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

Senay, Bulent

Uludag University, Turkey

The Perception of 'Self' and Conflict-Resolution in Buddhism and Islam(17N)

Religion has a dual legacy in human history regarding peace and violence. Conflict resolution theory must examine more systematically the decision-making of religious actors and leaders in order for strategies of peacemaking to be effective in the relevant contexts. Behind religious decisions and motivations exist certain set of attributes that a person attaches to himself or herself most firmly, the attributes that the person finds it difficult or impossible to imagine himself or herself without. In religious worldviews the 'self' is often used for that set of attributes. This paper will look at the Buddhist and Islamic perceptions of Self as a background to religious and pragmatic motivations in the context of conflict resolution. It will look into the question of 'the construction of 'Self' through the Buddhist concepts of anatta (no-self), arhat (the enlightened being) and tathata (such-ness), in comparison to the Islamic concept of nafs, insan al-kâmil (the perfected human being), and fıtra (the primordial state). One of the central tenets of Buddhism is that there is no permanent self. In Islam too, the 'self-nafs' lacks permanent inherent existence. In Buddhism, the concept of peace or santi is extended to include both inner and outer peace. Inner peace (ajihatta-santi), which is generally known as 'peace of mind', is a mental state free from "disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions." In Islamic tradition, of particular interest in the model of the self is the concept of nafs - the Arabic word used in the Qur'an and translated as 'self' or 'soul'. The perception of one's own 'self' and other selves is important in the process of individuation and ultimately for any kind of 'conflict-resolution'. An indirect conclusion will be drawn with regard to the impact of the study of religion in conflict-resolution in terms of a comparison between 'agnostic phenomenology' and 'phenomenological theology'. The argument will point at the significance of renewed reflection on theories of religion and approaches in the study of religion.

Organized panel, English
Seroussi, Edwin

Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Between Sacred and Mundane in the Musical Culture of the Sephardi Jews(14U)

Traditional Jewish communities were ruled by religious law in their daily life. The discourse about sacred and mundane spaces of cultural creativity are therefore a modern construction. This paper will explore the lack of clear-cut divisions between so-called secular and religious spheres in the area music. The paper treats the musical traditions of the Sephardi Jews, i.e. the descendants of the Jews of Spain and Portugal who settled around the Mediterranean Sea after 1492.

Organized panel, English
Shaburov, Nikolay Vitalievich

Russian State University for the Humanities, Russia

Russian Orthodox Church and State Today(17Q)

Under the Constitution, Russia is a secular state, which excludes the existence of a state religion. The recent authoritarian trends in today's Russia suggest not only a desire to exercise a tighter control over religious organizations, but also striving for some type of a state religion. The Moscow patriarchy's active lobbyists have been trying to get through the Lower House of the Russian Parliament a bill on traditional religions in order to provide a legal basis for a closed list of state-backed confessions. For this status will surely go only to four of them: Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism, the predominant role being undoubtedly reserved for the Russian Orthodox Church. The matter is that the Church and the Authorities are in need of each other. The latter require additional legitimization and the creation of a new state ideology while the former needs the backing of the latter in asserting itself in a secularized and multi-confessional society.

Organized panel, English, Russian (, Japanese)
Shakhnovich, M. Marianna

State St.Petersburg University, Russia

The Cognitive Religious Studies in Russian Perspective(12U)

The study of religion from a cognitive perspective is a relatively recent form of the science of religion, based on a multidisciplinary cognitive approach. It was developed both by European and American scholars (V.Anttonen, J.Barret, P.Boyer, S. Guthrie, Th.Lawson and R. McCauley, I. Pyysiainen, D. Sperber) on the basis of the general evolutionary thinking. This approach produces explanatory theories of religion (without denying the values of interpretation) and in this sense returns to classical tradition. The cognitive approach provides an opportunity to unveil the origin of religion and to reflect upon how religious ideas and practices were formed. This is closely linked with problems concerning the genesis of the mind and with the process of cultural development. The cognitive approach focuses not only on the natural foundations of religion or the cognitive aspects of religious symbolism, but on the genesis and development of language and its influence on a mythological model of the world.

