جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « buddhism » در نشریات گروه « ادیان و عرفان »

Thomas Merton, one of the most renowned twentieth-century Christian theologians, owes much of his fame to his published works on interfaith dialogues between Christianity and other religions, particularly Eastern ones. He tried to lay the foundation of this dialogue upon shared beliefs and similarities between Christianity and ancient religions. Of all Eastern mysticisms, Merton was particularly interested in Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism. Buddhism, as presented by Suzuki, was a rich source of encounter and dialogue with the Gospel and new Christian doctrines for Merton. It seems that Suzuki presents Zen as a ritual that happens to relate to Buddhist history and teachings. However, Merton often found that Zen was deeply originated in the Buddhist tradition, as it creates a framework along with meditation in the mind and a vast insight.

The belief in the intermediation of the saints to achieve salvation, known as intercession, is a crucial aspect of the eschatology in Islam and certain other religions, including Mahayana Buddhism. Due to the differing theoretical foundations of Islam and Buddhism regarding salvation, the attributes of the intercessor (shafīʿ or bodhisattva) and the conditions for intercession also vary. This article uses a descriptive-analytic method to evaluate and compare the concepts of shafāʿa (intercession) in Shiism and bodhisattvaness in Mahayana Buddhism, examining the perspectives of both religions and identifying their similarities and differences. The research concludes that, in Mahayana Buddhism, bodhisattvaness is the primary path to salvation, while in Shiism, shafāʿa complements other main factors for salvation, which include the individual's faith and righteous deeds.

Meditation is a shared concept in both Buddhist mysticism and Islamic mysticism, where it is referred to as dhyana or jhana. In Islamic mysticism, meditation holds a crucial role in the journey of mysticism and is a fundamental tenet of practical mysticism, involving seclusion and dhikr under specific conditions. Similarly, in Buddhist mysticism, dhyana has long been employed for the cultivation of concentration and mental purification, aiming at attaining peace and liberation. Consequently, dhyana stands out as the primary ritualistic practice for Buddhists.With the influx of various cultures and rituals into our society in recent years, including the widespread propagation of meditation, the significance of this practice has grown. This article employs an analytical approach to conduct a comparative study of the concept, nature, methods, objectives, and practices of meditation in Islamic mysticism, particularly within the Kubrawiya order, and dhyana in Buddhist mysticism, specifically in Mahayana. Through this exploration, we aim to uncover both the similarities and differences that exist among the diverse dimensions of meditation and dhyana.

Buddhism and Zoroastrianism are two important religious traditions each of which have proposed theories about man's condition in the world and have shown some paths to achieve salvation. Based on Buddhism, the source of human suffering is desire and ignorance which leads to reincarnation, and the main goal is salvation from the cycle of reincarnation and attainment of power. Achieving this goal is somewhat different in the two main Buddhist sects, Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada takes the path of Arhat, and Mahayana the path of Buddhism. In Zoroastrianism, the principles of the theory of salvation include getting rid of the consequences of wrong deeds, words and thoughts and reaching the paradise of Ahura Mazda, which is achieved through having faith in Ahura Mazda, having good thoughts, words, deeds and repenting with the help of Amshaspandan (angels) and saviors. This study compares the doctrine of "salvation" from the perspective of the two transcendent and Mahayana Buddhist sects with the doctrine of "salvation" in the Avesta, the sacred text of Zoroastrianism.

Ala’ al-Dawlah Simnani, one of the most famous Sufis of the eight-century (A.H.) Iran, who spent over ten years of his life as a courtier at the Ilkhanid court, and who, since his teenage years, was a cherished companion of the emperor Arghun, had the proper opportunity of being in direct contact with Buddhists, particularly their priests, as well as of getting familiar with their beliefs and practices. Moreover, due to his perfect knowledge of Turkish and Mongol languages, he could refer to the Buddhist sources directly. Bearing these factors in mind, it is expected that one finds Simnani’s knowledge on Buddhism and Buddhist practices reflected in his works. Considering the fact that the examination of Buddhism in the works of Simnani is an unprecedented task, and so far, it has been discussed insufficiently in very few works, the present research, through the examination and analysis of Simnani’s words on and references to Buddhism and Buddhists in his works, aims to study Simnani’s viewpoint and position toward Buddha, Buddhists and their beliefs, as well as to make clear certain aspects of the unclear story of Buddhism and Buddhists in Iran.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of Sogdian Buddhist monks in the spread of Buddhism in southern China. Sogdians played an important role in promoting Buddhism because they knew Chinese and Hindi, and they were not as merchants who only carried goods but also they were carriers of religions such as Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Buddhism. Based on available sources, such as biographies of Sogdian monks, tomb inscriptions, and Sogdian Buddhist manuscripts in Turfan and Dunhuang, this study shows how they, in their role as religious messengers, spread Buddhism in southern China during the seventh to tenth centuries AD.

In Sanskrit literature, smile and laughter have a tight link with the cosmic life. In mythological narratives, gods’ smile and laughter were interpreted as personal emotions. But sometimes the appearances of these features are so vague that it is difficult to understand or explain them rationally. Now, our question is that: what is the meaning of smile and laughter in Indian religious art and literature? Is it just an aesthetic feature? Or is it a manifestation of a sacred concept? Hinduism accepts laughter and smile for gods and human and there are texts full of anecdotes which recognize these two features associated to the liberation from the cycle of life or samsāra. Jainism negates laughter and limits smile to unliberated men, so it has no moral justification. In other words, laughter which is a result of ignorance will lead to reincarnation in the world of samsāra. For Buddhists smile have both spiritual and worldly value so it has two aspects, exoteric and esoteric, which belong to the gods and human, but from the Buddha's point of view, laughter belongs to the perfect men who have reached nirvāna and gained absolute knowledge by understanding the truth of suffering.

