Copyright Yale University, From "The Message and the Book" by John Bowker Contents IntroduCtIon 1 Using This Book: Bibliography and Translations 17 1 JudaIsm 19 The Bible: The Origins of the Jewish People 21 Tanakh: History and Revelation 25 Tanakh: Canon and Translations 29 Interpretation of Torah: Mishnah and Talmuds; Shulhan Aruch 32 Maimonides: Mishneh Torah 37 Qabbalah: Zohar 40 Liturgy and Prayer: Amida and Piyyutim 43 2 ChrIstIanIty 47 The New Testament: Jesus and the Canon 49 The New Testament: The Gospels 53 The New Testament: Epistles and Other Writings 59 Translations: The Vulgate, The Authorised Version 63 Creeds and Confessions: The Apostles’ and the Nicene Creeds; from Augsburg to Peter the Great 69 Councils: Ecumenical Councils, Vatican I, Vatican II 73 Prayers and Hymns: The Office, The Book of Common Prayer, Hymns, John and Charles Wesley 77 Liturgy and Eucharist: The Last Supper; Kontakia 81 Prayer and Monastic Orders: Basil the Great, Dionysius, The Philokalia 85 Monasticism: Rule of Benedict 89 Christianity of the Celts: Columbanus, Patrick, Carmina Gaedelica 93 v TMATB pages 7-27.indd 5 04/08/2011 14:12 Copyright Yale University, From "The Message and the Book" by John Bowker Copyright Yale University, From "The Message and the Book" by John Bowker c o n t e n t s 7 JaIns 223 Agamas, Suttas and Tattvartha Sutra 225 8 BuddhIsm (for Buddhism in korea, see korea) 229 The Buddha: The First and Final Addresses 231 Sacred Texts of Buddhists: The Pali Canon and the Canons of Tibet, China and Japan 235 Lives of the Buddha: Jatakas, Buddhacarita and Lalitavistara 239 The Sangha: Vinaya Pitaka, Dhammapada 242 Dharma/Dhamma: Abhidhamma, Visuddhimagga, Milindapañha 246 Mahayana: Sutras 250 Perfection of Wisdom: Ashtasahasrika Sutra, The Diamond-Cutter Sutra, The Heart Sutra, and Nagarjuna 253 Yogacara: Lankavatara Sutra, Asanga and Vasubandhu 257 Huayan: Avatamsaka Sutra 260 Tiantai: The Threefold Lotus Sutra, Nichiren 264 Pure Land 267 Chan: Bodhidharma, The Platform Sutra 270 Zen: Rinzai and Koans, Soto and Dogen 275 Tibetan Buddhism: Kangur and Tengyur 280 Tibetan Buddhism: Naropa, The Tibetan Book of the Dead 284 9 ChIna (for Buddhism in China, see Buddhism) 289 The Confucian Classics: Liujing 291 The Book of Songs: Shijing 294 The Analects: Lunyu 298 Great Learning and Doctrine of the Mean: Da Xue and Zhong Yong 301 The Book of Mencius: Mengzi 305 The Daoist Canon: Daozang 309 Laozi, The Way and its Power: Daodejing 312 Zhuangzi: Zhuangzi or Nan Hua Zhen Jing 316 The Neo-Confucianists: The Five Masters 320 10 korea 325 The Korean Canon: Taejang Togam, Wonhyo and Chinul 327 v i i TMATB pages 7-27.indd 7 04/08/2011 14:12 Copyright Yale University, From "The Message and the Book" by John Bowker c o n t e n t s 11 JaPan (for Buddhism in Japan, see also Buddhism) 331 Shinto: Kojiki and Nihongi 333 The Organisation of Japanese Society: Jushichijo Kempo, Engishiki and Norito 336 Shingon and Shinto: Nanto Rokushu, Kukai and Kitabatake Chikafusa 339 The Defining of Shinto: The Five Shinto Classics, Kokugaku 342 Poetry and the Power of Words: Manyoshu, Kokinshu, Shinkokinshu and Basho 346 12 ConClusIon 351 Sacred Texts and the Burning of Books 353 BIBlIograPhy I: Translation series 358 II: Additional translations and books quoted or referred to in the text 360 aCknowledgements 389 IndeX 393 v i i i TMATB pages 7-27.indd 8 04/08/2011 14:12.

