This article aims to bring insights from the philosophy of Hinduism to contribute to contemporary issues related to justice/injustice, empowerment, and liberation. To make important observations, and ...raise significant questions in this direction, it analyzes and discusses in detail the character of Draupadi from the Indian epic The Mahabharata. The article invites critics to debate the potential for empowerment in feminine virtues through the example of Draupadi who defends her importance and value on the basis of stri-dharma (righteous feminine actions). The article also propounds that the typical masculine traits (aggression, individualistic and courageous actions, etc.) in the personality of Draupadi result from the socio-political normativity that puts Draupadi's virtue under examination because she had unconventionally married five men. Draupadi is under emotional and psychological pressure to publicly prove her virtuous self and this finds expression in emotionally-charged situations apparently as masculine traits.
Ketika dosen melaksanakan tugas, mereka tidak terlepas dari pengurusan jenjang karier. Pencapaian karier ini diraih melalui pelaksanaan kewajiban tridharma. Selanjutnya kinerja tersebut ...didokumentasikan pada sebuah aplikasi agar periode berikutnya bagi dosen yang memiliki jabatan fungsional paling awal yaitu Asisten Ahli (AA), dapat diusulkan sebagai peserta serdos. Serdos adalah salah satu karier yang wajib ditempuh oleh dosen ber-jabatan fungsional. Adalah sebuah perguruan tinggi swasta yang telah berdiri puluhan tahun dan meraih akreditasi B namun jumlah dosen bersertifikatnya masih belum signifikan, maka dilakukanlah penyelidikan oleh peneliti untuk memperoleh jawaban penyebab minimnya jumlah dosen serdos sekaligus untuk mendapatkan penanggulangannya. Bahasan kajian berdasar pada hasil wawancara dan observasi di lembaga tersebut setelah menelaah data dosen yang diperoleh dari bagian akademik kampus. Data terkumpul selanjutnya dinarasikan menggunakan metode kualitatif. Hasil wawancara menunjukkan bahwa dosen memiliki kesibukan tugas lain sehingga tidak cukup waktu untuk menulis karya ilmiah, dosen juga belum begitu memahami penggunaan aplikasi untuk menyimpan data kinerjanya, dan dosen masih dalam proses penyesuaian pelaksanaan tri dharma perguruan tinggi. Sehingga solusinya diperlukan sebuah perubahan pada diri dosen sendiri berupa perubahan pola berpikir bahwa dosen adalah profesi dirinya dengan segala kewajibannya. Adapun pihak lembaga, diharapkan melakukan evaluasi kinerja dosen secara berkala, dan memastikan kesiapan tenaga administrasi dalam mengurus karier dosen.
Despite being one of the most avowedly secular nations in the world, Japan may have more prison chaplains per inmate than any other country, the majority of whom are Buddhist priests. In this ...groundbreaking study of prison religion in East Asia, Adam Lyons introduces a form of chaplaincy rooted in the Buddhist concept of doctrinal admonition rather than Euro-American notions of spiritual care.Based on archival research, fieldwork inside prisons, and interviews with chaplains, Karma and Punishment reveals another dimension of Buddhist modernism that developed as Japan’s religious organizations carved out a niche as defenders of society by fighting crime. Between 1868 and 2020, generations of clergy have been appointed to bring religious instruction to bear on a range of offenders, from illegal Christian heretics to Marxist political dissidents, war criminals, and death row inmates. The case of the prison chaplaincy shows that despite constitutional commitments to freedom of religion and separation of religion from state, statism remains an enduring feature of mainstream Japanese religious life in the contemporary era.
