UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Fostering Value-Creative Global Citizens

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Fostering Value-Creative Global Citizens UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Fostering Value-Creative Global Citizens: Experiences of Students of Color in ServiCe-Learning A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaCtion of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education by Ruby Nobuko Nagashima 2020 © Copyright by Ruby Nobuko Nagashima 2020 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Fostering Value-Creative Global Citizens: Experiences of Students of Color in ServiCe-Learning by Ruby Nobuko Nagashima DoCtor of Education University of California, Los Angeles, 2020 Professor Carlos Alberto Torres, Chair Educational institutions are looking to global Citizenship education as an avenue to prepare students to be global-minded leaders and find creative solutions to global challenges. However, there is not much consensus on how to educate for global citizenship. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential for serviCe-learning to educate for global citizenship and paid partiCular attention to the lived experiences of students of color (SOC) whose experiences are historiCally underrepresented in the serviCe-learning research literature. This qualitative phenomenologiCal study interviewed 13 SOC who partiCipated in one serviCe-learning program at Soka University of AmeriCa (SUA). The following research questions guided my study: 1) ii How do the lived experiences of SUA undergraduate SOC shape their orientation towards ASB?, 2) In what ways do experiences in the ASB program at SUA contribute to students’ understandings of global citizenship?, and 3) How do the experiences of SOC in ASB inform their global citizenship orientations one to six years after program completion? Based on Daisaku Ikeda’s educational philosophy, a conceptual model for value-Creative global citizenship was used for data analysis. This study uncovered that: 1) Family and Community, Previous CiviC Engagement, and Class and Privilege influenced partiCipants orientations toward serviCe- learning, 2) the pedagogiCal praCtiCes employed in the serviCe-learning program mediated partiCipants’ understanding of global citizenship and were deeply contextualized within an ethos of SUA, and 3) partiCipants Continued to maintain strong orientations towards value-Creative global citizenship up to six years after program completion. The research findings have strong impliCations for serviCe-learning as one pathway to educate for global citizenship. Findings of the research also point to important pedagogiCal considerations for educators who seek to employ equitable praCtiCes for SOC and other students with marginalized identities in their work. iii The dissertation of Ruby Nobuko Nagashima is approved. MitChell Chang RiChard Desjardins JessiCa Harris Carlos Alberto Torres, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2020 iv DEDICATION For Daisaku Ikeda, who inspired me with the words “the world is yours to change.” For Yuna and Louis, you are the light of hope. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract of Dissertation ................................................................................................................ ii Committee ..................................................................................................................................... iv Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. x List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................................... 1 Research Design ......................................................................................................................... 3 SignifiCance ................................................................................................................................ 3 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................ 6 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 6 Varying ApproaChes to Global Citizenship Education .............................................................. 6 Neoliberal ............................................................................................................................ 11 RadiCal ................................................................................................................................ 12 Transformational ................................................................................................................. 13 Daisaku Ikeda’s Human Education .......................................................................................... 15 Value-Creative Global Citizens .......................................................................................... 16 Wisdom ........................................................................................................................ 17 Courage ....................................................................................................................... 18 Compassion ................................................................................................................. 20 Human Revolution ...................................................................................................... 21 Operationalizing Global Citizenship ........................................................................................ 23 Courage to Have Dialogue .................................................................................................. 24 Compassion through Imaginative Empathy ........................................................................ 24 Wisdom for Creative Coexistence & Glocal ACtion ........................................................... 25 Inner Transformation through RefleCtion ........................................................................... 25 ServiCe-Learning as Global Citizenship Education ................................................................. 