1. On dreams, human imagination, and technologyLenart Škof, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: In this paper, I reflect on human imagination, the intention of technology, and the future of humanity in the era of the Anthropocene. I begin by presenting the environmental crisis and declare a need to protect and safeguard nature. In the first part, I offer an explanation of a dream of an airliner and link it to the Bachelardian theory of aerial imagination and oneiric flight. I show how, today, technology has entered our lives profoundly and how it has become closely intertwined with us human beings. Based on this, the second part is dedicated to Martin Heidegger and his question concerning technology. By analyzing Heidegger’s seminal essay on technology, I argue for an alternative possibility of thinking about human artefacts (such as various tools or even an airliner) beyond them being merely a standing-reserve and thus rather as a mode of unconcealement. The third and last part of this essay is dedicated to Ilia Delio’s Teilhardian cosmic vision of the future of technological progress. Technology, for Delio, is a part of this cosmic narrative and human beings represent the thinking portion of the universe. I conclude with a thought on a new elemental consciousness and imagination, in which nature, its life force, and the most advanced technology, including AI, would become a part of a new panentheistic whole. Keywords: elemental philosophy of religion, dreams, technology, anthropocene, Gaston Bachelard, Martin Heidegger, Teilhard de Chardin, Ilia Delio Published in DiRROS: 06.10.2023; Views: 321; Downloads: 144
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2. Traditions-directed approach in the comparative philosophy of religionJavad Taheri, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: This paper aimed to present a novel approach to the comparative philosophy of religion which I call traditions-oriented. It is related to and yet distinct from both comparative philosophy and confessional (tradition-oriented) comparative theology. This paper begins with a reflection on the meaning and employment of ‘comparison’ in the context of philosophical analysis. What follows is an analysis of the nature of the comparative practice conducted under the umbrella concept of the comparative philosophy of religion. After sketching out the developmental trajectory of research through which a traditions-oriented, non-neutral, compa-rative philosophy of religion can emerge, the articulation and implementation of a global monotheistic philosophy of religion is suggested. Two case-studies from the area of Muslim-Christian comparative reflection are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach developed in this paper. Keywords: religion, philosophy, theology, tradition Published in DiRROS: 01.03.2023; Views: 449; Downloads: 177
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3. "Dual awakening" : mindful social action in the light of the de-contextualization of socially engaged BuddhismAnja Zalta, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: The paper presents the concept of “dual awakening”, which is based on the Buddhist mindfulness appropriated by socially engaged Buddhism as a method to recognize and implement a “wholesome” paradigm on both the social and in-dividual level. In the first half of the paper, I analyze the idea of “dual awakening” in the Southeast Asian context, especially in the case of the Sarvodaya Sramadana movement in Sri Lanka, In the second part of the paper, I review some of the re-search on (mindfulness) meditation in the West to critically evaluate the de-con-textualization of transferring Buddhist ideas and methods (such as cultivating empathy and compassion as a basis for social action) into the Western modernist paradigm. Keywords: Chinese religion, Buddhism, socially engaged Buddhism, mindfulness, Sarvodaya, meditation, social action Published in DiRROS: 28.02.2023; Views: 409; Downloads: 203
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4. Buddhism and an ageing society in Thailand as a part of Suvarnabhumi landSomboon Watana, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia that was once Suvarnabhumi land with a long history of 2600 years in parallel with the history of Buddhism here. Buddhi-sm, the major religion in Thailand, was originally propagated by two Indian Budd-hist monks named Sona and Uttara. Consequently, Buddhism has contributed to the Thai people for a long time. Obviously, in the first quarter of the 21st century, the situation of the elderly population around the world has been monitored and planned. Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia that has had an Ageing Society for more than 10 years. About 93.5% of the Thai population believe in Buddhism. According to Buddhism, elderly people are valuable because of their experience and contribution, and Buddhism always teaches gratitude. Therefore, to meet the challenge of an ageing society, appropriate age-related caregiving must be subject to accountability. In the Pāli Canon of Buddhism, there are many stories and tea-chings about the role and significance of elderly people along with caregiving, such as parents’ caregiving. The Buddha’s teachings have aimed to help provide human beings with physical, moral, emotional and wisdom development for the sake of their well-being. To follow the Buddha’s compassion, Buddhism in Thailand has been interpreted and applied to the well-being of ageing people. Keywords: religion, Buddhism, ageing society, Suvarnabhumi, Thailand Published in DiRROS: 28.02.2023; Views: 342; Downloads: 149
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6. Fo Guang Shan's Expansion in the Religious Market of Thailand : a SWOT analysisGuiyu Su, Yaoping Liu, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: As one of the prominent Mahayana Buddhist institutions from Taiwan, Fo guang Shan (FgS) entered the religious market of Thailand as early as the 1990s. Its influence has grown tremendously among the local Chinese communities and Thai society. Despite this, there is a dearth of scholarship dedicated to FgS’s mar-ket expansion in Theravada-dominated Thailand. Through a SWOT analysis, this paper explores FgS’s marketing strategy for the Thai religious market. The findings suggest that FgS bears certain strengths, such as its appealing humanistic Budd-hist doctrine, gift-giving networking skills and its strong emotional bonds with the Chinese communities in Thailand. These strengths have brought and will conti-nuously provide FgS with opportunities for further expansion. However, FgS’s weakness is always there and obvious, given its foreign and non-mainstream na-ture and questionable legitimacy of existing as a Buddhist institution (or temple) in Thailand. All this has already caused threats to FgS’s missionary clergies and sanctuaries, mainly based in the Bangkok area, not to mention the growingly fierce competition from its Thai Theravada and local-born Mahayana counterparts. Keywords: religion, Thai religion, religious market, marketing strategy, SWOT analysis, Thailand Published in DiRROS: 28.02.2023; Views: 406; Downloads: 246