This paper aims to establish the meaning of Dharma as the principle of self-denial and emptiness. Dharma, a key concept in the religious thought of India, has the literal meaning of "supporter.” ...Something that supports something else does not exist for itself. Just as the truth supporting the universe is Dharma, so the four pillars supporting the roof of the house to prevent it from collapsing are also Dharma. The four pillars supporting the house do not exist for themselves, but create an empty space in the house. In this respect, the essence of Dharma is self-denial, self-sacrifice. The traditional ascetic practices and religions in India is referred to as
sanatana dharma
(eternal truth), and the core is the complete extinction of I-ness (individual consciousness). When individual consciousness is completely lost, mokṣa (nirvana) is achieved. The moment the eternal truth is achieved, the individual consciousness becomes zero, and this position can be likened to the center (0) where the x- and y-axes meet in the coordinates of mathematics. Just as the center in the coordinates of mathematics is a place where the value of the x-axis is zero and the value of the y-axis is zero, the center of the universe, that is,
nirvāṇa
is achieved when individual consciousness is completely lost. Dharma is the path of becoming nothing to reach the zero point, and the process of self-denial is bound to entail pain. The pain involving voluntary self-denial can be rather a positive nourishment for the realization of Dharma. In fact, we can say that the core of the Hindu ethics of
Aśrama-dharma
(the 4 cycles of human life) and
Varṇa-dharma
(the caste system) is voluntary renunciation for the complete extinction of individual consciousness and renunciation concerning that which is possible.
Our panel on Sikh Dharma at Fifty, organized for the May 2023 Sikh studies conference at the University of California-Riverside, allowed me to update what I have previously written on 3HO/Sikh Dharma ...in light of recent developments affecting the organization. Here I reflect further upon (1) the internal evolution of Sikh Dharma and the self-identities of its followers, (2) the impact of Sikh Dharma - both the organization and its followers - on other Sikhs and Sikhi in North America, and (3) ways in which Sikh studies scholars have written about 3HO/Sikh Dharma positioning for the wider Sikh Panth.
This is a highly interdisciplinary book straddling physics and complex systems such as living organisms. The presentation is from the perspective of physics, in a manner accessible to those ...interested in scientific knowledge integrated within its socio-cultural and philosophical backgrounds. Two key areas of human understanding, namely physics and conscious complex systems, are presented in simple language. An optional technical presentation is also given in parallel where it is needed.Sample Chapter(s)Chapter 1: A Bird's Eye View of Our Quest (395 KB)Contents:Part I. The Nature of Physical Law:A Bird's Eye View of Our QuestAn Epistemic Hunt for Scientific TruthThe Laws of Nature and the Supremacy of SymmetryMaxwell's Magical Trinity - Electricity, Magnetism and LightThe Theory of RelativityThe Quantum World and 'Reality'Entanglement, Measurement and Quantum ParadoxesMany Particle Systems and the Classical LimitEnergy, Entropy and Emergent PropertiesPart II. Complex Systems and Consiousness:Bio-Molecules, the Sub-Slime of AstrochemistryThe Cell as the Basic Unit of LifeSpecialized Cells for Sight, Insight, and InformationExotic, Quantum Explanations of ConsciousnessAddressing the Enigmatic QuestionsReadership: General audience with interest in physics and complex systems biology as well as science academics.
The Lichen moth, Lyclene dharma dharma (Arctiidae, Lithosiinae), plays a significant role in forest ecosystem dynamics. A concise and novel method to synthesize the active sex pheromone components, ...(S)-14-methyloctadecan-2-one ((S)-1), (S)-6-methyloctadecan-2-one ((S)-2), and their enantiomers has been developed. Key steps in the synthesis include the use of Evans’ chiral auxiliaries, Grignard cross-coupling reactions, hydroboration–oxidation, and Wacker oxidation. The synthesized sex pheromone components hold potential value for studies on communication mechanisms, species identification, and ecological management.
The concept of “adbhuta-dharma” (Ch. weicengyou fa 未曾有法) has developed and changed throughout Buddhism’s history. Indeed, the subject and the content of adbhuta texts as well as the meaning of the ...term “adbhuta” (marvelous phenomenon) varies across the scriptures. Looking through the scriptures, it would seem that they originated as narrative elaborations on various aspects of the Three Jewels—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṃgha. Then gradually, “adbhuta-dharma” came to encapsulate those narrative elements in the scriptures related to the miraculous in the life of the Buddha as well as the careers of his disciples. As one of the twelve divisions of the Buddhist canon, the literary form of the adbhutas overlaps with other canonical genres, namely the nidānas, the avadānas, and the jātakas tales. This article will provide a careful analysis of adbhuta-dharma narratives in important Sarvāstivād in Sūtras, Vinayas, Abhidharmas, and other texts such as the Chuyao jing 出曜經 and the Buddhacarita (Ch. Fo suoxing zan 佛所行贊). These narratives are important because, while many monks and laypeople might have been left uninspired by the complexities of Buddhist thought and doctrine, miracle narratives were more accessible, playing an important role in popularizing Sarvāstivāda ideas and doctrines. These miracle stories reached audiences that other Sūtra narratives and exegetical works could not, helping in the dissemination of Buddhist thought and practice, as well as the later development and spread of Mahāyāna works in India and beyond.
