on representationalist theory of experience wherein the contents of experience are logically independent of their cause and various interconnected cognitive processes continually create an integrated internal world-model that is transparent to the cognitive system that creates and uses it. In contrast, the anti-internalist interpretation begins, not from the constructed nature of experiential objects, but from the perfected nature of mind-world non-duality. This interpretation treats the distinctions between inside and outside, subject and object, mind and world as distinctions drawn within experience rather than between experience and something else. And experience here refers to the continuous dynamic interplay of factors constituting our sentient embodied (nāma-rūpa) existence. Having examined each interpretation, the paper will suggest some reasons to favor the non-dualist view. Keywords: Yogācāra, Buddhist idealism, internalism, non-dualism, three natures of phenomena, Vasubandhu, solipsism 1. INTRODUCTION According to Vasubandhu’s Trisvabhāvanirdeśa or Treatise on the Three Natures, experiential phenomena can be understood in terms of three natures (svabhāva) and three forms of naturelessness (niḥsvabhāvatā). The three natures are the fabricated or constructed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva), the dependent nature (paratantra- svabhāva), and the perfected or consummate nature (pariniṣpanna-svabhāva).
    [Show full text]
  • 66–95. © Tsering Dorji Objectless Loving-Kindness & Compassion
    Objectless Loving-Kindness & Compassion: Why anārambaṇā maitrīkaruṇā became unique to bodhisattvas. Tsering Dorji Abstract This paper* analyses why anārambaṇā maitrīkaruṇā became an important and unique concept in early non-tantric Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism. Through the study of early Mahāyāna Sūtras and Śāstras, I explore what the early Mahāyāna Sūtras and Śāstras tell us about ‘objectless loving- kindness and compassion’ in the context of threefold maitrī and karuṇā. By examining these early Mahāyāna Sūtras and Śāstras, and also early non-Mahāyāna Pāli nikāyas, abhidhammas and commentaries, I argue that anārambaṇā maitrīkaruṇā became unique to Mahāyāna because of the fundamental shift of goal from mainstream Buddhism; why śrāvakas or Hīnayānists do not practise anārambaṇā maitrīkaruṇā is not originally because of lack of non-conceptual wisdom or lack of understanding of the emptiness of dharma, but because for śrāvakas and mainstream Buddhists maitrī and karuṇā are not essential in attaining their bodhi. Śrāvakas are those who learn and uphold the teachings taught by the Buddha by actualising the true nature of dharma (dharmatāṃ sākṣātkurvanti).1 *When this paper was submitted for publication, we saw that it proposed an interesting argument, but the Sanskrit quotations were riddled with mistakes. Both we and the author were under lockdown and had no access to most of the texts. We decided to make the many corrections which seemed obvious, and to leave the other mistakes as received, given that they rarely if ever affect the argument. Ed. 1 Mitra 1888:4 Aṣṭasāhasrikā: /śrāvakā bhāṣante...tathāgatena dharmo deśitaḥ, tatra dharmadeśanāyāṃ śikṣamāṇās te tāṃ dharmatāṃ sākṣātkurvanti dhārayanti/ . (18): 66–95.
    [Show full text]