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Chih-I an Introduction to His Life and Work by Kamalashila
Chih-I An Introduction to His Life and Work by Kamalashila As some of you may know, I have been interested in Chih-i for many years. Not that I bothered to find out very much until about a month ago. But all the same, I was interested in Chih-i: for example, in the early days of the building work at Sukhavati, I can very clearly remember studying ‘Dhyana for Beginners’. I remember sitting there in my overalls amidst all the rubble. But the keenness of my interest was not, I don’t think, much to do with Chih-i. Yet like many of us, I suppose, ‘Dhyana for Beginners’ has very much coloured any impression I have of Chih-i. There is also the parallell which Bhante drew on the ‘Dhyana for Beginners’ seminar – he said that in some respect there are similarities between the FWBO and T’ien t’ai, Chih-i’s tradition. Then, just a few years ago, Bhante decided to place Chih-i on our refuge tree, as one of the great gurus of the past, as a spirit from the past which has come down to us, and affects us even today. But I don’t imagine we are really much the wiser as to why he did that. So I hope my talk will at least provide a little background information for you to follow up if you feel interested. Chih-i was born in what today is the Hunan province of China, in the year 538. According to tradition, supernatural light illuminated the sky, and monks appeared at the door saying that this child would grow up to be a monk.
[Show full text]
The Lotus Sutra James Shields Bucknell University, [email protected]
Bucknell University Bucknell Digital Commons Faculty Contributions to Books Faculty Scholarship Winter 1-15-2011 The Lotus Sutra James Shields Bucknell University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_books Part of the Buddhist Studies Commons, Chinese Studies Commons, History of Religion Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Japanese Studies Commons, Korean Studies Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Shields, James, "The Lotus Sutra" (2011). Faculty Contributions to Books. 98. https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_books/98 This Contribution to Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Bucknell Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Contributions to Books by an authorized administrator of Bucknell Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Shakyamuni Buddha (Shakyamuni Buddha, Ming Dynasty, Xuande Period [1426-65] [gilt bronze], Chinese School, [15th century] / Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA / Gift of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich / The Bridgeman Art Library International) 372 Milestone Documents of World Religions BCE CE Lotus Sutra 100 –200 ca. “All the living beings who escape the threefold world are given the enjoyments of buddhas—meditation, liberation, and so forth.” Overview Hybrid Sanskrit) in order to lend it an air of authority and to allow the teachings to be shared with others. The Lotus The Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Sutra’s self-referential claims to transcendent authority and Dharma (in Sanskrit, Saddharmapundarika- its insistence on the “one vehicle” of dharma—that is, of sutra; in Chinese, Miaofa lianhua jing; in Jap- Buddhist law and teachings—are indicative of some of the anese, Myoho renge kyo), commonly known disputes and transformations that were taking place with- as the Lotus Sutra and believed to have been in Indian Buddhism at the time of its creation.
[Show full text]
A Guide to the Threefold Lotus Sutra by Nikkyo Niwano
A Guide to the Threefold Lotus Sutra By Nikkyo Niwano Copyright by Rissho Kosei‐kai. All rights reserved. 1 Table of Contents Contents Table of Contents 2 PREFACE 4 PART ONE: THE SUTRA OF INNUMERABLE MEANINGS 6 Background 6 Chapter 1 Virtues 7 Chapter 2 Preaching 9 Chapter 3 Ten Merits 11 PART TWO: THE SUTRA OF THE LOTUS FLOWER OF THE WONDERFUL LAW 13 Chapter 1 Introductory 13 Chapter 2 Tactfulness 15 Chapter 3 A Parable 18 Chapter 4 Faith Discernment 22 Chapter 5 The Parable of the Herbs 25 Chapter 6 Prediction 27 Chapter 7 The Parable of the Magic City 28 Chapter 8 The Five Hundred Disciples Receive the Prediction of Their Destiny 31 Chapter 9 Prediction of the Destiny of Arhats, Training and Trained 33 Chapter 10 A Teacher of the Law 34 Chapter 11 Beholding the Previous Stupa 37 Chapter 12 Devadatta 40 Chapter 13 Exhortation to Hold Firm 43 Chapter 14 A Happy Life 45 Chapter 15 Springing Up Out of the Earth 47 Chapter 16 Revelation of the [Eternal] Life of the Tathagata 49 Chapter 17 Discrimination of Merits 52 Chapter 18 The Merits of Joyful Acceptance 55 Chapter 19 The Merits of the Preacher 56 2 Chapter 20 The Bodhisattva Never Despise 58 Chapter 21 The Divine Power of the Tathagata 59 Chapter 22 The Final Commission 62 Chapter 23 The Story of the Bodhisattva Medicine King 63 Chapter 24 The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound 64 Chapter 25 The All‐Sidedness of the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the 66 World Chapter 26 Dharanis 67 Chapter 27 The Story of the King Resplendent 68 Chapter 28 Encouragement of the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue 70 PART THREE: THE SUTRA OF MEDITATION ON THE BODHISATTVA UNIVERSAL VIRTUE 71 The Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue 71 3 Preface In recent years, as the crises facing humankind have become more numerous and more acute, interest in the Lotus Sutra has begun to increase.
