ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 3 1996
Ethics in Early Buddhism. By David J. Kalupahana. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995, ix +171 pages, ISBN: 0-8248-1702-8, US$27.00, cloth.
Reviewed by Peter Harvey
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Review: Two American Theravāda temples
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 3 1996
Old Wisdom in the New World. By Paul Numrich. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press, 1996, xxiv + 181 pages, ISBN 0-87049-905-X, $25 (cloth).
Reviewed by Martin Baumann
Review: Essays on Meditation
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 3 1996
Buddhism in a Foreign Land: Essays on Meditation. By Robert Mann. Bradford on Avon: Aukana, 1996, 160 pages, £7.50.
Reviewed by Amadeo Solé-Leris
Review: Buddhism and the West
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 3 1996
The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture. By Stephen Batchelor. London: Aquarian, 1994, xvi, 416 pages, ISBN 0-938077-69-4 (paper), $ 18.00, 0-938077-68-6 (cloth), $ 30.00.
Reviewed by Adriano Lanza
Review: Soka Gakkai in Britain
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 4 1997
A Time to Chant: The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain. By Bryan Wilson and Karel Dobbelaere. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1994, xi+267 pages, 0-1982-7915-9 (cloth), $39.95.
Reviewed by Brian Bocking
“Human Rights” in Buddhism?
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
Are There “Human Rights” in Buddhism?
Damien Keown
Goldsmiths College, University of London
It is difficult to think of a more urgent question for Buddhism in the late twentieth century than human rights. Human rights issues in which Buddhism has a direct involvement, notably in the case of Tibet, feature regularly on the agenda in superpower diplomacy. The political, ethical and philosophical questions surrounding human rights are debated vigourously in political and intellectual circles throughout the world. Yet despite its contemporary significance, the subject has merited hardly a footnote in mainstream academic research and publication in the field of Buddhist Studies. Why is this? One reason would seem to be the lack of a precedent within Buddhism itself for discussing issues of this kind; scholars, by and large, continue to follow the tradition’s own agenda, an agenda which appears to some increasingly medieval in the shadow of the twenty-first century. If Buddhism wishes to address the issues which are of concern to today’s global community, it must begin to ask itself new questions alongside the old ones.
Meditation as Ethical Activity
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
Meditation as Ethical Activity
Georges Dreyfus
Williams College
Despite the fact that the various Tibetan Buddhist traditions developed substantive ethical systems on the personal, interpersonal and social levels, they did not develop systematic theoretical reflections on the nature and scope of ethics. Precisely because very little attention is devoted to the nature of ethical concepts, problems are created for modern scholars who are thus hindered in making comparisons between Buddhist and Western ethics. This paper thus examines the continuity between meditation and daily life in the context of understanding the ethical character of meditation as practiced by Tibetan Buddhists. The discussion is largely limited to the practice of meditation as taught in the lam rim (or Gradual Stages of the Path).
Buddhism on Human Rights
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
A Buddhist Response to the Nature of Human Rights
Kenneth Inada
State University of New York, Buffalo
It is incorrect to assume that the concept of human rights is readily identifiable in all societies of the world. The concept may perhaps be clear and distinct in legal quarters, but in actual practice it suffers greatly from lack of clarity and gray areas due to impositions by different cultures. This is especially true in Asia, where the two great civilizations of India and China have spawned such outstanding systems as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Yoga, Confucianism, Taoism and Chinese Buddhism. These systems, together with other indigenous folk beliefs, attest to the cultural diversity at play that characterizes Asia proper. In focusing on the concept of human rights, however, we shall concentrate on Buddhism to bring out the common grounds of discourse.
Judeo-Christian and Buddhist Justice
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
Judeo-Christian and Buddhist Justice
Winston King
Vanderbilt University
This article compares and contrasts the traditional Judeo-Christian and Buddhist notions of justice. It begins with an examination of some traditional biblical resources, such as the Job story, and moves ahead to trace Buddhist ideas about justice as developed in the Pāli Canon. In the Conclusion, more recent Buddhist considerations are developed, such as those found in Zen and in modern socially engaged Buddhism.
Tsongkhapa on the Results of Anger
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
Cutting the Roots of Virtue: Tsongkhapa on the Results of Anger
Daniel Cozort
Dickinson College
Anger is the most powerful of the kleśas that not only “plant seeds” for suffering but also “cut the roots of virtue” for periods of up to a thousand aeons per instance. This article examines and assesses the exegesis by Tsongkhapa, founder of the Tibetan Gelukba order, of Indian sources on the topic of anger. It argues that despite Tsongkhapa’s many careful qualifications he may not be successful in avoiding the conclusion that if the sūtras are to be accepted literally, there almost certainly will be persons for whom liberation from saṃsāra is precluded.
Bibliography of Buddhism and Medical Ethics
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
Buddhism and Medical Ethics: A Bibliographic Introduction
James J. Hughes
University of Chicago
and
Damien Keown
Goldsmiths, University of London
This article provides an introduction to some contemporary issues in medical ethics and the literature which addresses them from a Buddhist perspective. The first part of the article discusses Buddhism and medicine and outlines some of the main issues in contemporary medical ethics. In the rest of the paper three subjects are considered: (1) moral personhood, (2) abortion, and (3) death, dying and euthanasia.