This paper, as the first Persian writing in this context, tries to introduce, present and comment on three newly found Chinese documents discovered in 2008 from the Xiapu county in Fujian province, southeastern of China. One of them is Manichaean and two others are non-Manichaean but about the Manichaeism and the Chinese Manichaeans. This important heritage, some of which are very old and even go back to the Song and Tang periods, illustrates new effects of Manichaeism with the Chinese characteristics and shows the Manichaean influences on the Chinese popular thoughts on the one hand and the combination of this religion with Taoism and Buddhism on the other. Here, some previous commentaries have been corrected

The ultimate goal of religiosity and mystical discipleship in Buddhism is rescue from suffering and the circle of rebirth. Nirvana is the main common teaching among Buddhist schools and explains that goal. There are different approaches to interpret the meaning of Nirvāna. The most important approaches are the positive, negative and paradoxical ones. Although this doctrine is accepted in both Hinayāna and Mahayāna, each of them has its own specific interpretations about the doctrine. It can be said that the meaning of the concept of Nirvāna in Mahāyāna has been widely expanded than its meaning in Hinayāna.

In the eighth century (‘AH’), Sultan Ishaq (Sohak) founded a sect called “Ahl-e-Haqq” in Kurdistan. He developed his ideology on the concept of Don be Don (incarnation) and took this theory from Hindu-Buddhist religions. Then, he had the most famous ancient Iranian and non-Iranian stories and myths and, to some extent, their rituals assimilated into the new sect he had founded. The present paper seeks to show the structural similarities of incarnation and attempt to make explicit the effect of Hindu-Buddhist religions on Ahl-e-Haqq sect by exploring the hidden themes in the texts of Ahl-e-Haqq. A documentary-historical approach is used in this paper.

“Compassion“(Karuna) is one of the Buddhism’s teachings that it’s importance is different in (Theravada and Mahayana). Compassion is the third state of the fourfold spiritual states which is, according to Theravada, the only state of Arhat; and in Mahayana besides the basic principle of Bodhisattva leads to salvation.According to Arthur Schopenhauer (1860-1788), the teaching of Vedic ‘Tat Tevam Asi’ corresponds to metaphysical unity to which he always refers. He regards this teaching as the basic principle of Compassion. Considering Maya as the basis of suffering and argues that eradication of Maya through understanding reality that is, understanding the teaching which says “Tat Tevam Asi“contributes to the realization of the teaching of “None-Self“and real metaphysics. Freedom from Samsarah happens when the teaching of “None-Self “is put into practice. That is,Karuna and then, Nirvana are realized. This Buddhist course is of paramount importance in the doctrine of Mahayana. In fact, Compassion is the main feature of Mahayana and it is the goal of Bodhisattva. According to Schopenhauer's philosophy, deliverance or salvation is hard to attain, therefor his philosophy is considered close to the doctrines of Theravada.

In a theoretical and content-based analysis of the works of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhists, this paper seeks to investigate and criticize lifestyle from the Perspective of Dalai Lama. Emphasizing on a number of the basic principles of lifestyle, Dalai Lama regards that achieving joy is the goal of life and that all activities and plans should be organized in line with this goal. He holds that feeling of sympathy towards others on the basis of general kindness prepares the ground for tranquility and cheerful life. Exercising the noble eightfold path, daily meditation, self- knowledge, and vegetarianism are among his teachings on lifestyle. These teachings are derived from Buddhism. The fundamental shortcoming in his teachings on lifestyle is that they are drawn from secular morality and stand aloof from metaphysical principles and goals. The research results show that, although his recommendations in respect to some habits bear similarities to Islamic teachings, Dalai Lama's teachings are not genuinely based on divine revelation and therefore, they are far from being reliable.

Although Buddha forewarned his followers against discussing such issues as the beginning and end of the universe, the religious texts of main Buddhist schools, later, provide a picture of Buddhist cosmology, which is divided into two main types: spatial or spacial which describes the arrangement of different worlds and temporal cosmology which explains how creatures are created and destroyed. Spatial cosmology is divided into vertical or cakravada (or cakravada) cosmology and horizontal or sahasravada cosmology. It should be noted that there is no single cosmological system in Buddhism, which shows its disharmony.

Some scholars believe that Mahayana Buddhism goes extremely far from early Buddhism. Indeed, they believe that Mahayana is a deviation from the early Buddhism; since Mahayana, as I myself believe, on the one hand, makes use of the conceptions which are not so much important in early Buddhism, and on the other hand, it claims to be superior to Hinayana as regards morality. This article will try to show that the nature of Mahayana ethics is complex; and there is evidence for its development in some respects. In either case it will be shown that Mahayana ethics contains no precepts and values which cannot be found in other major Buddhist ethical traditions. Mahayana texts indicate that Mahayana morality is superior to Hinayana morality. According to this view, Mahayana morality can be regarded as superior to its Hinayana counterpart in four respects: classifications of moral principles, shared and different moral rules, extension, and depth

The researcher’s considerations in the history of religions and sects show that the basic elements and pillers of tasawwuf and mysticism، like avoidance of worldly pleasures، intuition and relevance، unity of existence، identity with truth and annihilation in general spirit has long time background. Some believe that India has been the first place of tasawwuf and mysticism، and source of mystical thoughts. The Indian religions and schools in spite of their ideological and disagreements، all have similar elements which establish their basic mysticism and tasawwuf. Indian different religions are in common in this element that the basis of happiness and freedom، is avoidance of pleasures and worldly and material desires، and continuation of asceticism. The last stages of journey from point of view of Indian mysticism is to reach to nirvana or moksha. The present paper examines the state of nirvana and its ways in light of Buddhism and in the last deals with the impact of Indian mysticism on Islamic mysticism.