27 Roots of ServiCe-Learning in Experiential Education: Insights from Three Educational Reformists ................................................................................................................................ 28 W.E.B. DuBois ................................................................................................................... 30 Paulo Freire ......................................................................................................................... 32 Tsunesaburo Makiguchi ...................................................................................................... 35 Understanding the LandsCape of ServiCe-Learning Research ................................................. 40 ServiCe-Learning ................................................................................................................. 41 CritiCal ServiCe-Learning .................................................................................................... 47 Utilizing Two Tenants of CritiCal RaCe Theory ...................................................................... 50 Challenge to Dominant Ideology ........................................................................................ 51 vi Centrality of Experiential Knowledge ................................................................................ 52 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................. 53 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 53 Research Questions .................................................................................................................. 53 Epistemology ........................................................................................................................... 53 Research Design and Rationale ............................................................................................... 54 Study Site and Population ........................................................................................................ 56 Site SeleCtion ...................................................................................................................... 56 Sample SeleCtion ................................................................................................................. 57 Data ColleCtion ................................................................................................................... 59 Data Analysis .....................................................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Back Copies of Buddhist Studies Review
    Vol. 15, 1 Buddhist Studies Review 1998 CONTENTS Frontispiece Buddhist Studies Review and the UK Association for Buddhist Studies.. .. ~ ..... 1 The Trials of Yasodhara and the Birth of Rahula: A Synopsis of Bhadrakalpavadana II-IX — Joel Tatelman .. 3 A Critical Examination of Nanavira's 'A Note on Paticcasamuppada' (I) — Bhikkhu Bodhi .. 43 -ft i 4- — tr. * $ Ekottaragama (XXIII) Thich Huyen-Vi and % Bhikkhu Pasadika 65 Obituaries; Jean Boisselier, Albert Le Bonheur, Walter Couvreur, Wtadysiaw Misiewicz, Bhikkhu Nanajlvako 71 Letter to the Editor 79 Review Article: Abhidhamma Studies at the British Buddhist Association and A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma — A. Haviland-Nye .. 81 Book Reviews 100 ISSN 0265-2897 © 1998 Buddhist Studies Review Buddhist Studies Review is the semi-annual journal of the U K Association for Buddhist Studies and is sponsored by the Inst i tut de recherche bouddhique Linh-Sdn Advisory Committee: Ven. Thich Huyen-Vi (Spiritual Adviser) Eric Cheetham J.W. de Jong Hubert Dun K.R. Norman G.C. Pande Charles Prebish Peter Skilling Paul Williams Editor. Russell Webb Assistant Editors: Bhikkhu Pasadika, Sara Boin-Webb N. American Representative: Charles S, Prebish For editorial addresses and subscription details,' see inside back cover. Vol.15, 1 BUDDHIST STUDIES REVIEW 1998 Frontispiece: the calligraphy in Sino-Vietnamese characters (Norn) by Ven Thich Huyen-Vi reads: Buddhist Studies Review and the UK Association for Buddhist Studies As of 1998, Buddhist Studies Review has been endorsed as the Mental phenomena are preceded by mind, have journal of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies. All paid up mind as their leader, are made by mind.
    [Show full text]
  • THE LIFE and TIMES of ÑANAVIRA THERA by Craig S
    THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ÑANAVIRA THERA By Craig S. Shoemake Who Was the Venerable Ñanavira Thera? He was born Harold Edward Musson on January 5, 1920 in the Aldershot military barracks near Alton, a small, sleepy English town in the Hampshire downs an hour from London. His father, Edward Lionel Musson, held the rank of Captain of the First Manchester Regiment stationed at Aldershot’s Salamanca Barracks. A career officer, Edward Musson later attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and probably expected his son and only child to follow in his footsteps. His wife, nee Laura Emily Mateer, was Harold’s devoted mother. The family was quite wealthy, with extensive coalmine holdings in Wales. Much of Harold’s youth was spent at a mansion on the outskirt of Alton, within sight of a Benedictine abbey. Townspeople describe the boy as solitary and reflective; one remembered Harold saying that he enjoyed walking alone in the London fogs. The same neighbor recalled Harold’s distaste for a tiger skin displayed in the foyer of the family’s residence, a trophy from one of his father’s hunts in India or Burma. Between 1927 and 1929 the family was stationed in Burma, in Rangoon, Port Blair, and Maymo, and this experience afforded young Harold his first glimpse of representatives of the way of life he would later adopt: Buddhist monks. In a conversation with interviewer Robin Maugham (the nephew of novelist Somerset Maugham), Harold (by then the Venerable Ñanavira) indicated that what he saw in Burma as a child deeply affected him: “I suppose that my first recollection of Buddhism was when I joined my father in Burma.
