K. M. University, India Christianity in the Land of Santhals: a study of Resistance and Acceptance in Historical Perspective(03U)

Low, Sorching

Syracuse University, USA

Yoko Ono, Star betwixt the Sun and the Moon(03C)

This paper considers Yoko Ono's early works from the sixties and ask what is the difference between the insider and outsider's use of Zen? I argue that by co-opting the reformulated Americanized Zen, Yoko Ono was able to free herself from the cultural underpinnings of Zen as it was practiced in Japan, and employ it for her art. Ono's use of Zen was distinctly different from that of John Cage, but her Japanese sensibilities and her presence as woman and Japanese at a time when few women artists were present, were arguably obstacles to the critical reception of her work.

Organized panel
Low, Sorching

Syracuse University, USA

D.T. Suzuki and John Cage in the Making of American Zen in the 1950s(13I)

This paper looks at the intersection between art and religion in the early works of John Cage. By a reverse strategy of Orientalism, Japanese missionaries of Zen Buddhism before 1966, the most prominent one being D.T. Suzuki, had presented Zen as universal, intellectual, and accessible to all. I will argue that in Cage's works, 'emptiness' becomes form, and in turn, contributed - via art - to a reformulated Americanised Zen.

Organized panel
Lu, Hwei-Syin

Body Donation for "The Bodhisatta's Way": Tzuchi's Experience(15D)

This paper examines the practices of body donation in the Buddhist Tzuchi Foundation, symbolically referred to as the "Bodhisatta's Way" in Taiwanese Engaged Buddhism. Tzuchi pioneered body donation for medical students in 1996, and since then has successfully recruited over 500 cadavers and over ten thousand volunteers. This practice challenges many Taiwanese-Chinese people's traditional views of death such as "keeping the body intact." This paper will discuss the religious appeal and the "field" Tzuchi creates to fulfill people's spiritual needs in postindustrial Taiwan.

Organized panel
Luchesi, Brigitte

Universität Bremen, Germany

From Backyards to Main Streets: Tamil Hindus and Public Processions in Europe(10R)

Since the 1980s, refugees from Sri Lanka have been living in Europe, high percentages of them being Tamil Hindus. Whereas the early immigrants had no public institutions at all, through time Tamil Hindus have created possibilities to practice their faith also outside their homes. They have set up prayer halls and temples in converted basements and industrial sites and even started to construct new buildings. The establishment of temples has brought about the celebration of yearly temple festivals and other main religious events which in turn called for special festival activities in the South Indian tradition. The most important are public processions which since the early 1990s are increasingly organized by a number of temple committees. The contribution concentrates on these public phenomena looking at the patterns of Hindu Tamil processions in several European cities. Attention is paid to the self-interpretation of the organizers and participants but also to the reactions of the host society. The history of different processions is explored to illuminate the negotiations that took place with regard to the contested public space.

Organized panel, English
Lufunda, Kaumba

University of Lubumbashi, Congo

World Economy and African Spiritual Values: Contradictions and/or Complementarities(11F)

The world today lives according to economic laws determined by the West. They divide the world into the categories of developed and developing countries on the basis of capitalist standards. Globalization raises questions about the advent of a harmonious world. In fact, economic or development operations from world institutions have not been successfully implemented in Africa because little has been done to bridge African ways of life with the demands of modern economy, especially the promotion of women. Thus, all African economic elements (socio-religious or not) need to be clearly perceived for their maximization in modern environments. The world market, as governed by globalization, has unfortunately so far unbalanced the societies of the world. Africa has to choose new partners and new philosophies especially concerning the integration of women.

Organized panel
Lyons, Oren

Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) ; The United Nations Environmental Program; The State University of New York

(12L)

Roundtable session

Mabuchi, Masaya

Komazawa university, Japan

The Contribution of the Four-teaching System Constructed by Huiyuan of Jingfasi-Temple to the Theoretical Development of Huayen Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty(08M)

I will discuss the contribution of the four-teaching system constructed by Huiyuan of Jingfasi-temple to the later development of Huayan Buddhism, especially the theoretical structures of Chengguan and Zongmi's thought.