Organized panel
Shan, Chun

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China

The Characteristics of Buddha Nature in Zen Buddhism(14D)

Organized panel, Chinese

Sharkey, Heather J.

University of Pennsylvania, USA

Islam, Christian Evangelism, and Religious Freedom in Egypt(05H)

In early twentieth-century Egypt, Anglo-American Protestant missionaries proselytized actively among Muslims while working under the protective influence of British imperialism. However, missionaries encountered local resistance to their work in the form of what they called the "Islamic apostasy principle": the doctrine that conversion into Islam was acceptable but that conversion out was forbidden. Small numbers of Muslims nevertheless did convert to Christianity in this period, though they faced heavy social sanctions and came under strong communal pressures to recant. Focussing on the case of the American Presbyterian mission, this paper examines how Christian missionary attitudes towards proselytism, religious choice, and conversion clashed with prevailing Muslim beliefs in Egypt and galvanized the country's Islamist and nationalist movements. Drawing upon wide popular support for anti-missionary initiatives, Egyptian politicians increasingly used legal means to reduce Christian mission activities and eventually banned the teaching of Christian subjects to Muslim schoolchildren. By the 1950s, a decade of dramatic decolonization, the Egyptian government asserted a definition of freedom of religion that was effectively this: Egyptian Christians had the freedom to practice Christianity or to join Islam, while Egyptian Muslims had the freedom to practise Islam free from Christian evangelism.

Symposium, English
Sharma, Anita

Delhi University, India

Engaged Buddhism (1)(16M)

*chairperson

Organized panel
Sharma, Anita

Delhi University, India

H.H.Dalai Lama's Engaged Buddhism(16M)

The Dalai Lama asserts that for Buddhism to be an effective force for systematic institutional change, the traditional Buddhist emphasis on individual, moral, and spiritual transformation, must be adjusted to address more forcefully, the structures of oppression, exploitation and environmental degradation, while preserving the unique Buddhist emphasis on the practice of mindful awareness and a lifestyle of simplicity. His engagement with Buddhist philosophy, while addressing contemporary issues, has varied implications for Tibet as well as the international community. The Dalai Lama contends that his philosophy of developing a 'good heart' is based on core Buddhist principles, but he maintains that it is also in accordance with the best principles of all religions. In his talks, he often insists that direct engagement with other people and their problems is necessary in order to develop genuine compassion. The Dalai Lama has done much to change the image of Buddhism as a 'quietist and introverted spirituality.' In this paper, an attempt is made not only to evaluate the character of Dalai Lama's engaged Buddhism vis-à-vis other forms of engaged Buddhism but also its long terms consequences in the post-modern world ridden with problems of ecological degradation, violence, discrimination, and genocide.

Organized panel, English
Shiba, Haruhide

Taisho University, Japan

Towards Reconstruction of Bio-Ethics Based on the Logic of "Mi"(07G)

Organized panel, Japanese

Shiba, Haruhide

Taisho University, Japan

Shinran's Concept of Karmic Evel，Comparing with the Sin in Christianity(11M)

It seems necessary to reconsider what is 'justice' now at the present. Hence, we would like to discuss what kind of problem will be raised when we see the tradition of Jewish and Christian religions, which based on 'Justice (Gi)' and 'Justification (Ginin)', from the perspective of Buddhism. Simultaneously, we will also take up Pure Land Buddhism -which has been studied to some extent in comparison with Christianity- comparing especially Shinran's concept of karmic evil with Christianity and general Buddhism, and to make his original stance which is 'Not having definition is to be the definition ' (= Gi naki o Gi tosu) clear. Then finally, we will consider what can be seen from his thought or insight in this time of conflict.