    [Show full text]
  • Mahayana Buddhism and Deweyan Philosophy
    Beijing beijing international review of education International Review of 1 (2019) 609-625 Education brill.com/bire Mahayana Buddhism and Deweyan Philosophy Jim GARRISON Virginia Tech, USA [email protected] Abstract My paper examines some of the many similarities between Mahayana Buddhism and Deweyan philosophy. It builds upon two previously published works. The first is my dialogue with Daisaku Ikeda President of Soka Gakkai International, a UN registered ngo currently active in one hundred ninety-two countries and territories, and the Di- rector Emeritus of the Center for Dewey Studies, Larry Hickman (see Garrison, Hick- man, and Ikdea, 2014). My paper will first briefly review some of the many similarities between Buddhism and Deweyan pragmatism. Second, I will also briefly review addi- tional similarities in the published version of my Kneller Lecture to the American Edu- cational Studies Association (see Garrison, 2019). In the present paper, I will introduce some new similarities of interest to educators. Among these are Dewey’s surprisingly Buddhist notions of language and logic as merely useful conventions. Secondly, I ex- amine Dewey’s argument that “causation as ordered sequence is a logical category,” not an ontological category (LW 12: 454). The similarity to the opening chapter of Nagar- juna’s Madhyamaka, or Middle Way, is striking. I will suggest a logical reading has some interesting implications for student-teacher relations. Keywords Buddhism – causation – Dewey – Ikeda – Nagarjuna – metaphysics I think it shows a deplorable deadness of imagination to suppose that philosophy will indefinitely revolve within the scope of the problems and systems that two thousand years of European history have bequeathed to us.
    [Show full text]
  • The Development of Insight – a Study of the U Ba Khin Vipassanā Meditation Tradition As Taught by S.N
    福嚴佛學研究 第六期 頁 151-174 (民國 100 年),新竹:福嚴佛學院 Fuyan Buddhist Studies, No. 6, pp. 151-174 (2011) Hsinchu: Fuyan Buddhist Institute ISSN: 2070-0512 The Development of Insight – A Study of the U Ba Khin Vipassanā Meditation Tradition as Taught by S.N. Goenka in Comparison with Insight Teachings in the Early Discourses Bhikkhu Anālayo I. Introduction With the present paper I investigate how key aspects of insight delineated in the early discourses have been approached in modern day Theravāda meditation practice. In order to illustrate one of the ways in which such practice has been un- dertaken, I take as an example what at present appears to be the most widely prac- ticed Theravāda vipassanā method. This is the vipassanā tradition of the Burmese lay meditation teacher U Ba Khin (1899–1971), in the form as it is taught by his Indian disciple S.N. Goenka (1924). My study proceeds through the following topics: II.1 "Tranquillity and insight" examines the relationship between samatha and vipassanā . II.2 " Vipassanā meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka" provides a brief sur- vey of this particular form of insight practice. III.1 "The significance of dependent arising" summarizes different interpre- tations of the doctrine of pa icca samuppāda. III. 2 " Sakhāra s in the context of dependent arising" explores the recurrent reference made by S.N. Goenka to "eradicating past sakhāra s". IV.1 "The interrelation of the four satipa hāna s" investigates how these four aspects of mindfulness practice relate to each other. IV.2 "Contemplation of vedanā and the four satipa hāna s" illustrates that contemplation of feeling can be used to develop all four satipa hāna s.