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7. The burning monk : a review of a buddhist’s self-immolation during the Vietnam warLuka Benedičič, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: This paper is a study of the self-immolation of the Mahayana Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc in 1963, Saigon. It highlights some of the reactions to this event, as well as more recent academic analyses, and contrasts them with the letter of the monk Thich Nhat Hanh who disagreed that the self-immolation was a protest or suicide. This ontological discrepancy motivated new research approaches. In order to show it as studyable, the paper thematizes it by introducing the conceptual pair of visible-invisible. It presents a discussion by Mario Blaser that addresses the field of epistemology and ontology, also commenting on some fundamental theoretical approaches such as the ontological turn and cosmopolitics. The paper argues that the invisible – for example ontological – contents of the event have been overlooked in many analyses, or oversimplified by using an objectivist or political vocabulary. Keywords: Chinese religion, Buddhism, engaged Buddhism, politics, cosmopolitics, ontological turn, Western-centrism Published in DiRROS: 28.02.2023; Views: 347; Downloads: 167
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8. Thai religion and the viability of the construct 'cult'Matthew Kosuta, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: This article takes the construct of ‘cult’ as used in academic work, defined in part as a ‘social formation’, and applies it to Thai religion in order to assess its via-bility as a descriptive and/or analytical category in the Thai religious context whi-le highlighting elements of Thai religious belief and practice to identify possible cognate words to ‘cult’ in the Thai language (wai (pay respect), būchā (sacrifice, worship), būang sūang (worship, appease), etc.). The article presents an overview of the use of cult, or lack thereof, in current research on Thai religion (worship of Buddha, monks, kings – living and deceased, revered monks, rahu, local dei-ties and spirits). reference will be made to the extensive use of ‘cult’ in studies of greek and roman religion. Outcomes show that in Thai religion there is rarely, if ever, formal membership in ritual practice and worship is fluid with individual Thais free to move between what can be termed ‘cults’ thus weakening the via-bility of the term. While one can certainly say the “cult of King Naresuan”, the fluidity of Thai religions strains the parameters of the construct of ‘cult’ as a social formation in Thailand. Keywords: religion, Thai religion, cult, spirits, worship Published in DiRROS: 28.02.2023; Views: 359; Downloads: 173
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9. Theravāda Buddhism : the Sri Lankan contribution to its progressKapila Abhayawansa, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: Sri Lanka is the only country that has seen Theravāda Buddhism established, preserved, and continue to exist up to the present since the missions to other co-untries from its birth in India. It is a historical fact that after the Third Buddhist Council, missionaries were dispatched to nine countries for the propagation of Theravāda Buddhism. There is no historical evidence to confirm that any of the nine countries except Sri Lanka was able to preserve Theravāda Buddhism and keep it in its original form throughout the course of time. On the other hand, Sri Lanka secures the honour and credit to have been the centre of Theravāda Budd-hism for a considerable time.The present paper deals with the way Sri Lanka contributed immensely to the establishment, protection, and flourishing of Theravāda Buddhism as a unique tradition of Buddhist thought. In this respect, our attention is focused mainly on the exegetical literature of the Theravāda tradition which will shed much li-ght on both the theoretical and practical aspects of the tradition. The Sri Lankan Mahāvihāra community of monks was responsible for providing a vast exegetical literature which consists of commentaries, sub-commentaries, sub-sub-commen-taries, and the compendiums based on the Theravāda canon brought to Sri Lanka. The writing down of the Theravāda Pāḷi canon in Sri Lanka for the first time also marks a unique event in the history of Buddhism. The contribution made by Sri Lanka to preserve the Pāḷi canon by this means was highly instrumental in preser-ving it in its original form. Further, Sri Lanka was a source of inspiration to other Theravāda Buddhist countries to revitalize their Buddhism in accordance with the more orthodox form of Theravāda. Keywords: Chinese religion, Buddhism, Theravāda Buddhism, Pāḷi Canon, manuals Published in DiRROS: 28.02.2023; Views: 337; Downloads: 181
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10. The Buddhist concept of Paṭiccasamuppāda based on Pāli manuscripts : genesis, meanings, annotated translation, interpretation, and doctrinal significanceSanjoy Barua Chowdhury, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: The concept of Paṭiccasamuppāda is regarded as one of the most profound and subtle teachings imparted by the historical Buddha (563–483 BCE) since the inception of his teachings. In addition to its doctrinal record in the mainstream Buddhist languages of the Pāli and Sanskrit traditions, the Buddhist concept of Paṭiccasamuppāda has been developed by numerous scholars over 2600 years and has contributed to evolving doctrinal components in many dialects in South and Southeast Asia. Focusing on the Pāli tradition and Nikāya manuscripts, this paper aims to clarify the origins of Paṭiccasamuppāda, including its meaning, annotated translation, interpretation and doctrinal significance. Prior to both academics and practitioners, an in-depth study of this research reveals why and to what degree the Pāli tradition values the idea of Paṭiccasamuppāda as articulating its insight into how to attain the path of ultimate liberation from a Buddhist perspective. Keywords: Chinese religion, Buddhism, Buddha, Paṭiccasamuppāda, Pāli manuscripts Published in DiRROS: 28.02.2023; Views: 364; Downloads: 178
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