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

Pandey, Vijaypani

Jan Shikshan Sansthan, India

The Tana Bhagat of Jharkhand and Their Religious Customs(17S)

The beginning of the twentieth century witnessed the emergence of the "Tana Bhagat" movement, which not only gave a new ideology to the Oraon tribal people but also introduced the idea of Bhogatism in Jharkhand. The "Tana Bhagat" believe that without Sun, Air, Water and Earth, the existence of humanity is almost impossible. As a result, they offer rice, flowers and sweets, blow conch shells and ring bells, all in devotion to Dharmesh (God). Adherents to this movement have changed their traditional religious faith and have abandoned their old tribal spiritual worship and witchcraft practices. Tana Bhagat's ideal moral conduct for individuals as well as the community has changed so that adherents now conform to the new values of love and good will to their fellow humans, kindness to all living beings and purity in food habits. Their devotions are not based on fear but on adoration and reverence.

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Pandeya, V. N.

University of Ranchi, India

Yearly Calendar and Socio-Religious Almanac System of India(16S)

Development of astronomy and astrology gave birth to the calendar and the almanac. In a calendar dates are fixed with reference to the orbital position of the heavenly bodies. An almanac is based on the observation of natural events. The calendar is accepted by the literate society as standard reference for days, dates and the like. However, many Indian tribes still follow the almanac. The aim of this paper is to show that, contrary to the thinking of the literate society which considers the almanac system as out-dated and superstitious, the almanac is a systematic nature based scientific procedure. In this context the indigenous method of calculating time and the almanac of the tribes of Jharkhand is specially laudable. By using the almanac, these tribes determine the onset of the monsoons, the amount of expected rainfall, the chances of drought and their auspicious occasions. The heavenly bodies, observation of natural events, and regard for flora and fauna serve as benchmarks for calculating the above mentioned events. This paper will highlight the various methods developed by the tribes of Jharkhand to determine the dates and days of important events and the weather and climatic conditions with a view to demonstrating their uniqueness and to foster an appreciation of their approach.

Roundtable session, English
Papalexandropoulos, Stylianos

University of Athens, Greece

Remarks on the Attempts to Interpret Dogen Zen through Tracing its Ancestry(14Q)

The answer to the question about what constitutes "Dogen Zen" has been pursued in two ways, clearly made out within the history of Dogen studies in the form of two series of endeavors: a) a series of endeavors aiming at the identification of "Dogen Zen" through assigning it some sort of originality, and b) a series that aims at the same purpose by trying to trace down Dogen Zen's ancestry. Both ways can be described as a sequence of suggestions as to either the originality or the ancestry of Dogen Zen. In this paper I explore major suggestions that have been made about the ancestry of Dogen Zen, underscoring their commonalities and differences.

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Park, Heon-Wook

The Tokyo Union Theological Seminary, Japan

Israel and the Nation in Pauline Theology(11N)

I intend to view the problem of nationalism from the perspective of the New Testament, especially in the theology of Paul as an apostle for nations ("ethnee"). We cannot find the modern idea of "nationalism" in the New Testament or in Paul's theology, but by the concept of Israel and its relationship with the nations in the Old Testament and the New Testament, we would like to enter into an aspect of the religious community in which Jewish nationalistic identity was inevitably brought up and into a Christian interpretation of the community in order to transform it into a new one. Analyzing the "ethnos/ethnee" use of the apostle Paul on the one hand, we try to illuminate the meaning of the Jerusalem Convention at the end of 48 or beginning of 49 A.D. and the social circumstances of the religious/nationalistic movement in the historical Jewish background on the other hand. In addition to this, we aim also to explore his theological intention on the "Hellenization of Christianity" and the "switch from a single nation to plural nations." We can recognize that fresh, kindred "Israel" is newly determined by spiritual, universal "Israel" basically by his fundamental theology of "justification by faith"( for instance: The Epistle of the Romans, chapter 9〜11). At this, "the salvation of Israel" grasped from the Christological aspect appears to subsume the subject of salvation and peaceful coexistence of all nations of the world.