    [Show full text]
  • Satipatthana
    SATIPAṬṬHĀNA Bhikkhu Anālayo SATIPAṬṬHĀNA il cammino diretto Pubblicato per distribuzione gratuita da Santacittarama Edizioni Monastero Buddhista Santacittarama Località Brulla 02030 Poggio Nativo (Rieti) Edizione italiana a cura di Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā Traduzione di Letizia Baglioni © Bhikkhu Anālayo 2018 Edizione originale in lingua inglese: Satipaṭṭhāna, the direct path to realization, Birmingham, Windhorse Publications, 2003 (ristampa con variazioni minori 2007) Immagine di copertina: Theodor Franz Steffens Copertina: didodolmen Impaginazione: Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā Stampa: Mediagraf, Noventa Padovana (Padova) ISBN: 9788885706071 Come atto di dhammadāna e in osservanza della regola monastica buddhista, Bhikkhu Anālayo declina l’accettazione di qualsiasi compenso derivante dai diritti d’autore della presente opera INDICE Elenco delle illustrazioni ix Introduzione 1 Traduzione del Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta 3 Capitolo I Aspetti generali del cammino diretto 15 I.1Lo schema del Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta 15 I.2 Panoramica dei quattro satipaṭṭhāna 20 I.3 L’importanza dei singoli satipaṭṭhāna per la realizzazione 23 I.4 Caratteristiche individuali dei satipaṭṭhāna 25 I.5 L’espressione “cammino diretto” 29 I.6 Il termine “satipaṭṭhāna” 31 Capitolo II Il paragrafo di “definizione” del Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta 35 II.1 Contemplare 36 II.2 Cosa significa “essere diligente” (ātāpī) 38 II.3 “Chiaramente cosciente” (sampajāna) 44 II.4 Presenza mentale e chiara coscienza 47 Capitolo III Sati 51 III.1 L’approccio alla conoscenza nel buddhismo delle origini 51 III.2 Sati
    [Show full text]
  • Mahāyāna’ (The Great Vehicle) and Its Relationship to the Āgamas*
    THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM ‘MAHĀYĀNA’ (THE GREAT VEHICLE) AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE ĀGAMAS* JOSEPH WALSER Though a considerable amount of work has been done on early Mahāyāna, one of the questions that has received relatively less at- tention in Western language sources is why Mahāyānists chose the word mahāyāna1 to begin with. While there is a growing consensus that the term “Mahāyāna” did not refer to a single set of doctrines, practices or propositions, the fact remains that at a certain point in history a set of authors gravitated toward the term “Mahāyāna” (trailing a penumbra of affi liated terms such as śreṣṭhayāna, bodhi- sat tvayāna, tathāgatayāna, agrayāna, ekayāna, etc.) as a kind of brand name for their project. Presumably there was a reason for the choice – or at least some reason why this moniker stuck and oth- ers did not. What did the term mean to those who fi rst used it? We have become so accustomed to hearing about the “Great Vehicle,” that few have stopped to consider that there may be something odd about identifying a religion with what is essentially a carriage. In this paper I argue that early Mahāyānists may well have adopted the term from a non-technical usage found in passages from the Jāṇus- soṇisūtra of the Saṃyuktāgama and the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra of the Dīrghāgama. In these contexts, we fi nd the term enmeshed in a * An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the IABS Conference in Atlanta, GA. in June of 2008. I would like to thank the numerous schol- ars who gave me extensive feedback on various drafts, especially Jim Egge, Richard Gombrich, Ronald Davidson, Daniel Boucher, Sing-chen Lydia Chiang, Jan Nattier and Birgit Kellner.
    [Show full text]
  • Mahayana Buddhism and Deweyan Philosophy
    Beijing beijing international review of education International Review of 1 (2019) 609-625 Education brill.com/bire Mahayana Buddhism and Deweyan Philosophy Jim GARRISON Virginia Tech, USA [email protected] Abstract My paper examines some of the many similarities between Mahayana Buddhism and Deweyan philosophy. It builds upon two previously published works. The first is my dialogue with Daisaku Ikeda President of Soka Gakkai International, a UN registered ngo currently active in one hundred ninety-two countries and territories, and the Di- rector Emeritus of the Center for Dewey Studies, Larry Hickman (see Garrison, Hick- man, and Ikdea, 2014). My paper will first briefly review some of the many similarities between Buddhism and Deweyan pragmatism. Second, I will also briefly review addi- tional similarities in the published version of my Kneller Lecture to the American Edu- cational Studies Association (see Garrison, 2019). In the present paper, I will introduce some new similarities of interest to educators. Among these are Dewey’s surprisingly Buddhist notions of language and logic as merely useful conventions. Secondly, I ex- amine Dewey’s argument that “causation as ordered sequence is a logical category,” not an ontological category (LW 12: 454). The similarity to the opening chapter of Nagar- juna’s Madhyamaka, or Middle Way, is striking. I will suggest a logical reading has some interesting implications for student-teacher relations. Keywords Buddhism – causation – Dewey – Ikeda – Nagarjuna – metaphysics I think it shows a deplorable deadness of imagination to suppose that philosophy will indefinitely revolve within the scope of the problems and systems that two thousand years of European history have bequeathed to us.