Ethics and Integration in American Buddhism
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
Ethics and Integration in American Buddhism
Charles S. Prebish
The Pennsylvania State University
This article identifies and explicates several of the most difficult and problematic issues facing the North American Buddhist movement today. It considers not only the obvious conflict between Asian-American and Euro-American Buddhism, but also those concerns that most directly impact on the ethical dilemmas facing modern American Buddhists. The article considers the tension that exists in American Buddhism’s struggle to find the ideal community for Buddhist practice in its Western environment, as well as some potentially creative solutions.
Unwholesomeness of Actions in Theravāda
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
Criteria for Judging the Unwholesomeness of Actions in the Texts of Theravāda Buddhism
Peter Harvey
University of Sunderland
After briefly reviewing the role of ethics on the path in Theravāda texts, the article moves on to discuss the various criteria for distinguishing between wholesome and unwholesome actions. It then explores the gradation of unwholesomeness of actions according to several variables, and then applies this to wholesome actions, here highlighting the importance of right view. Finally, the question of the relation between precept-taking and the moral worth of actions is assessed.
Social Engagement in Western Buddhism
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
Practicing Peace: Social Engagement in Western Buddhism
Kenneth Kraft
Lehigh University
This essay examines some current concerns of socially engaged Buddhists in the West. How does one practice nonviolence in one’s own life and in the world? How can the demands of “inner” and “outer” work be reconciled? What framework should be used in assessing the effects of Buddhist-inspired activism? Today’s engaged Buddhists do not refer extensively to Buddhism’s ethical tradition, and some of their activities may not appear to be distinctively Buddhist. Nonetheless, their efforts reflect a longstanding Mahāyāna ideal — that transcendental wisdom is actualized most meaningfully in compassionate action.
Typology of Buddhist Environmentalism
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
Getting to Grips With Buddhist Environmentalism: A Provisional Typology
Ian Harris
University College of St. Martin
This paper offers a survey of current writing and practice within the area of Buddhist environmental ethics. Consideration of the manner in which sections of contemporary Buddhism have embraced a range of environmental concerns suggests that four fairly distinct types of discourse are in the process of formation, i.e., eco-spirituality, eco-justice, eco-traditionalism and eco-apologetics. This fourfold typology is described and examples of each type are discussed. The question of the “authenticity”, from the Buddhist perspective, is addressed to each type in turn.
Ethics in the Kurudhamma Jātaka
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
The Kurudhamma: From Ethics to Statecraft
Andrew Huxley
University of London
Law Department, School of Oriental & African Studies
This article compares two literary treatments of a Buddhist ethical motif. In the prose sections of the Kurudhamma Jātaka the motif is expanded into a collection of ethical casuistry. In the Kurudhamma kaṇḍa pañho, it is expanded into a series of job descriptions for the king and ten of his subordinates. Description of these provokes discussion of the history of the practice of ethics by Buddhist monks and Buddhist courtiers.
Review: Perspectives on Buddhist Ethics
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
Perspectives on Buddhist Ethics. Edited by Prof. Mahesh Tiwary. Delhi: Department of Buddhist Studies, Delhi University, 1989. Rs 150.00.
Theravāda Buddhist Ethics with Special Reference to Visuddhimagga. Dr Vyanjana. Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1992. Rs 275.00.
Reviewed by Roger Farrington
Bibliography of Buddhism and Human Rights
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 2 1995
A Bibliography on Buddhism and Human Rights
Damien Keown
Goldsmiths College, University of London
Buddhist Ethics as Virtue Ethics
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 1 1994
Buddhist Ethics in Western Context: The Virtues Approach
James Whitehill
Stephens College
Contemporary Buddhism increasingly seeks to make itself understood in modern terms and to respond to contemporary conditions. Buddhism’s legitimation in the West can be partially met by demonstrating that Buddhist morality is a virtue-oriented, character-based, community-focused ethics, commensurate with the Western “ethics of virtue” tradition.
The recent past in Western Buddhist ethics focused on escape from Victorian moralism, and was incomplete. A new generation of Western Buddhists is emerging, for whom the “construction” of a Buddhist way of life involves community commitment and moral “practices.” By keeping its roots in a character formed as “awakened virtue” and a community guided by an integrative soteriology of wisdom and morality, Western Buddhism can avoid the twin temptations of rootless liberation in an empty “emptiness,” on the one hand, and universalistic power politics, on the other. In describing Buddhist ethics as an “ethics of virtue,” I am pointing to consistent and essential features in the Buddhist way of life. But, perhaps more importantly, I am describing Buddhist ethics by means of an interpretative framework very much alive in Western and Christian ethics, namely, that interpretation of ethics most recently associated with thinkers like Alasdair MacIntyre and Stanley Hauerwas. The virtue ethics tradition is the Western tradition most congenial to the assumptions and insights of Buddhist ethics. Hence, virtue ethics provides a means of understanding Buddhist ethics… and, reciprocally, Buddhist ethics also offers the Western tradition a way of expanding the bounds of its virtue ethics tradition, which has been too elitist, rationalistic, and anthropocentric. On the basis of this view, I predict some likely, preferable future directions and limits for Buddhism in a postmodern world.