[Show full text]
July-September 2010, Volume 37(PDF)
July-Sept. 2010 Vol. 37 DHARMA WORLD for Living Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue CONTENTS Tackling the Question "What Is the Lotus Sutra?" The International Lotus Sutra Seminar by Gene Reeves 2 Cover image: Abinitio Design. Groping Through the Maze of the Lotus Sutra by Miriam Levering 5 The International Lotus Sutra Seminar 2 A Phenomenological Answer to the Question "What Is the Lotus Sutra?" by Donald W. Mitchell 9 DHARMA WORLD presents Buddhism as The Materiality of the Lotus Sutra: Scripture, Relic, a practical living religion and promotes and Buried Treasure by D. Max Moerman 15 interreligious dialogue for world peace. It espouses views that emphasize the dignity oflife, seeks to rediscover our inner nature The Lotus Sutra Eludes Easy Definition: A Report and bring our lives more in accord with it, on the Fourteenth International Lotus Sutra Seminar and investigates causes of human suffering. by Joseph M. Logan 23 It tries to show how religious principles help solve problems in daily life and how Groping Through the Maze of the least application of such principles has the Lotus Sutra 5 wholesome effects on the world around us. Reflections It seeks to demonstrate truths that are fun Like the Lotus Blossom by Nichiko Niwano 31 damental to all religions, truths on which all people can act. The Buddha's Teachings Affect All of Humankind by Nikkyo Niwano 47 Niwano Peace Prize Women, Work, and Peace by Ela Ramesh Bhatt 32 Publisher: Moriyasu Okabe The Materiality of Executive Director: Jun'ichi Nakazawa the Lotus Sutra 15 Director: Kazumasa Murase Interview Editor: Kazumasa Osaka True to Self and Open to Others Editorial Advisors: An interview with Rev.
[Show full text]
FEATURES the Buddhahood of Plants and Trees
JULY–DEC. 2018, VOL. 45 FEATURES The Buddhahood of Plants and Trees: The Environment and Buddha-Nature 2 On Interbeing and Learning to Respect Everything Beyond Dharma World presents Buddhism the Self as a practical living religion and by Hiroshi Munehiro Niwano promotes interreligious dialogue 3 Th e Buddhahood of Plants for world peace. It espouses views and the Japanese View of that emphasize the dignity of life, Nature seeks to rediscover our inner nature by Fumihiko Sueki and bring our lives more in accord with it, and investigates causes of 6 Does a Dewdrop Teach human suff ering. It tries to show Dharma? Zen Perspectives on how religious principles help solve the Teachings of the Insentient problems in daily life and how the by Kenneth Kraft least application of such principles 10 Th e Buddhahood of All has wholesome eff ects on the world Insentient Beings around us. It seeks to demonstrate by Brook Ziporyn truths that are fundamental to all religions, truths on which all people 13 A Prayer for “Plants and Trees, can act. Countries and Lands, All Become Buddhas” Publisher: Koichi Saito by Shinsui Okada Director: Naoki Taketani 16 How Do We Respect the Buddha-Nature of Nature? Senior Editor: Kazumasa Osaka by David R. Loy Editor: Katsuyuki Kikuchi 20 Flowers of Sentience, Roots of Consciousness: Editorial Advisors: Th e Buddhahood of Plants in the Nō Th eater Miriam Levering, Gene Reeves, by M. Cody Poulton Dominick Scarangello, Michio T. Shinozaki Copy Editors: 24 Diversity Builds Unity DeAnna Satre, Stephen Comee, Th e Th irty-Fift
[Show full text]
A Glossary of Kumārajīva's Translation of the Lotus Sutra 妙法蓮華經詞典
A Glossary of Kumārajīva's Translation Of The Lotus Sutra 妙法蓮華經詞典 Seishi Karashima 辛嶋靜志 Digital version: Digital Archives Section, Library and Information Center of Dharma Drum Buddhist College 法鼓佛教學院圖書資訊館數位典藏組 TEI Source: http://buddhistinformatics.ddbc.edu.tw/glossaries This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License 本著作係採用創用 CC Attribution-ShareAlike 授權條款授權 . Dharma Drum Buddhist College 法鼓佛教學院 http://www.ddbc.edu.tw Taipei 2013-06-13 1 Preface The present work is a glossary of Kumārajīva’s translation of the Lotus Sutra, Miàofǎliánhuājīng 妙法蓮華經 (Taishō, vol. 9, No.262; translated in 406 C.E.). Three other glossaries are also appended here, covering namely (I) words found in certain parts of Kumārajīva’s translation of the Lotus Sutra, which were originally translated by others and later (presumably in the 6th century) added to his translation; (II) the Sàtánfēntuólìjīng 薩曇芬陀利經 (Taishō, vol. 