Organized panel, Japanese
Machida, Soho

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan

Thinking about ES Cells and Cloning Technologies(01J)

The dramatic progress we have witnessed recently in Life Sciences promises to eventually provide mankind with much greater medical capabilities than we have now. Soon, regenerative use of Embryonic Stem Cells (ES cells) may be providing us with the means to cure today's most difficult diseases, while cloning technologies will be producing sufficient food supplies for the starving and saving endangered species. However, as is the case with many major medical and technological innovations, these improvements will most likely be accompanied by serious ethical dilemma. ES cells, for example, can only be obtained through destroying human embryos, while cloning will take us into the unknown realm of life manipulation,ﾐan area considered to be divine territory by many religious cultures. Before we rush blindly into using the advancements in technology, we must therefore take time to reconsider: what does the sanctity of life mean to mankind? And how will we face the task of constructing a future civilization, without jeopardizing our well being in the process? Our panel aims to carry out a thorough discussion on these topics.

Organized panel, English
Machii, Fumiko

The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan

Passing Down the Household Religious Service:About the Family Altar and Grave among Japanese Christians(04P)

The idea of ie (家) still survives in contemporary Japan, even after the laws regulating the so-called ie system (家制度) were abolished. What formed the basis of this idea was the Japanese view that religious rites for the ancestors should be performed and passed down generation after generation. Once the continuity and prosperity of the family had been one of the biggest concerns for Japanese people, and the inheritance of the family grave and household altar had been a central question. But strictly speaking, most of the Christian denominations do not recommend their followers to perform funerary rites in other religious traditions, or to perform Christian rites for persons who were not Christians when alive. Thus, some Japanese Christians even destroy their family Buddhist altars (仏壇) upon conversion, and some give up being Christians when it comes the time for them to inherit their altars or mortuary tablets (位牌). Thus, how have the funerary rites been practiced in families with Christian members? In this presentation, I would like to show some concrete examples of how the Japanese Christians deal with this situation.

Organized panel, English
Machinist, Peter

Harvard University, USA

False Prophecy in Jeremiah(02N)

The book of Jeremiah, it has often been noticed, is marked by a persistent concern with false prophets, and by the frequent use of terms for "falsity" and the like in a way that is unrivaled elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. This paper will revisit the issue of false prophecy in Jeremiah from several perspectives and in the light of previous scholarship. What Israelite traditions does the treatment of the issue in the book of Jeremiah speak to? What role(s) does the issue play in the composition, structure, and religious thinking of the book? Can one move beyond the book and determine what historical circumstances account for its prominence there? Can, indeed, the falsity issue help us to reconstruct a sociology of prophecy in the period of the actual Jeremiah?

Organized panel, English
MacWilliams, Mark

St. Lawrence University, USA

Manga in a Japanese New Religion - Remythologization, Globalization, and Comic Books in Kôfuku no Kagaku(02H)

This paper explores how Ôkawa Ryûhô's Kôfuku no Kagaku, one of the more prominent Japanese new religions, uses manga to express its spiritual vision as a "world religion". Like other Japanese new religious movements, Kôfuku no Kagaku has its own publishing house which produces numerous comic books designed to explain key doctrines and teachings of the group. This paper examines some of these texts Manga de aru "Kôfuku no Kagaku", Komikku enzeru, etc) to reveal how, through story telling and graphic imagery of manga, they articulate a powerful new mythological vision that seeks to be universal and global. What new "textures of meaning" can be found here, and what makes these visual narratives different from traditional forms of mythology? How are these tales emblematic of some of the religious trends of new religious movements cross-culturally? Answering these three questions will be the focus of my paper.