Organized panel, English
Shibata, Chizuo

Japan Lutheran College & Seminary, Japan

Family, Church or School - Where Lies the Heir of Japanese Christianity?(04P)

*respondent

Organized panel, English
Shibata, Daisuke

University of Tsukuba, Japan

The Sumerian Shuilla-Prayers in Ancient Mesopotamia(03N)

Clay tablets stemming from the ruins of present-day Iraq and Syria shed light on the cults of the cities of ancient Mesopotamia. The textual material is especially helpful for the reconstruction of the cults of the first millennium BC, for which we have many cult-related texts as well as prayers, which were recited in the course of the cults. Many such prayers are written in Sumerian, even though this language has not served as a spoken language since ca. 2000 BC. In this paper a genre of the Sumerian prayers called Shuilla, "Hand raising (prayer)", will examined and the character of the prayers will be analyzed, especially its relation to the cults in which the prayers were recited, e.g. during the so called "new year's festival of Babylon".

Organized panel, English
Shibata, Mimiko

L'association pour l'étude de la pensée de Simone Weil, Japan

The Violence of Mysticism: Simone Weil on Modern Science(06Q)

1) Simone Weil criticized the fact that the highly specialized modern science had become itself a prestigious 'mystery' in the contemporary civilization. In fact, according to her, what had led Hitler to his crime was the very mechanistic view of the world characteristic of this science, the view that <>. 2) For Weil, the true mysticism has nothing to do with detachment from the sensible material world. Rather it is waking up from the imaginary world-order created by some prestigious force to the beautiful order of the material world itself. <> <> 3) I'll treat mainly works of her later days (L'Enracinement, etc.) in which she looks for the way to have the modern science recover both its evidence and its true mystical character.

Organized panel, English
Shibata, Yoshiko

Kobe University, Japan

Searching for a Niche in Society and Expressing Difference from Society through Christianity and Ethnic Ritual: Hybrid Ethnic Identity Among Chinese Creoles in Contemporary Jamaica(06V)

This paper explores the formation of Chinese Creole identity in Jamaica through the lens of religious affiliation, both to Christian and non-Christian groups. The data presented in this paper is based on my fieldwork conducted in 2003 and 2004. Chinese Jamaicans can no longer be referred to as a homogeneous group. The Chinese community in Jamaica is relatively small and it has been largely creolized. A substantial number of its members has intermarried with other segments of Jamaican society. The complex realities of Chinese life in Jamaica refuse generalization and require careful investigations and analysis. Chinese Jamaicans have celebrated the year 2004 as the 150th anniversary of their arrival on the island, commemorating their contributions to Jamaican society at large while also emphasizing their unique ethnic identity. The large majority of Chinese are Christians, and most of the Christians adhere to the Catholic Church. Their "conversion" began in the first generation, although some still continue to perform gaasan, the veneration of ancestors at the Chinese Cemetery. There is also an evangelical Chinese church which caters mainly to Chinese, both Hakka and Mandarin speakers, and which has begun to reach out to new Chinese immigrants who have arrived from mainland China and Hong Kong.

Organized panel, English
Shibata, Yoshiko

Kobe University, Japan

Religious Developments in the Diaspora(06V)

*chairperson

Organized panel
Shields, James Mark

Lakeland College, Japan

The Construction of Harmony among Buddhist Sects in Late Meiji Japan: The "Critical Buddhism" of Murakami Sensho(02B)

In works like The Unity of Buddhism, Murakami Senshoo sought a clear historical basis for Buddhism. However, unlike some of his peers in the Daijo hibussetsuron movement, he also called for the emergence of a universal, non-sectarian Buddhism based on a set of unified and undisputed doctrines. Murakami's main goal was the (re-)construction of a True Buddhism, based on a principal of non-sectarian harmony. Fully eight decades later, in the late 1980s, Sootoo Zen scholars Hakamaya Noriaki and Matsumoto Shiroo began to publish works under the heading of Critical Buddhism, whose goal, like the Daijo hibussetsuron scholars of long past, is to cut through the myth and mysticism of (especially Mahayana) Buddhism in order to get to the bones of a True Buddhism lying underneath--a Buddhism both 'primitive' and more suitably 'modern'. Yet, having the benefit of hindsight with respect to the use and abuse of Japanese Buddhist ideas for nationalist purposes during the twentieth century, the Critical Buddhists also make clear that one of the largest, if not the central, stumbling block to a revived Buddhism is the very notion of harmony or unity, along with the pretence of scholars such as Murakami to 'objectivity'--their work is unabashedly normative and, as some have argued, palpably sectarian. In this paper, I will examine the principle of harmony in Murakami's work, with reference to the construction of an ideology of harmony within early-twentieth century Japanese nationalism, in order to evaluate the work of Murakami vis-a-vis his late-century avatars, the Critical Buddhists.