9, No.265; translated in the Xijin Period [265-316 C.E.]), which is an older but partial translation of the Lotus Sutra; and (III) the Tiānpǐn Miàofǎliánhuājīng 添品妙法蓮華經 (Taishō, vol. 9, No.264; translated in 601 C.E.) which is a revision of Kumārajīva’s translation. This present volume, then, together with my previous work, A Glossary of Dharmarakṣa’s Translation of the Lotus Sutra, completes a set of glossaries of the extant Chinese translations of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, or the Lotus Sutra. In compiling this volume, I have followed the same principle as used in my previous work, that is, focusing on mediaeval vernacular words and usages, semantic peculiarities, Buddhist technical terms, transliterations, which has resulted in the selection of roughly 2200 words and about two hundred dhāraṇīs from the above-stated texts.
[Show full text]
A Guide to the Threefold Lotus Sutra
A Guide To The Threefold Lotus Sutra Marsh often glare vivace when excretory Murdoch coring logarithmically and counterchecks her prehistory. Bottomless Jerri flakesbully-offs, and his dummy. oenophile rages disconcert insouciantly. Gabriele is untoiling and compt faultlessly while expeditious Roy Buddhist thought to search all indomitable dauntlessly against recognising lay training these names of the mystic law, which uses nine worlds and religion there are attached to You should deeply consider this and beware! The power of buddhahood in fact attained enlightenment that sutra to the guide threefold lotus sutra who wander. As a result, he encountered all manner of persecution. Looks like you already have an account! Safe and secure payments. Lacking in our lives and what use or banishment and meeting on reason why he got no? The threefold lotus sutra through which is. To fail to do so is to not try to put a stop to the Zen and Nembutsu followers in Japan. In addition, the votaries of the Lotus Sutra. He actually attained enlightenment to the lotus sutra recitation. Law of particle kalpas, awakened to this former had been recently rated this to a guide the threefold lotus sutra teachings espouse a beloved deity of meditation. You the lotus sutra to the guide is a tibetan buddhist yoga are separate from. If in tokyo: chan buddhism all users to empower us remember and sutra to a guide to systems of the nobility, although there in. May be, I thought, this was merely the result of a few days away from home in a strange place doing unusual things and hardly talking? Buddhahood was a crucial question for many people.
[Show full text]
KYOTEN KYOTEN Sutra Readings
KYOTEN KYOTEN Sutra Readings Extracts from the Threefold Lotus Sutra Newly-revised Bilingual Edition Romanized Japanese and English Translation RISSHO KOSEI-KAI INTERNATIONAL This sutra recitation book is provided with romanized Jap- Note on Translation anese on every left page and English translation on every right, beginning from pages 6 and 7. Romanized Japanese English passages of the Threefold Lotus Sutra were extracted on page 12, pages 24 through 80, and pages 110 and 112 is from The Threefold Lotus Sutra: A Modern Translation for the kundoku rendering from Hokke Sanbu-kyō (The Three- Contemporary Readers published by Kosei Publishing Com- fold Lotus Sutra). Kundoku rearranges the classical Chinese pany in 2019. This new translation is directly descended from text according to classical Japanese grammar and adds Jap- the earlier translation published by the company in 1975, The anese conjugations to some Chinese characters. Romanized Threefold Lotus Sutra: The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, Japanese on pages 90 through 106 as well as pages 116 and The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, and the 118 is the shindoku reading, which is a romanized translit- Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. eration of the original classical Chinese text using the Jap- This new translation has been carefully checked against anese pronunciation of its characters. As for the romanized three versions of the text. First, the earlier translation; sec- Japanese of dharanis on pages 108, 110, and 114, they are ond, a well-established Japanese edition of the text of the divided with hyphens according to Japanese syllables so Threefold Lotus Sutra in classical Chinese, Myōhō-renge- that readers can pronounce them articulately.