Organized panel, English
Maeda, Reiko

Otemon Gakuin University, Japan

Calendar and Rituals of Esoteric Buddhism(17R)

The purpose of this presentation is to show that cyclic movements of the sun, the moon, the planets, and various constellations of fixed stars are closely related to mystic rituals of esoteric Buddhism(mikkyo). The following two rituals are to be explained: 1)The rituals which are given at the beginning of a luni-solar year. How twenty-eight-lunar mansions, seven days of a week, seven stars of the dipper, and twelve mansions of astrology are utilized. 2)How the Garbba-dhatu-mandala and Kongokai-mandala are linked to the cyclic movements of the sun and the moon.

Organized panel, English
Maegawa, Ken-ichi

University of Tokyo, Japan

Myoe on Esoteric Buddhism and Precepts(08M)

Myoe was a monk of the Hua-yen school and a practitioner of esoteric Buddhism. He frequently performed esoteric rituals for his lay followers, but gradually his attention shifted from esoteric rituals to precepts. This change seems to be influenced by the monk Shunjo. Shunjo brought many books about precepts from China, and many people, including emperors, received precepts from him. It seems that his activities had some impact on Myoe and his followers, because Myoe's attention to precepts increased after Shunjo's return from China. Also, Myoe possibly read books brought by Shunjo. As to the relation between esoteric Buddhism and precepts, Myoe is somewhat similar to the monk Eizon. However, they are different in understanding the role of precepts. Eizon thought that precepts were able to prevent one from being born in /mado/ (the path of devils), but Myoe did not think so.

Organized panel, Japanese
Maekawa, Michiko

Kanagawa University, Japan

Jinkaku Shuyo (Cultivation of Personalrity) and Religious Thought in Modern Japanese Intellectuals: A The case of Genchi Kato(04U)

A concept of Jinkaku Shuyo (cultivation of personality) is a creation of modern Japanese intellectuals and a combination of neo-Kantian notions of "self-cultivation" and "personality" introduced from the West in Meiji period, in part drawing on the Confucian tradition in Japan. While the concept was diffused in varied areas of Japanese modern thought, most outstanding in ethical or moral discourse of the time, it is noted that the concept was deployed in the religious thought of young Japanese intellectuals who sought for a new and ideal model of religion. After briefly pointing out theoretical connotations of the concept of Jinkaku Shuyo and cultural and socio-national backgrounds on which it evolved, I will explore how it developed into a new view on religion or spirituality held among those intellectuals. I will look at some of the outcomes of this strand, focusing on Genchi Kato, a scholar of religions, and his nationalistic theory on Shinto in particular.

Organized panel, Japanese
Maekawa, Toru

Senshu University, Japan

The End of the History of the Chan School(08G)

The establishment of "Kanhua Chan" (J: Kanna Zen) by the Chan master Dahui Zonggao (J: Daie Soko), which enabled everybody to obtain enlightenment, indicated the climax of the standardization of Chan practice. However, such a kind of enlightenment was nothing but doctrine and finally lost its individuality. Taking up the Baojuan (J: Hokan) of the Song Dynasty, let us focus on the syncretism of Chan Buddhism and folk beliefs.

Organized panel, Japanese
Maekawa, Yoshinori

Osaka Sangyo University, Japan

Peace in Advanced Technical Societies(13U)

Science and technology have contributed to the happiness of mankind, but they have also brought misery. For instance, weapons of mass destruction or the environmental problems are both products of modern science. Thus, science and technology have ambiguous effects on the peaceful existence of mankind. Tillich has said about this dilemma that we must accept the development of modern science and technology as a historic fact that cannot be ignored or reversed, and which, like every historic development, is ambiguous in its meaning and value. Tillich argued that the tragic self-destruction witnessed in our world is not only the result of the particularities of the modern world, but also of the contradictions which are inherent in human existence. Tillich pinpointed the problems caused by technologically advanced societies without categorically rejecting them. Instead, he sought a practicable solution in his Christian faith. Tillich called this concept "faith-based realism." This paper will examine Tillich's notion of faith-based realism and its potential for creating peace in technologically advanced societies.

