Browsing by Author "Klein, Anne C."
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Item Being and knowing in wholeness Chinese Chan, Tibetan Dzogchen, and the logic of immediacy in contemplation(2010) Ying, Chinghui Jianying; Klein, Anne C.Responding to onto-theology, Eliot Deutsch proposes the idea of "knowing religiously," stating "religious knowledge doesn't so much have a distinctive or special object as it has a unique style or manner...a reverential knowing that is centered in reality." Based on the teachings of Chinese Chan and Tibetan Dzogchen, this dissertation builds upon Deutsch's premise to investigate the mechanism of 'im-mediate' knowing, or the logic of immediacy, in contemplation and philosophical expression. In particular, this dissertation shows that the meaning of one's being lies in spontaneous self-or-open awareness rather than in a highest being or transcendental divinity. Similar to Maurice Merleau-Ponty's "question-knowing," this open awareness has "an original manner of aiming at something," for it inspires one to embrace all but reify none. With this non-reifying-yet-all-embracing awareness, one's relationship with Being is embodied in a nondual dynamic, in which one unfolds being and knowing in wholeness. This holistic relationship is the insight derived from the logic of immediacy. It also provides an alternative paradigm to explore the nature of religious knowledge. This dissertation also shows that the logic of immediacy does not reject nominal intermediaries. Rather, it employs them in specific ways so that immediacy is realized without the dualistic bondages and conceptual limitations implied by methods of mediation. As this understanding is seen via a contemplative perspective, it offers an alternative to the sociopolitical perspective in extending our reach beyond the sectarian and the historical so that we can better appreciate the nuances of the teachings and the values of religious developments. Since the complex set of theses regarding the experience and thematization of immediacy emerges over time and in conversation with thinkers from different quarters of the religious-philosophizing spectrum, the narration of this dissertation starts with an origin narrative and an exemplar of the logic of immediacy in Chan Following the footsteps of Chan monks westwards, it delves into the development and teachings of sTon mun, a tradition of encounter between Chinese Chan monks and Tibetan tantric practitioners. It concludes this tracing of the logic of immediacy with the early teachings of Dzogchen which emphasizes spontaneity.Item History, Material Culture and Auspicious Events at the Purple Cloud: Buddhist Monasticism at Quanzhou Kaiyuan(2011) Nichols, Brian J.; Kripal, Jeffrey J.; Klein, Anne C.Quanzhou Kaiyuan Monastery is an important Buddhist monastery on the Southeast coast of China, in Fujian. It was founded in the seventh century and survives with artifacts from every imperial dynasty stretching back more than one thousand years. Today it is the home of more than eighty monks and the site of a vibrant tradition of devotional life. The following chapters examine Kaiyuan monastery from multiple points of view (time, space, inhabitants and activities, discourse and relations with the state) in order to produce a multi-dimensional portrait considering the contributions of each element to the religious and institutional life of the monastery. In shedding light on monastic Buddhism in contemporary China, this study contributes to a small but growing body of knowledge on the revival of religion in post-Mao China. The study begins with a historical survey of the monastery providing the context in which to understand the current recovery. Subsequent chapters chronicle the dual interplay of secular and non-secular forces that contribute to the monastery's identity as a place of religious practice for monastics, laypersons and worshipers and a site of tourism and leisure for a steady stream of visitors. I survey the stages of recovery following the Cultural Revolution (chapter four) as well as the religious life of the monastery today (chapter five). Other chapters examine how material culture (chapter six) and memorials to auspicious events and eminent monks (chapter seven) contribute to the identity of the monastery. Chapters eight and nine consider how Kaiyuan balances demands to accommodate tourists while remaining a place of religious practice.Item Magical movements ('phrul 'khor): Ancient yogic practices in the Bon religion and contemporary medical perspectives(2006) Chaoul, Marco Alejandro; Klein, Anne C.Magical movement is a distinctive Tibetan practice of physical yoga in which breath and concentration of the mind are integrated as crucial components in conjunction with particular body movements. Present in all five spiritual traditions of Tibet---some more prevalent than others---it has been part of their spiritual training since at least the tenth century C.E. Focusing on the magical movement from the ancient Bon tradition's Oral Transmission of Zhang Zhung and its contemporary representatives and lineageholders, this dissertation will include textual translation and analysis as well as ethnographical research reporting how it is used in Bon lay settings and monastic curricula today. In particular I will use a commentary by the famous Bonpo scholar and meditator Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen, who allegedly attained the rainbow body in 1934 (a sign, in the tradition, of the highest contemplative state). He was also part of the non-sectarian ( ris med) Tibetan movement of his time. Although this aspect does not transpire in his Commentary, I feel that Shardza's example is present as an inspiration to the spirit in which I relate to the context of the practice and material contained in his text. Examining the use of the subtle body in magical movement and the understanding of "magic" in that context, I propose that here magic can have the external meaning of magic, the internal meaning of medicine and the most internal or secret meaning of mysticism. Thus, these magical movements provide the yogin or practitioner an opportunity to break through or go beyond the limitations of the body and to bring forth the mystical experiences together with the magical and healing aspects. Finally, tracing the migration of this practice to the West, both in dharma or Buddhist centers and the contemporary Western medical settings, I report some of the benefits of using these mind-body techniques as part of a CIM (Complementary and Integrative Medicine) treatment for people with cancer. This may allow magical movement to participate in a larger dialogue, one that extends the conversation to the fields medical humanity and integrative medicine, among others.Item The Radiance of Light: Comparing the Medieval Tibetan and Medieval Latin Biographies of Longchen Rabjam and Bernard of Clairvaux.