[Show full text]
Schism, Semiosis and the Soka Gakkai
Western Washington University Western CEDAR WWU Graduate School Collection WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship 2014 Schism, semiosis and the Soka Gakkai Forest C. Stone Western Washington University Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Stone, Forest C., "Schism, semiosis and the Soka Gakkai" (2014). WWU Graduate School Collection. 376. https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/376 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in WWU Graduate School Collection by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Schism, Semiosis and the Soka Gakkai By Forest Stone Accepted in Partial Completion Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Kathleen L. Kitto, Dean of the Graduate School ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chair, Dr. Kathleen Z. Young Dr. Judith M.S. Pine Dr. Sarah Campbell MASTER’S THESIS In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at Western Washington University, I grant to Western Washington University the non-exclusive royalty-free right to archive, reproduce, distribute, and display the thesis in any and all forms, including electronic format, via any digital library mechanisms maintained by WWU. I represent and warrant this is my original work, and does not infringe or violate any rights of others. I warrant that I have obtained written permissions from the owner of any third party copyrighted material included in these files. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of this work, including but not limited to the right to use all or part of this work in future works, such as articles or books.
[Show full text]
Lotus Sutra Ve Budġst Kutsal Metġnlerġ Arasindakġ Yerġ Ve Önemġ
T.C. ANKARA ÜNĠVERSĠTESĠ SOSYAL BĠLĠMLER ENSTĠTÜSÜ FELSEFE VE DĠN BĠLĠMLERĠ (DĠNLER TARĠHĠ) ANABĠLĠM DALI LOTUS SUTRA VE BUDĠST KUTSAL METĠNLERĠ ARASINDAKĠ YERĠ VE ÖNEMĠ YÜKSEK LĠSANS TEZĠ Aysel OKUDAN ANKARA-2017 T.C. ANKARA ÜNĠVERSĠTESĠ SOSYAL BĠLĠMLER ENSTĠTÜSÜ FELSEFE VE DĠN BĠLĠMLERĠ (DĠNLER TARĠHĠ) ANABĠLĠM DALI LOTUS SUTRA VE BUDĠST KUTSAL METĠNLERĠ ARASINDAKĠ YERĠ VE ÖNEMĠ YÜKSEK LĠSANS TEZĠ Aysel OKUDAN DANIġMAN: Prof. Dr. Ali Ġsra GÜNGÖR ANKARA-2017 T.C. ANKARA ÜNĠVERSĠTESĠ SOSYAL BĠLĠMLER ENSTĠTÜSÜ FELSEFE VE DĠN BĠLĠMLERĠ (DĠNLER TARĠHĠ) ANABĠLĠM DALI LOTUS SUTRA VE BUDĠST KUTSAL METĠNLERĠ ARASINDAKĠ YERĠ VE ÖNEMĠ Yüksek Lisans Tezi Tez DanıĢmanı: Prof. Dr. Ali Ġsra GÜNGÖR Tez Jürisi Üyeleri: Adı ve Soyadı Ġmzası ………………………………………. ..…………………….. ………………………………………. …………………….... ………………………………………. ………………………. ………………………………………. ………………………. ………………………………………. ………………………. Tez Sınav Tarihi………… TÜRKĠYE CUMHURĠYETĠ ANKARA ÜNĠVERSĠTESĠ SOSYAL BĠLĠMLER ENSTĠTÜSÜ MÜDÜRLÜĞÜNE Bu belge ile, bu tezdeki bütün bilgilerin akademik kurallara ve etik davranış ilkelerine uygun olarak toplanıp sunulduğunu beyan ederim. Bu kural ve ilkelerin gereği olarak, çalışmada bana ait olmayan tüm veri, düşünce ve sonuçları andığımı ve kaynağını gösterdiğimi ayrıca beyan ederim.(……/……/2…..…) Adı ve Soyadı ……………………………………… İmzası ……………………………………… ĠÇĠNDEKĠLER İÇİNDEKİLER .................................................................................................................. I ÖNSÖZ ..........................................................................................................................