Organized panel, English
Shigeru, Makito

Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan

Heidegger's Later Thought on Language and Negative Theology(04Q)

The aim of this presentation is to establish that Heidegger's late thought on language can be placed in the tradition of negative theology. In some of the writings contained in "On the Way to the Language" (1950's) Heidegger offered an analysis of the language contained in the German poems such as S. George's Das Wort and G. Trakl's Ein Winterabend. It can be said that this analysis belongs to the tradition of negative theology, because it attempts to rescue metaphysics through pain, which points to the difference between Being and beings. Moreover, in "The Question of Being" (1955) he expressed Being by drawing crossed lines, which also belongs to the tradition of negative theology. By portraying Being in this manner, a place of pain that can't be represented is indicated. These examples provided a basis on which metaphysics can be restored.

Organized panel, English
Shillony, Ben-Ami

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Emperors and Religion in Modern Japan(05P)

This panel focuses on the religious behavior of the emperors in modern Japan and on their attitudes towards other religions. Rosemarie Bernard will address the topic of the emperors and Ise Jingu. Despite the vagaries of politics and the arguments that tennosei dates to the Meiji period, there are continuities and discontinuities in the history of the relations between the emperors and Ise Jingu that ought to interest historians and anthropologists. Ernst Lokowandt will examine the relationship between the political position of the emperors and their religious functions. The allegedly direct rule by Emperor Meiji was accompanied by a stress on his sacred rituals, but once he became a constitutional monarch there was less need to enhance his authority through religious ceremonies. The emperor in present-day Japan derives his position from the will of the people, but he is still in possession of the three regalia and still conducts the most important Shinto ceremonies. Ben-Ami Shillony will talk about the relation of the emperors towards Christianity. Surprisingly, the modern emperors of Japan respected the religion of the west, promoted Christians to senior court positions, and sometimes even considered conversion.

Organized panel, * Session Abstract, English
Shillony, Ben-Ami

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

The Descendants of the Goddess and the Son of God: Emperors and Christianity in Modern Japan(05P)

Theoretically, there could be no relation between the sacred emperors of Japan, allegedly the descendants of the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami, and the foreign religion Christianity, which looked down on Shinto as a pagan creed. In fact, the modern emperors of Japan, since Emperor Meiji, their family members and their close advisers respected the religion of the enlightened west, showed interest in it, promoted Christians to senior court positions, and on a few occasions, such as during the allied occupation, even considered conversion. Although Christianity has failed to get hold of the imperial palace, a Christian influence there has existed for almost a century.

Organized panel, English
Shim, Sun-Young

University of Tsukuba, Japan

Four Meta-narratives of Tan'gun in the Far Eastern Colonial Contact Zone: Comparing Comparative Religions(01F)

Discourse on Tan'gun, the myth-historical founder of ancient Korean Kingdom, along with discourses on the identity of Korea's indigenous "religion/superstition" (mostly associated with the Shamanistic folk tradition), were among the central issues that have repeatedly appeared in the literature of comparative religions in the Far East throughout the period beginning from the late nineteenth century to the first half of the twentieth century. Proponents form all sides including Japanese historians and anthropologists, Western missionaries and travelers, emerging nationalistic scholars of colonized Korea, and the leaders of many "new/pseudo religions" of Korea during this period all had their part to share in this particular engagement, while at the same time producing knowledge about the self/other. By carefully contextualizing these discourses, that were indisputably hybrid in nature, and illustrating their practical implications within the proper imperial/(anti)colonial contexts, this paper examines the relationship of power and knowledge in the only context of a non-Western modern imperialism.