(2021-04-28) Parker, Anne Olivia; Fanger, Claire L.; Klein, Anne C.The title of this study is: “The Radiance of Light: Comparing the Medieval Tibetan and Medieval Latin Biographies of Longchen Rabjam and Bernard of Clairvaux.” This dissertation is a comparative study of two medieval texts, Chodrak Zangpo’s Tibetan rnam thar, or biography of the Nyingmapa and Dzogchen visionary and writer Longchenpa (1308-1364), Meaningful to Behold, and Geoffrey of Auxerre’s, William of St.Thierry’s, and Arnold of Bonneval’s co-authored Latin vita, or biography of Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), the Cistercian mystic and writer, The First Life. Each part of this work is composed of close readings of selections from these two works. In these close readings, I use Weberian theories of charismatic authority to structure my reflections on some of the similarities and differences between these medieval authors’ respective presentations of legitimate spiritual authority in narrative form. My primary argument, developed in different aspects in each part of this dissertation, is that while Weber’s theories are useful for understanding these accounts from a sociological perspective (though in many cases even this usefulness must be qualified) they are inadequate for understanding these accounts from a contemplative perspective. In speaking of this contemplative perspective, I include not only their first medieval audiences, but us, today and now, in so far as we are also contemplative readers. Each part focuses upon a different dimension of experience—in Part 1: “Charisma and the Practice of Virtue,” the ethical, in Part 2: “Charisma and the Dreaming Self,” the visionary or the dreaming, and lastly, in Part 3: “The Poetics of Charisma,” the aesthetic.Item Embargo Tibetan Life Writings of Adzom Drukpa (1842-1924): Meeting the Lady of the Skies(2023-11-30) Foote, Learned; Klein, Anne C.; Kripal, Jeffrey J.This dissertation analyzes the life writings of Adzom Drukpa (1842-1924) including a Tibetan language autobiography by Adzom Drukpa and a biography of Adzom Drukpa written by his son Gyurme Dorje (1895-1959). Comparison of these texts demonstrates they paint distinct yet resonant portraits of Adzom Drukpa, one emphasizing his human limitations and the other portraying him as a Buddhist deity. While many scholars argue such hagiographical and idealizing conventions in Tibetan life writing obscure its historical qualities, this dissertation examines instead how Adzom Drukpa's life writings creatively balance the human and divine, even while providing specific details about circumstances in eastern Tibet during the tumultuous nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The texts feature accounts of political violence and Buddhist institution building. This dissertation's analysis centers the life writings' depictions of Adzom Drukpa meeting a mysterious lady who appears in the sky. She gives Adzom Drukpa instructions that reverberate throughout his life, including advising Adzom Drukpa not to be a celibate monk but rather to find a woman consort. This dissertation contextualizes Adzom Drukpa's life writings through analyses based in gender, sexuality, and women's studies. Considering the lives and writings of women who were Adzom Drukpa's associates such as Sakya Jetsunma (1836-1896) and Sera Khandro (1892-1940) permits deeper engagement with how Adzom Drukpa's own life writings depict particular women's lives and how these narratives depict gender and sexuality in the context of Buddhist practice. The dissertation also considers Adzom Drukpa's conversation with the lady of the skies using analyses based in religious studies, considering how the narratives depict other paranormal encounters with non-human beings, including animals, ghosts, and a range of deities and demons. Many scholars argue the prevalence of such extraordinary accounts in Tibetan life writing renders the narratives unrealistic. However I examine how these texts depict such events as grounded both in everyday life and in Buddhist philosophy and practice. Like the texts' dual depictions of Adzom Drukpa's character as human and divine, Adzom Drukpa's conversations with the lady of the skies show how these life writings take a creative, considerate, and critical approach to humanity, divinity, and revelation.Item Transgressive compassion: The role of fear, horror and the threat of death in ultimate transformation(1998) Jones, Lucy Annette; Klein, Anne C.; Wyschogrod, EdithA cross-cultural study of a never-before translated 14$\rm\sp{th}$ century Tibetan Bon Severance (gcod) text and the theoretical work of 20$\rm\sp{th}$ century French theorist Georges Bataille is undertaken. Juxtaposing these two radically different materials is justified by themes related to sacrifice identified and highlighted in both works as well as by Bataille's expressed interest in inner experience, shamanism and Tibetan spirituality. Through exploring the role played by fear, horror and the threat of death in effecting human transformation in these two materials, a complex understanding of compassion that accommodates self-conscious transgression is put forth. A critical edition (in dbu chen) and translation of the Precious Garland of Severance Instructions (gcod gdams rin chen phreng ba) are included.