[Show full text]
The Threefold Lotus Sutra Translated by Bunno Kato
The Threefold Lotus Sutra Translated by Bunno Kato 1 Table of Contents Contents Table of Contents 2 THE SUTRA OF INNUMERABLE MEANINGS 3 Chapter 1 Virtues 3 Chapter 2 Preaching 8 Chapter 3 Ten Merits 12 THE SUTRA OF THE LOTUS FLOWER OF THE WONDERFUL LAW 18 Introductory 18 Tactfulness 31 A Parable 48 Faith Discernment 69 The Parable of the Herbs 79 Prediction 85 The Parable of the Magic City 91 The Five Hundred Disciples Receive the Prediction of Their Destiny 107 Prediction of the Destiny of Arhats, Training and Trained 114 A Teacher of the Law 118 Beholding the Previous Stupa 124 Devadatta 132 Exhortation to Hold Firm 137 A Happy Life 141 Springing Up Out of the Earth 151 Revelation of the [Eternal] Life of the Tathagata 158 Discrimination of Merits 163 The Merits of Joyful Acceptance 170 The Merits of the Preacher 173 The Bodhisattva Never Despise 182 The Divine Power of the Tathagata 186 The Final Commission 189 The Story of the Bodhisattva Medicine King 190 The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound 195 The All‐Sidedness of the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World 199 Dharanis 204 The Story of the King Resplendent 207 Encouragement of the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue 211 THE SUTRA OF MEDITATION ON THE BODHISATTVA UNIVERSAL VIRTUE 214 The Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue 214 2 THE SUTRA OF INNUMERABLE MEANINGS CHAPTER I Virtues Thus have I heard. Once1 the Buddha was staying at the City of Royal Palaces on Mount Gridhrakuta with a great assemblage of great bhikshus, in all twelve thousand.
[Show full text]
Macrocosmic Paradigm of Whitehead and the Lotus Sutra*
steve odin PEACE AND COMPASSION IN THE MICROCOSMIC – MACROCOSMIC PARADIGM OF WHITEHEAD AND THE LOTUS SUTRA* In a previous book1 I have examined similarities between the organic process metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead and the teachings of Chinese Hua-yen (Japanese: Kegon) Buddhism, arguing that both for- mulate a dynamic, holistic, and interrelational vision of reality wherein each nonlocal event is a microcosmic reﬂection of the macrocosmic whole, thereby atomizing the entire spatiotemporal continuum from a unique perspective in nature. I argued that Whitehead’s microcosmic– macrocosmic metaphysics wherein each momentary event arises as a one-in-many and many-in-one has many structural parallels with the Hua-yen/Kegon Buddhist philosophy as summed up by the doctrinal formulations li-shih wu-ai (Japanese: riji muge),a or “interpenetration of part and whole,” and shih-shih wu-ai (Japanese: jiji muge),b or “inter- penetration of part and part.” It was further shown how for Kûkai, the founder of Shingon Mikkyô Buddhism in Japan, the Kegon (Chinese: Hua-yen) “exoteric” doctrine of “interpenetration of part and whole” could itself be directly experienced through the “esoteric” practice of visualizing mandala paintings as images of wholeness by means of secret meditations such as the “expansion technique” (Japanese: kaku- dai hô),c a contemplative method whereby an image is expanded by degrees to the size of the cosmos and then contracted back to normal, thereby to reveal the nature of self and reality as a microcosm of the macrocosm. Furthermore, I endeavored to demonstrate the close struc- tural proximity between Whitehead’s microcosmic–macrocosmic meta- physics and the Hua-yen/Kegon infrastructure of Japanese Zen Buddhism as developed by Dôgen (1200–1253), along with its reformulation in the Zen metaphysics of “absolute nothingness” articulated by Nishida Kitarô (1870–1945) and the Kyoto school of modern Japanese philosophy.
[Show full text]

Table of Contents