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Park, Hyun-Suk

Kwansei-Gakuin, Japan

The Origins of 'Ssial Thought' in Ham Sochon: With Special Emphasis on the Influence of Gandhi(15I)

During the time of Ham Sochon's studies in Japan from 1924-1927, he came into contact with Kanzo Uchimura through Kim Kyosin. After studying in Japan, Ham returned to his high school and taught Korean history and continued his research of Korean history. In 1934/35, Ham wrote the article "A Spiritual History of Korea" for the non-church magazine "Bible Korea." In the article, he called the history of Korea a "History of Suffering." Although the biblical influence in Ham's thought is known to come from Uchimura Kanzo, the meditation about suffering is taken from Gandhi. In which way, then, is the Ssial thought of Ham related to that of Gandhi? I want to propose that it was at the point when Gandhi practiced Nonviolent Resistance, that Ham began to see Gandhi as the truest embodiment of the truth of Christ.

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Park, Kwangsoo

Wonkwang University, Korea

A Symbolic System of the Ritual of Won-Buddhism (Hyorin-Kido)(12D)

Religious rituals are closely related to systems of religious belief. Rituals, thus, as well as religious myths and symbols, are important subjects for attaining an understanding of the essence and the phenomena of religions. Sot'aesan, the founding Master of Won-Buddhism, gave his prayer, called 'Hyorin-kido' (Prayer of the Blood-Seal) with his nine disciples at the mountains in 1919. It is a major devotional ceremony of Won-Buddhism in which the participants dedicate their lives to save sentient beings in the world. Through the 'Hyorin-kido,' devotees became deeply involved with the symbolic system of the universe to understand its essence and to recover the oneness of the sacred and the profane. It thus provides an archetype revealing the essential aspect of faith in Won-Buddhism.

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Park, Kwangsoo

Wonkwang University, Korea

Ritual and Thought in New Korean Religions(12D)

This Session will Focus on the Thoughts and Rituals of the New Korean Religious Movements in the Modern Period.

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Park, Kyutae

Hanyang University, Korea

A Comparison of Femininity in Korean and Japanese New Religions(10D)

A short description of my presentation is as follows: What is an epistemological signification of femininity in religion, especially new religions in Korea and Japan? The Korean new religions emphasize the strong "idealistic" utopian millennialism that encompasses thoughts on both the beginning of a new world and the secularly-oriented belief in a paradise on earth as well as in a savior. In contrast, noticeable in Japanese new religions is the development of "pragmatic or practical" ethics in daily lives which have combined the popularly moralistic ideas of "thoughtfulness" and "harmony" with the religious idea of "mind renewal". In spite of such a difference, there seems to be points of agreement to an astonishing degree between the two, such as the worldview of "mutual life or living together" in Korea, and "life principle" in Japan. With this overview, I will argue that femininity is in some respects closely connected with that common worldview of life.

Symposium, English
Park, Sang un

The Korea Institute for Religion and Culture, Korea

Body as a Cultural Symbol or More than It: The Power of Healing Ritual in Contemporary Korean Society(14J)

This paper focuses on cultivation of the body through a healing ritual in contemporary Korean society by analyzing some centers for cultivating body and mind, which have prospered while emphasizing Korean tradition and national spirituality since the 1980's. For this analysis, first I will show how these groups can perceive and control the body and mind through the healing ritual, while emphasizing the belief systems of the healing groups. Secondly, I will examine how these groups have expanded the power of the healing ritual to the whole Korean society by interweaving their concepts with national spirituality, for example by reference to the founder of the Korean nation, Dhangun. Finally I will examine the problem of categorizing "religion" in the context of Korean society.