Organized panel, Japanese
Mahua, Sarkar

Jadavpur University, India

Esoteric Buddhism in India: A Historical Perspective(13E)

From the 8th century CE, Buddhism in India began to display a pronounced tendency to realize the ultimate truth and absolute reality by means of esoteric practices and mantras. This paper analyses the nature of esoteric Buddhism in India, its historical and cultural specificities and its relationship with similar forms in Japan. It also exposes new concepts of human identity which developed out of esoteric Buddhism in India. Esoteric practices and their variations in different monasteries in India will also be considered.

Organized panel, English
Main, Roderick

University of Essex, England

Numirosity and Terror: Jung's Psychological Revision of Otto as an Aid to Engaging Religious Fundamentalism(03K)

Fundamentalist movements generally form in hostile reaction to the processes and consequences of secularisation. There will therefore usually be an in-built conflict between such movements and the secular academic theories employed to understand them. This paper considers whether a theoretical approach that paradoxically embeds both religious and secular attitudes might foster more constructive engagement and lead to richer understanding. To explore this the paper focuses on one possible example of a dual religious and secular theory, C. G. Jung's analytical psychology, and in particular Jung's appropriation and psychological revision of Rudolf Otto's concept of the numinous. While fully respecting religious reality, and so forestalling anti-secularity, Jung's reinterpretation allows for a psychological understanding of the vicissitudes of the various components of the numinosum, the mysterium, tremendum and fascinans that provides helpful perspectives on such features of fundamentalism as its absolutism, authoritarian leadership, moral Manichaeanism, and frequent intensification of militancy into terrorism.

Organized panel, English
Maina, Kahumbi Newton

Kenyatta University, Kenya

Role of Religious Leaders in Ethnic Management and Resolution in Kenya: The Case of Rural Women Peace Link(04V)

Organized panel

Makimura, Hisako

Kyoto Women's University, Japan

Community, Non-standardization, and Time Limits on Graves and Cemeteries in Modern Japan: An Analysis of a Questionnaire Survey and a Field Survey(04J)

The modern Japanese cemetery was formed on the idea of integrating the traditional Japanese-style family grave with the European-style cemetery park. Tama Cemetery in Tokyo has typified this city-planned cemetery construction. However, within the changes in structure to both families and cities in present-day Japan we see questions arise regarding the nature of both graves and cemeteries. To overcome the difficulties presented by the individualization of graves, graves where the entombed have no surviving relatives, and by the increasing mobility of families in Japanese society, we see the emergence of communal graves, graves with no standardized form, and graves created with time expirations. In Tokyo, economic growth led to an increase in the general population that eventually settled permanently within the city. This population was subsequently affected by various social trends and although it doesn't require descendants to care for the grave as is traditional in Japan, nonetheless require graves.

Symposium, English
Makino, Shin'ichi

Seijo University, Japan

The Movement of Ko Groups of the Issan and Isshin Schools in the Kanto Region(08C)

After Fukan and his disciples developed ko groups, Ontake belief spread widely. Ontake ascetics made full use of ko groups as a basis for propagation. In addition, the sendatsu, or leader of a ko group, was placed in each ko group and this person further developed Ontake belief. After Fukan, distinguished ascetics such as Isshin and Issan appeared. Isshin, as a successor of Fukan's training, established an original oza ritual. On the other hand, though Issan was not willing to spread the oza ritual because it was regulated as a magical rite under the Tokugawa Shogunate, he did form a large number of ko groups along the main roads in the Kanto region. As a result, ko groups of both schools prospered there and the Kanto region became a base for ko groups of the Ontake faith. Several ko groups in the area maintain their traditions to the present day.

