This article examines Sai On’s understanding of language and its correspondence with reality within the context of Confucianism, Buddhism, and the politics of eighteenth-century Ryukyu. Well aware of the limitations of language in conveying profound metaphysical truths, Sai On criticized Buddhists for their alleged erudition while displaying considerable rhetorical skill and erudition himself. ...

ON FRIDAY, 10 MAY, 2002, the Institute of Buddhist Studies and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences co-hosted a one-day symposium on the topic of Buddhism and Cognitive Science. The symposium comprised four presentations, given by Richard K. Payne, Institute of Buddhist Studies; B. Alan Wallace, Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Consciousness, Santa Barbara; Eleanor Rosch...

Editor’s introduction: This succinct presentation by one of the world’s great scholars of Mongolian Buddhism summarizes the challenges that Buddhism has faced and continues to face in Mongolia. Amid historical reconsideration and revisionism – and continuing propaganda – it is important to acknowledge and understand, as Dr. Wallace conveys, the enormity of repression faced by Buddhism, as Mongo...

The Western world has seen a significant shift in the epistemic values of spiritual seekers in the past quarter of a century; many have referred to the new epistemic approach as postmodern spirituality. Among the attributes unique to this growing cultural force are the prominence of mystery, enchantment, and the prehension of a numinous other (which need not be a theistic other) as key means of...

In the past twenty years, new optimism about the relevance of Buddhism to cognitive science has been expressed by a number of established researchers. In this article I ask what are the conceptual roots of this optimism, and which forms of development it inspired, with particular focus on selfhood, embodiment and meditation. The latter contains three distinct points of contact that are also rev...

Marlene Goldman suggests in her paper "Representations of Buddhism in Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost" that at first glance Ondaatje appears to promote the idea of a Sri Lankan Buddhist faith as transcending history. Ondaatje introduces the subject of Buddhism early on in the novel, emphasizing initially the devastation wrought by imperial and colonial forces. Goldman, however, argues that subsequent r...

Death and Social Order in Tokugawa Japan is a very important book providing a detailed explanation of a vital part of early modern Japanese Buddhism that goes a long way to putting in perspective how the religious tradition functions in the contemporary world. To put in context the contributions of the book, it can be noted that visitors to Japan who are curious about the role of Buddhism in re...

This paper probes beneath the surface of the revitalized religiosity and thriving “civic Buddhism” that is identifiable in parts of Thailand’s rural periphery today as a result of grassroots processes of change. It exemplifies Phra Phaisan Visalo’s assertion (1999:10) that Thai Buddhism is “returning to diversity” and “returning again to the hands of the people.” Using in-depth case studies of ...