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Park, Seunggil

Catholic University of Daegu, Korea

A Cult of the Dead in Korean Religious Culture(11D)

One of the valuable attitudes that govern the everyday life of Koreans is an effort to preserve and restore the health of the body and soul. The sites where life takes its source and renewal, such as the home, native hometown etc, are regarded as locations of eternal recurrence. Consequently, any kind of symbols, marks, or numbers related to death or the dead are considered taboo must be avoided in everyday life. The traditional Korean funeral ritual also, as inferred by the typology of A.W. Malefijt, is the typical cult of the dead.

Symposium, English
Parker, David

University College Northampton, UK

Spirituality and Trans-Cultural Phenomena in the Image of the Artist Outsider(15L)

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Pasi, Marco

University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Definitions of Occultism: A Methodological Survey(14G)

The aim of this paper is to offer a terminological clarification concerning the term "occultism," as it is (or should be) used in the context of the historical study of Western esotericism. Special emphasis will be put on the often ambiguous relationship this term has had with a similar, related term, namely "esotericism." It will be seen that the main definitions of "occultism," corresponding to as many ways of understanding its relationship with "esotericism", can be reduced into five broad categories. These will be discussed, in order to appreciate their respective validity for the scholar working today on the history of esotericism. It will be suggested that, among them, the most useful definition is the one that considers "occultism" as a specific esoteric current, situated in a particular historical context, and which presents particular features of its own.

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Patil, Bal

Jain Minority State Commission, India

The Evolution of Sramanic Jain Tradition and Its Impact on Indic Civilisation and Religious Fundamentalism(15G)

There are pervasive misconceptions about the origin of Jainism, its relation with the Brahmanic Vedic (so-called)- Hinduism, about Mahavira being the founder of Jainism, its being an offshoot of Buddhism or Hinduism or its being a reformist sect of Hinduism.. It is overshadowed by Hinduism and Buddhism or, if noticed at all, is mentioned in passing as one of the ancient Indian religious movements subsidiary to Buddhism. Yet the sramanic Jain tradition has made a pioneering contribution to human civilization by its pioneering message of ahimsa, which defines-the thematic core of this Conference. The most eminent historians are not immune to the damaging impact of the misleading and misconceived Indological and 'Oriental' stereotypes on the Indian ethno-religious historiography which necessitates a paradigmatic revaluation. My paper investigates the philosophical, ethnological, metaphysical and epistemological impact Jain sramanic tradition has had on the evolution of the universal ethical values of peace and non-violence.

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Payne, Richard

Institute of Buddhist Studies, USA

Subduing Demons: The Shingon Abhicaraka Homa(12V)

The Japanese tantric Buddhist tradition of Shingon preserves ritual practices that originate in medieval India, and in turn originating in Vedic ritual. One of the rituals most widely shared among all tantric traditions is the homa (Jpn. Goma, 護摩). In tantric Buddhism rituals, including homas, are grouped into five categories (Jpn. Goshuh?, 五種法) according to function: protection (Skt. ??ntika, Jpn. Sokusaih?, 息災法), prosperity (Skt. Pau??ika, Jpn. S_?yakuh?, 增益法), summoning sentient beings (Skt. Anku?a, Jpn. K?ch?h?, ?召法), acquiring love (Skt. Va??kara?a, Jpn. Keiaih?, 敬愛法), and subduing demons (Skt. Abhic?raka, Jpn. J?bukuh?, 調伏法). These functions are frequently presented as having a spiritual purpose. However, these sublimated representations may be suspected of being later interpretations, introduced to make the functions of these rituals more socially acceptable. This paper will examine the subduing demons homa devoted to Yam?ntaka (Jpn. Daiitoku) in light of this hermeneutic question.