Organized panel, English
Shima, Iwao

Kanazawa University, Japan

A Statistical Analysis of the Citations from Sruti and Smriti Literature in the Three Commentaries on the Bhagavadgita(04L)

The Vedic tradition is no doubt one of the most important factors in Hinduism. Based upon this Vedic tradition, Hindu philosophers developed their philosophies in mainly two ways. One is in the form of commentaries on the Vedic literature and the authoritative works which follow the Vedic tradition. The other is in the form of citations of the Vedic literature, which are traditionally classified into sruti and smriti. Though both forms basically depend upon the Vedic literature and the authoritative works within the Vedic tradition, Hindu philosophers nevertheless created new ideas by giving new interpretations to them. To illustrate this, I will discuss three famous philosophers, namely, Sankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva. Does their attitude toward the Vedic literature and tradition differ, and if so, to what extent? Since an exhaustive discussion of this topic exceeds the limits of this paper, I will focus my attention on their commentaries on one work, namely, the Bhagavadgita.

Organized panel, English
Shimada, Hiromi

Japan

The Aum Shinrikyo Incident as Religious Terrorism(10I)

The incident of Aum Shinrikyo which arose in 1995 brought a big shock. The believers of Aum Shinrikyo murdered 27 persons and injured 4000 or more people. The death penalty sentence was passed on 12 people, including Shoko Asahara, who is the founder of Aum Shinrikyo. This incident attracted international concern. Researchers of Western countries supposed that the cause of an incident was in its enthusiastic eschatology. However, Aum Shinrikyo was based on yoga and Buddhism. The believers of Aum Shinrikyo did not necessarily believe in God which brings about the end of the world. I want to consider this incident by going back to the tradition of the terrorism based on the Buddhism in Japan. Next, by comparing the incident of Aum Shinrikyo with the attack of 9.11, I want to analyze the features of religious terrorism in the present age when internationalization is progressing.

Organized panel, English
Shimada, Katsumi

Tenri University, Japan

'Religio' According to Nicolaus Cusanus: Apologetic Strategies in De pace fidei(03T)

Nicolaus Cusanus' De pace fidei was written in 1453, the year that Constantinople fell to the Turks. His argument for the unity of all religions and the possibility of peace in this short treatise has been often read as a precursor of the Enlightenment argument for religious toleration. On the other hand, however, there has been little consensus among scholars over Nicolaus' idea of 'religio' in this treatise, whether it refers to Catholic Christianity itself, or rather, whether it conveys a universal idea that transcends any form of historical religions. This presentation will explore Cusanus' argument for the relations between 'ritus' as concrete religions and 'religio' that resides in and above all of them. Moreover, by carefully looking at how Nicolaus tries to frame his argument, I will examine De pace fidei not as an argument for religious toleration but as a new discourse for a Christian apologetics at the dawn of the early modern period.

Organized panel, English
Shimada, Yoshihito

Nagoya University, Japan

Various Developments of Shamanism in East Asia - Manchuria, Korea, Okinawa and Tenrikyo - : Key Note Speech(07F)

One common religious basis of East Asia is Shamanism. However, a systematic study taking into account its diverse development has rarely been attempted. One reason for this comes from Chinese religious policy. Today, however, under the liberating policy of China, religious studies have become easier to take even in the North-East Province, and studies of shamanism have greatly advanced. Hence, in this panel session, we attempt to develop an international comparative study on shamanism as found in such regions as Mongolia, Korea, Okinawa, and the Japanese new religion Tenrikyo. 1. Opening Speech: SHIMADA Yoshihito, Professor, Nagoya University 2. Changing Shamanism under Chinese Policy-: YANG Kohe, Nagoya University 3. Shamanism in Korea: Hereditarytan'gol and ecstaticmudang-: UKIBA Masachika, Nagoya University 4. Shamanism in Okinawa-Yuta s and Noro s: SHIOTSUKI Ryoko, Nihonbashigakkan University 5. Shamanism and Revelation: the case of Tenrikyo: MORII Toshiharu, former assistant professor, Tenri University.

Organized panel, * Session Abstract, Japanese