    [Show full text]
  • The Origin of the Term 'Mahāyāna' (The Great Vehicle) and Its Relationship to the Āgamas
    JIABS Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Volume 30 Number 1–2 2007 (2009) The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies (ISSN 0193-600XX) is the organ of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Inc. As a peer-reviewed journal, it welcomes scholarly contributions pertaining to all facets of Buddhist EDITORIAL BOARD Studies. JIABS is published twice yearly. KELLNER Birgit Manuscripts should preferably be sub- KRASSER Helmut mitted as e-mail attachments to: [email protected] as one single fi le, Joint Editors complete with footnotes and references, in two diff erent formats: in PDF-format, BUSWELL Robert and in Rich-Text-Format (RTF) or Open- Document-Format (created e.g. by Open CHEN Jinhua Offi ce). COLLINS Steven Address books for review to: COX Collet JIABS Editors, Institut für Kultur- und GÓMEZ Luis O. Geistesgeschichte Asiens, Prinz-Eugen- HARRISON Paul Strasse 8-10, A-1040 Wien, AUSTRIA VON HINÜBER Oskar Address subscription orders and dues, changes of address, and business corre- JACKSON Roger spondence (including advertising orders) JAINI Padmanabh S. to: KATSURA Shōryū Dr Jérôme Ducor, IABS Treasurer Dept of Oriental Languages and Cultures KUO Li-ying Anthropole LOPEZ, Jr. Donald S. University of Lausanne MACDONALD Alexander CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland email: [email protected] SCHERRER-SCHAUB Cristina Web: http://www.iabsinfo.net SEYFORT RUEGG David Fax: +41 21 692 29 35 SHARF Robert Subscriptions to JIABS are USD 40 per STEINKELLNER Ernst year for individuals and USD 70 per year for libraries and other institutions. For TILLEMANS Tom informations on membership in IABS, see back cover.
    [Show full text]
  • Camminodiretto.Pdf
    SATIPAṬṬHĀNA Bhikkhu Anālayo SATIPAṬṬHĀNA il cammino diretto Pubblicato per distribuzione gratuita da Santacittarama Edizioni Monastero Buddhista Santacittarama Località Brulla 02030 Poggio Nativo (Rieti) Edizione italiana a cura di Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā Traduzione di Letizia Baglioni © Bhikkhu Anālayo 2018 Edizione originale in lingua inglese: Satipaṭṭhāna, the direct path to realization, Birmingham, Windhorse Publications, 2003 (ristampa con variazioni minori 2007) Immagine di copertina: Theodor Franz Steffens Copertina: didodolmen Impaginazione: Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā Stampa: Mediagraf, Noventa Padovana (Padova) ISBN: 9788885706071 Come atto di dhammadāna e in osservanza della regola monastica buddhista, Bhikkhu Anālayo declina l’accettazione di qualsiasi compenso derivante dai diritti d’autore della presente opera INDICE Elenco delle illustrazioni ix Introduzione 1 Traduzione del Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta 3 Capitolo I Aspetti generali del cammino diretto 15 I.1Lo schema del Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta 15 I.2 Panoramica dei quattro satipaṭṭhāna 20 I.3 L’importanza dei singoli satipaṭṭhāna per la realizzazione 23 I.4 Caratteristiche individuali dei satipaṭṭhāna 25 I.5 L’espressione “cammino diretto” 29 I.6 Il termine “satipaṭṭhāna” 31 Capitolo II Il paragrafo di “definizione” del Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta 35 II.1 Contemplare 36 II.2 Cosa significa “essere diligente” (ātāpī) 38 II.3 “Chiaramente cosciente” (sampajāna) 44 II.4 Presenza mentale e chiara coscienza 47 Capitolo III Sati 51 III.1 L’approccio alla conoscenza nel buddhismo antico 51 III.2 Sati 53 III.3
    [Show full text]
  • Daisaku Ikeda's Philosophical Dialogues on Education
    FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education Vol. 6, Iss. 2, 2020, pp. 89-102 DAISAKU IKEDA’S PHILOSOPHICAL DIALOGUES ON EDUCATION Nai-Cheng Kuo1 Augusta University, USA Abstract Daisaku Ikeda’s humanism (1928-) has made profound global impacts on education and human lives. However, there is little research on analyzing his philosophical dialogues with global scholars. To explore what roles educators play and what value educators can create based on Ikeda’s philosophical dialogues on education with scholars across disciplines, the author uses a theme-based approach to code educational issues derived from the dialogues. The majority of the themes highlight the importance of humanity in education. By knowing the roles that educators can fulfill and the values that they can create, the themes identified in Ikeda’s philosophical dialogues provide groundwork for the development of humanistic education and can serve as concrete ways to help educators enhance their educational practices in K-12 schools as well as in higher education. Keywords: Daisaku Ikeda, philosophical dialogue, humanity, humanistic education Introduction Dialogue is an approach of teaching and learning. It helps educators take action to make a difference in students’ lives and sustain human relationships on a common ground to enact human rights. It is important to note that true dialogue exists only when people have a profound love for the world and for others (Freire, 1993). That is, humanity. Humanity refers to universal values that people elsewhere appreciate and they enable people to respect the dignity of their own lives and others’ regardless of differences (Ikeda, 2019). Although each individual dialogue may seem small, when the “ripples of dialogue multiply and spread, they have the potential to generate the kind of sea change that will redirect the forces of fanaticism and dogmatism” (Ikeda, 2005, p.
    [Show full text]
  • The Psychology of Emotions and Humour in Buddhism
    The Psychology of Emotions and Humour in Buddhism Padmasiri de Silva The Psychology of Emotions and Humour in Buddhism Padmasiri de Silva Monash University Clayton, Melbourne, VIC, Australia ISBN 978-3-319-97513-9 ISBN 978-3-319-97514-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97514-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018949615 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifcally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microflms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifc statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affliations.
    [Show full text]
  • 9( 7): – 9. © 9 Oscar Carrera the Many Voices of Buddhaghosa: a Commentator
    The many voices of Buddhaghosa: a commentator and our times1 Oscar Carrera Abstract This paper examines contemporary dissent from orthodox Theravāda Buddhism. It presents four modern Buddhist thinkers who hold the fifth- century commentator Buddhaghosa responsible for a drastic change in Buddhist doctrine. Several reasons are proposed to explain this ‘distortion’: it may be attributed to an excess of literalism (Shravasti Dhammika) or to the introduction of foreign ideas, drawn from other Buddhist schools (David J. Kalupahana) or from Brahmanism (Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, Sue Hamilton). It will be argued that, in such cases, the figure of Buddhaghosa is linked to a particular reconstruction of ‘the Buddha’s Buddhism’, of which he is presented as a semi-legendary antagonist. The man known as Buddhaghosa (‘the voice of the Buddha’) was a Buddhist monk who flourished in the 5th century CE, travelled to the island of Lanka from the Indian mainland, and is credited with the systematization of a commentarial tradition that would later (much later) be called Theravāda Buddhism. It is no exaggeration to say that Buddhaghosa is, for most contemporary Theravādins, the second highest authority of Buddhism, ranking only below its founder. The volume of his putative works is impressive, so much so that some contemporary 1 I would like to thank Professor Christopher Handy for his comments on an earlier draft of this paper. 9(7): –9. ©9 Oscar Carrera THE MANY VOICES OF BUDDHAGHOSA: A commentator AND OUR TIMES scholars prefer to imagine him at the head of a writing committee (Bodhi 2000, 193; von Hinüber 2015b). This paper deals with Buddhist scholars who take the opposite stance: who, in agreement with tradition, see those writings as the product of a single man.
    [Show full text]