This paper attempts to explore Master Zhiyi (538–597) of Chinese Tiantai Buddhism’s theory of the Subtlety of the three categories of Dharma. By means of interpreting the title “
the Subtle Dharma of ...the Lotus Sutra,
” he is able to adhere to the One Buddha-vehicle as the unifying force to incorporate different viewpoints and to classify the teaching of the Buddha. Zhiyi’s interpretation of the title of the
Lotus Sutra
begins with the word “Dharma.” This indicates that the Buddha teaches dharma, for dharma is the doctrine of truth or reality. He divides dharma into three categories: (1) Dharma of Sentient Beings, (2) Dharma of Buddha, and (3) Dharma of Mind. These three categories of dharma are regarded as constituting the doctrines in the teaching of the Buddha. Through this interpretation, the dharma the Buddha expounds in his teaching is confirmed to be subtle and inconceivable. The meaning of the subtlety is defined by Zhiyi as being vast in substance, superior in placeness, and eternal in function. These three aspects of the subtlety are spoken of in terms of the Ten Dharma-realms being the representation of the Ultimate Truth. As this Ultimate Truth is constituted by the Relativity of the nine realms and the Ultimate of the Buddha-realm, the Buddha’s teaching that functions to lead beings to enter the realm of Buddha is made evident. Owing to the fact that both of the nine realms and the Buddha-realm belong to the Dharma-realm, and the
dharmadhātu
is the Ultimate Truth, Zhiyi maintains that the nine realms as the Relative contains the Ultimate, and the Buddha-realm as the Ultimate contains the Relative. The integrated reality of the Relative and the Ultimate of the Ten Dharma-realms renders the dharma of the Ultimate Truth inconceivable and subtle. Coinciding with the subtlety that is defined by these three aspects in terms of vast substance, superior placeness, and eternal function, these three categories of dharma are linked with those three aspects of the subtlety. The Dharma of Sentient Beings that concerns the Ten Dharma-realms (that are characterized by the Ten Suchnesses) indicates the vastness of substance the Buddha’s teaching is based upon, in terms of the Ultimate Truth. The Dharma of Buddha that concerns the Buddha’s knowledge of the Relative and the Ultimate indicates the superiority of placeness the Buddha’s teaching can lead to in terms of attainment of Buddhahood. The Dharma of Mind that concerns the way of realizing the Ultimate Truth indicates the length of function the Buddha’s teaching can benefit, in terms of the three periods of time. Hence, by Zhiyi’s definition, the subtlety refers to the dharma, and the dharma is subtle, whereby the Ultimate Truth is presented as an integrated reality of Oneness.
This article examines the relationships between eminent monks and local gods in East Asian Buddhism, problematizing the ill-defined and much-employed concept of “protector deity of the dharma” (Skt. ...dharmapāla). By carefully examining various stories of the interactions between eminent monks and various gods found mostly in the biographies of eminent monks in Buddhist literature, we find three recognizable patterns when an indigenous god transforms into a “Buddhist” god. This study illustrates the ways in which local gods obtain Buddhist identities and deciphers how the “conversion” becomes possible via the spiritual power of the eminent monks, whose drive from their moral strength serves as the foundation of their spiritual essence. In this long process of localization of the dharma, the most effective narratives link the idea of the dharmapāla with the virtue of eminent monks. Hence, these narratives in GSZ, XGSZ, and Samugykusa contain colorful examples of taming local gods and malicious spirits with their mental power and moral virtue, finding a place for those gods to fit into the new Buddhist order. This study provides insights into the complex interactions between different religious traditions and sheds light on the ways in which religious ideas and practices are adapted and transformed in new cultural contexts.
