Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'East Asian Philosophy'

Religion<br>Ph.D.<br>Since its inception in the 1960s, the scientific research of Buddhist-based meditation practices have grown exponentially with hundreds of new studies every year in the past decade. Some researchers are using Buddhist teachings, such as not-self, as an explanation for the causal mechanism of meditation’s effectiveness, for conditions such as stress, anxiety, and depression. However, there has been little response from Buddhist studies scholars to these proposed mechanisms in the growing discourse surrounding the engagement of ‘Buddhism’ and ‘Science.’ I argue that the mechanistic causal explanations of meditation offered by researchers provide an incomplete understanding of meditative practices. I focus on two articles, by David Vago and his co-authors, that have been cited over nine hundred and three hundred times. I make explicit internal criticisms of their work from their peers in neuroscience, and offer external criticisms of their understanding of the cognitive aspects of meditation by using an extended, enactive, embodied, embedded, and affective (4EA) model of cognition. I also use Chinese Huayan Buddhist mereology and causation to provide a corrective for a more holistic understanding. The constructive aspect of my project combines 4EA cognition with Huayan mereology and causation in order to propose new directions of research on how meditative practices may lead to a changing sense of self that does not privilege neurobiological mechanisms. Instead, I argue a fruitful understanding of change in ethical behavior is a changing sense of self using support from a consummate meditator in the Japanese Zen Buddhist context: Dōgen and his text Shoakumakusa. Contemporary research looking for mechanistic causation focuses on the physical body, specifically the brain, without considering how the mind is involved in meditative practices. The group of researchers I focus on reduce the senses of self to localized parts of the brain. In contrast, according to Mahayana Buddhist terminology, Huayan offers a nondualistic understanding of the self that does not privilege the brain. Rather, Huayan characterizes the self as a mind-body complex and meditation is understood to involve the whole of the person. My critique notes how the methodology used in these studies focuses too much on the localized, explicit, and foreground, but not enough on the whole, implicit, and background processes in meditative practices. Bringing in Huayan also offers a constructive aspect to this engagement of Buddhist studies and neuroscience as there are implications of its mereology for a more complete understanding of not just meditation, but also of neuroplasticity. To be clear, the corrective is only meant for the direction of research that focuses on neural-mechanistic explanations of meditation. Surely, there is value in scientific research on meditative practices. However, that emphasis on neural mechanisms gives a misleading impression of being able to fully explain meditative practices. I argue that a more fruitful direction of engagement between Buddhist traditions and scientific research is the small but growing amount of experiments conducted on how meditative practices lead to ethical change. This direction provides a more complete characterization of how meditative practices changes the senses of self.<br>Temple University--Theses

This study traces the development of Tibetan 'treasure' texts and practices in contemporary times via the life-story and scriptural revelations of the Tibetan 'treasure revealer' (gter ston) Kun bzang bde chen gling pa (1928-2006). It examines how his revelations (gter ma) rooted in the historic spirituality of Tibet, continue and adapt into the twenty first century. The study is important in order to understand the ways this Asian religious concept develops and coalesces in North America. With the dramatic advances in communication through digital technology, it examines how gter ma texts and practices reach a modern audience. Also discussed are the implications of centuries old debates surrounding Buddhist lineage, transmission and ‘authenticity’ as well as concepts such as liberty, equality and authority. All of which are culture-specific constructions that differ radically when seen from a variety of perspectives. The main conclusion drawn from this research is that as a Western Vajrayāna ‘tradition’ emerges and intersects with older Tibetan forms, both must attempt to find a middle path between their differing applications and interpretations if they are to avoid drifting into an arena of extensive commercialisation, dilution and distortion.

Avec le développement des échanges mondialisés, les interactions sexuelles et/ou amoureuses entre Occident et pays en développement deviennent de plus en plus fréquentes. A travers l’étude comparative des relations entre Occidentaux et Thaïlandais ou Malaisiens nous verrons comment, par le biais des hiérarchies de genre, de classe et de « race », les acteurs occidentaux et orientaux tentent de revaloriser leur capital économique, culturel, social et symbolique. Si en Thaïlande les femmes issues d’une classe défavorisée peuvent espérer une certaine assurance financière, dans le pays voisin les femmes d’un milieu aisé souhaitent accéder à davantage de liberté face à l’emprise de la culture et de la religion locales. Ce désir de l’autre cache souvent chez les Occidentaux un rejet des dites « valeurs occidentales », notamment l’égalité des sexes, et une volonté de retour vers des valeurs considérées plus « stables », « traditionnelles » et « hiérarchisées ». Nous verrons ainsi comment les interactions amoureuses mondialisées sont un instrument de valorisation du capital bourdieusien et un moyen de redéfinir les hiérarchies sociales<br>With the development of globalized exchanges, sexual and/or sentimental relationships between Occident and developping countries become more and more frequent. Through the comparative study of occidental people and thai or malay people relationships we will see how, with hierarchies of gender, class and race, occidental and oriental actors try to valorise their economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital. If in Thailand lower class women can acceed to financial stability, in the neighbour country upper class women can aspire to freedom from local culture and religion. This desire of the other often hide among occidental men a reject of « occidental values », especially sexual egality, and a return to values considered more « stable », « traditional », and « hierarchized ». Thereby we will see how globalized love interactions are an instrument to valorise Bourdieu’s capital and a way to redefine social hierarchies