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Penny, Benjamin

The Australian National University, Australia

Qigong Masters and Animal Spirits: Ideas of Possession in Falun Gong(02T)

Like many "new" religious or spiritual formations, Falun Gong relies heavily on preexisting or traditional structures of belief as well as making important innovations. This paper studies one aspect of Falun Gong's doctrine that has, so far, received little scholarly attention: the belief in possession by animal spirits - especially, in Falun Gong's case, of rival qigong masters popular in the early 1990s when Falun Gong appeared. My interest in this topic, which appears in the texts of the movement, derives partly from the possibility that the founder and leader of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi, derived his understandings about possession by animal spirits from local popular beliefs surviving in the north-east of China where he was born and grew to maturity. In addition, I am interested in tracing the history of such beliefs in pre-modern Chinese religion, both orthodox and popular.

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Perez Suarez, Tomas

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico

Olmec Dragon Images at the Mayan Area(03R)

In the 1940s, Miguel Covarrubias, a Mexican scholar, noticed that the plastic expressions of Olmec culture very frequently presented a supernatural being that, because of his resemblance to a reptile, was called Olmec Dragon, different from the usual representations of humanized jaguar. Subsequent research has shown the relevance of that deity and his numerous representations was considered a totalizing God and the main character of the Olmec pantheon. In this paper I analyze images of that deity as it appears in pottery recovered from the excavation at Canton Corralito, a site located at the coast of the southeastern state of Chiapas, Mexico. The presence of a vast amount of ceramic materials in that setting suggests that the local elites were strongly identified with the Olmec ideology and those deities functioned as religious and political propaganda supporting the governing elite.

Symposium, English
Permenter, Rachela

Slippery Rock University, USA

"Strong Orenda": The Power of Iroquois and Cherokee Peacemaking(04C)

Southeastern and Northeastern American Indian tribes remained powerful forces in the America of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, despite the overwhelming forces of colonization. This was largely due to the flexible intellects and peacemaking abilities of tribal leaders. Many members of these tribes today attribute those successes as well as a contemporary rebirth of tribal strength to what the Haudenousaunee (people of the Iroquois Confederacy nations) call orenda, the power of peace. By 1827, the Cherokees had united sixty scattered villages in less than a generation into its own nation with a constitution, a syllabary of its language, a newspaper, and its own schools. The Haudenousaunee leader Deganawidah, the Peacemaker, united the warring tribes of the Northeast to form the Iroquois Confederacy, preserved in the Confederacy's traditional constitution, which is said to have influenced the framers of the American Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution. The Confederacy remains united under the Peacemaker's unbroken lineage, today represented by the Tadodaho (chief), the temporal and spiritual leader of the Six Nations. Women leaders play an important role in both traditions in engendering orenda, as their roles include white chiefs and peacemakers. They are seen as the connection to the earth and as having the responsibility for the future of the nations. According to the Haudenousaunee Law of Peace, "Men will want to fight, but women know the true price of war." This study will explore the commonalities of the Cherokee and Iroquois beliefs in orenda as described by their charismatic leaders and as transmitted in their traditional stories and songs.

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Peste, Jonathan

Goeteborg University, Sweden

Terroristic Religions? Theoretical Perspectives on Radical Religious Movements Turning to Political Violence(02C)

There is an apparent lack of interest in the connection between contemporary religion and terrorism among Historians of Religions. Most scholars writing about terrorism have a background in Political science or sociology. Historians of religions occasionally study so-called religious fundamentalism or antimodernism, however the majority of these movements are not violent. This paper contains a discussion of what the perspective of History of Religions can contribute to the academic understanding of religious terrorism. Different theoretical approaches to religion and violence by scholars are analysed, for example the theoretical discussion of New Religious Movement and violence among sociologians of religion. The paper concludes by making some theoretical remarks on the possibility of explaining religious terrorism from the perspective of history of religions.

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Peste, Jonathan

Goeteborg University, Sweden

Comparing "Strong" Religious Movements using Political Violence - The Cases of Jewish and Singhalese Radicalism(15G)

Israel and Sri Lanka are involved in ethnic conflicts with religious dimensions. There are examples of terrorism from both sides in Israel as well as Sri Lanka. This paper deals with how radical Jewish and Singhalese-Buddhist movements interact with their environments. In Israel we have examples such as Jewish Underground, Kach and Eyal; in Sri Lanka we have the National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT) and Sihala Urumaya (SU) or Sinhala Heritage. In both cases we can study radical movements that can be perceived as parts of the stronger party in the conflicts. This does not stop the above-mentioned groups from often considering their political objectives to be threatened by both the ethnic "brother" and "sister", and the ethnic antagonist. The purpose of the paper is to put these movements in an intelligible historical context and point to some major factors of their development.

