Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies (CJBS)
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The Homology of Emotionality and Rationality (Part I)
No full textThe well-known dichotomy between emotionality and rationality can be traced back to Plato who noticed two ground principles – the one was the rational which he called logos and deemed male, and the other emotional and instinctual called eros, and deemed female. But failing to note an important distinction, he quite arbitrarily claimed the male to be good and the female evil. This misconception, reflecting his personal as well as the ancient Greeks’ general attitude of misogyny, was to have disastrous consequences for the evolving social, cultural and political institutions that became increasingly hostile and contemptuous of the female.From the Buddhist point of view, both emotionality and rationality are obscurations of the individual – obscurations of the omnipresent experiencer-quapractitioner’s original luminous being. Rationality obscures the lumen naturale by attempting to deal with the complex and the complicated nature of reality through introducing a separation between subject and object, dealing with both egologically and egocentrically, in the assumption that the model of the world so created is absolutely valid; what is not covered by the assumption is of no relevance. Emotionality obscures the lumen naturale by responding to the demands of the rational by either aiding or curtailing it. Both rationality and emotionality are biological phenomena: rationality becomes an intellectual obscuration and emotionality a kind of instinctual obscuration, and both are felt to be poisoning the whole atmosphere.Tibetan rdzogs-chen ‘ultimate completeness’ thinking starts from the idea of Being, which – as Martin Heidegger has shown – is not some thing, and is consequently not quantifiable. It views all objects of experience from the vantage point of the integral unity of wholeness that, in its lighting-up, unfolds its inner dynamic that operates spontaneously as a solo-movement, displaying itself and enhancing its performance and beauty.Basing himself on the sources pertaining to the emergence of rdzogschen thought, and elaborating the ideas of Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra and Arisingha (the Daoist Hva-shang Mahayana), the scholar-poet kLong-chen rab-byams-pa (1308–64) has given a most lucid interpretation of the homology of rationality and emotionality
Devolution and Evolution in the Agganna Sutta
No full textWhile the Aggañña Sutta (D iii.27) has been characterized by scholars as ‘satire’ and ‘parody’, this paper seeks to establish segment # 10-16 of the Discourse as a historically and scientifically accurate characterization of the cyclical cosmic process of Devolution (samvatta) and Evolution (vivatta). Following an initial outline of the total discourse, it gives an original translation of the relevant seven paragraphs, followed by ‘Notes to the Translation’. The story of Devolution and Evolution is then presented as a ‘Cosmic Narrative’ bringing together the benchmarks identified by the Buddha and by Western Science in evolutionary terms, from 13.5 billion (Big Bang) to 150,000 (‘anatomically modern humans’). This begins with an interpretation of the term âbhassara, not as Abhassara Brahma Being as in other scholarly studies, but literally as ‘hither-come-shining-arrow’ (<à- + -bhàs + sara), identifying it with a primordial type of photon. The paper also deals with two seeming paradoxes: chronological and spiritual. The first relates to the appearance of linga (sex) following ‘lingua’ (language) (chronological paradox). The second relates to Abhassara Brahma Beings, now taken in the traditional view, who by definition are freed of sense-thirst, but end up as sexual beings (spiritual paradox). In this context is introduced a new stream of sentient being, named navaka sattà (nouveaux being). As part of the latter is introduced a potential scenario of the Beings (Abhassara or navaka) evolviing into human beings based in Western Science. The paper is drawn upon a triple source - Sutta, Abhidhamma and Western Science, but also a dash of creative intuition
Two Traditions, Two Teachers, One Dharma
No full textThe Japanese and Sri Lankan Buddhist communities of Winnipeg are both small, and at different stages of adaptation to life in Canada. The Japanese Buddhist community, established in the 1950s, is aging and the observance of its cultural traditions by younger members is in a state of decline. As a result, Shin/Pure Land practice in Winnipeg is threatened with disappearance. In contrast, Sri Lankan Buddhists established themselves in Winnipeg in the 1980s and nearly all consider that it is necessary to learn and practice Theravada Buddhism as part of their cultural heritage. The consequence is that Dharma practice is undertaken by the majority of community members in all age groups.This paper looks at the kinds of challenges that these different circumstances present to community Dharma teachers and describes the approaches and strategies that Rev. Fredrich Ulrich of the Manitoba Buddhist Church (BCC), and Mrs. Radhika Abeysekera of the Manitoba Buddhist Vihara use to teach and preserve Buddhist tradition in their respective communities