Organized panel, Japanese
Mallery, Bruce Gilbert

Seicho-No-Ie US Headquarters, USA

How I, Brought up in a Family of Protestant Ministers, Was Able to Accept a Religion Born in the Country Considered to Be the Enemy(03B)

Rev. Mallery will speak on how he, despite the fact that he was brought up in a family where his grandfather and father were both Christian (Protestant) ministers, as well as the fact that he served the United States in the military, was introduced to Seicho-No-Ie and was able to accept the Seicho-No-Ie teachings, which were born in Japan, the country against which the United States fought.

Organized panel, English
Mamiya, Keijin

Minobusan University, Japan

The Basis for Respecting Others: Nichiren, Dogen, and Religious Pluralism(09M)

It is often argued that Nichiren's faith and practice were highly exclusive. It is true that Nichiren did assert on the level of practice that to attain salvation one only needs to focus on the Lotus Sutra and to chant the Daimoku. On the other hand, his ideas on human beings and the world were highly inclusive. Nichiren argued that not only human beings, but also the entire world was originally identical with the Eternal Buddha. A similar contrast between practice and theory can also be detected in Dogen's thought. When one defines religious peace as the co-existence of the various religions without conflict, then the question is how Japanese Buddhism can contribute to the creation of such a state. In this panel, we will inquire into this issue by looking at Nichiren, Dogen, and religious pluralism.

Roundtable session, Japanese
Manabe, Shunsho

Shikoku University, Japan

The Religious Meaning of Mandara (Mandla) in Japan(17F)

A mandara was brought to Japan for the first time from China by Kukai in the first year of Daido (806 A.D.), and that was the origin of mandara in Japan. There are two kinds of mandara, the Taizokai-mandara and the Kongokai-mandara, in the sanctum of Kondo in Japan. The former is hung on the east wall, and the latter is on the west wall, face to face with each other. This positioning of two mandaras had never been seen before the Nara period and it was quite new that the object of worship was positioned in such a way. Now, comparing the religious meaning of them to the concept of sokushinjobutsu (becoming a Buddha in this very body), which is characteristic of Esoteric Buddhism, I will try to investigate the system of how to embody a mandara, and will clarify the religious meaning behind it. In addition, I will make a comparative study, containing the Besson-mandara (another type of mandara different from the Ryokai-mandara), and survey the relation between the doctrine of Esoteric Buddhism and the religious meaning behind it.

Organized panel, Japanese
Manzoku, Tamae

The Institute of Oriental Philosophy, France

Transforming the Concept "Laicite" in Modern French Society: The Issue of Headscarves in Public Schools(07S)

When we examine religion in modern French society, we can hardly avoid discussing laicite - or "laicisation" - a concept which contains the following three elements: irreligiosity, secularity and the separation of religion and the state. As a result, laicite may be considered to be the spritual foundation of the French Republic. In 1989, the ban against wearing headscarves by Muslim girls in public schools prompted great controversy in French society. The arbitration of the State Council subsequently calmed the conflict. However, between February and March 2004, a new act banning visible religious symbols in public schools was passed by the National Assembly and the Senate, and entered into force in September 2004. The adoption of this act raises not only the issue of religious freedoms but also that of gender. By analysing this affair, I shall illustrate how the concept of laicite has been transformed.

Organized panel, Japanese
Mapril, Jose Fraga

University of Lisbon, Portugal

Amar Sonar Bangla: Jama't-I-Islami and the Politization of the Past among Bangladeshi Migrants(01O)

In recent years, migration research has paid increasing attention to the relation between religious institutions or religious political parties and immigrant populations. This paper focuses one of these movements, namely the Jama't-i-Islami from Bangladesh and its impact on Bangladeshi migrants. Based on ethnographic research in Lisbon, I intend to discuss how the national past and Islam are manipulated by arguments in order to contest or support the activities of this Islamic political party in Portugal. My argument is that these discussions are not only linked to homeland religion and politics but also with these migrants' experiences in the Portuguese context. I will try to show how the past, religious and political, is used by individuals to deal with situations that have emerged in the migrant context.

Organized panel, English