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Peste, Jonathan

Goeteborg University, Sweden

Violence and non-Violence in South Asia(15G)

*chairperson

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Piralishvili, Zaza

Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, USA

Paradoxes of Interreligious Dialogue in Georgia(06E)

Since the 1960s the Soviet authorities, in a certain sense, "disguised their real face by revolutionary pathos." They exploited more hidden forms of oppression. However, religious life was preserved as a marginal social phenomenon. The major target of governmental persecution was Orthodox religion; historically most influential and politically active in Georgia as well in Russia. After the independence of the country traditional religious groups, and among them the Orthodox Church, encountered the requirements of the "religious market" – for which they were unprepared – and this dramatically changed the manner of their co-existence and relations with new religious groups. The relatively tolerant atmosphere was replaced by religious nationalism and violence against the religious minorities. The current phase, despite its chaotic nature, can be characterized as a period in which the overwhelming difficulties of society and its religious groups are in search of institutional forms of religious institutional adaptation.

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Porcio, Tibor

University of Szeged, Hungary

Benevolent and Fierce Deities: On the Concept of the Demonic in Tantric Buddhism(15S)

The Buddhist protective or apotropaic literature was strongly influenced by popular cults, both Buddhist and pre- or non-Buddhists. The former include the cults of the Seven Buddhas and their trees, of past Buddhas, of pratyekabuddha, and of shraavakas. The latter include the cults of the Four Guardian Kings; of yakshas, naagas and a long series of divine or demonic beings. Among many others, to this literature belong the Pancarakshaa collection and the Sitaatapatraa texts, too. In my paper I would like to focus on these texts. It is clear that these texts drew on a common stock of elements, including a long catalogue of benevolent and fierce deities. They thus provide a good basis for examining the evolution of the concept of the demonic in Buddhist thought and also the function of these deities in their social context.

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Porcu, Elisabetta

University of Marburg, Germany

Representations and Self-Representations of Religion in the Japanese Context(16C)

The discourses on 'cultural hegemony,' particularly those that center on the effects of orientalist approaches to Buddhism, have often led to misinterpretations of Buddhism. Less obvious is the potentiality of these dualistic discourses to contribute to the intensification and radicalization of conflicts on the ground. For they divide the world into binary oppositions, often pitting multifarious individuals into one of two groups. This paper explores shades of gray at the intersection of religion and culture, focusing on the expressive arts in Japan that present hegemonic representations and self-representations of religiosity and culture that stand in tension to the creation of a harmonious and peaceful society.

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Pranger, H. Jan

DePaul University, USA

Beyond Essentialism: Rethinking Religion in the Quest for Peace in Postcolonial Sri Lanka(04V)

One of the major issues of our time as the global community pursues a rather elusive global peace has to do with the conflict between peoples of different faiths. Often, particularly in the "interfaith " dialogue contexts, it is suggested that people of faith are in conflict with each other and with the world around them because they have failed to be faithful to the " core values" or " the essences "of their respective faiths . This approach ,or so will be argued in this paper is based on very essentialist categories of religion that do not adequately acknowledge the historical context in which even definitions of religion have been done and the consequences of such neglect of history in generating generic and even more problematic, essentialist responses to the crisis of conflict between people based on Religion. Using the Sri Lankan context as a case study, this paper will examine the issue of conceptualization of religion in the contemporary discourse on religion and propose that it is imperative to move beyond colonialist and essentialist thinking regarding religions and the way we speak about them and the people who practice them if a sustainable peace is to be attained or at least approximated.

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