A Buddhist Ethic Without Karmic Rebirth?
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 1 1994
A Buddhist Ethic Without Karmic Rebirth?
Winston L. King
Vanderbilt University
Is a viable and authentic Buddhist ethic possible without the prospect of rebirth governed by one’s karmic past? This paper explores traditional and contemporary views on karma with a view to determining the importance of this doctrine for practical ethics in the West. The Theravāda emphasis on the personal nature of karma is discussed first, followed by a consideration of the evolution of a social dimension to the doctrine in the Mahāyāna. The latter development is attributed to the twin influences of the Bodhisattva ideal and the metaphysics of Nāgārjuna and Hua Yen. Following this survey of traditional perspectives, attention is turned for the greater part of the paper to a consideration of the relevance of the notion of karmic rebirth for Buddhist ethics in the West. The notion of “social kamma” advanced by Ken Jones in The Social Face of Buddhism is given critical consideration. The conclusion is that a doctrine of karmic rebirth is not essential to a viable and authentic Buddhist ethic in the West.
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The Problem of Buddhist Environmental Ethics
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 1 1994
Causation and Telos: The Problem of Buddhist Environmental Ethics
Ian Harris
University College of St. Martin
Environmentalist concerns have moved center stage in most major religious traditions of late and Buddhism is no exception to this rule. This paper shows that the canonical writings of Indic Buddhism possess elements that may harmonize with a de facto ecological consciousness. However, their basic attitude towards the causal process drastically reduces the possibility of developing an authentically Buddhist environmental ethic. The classical treatment of causation fails to resolve successfully the tension between symmetry and asymmetry of relations and this has tended to mean that attempts to inject a telos, or sense of purpose, into the world are likely to founder. The agenda of eco-Buddhism is examined in the light of this fact and found wanting.
Vinaya in American Theravāda Temples
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 1 1994
Vinaya in Theravāda Temples in the United States
Paul David Numrich
University of Illinois at Chicago
Vinaya (the monastic discipline) plays an essential role in defining traditional Theravāda Buddhism. This article examines the current state of vinaya recitation and practice in the nearly 150 immigrant Theravāda Buddhist temples in the United States, and also speculates on the prospect of traditional Theravāda’s firm establishment in this country. Specific vinaya issues discussed include the pātimokkha ceremony, the discussion about vinaya adaptation to the American context, adaptations in the areas of monastic attire and relations with women, and principles of adaptation at work in Theravāda temples in the United States.
Scholarly Books on Buddhist Ethics
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 1 1994
Scholarly Books on Buddhist Ethics and Ethics-Related Topics Published in the 1990s
Compiled By Charles Prebish and Damien Keown
This bibliography may be used freely for teaching and research purposes, but please acknowledge the source. Copyright Charles Prebish and Damien Keown 1995.
Buddhist Economic Ethics
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 17, 2010
Sufficiency Economy and Santi Asoke: Buddhist Economic Ethics for a Just and Sustainable World
Juliana Essen
Soka University of America
Mainstream economic thought and practice has resulted in wide-spread socioeconomic disparity and environmental devastation in all corners of the world, unmitigated by a multi-billion dollar development industry informed by these same economic models. To reverse this trend, the dominant forms of economic thought and practice must be reunited with ethics that are more caring of the human-nature base. Such ethics may be found in alternative economic models based on religious, spiritual, environmental, or feminist values. This essay considers one such alternative: Buddhist economics. After outlining a theory of Buddhist economics, this essay considers two models: the Royal Thai Sufficiency Economy Model and the approach adopted by the Santi Asoke Buddhist Reform Movement of Thailand. Both are conducive to economic activity that is more socially just and environmentally sustainable, particularly due to their ethics of self-reliance, moderation, and interdependence.
Buddhism, Brain Death, and Organ Transplantation
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 17, 2010
Buddhism, Brain Death, and Organ Transplantation
Damien Keown
Goldsmiths College, University of London
This article raises concerns about the degree to which potential donors are aware that their layman’s understanding of death may not be the same as that enshrined in protocols employing the criterion of brain death. There would seem to be a need for greater public education of a kind which acknowledges the debate around the practical and conceptual difficulties associated with brain death, and makes clear what the implications of a diagnosis of brain death are for the donor and his or her relatives. The remainder of the article explores the discrepancy between the modern concept of brain death and the traditional Buddhist understanding of death as the loss of the body’s organic integrity as opposed to simply the loss of its cerebral functions.
Engaged Buddhism: New and Improved!(?)
ISSN 1076–9005
Volume 7, 2000
Engaged Buddhism: New and Improved!(?) Made in the U. S. A. of Asian Materials
Tom Yarnall
Columbia University