This book argues for the central role played by absorption in the functioning of the human mind. The importance of absorption makes itself felt in different ways; the two studies combined in this book concentrate on two of them. The first study, 'The Symbolic Mind', argues that, largely as a result of language acquisition, humans have two levels of cognition, which in normal circumstances are simultaneously active. Absorption is a (or the) means to circumvent some, perhaps all, of the associations that characterize one of these two levels of cognition, resulting in what is sometimes referred to as mysitcal experience, but which is not confined to mysticism and plays a role in various "religious" phenomena, and elsewhere. In the second st...
Publisher description: As David White explains in the Introduction to Tantra in Practice, Tantra is an Asian body of beliefs and practices that seeks to channel the divine energy that grounds the universe, in creative and liberating ways. The subsequent chapters reflect the wide geographical and temporal scope of Tantra by examining thirty-six texts from China, India, Japan, Nepal, and Tibet, ranging from the seventh century to the present day, and representing the full range of Tantric experience--Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and even Islamic. Each text has been chosen and translated, often for the first time, by an international expert in the field who also provides detailed background material. Students of Asian religions and general reader...
The human voice is one of the principal conveyers of social and affective communication. Yet relatively little is known about the neural circuitry that supports the recognition of different vocally expressed emotions. We conducted an FMRI study to examine the brain responses to vocal expressions of anger and happiness, and to test whether specific brain regions showed preferential engagement in the processing of one emotion over the other. We also tested the extent to which simultaneously presented facial expressions of the same or different emotions would enhance brain responses, and to what degree such responses depend on attention towards the vocal expression. Forty healthy individuals were scanned while listening to vocal expressions...
Although none of Chapa Chökyi Senggé's (phya pa chos kyi sengge, 1109-1169) works are known to have survived, this article attempts to piece together his theory on contraries ('gal ba) through a study of quotations and counter-arguments which appear in the work of Sakya Paṇḍita (sa skya paN+Di ta, 1182-1251) and subsequent commentaries. (Ben Deitle 2006-03-02)
This summary of Yeshé Döndrup's (ye shes don grub) life up to age 39 is based on his autobiography. Born in Stog, Ladakh, Yeshé Döndrup became a monk and studied and excelled at Tashilhunpo (bkra shis lhun po) in Central Tibet where he received the Kachen (bka' chen) degree. He later returned to Ladakh where he met the Italian scholar Guiseppe Tucci. In the concluding remarks, Richardus notes that after Tashilhunpo was re-established in India, Yeshé Döndrup was asked to become abbot of the monastery. (Ben Deitle 2006-03-02)
This is a study of a commentary on a Mahayana sūtra by Kamalaśīla (8th cent.) and preserved in the Tengyur (bstan 'gyur) of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon. The author has made use of multiple editions of the text, including several Dunhuang manuscripts, in his examination of the structure and content of the commentary. The sūtra itself is notable for its description of dependent arising (rten cing 'brel par 'byung ba). (Ben Deitle 2006-03-02)
This article presents some of the problems involved in trying to piece together the actual events and setting of the debate that is reported to have taken place between disciples of the Indian Buddhist Kamalaśīla and the Chinese monk Hwashang, or Ho-shang Mo-ho-yen, in Tibet in the eighth century. The article critiques conclusions of previous studies, and offers some tentative alternatives. It also emphasizes what the 'Great Debate' meant for subsequent Tibetan civilization and how it framed the understanding of important philosophical differentiations. (Ben Deitle 2006-03-02)
This paper looks at the influence that the Mahāvairocanasūtra had in Tsong Khapa’s (tsong kha pa) writing of the Sngags rim chen mo, and on other Tibetans’ study of tantra. At the end of the paper the author lists the passages, with the text transliterated, of the Mahāvairocanasūtra cited by Tsong Khapa in the Sngags rim chen mo. (Ben Deitle 2006-03-03)
This article looks at how Tibetans creatively elaborated upon the epistemological traditions which they inherited from Indian Buddhist philosophy. In particular, it demonstrates the early development by Tibetan thinkers of definitions of valid cognition which were not fully developed in the Indian tradition. (Ben Deitle 2006-03-03)
This paper examines the relationship of esoteric texts and paintings discovered at Dunhuang in northwest China to the various Buddhist sects and traditions that existed before the later transmission (phyi dar) of Buddhism to Tibet in the 11th and 12th centuries. The paper notes that Dunhuang manuscripts are a vital source for understanding the "pre-rNying-ma-ba," or underground esoteric traditions, that survived between the fall of the Tibetan Dynasty and the time of the later transmission. (Ben Deitle 2006-03-03)
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