True Knowledge: The Supreme Purpose of Current Christian Education

Author(s): Adrian Gheorghe Paul / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

By true knowledge it is a necessity for humans, it is a longing and a fulfillment. It can not be achieved fully, only by the opening and the participation of man to God, the One who is the Subject that draws us to the true knowledge. If we understand that the truth is personified and fully incarnated into the divine Person of Jesus Christ (“I am the Truth” Jn 14:8), then by following him and His commandments and His Gospel’s prescriptions, is a necessary object to follow toward achieving the full and satisfactory knowledge. Here, a decisive role occupies the Christian education, human formation after the image of the perfect model—Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man. Thus, we focus in this study on the formation of the new man in Christ through education, to understand the eternal Truth and to gain the true knowledge of realities.

Aspects of Applied Ethics in the Spiritual Autobiographies from the Orthodox Space in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Author(s): Iuliu-Marius Morariu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Despite its importance for contemporary theology, spiritual autobiography hasn’t been highlighted enough in the Orthodox Theology until now. This is the reason why this article’s aim is to bring into attention this important genre of the Orthodox Theology and to highlight some of its particular aspects. Thus, in this research, we will emphasise the way in which the most important aspects of applied ethics are presented by authors such as Saint John of Kronstadt, Saint Silouan the Athonite, but also by other authors of memoires and autobiographical works, which contain aspects of spiritual autobiographies. We will try to present how they see the neighbour in their works, their position as to moral and ethical principles, and what they think about social, moral and bioethical issues such as suicide, birth or death. We will also try to compare their ideas with those of other authors of spiritual autobiographies from the same period, but from other confessional spaces (e. g. Catholic or Protestant), in order to create bridges between the Orthodox Christian spirituality and other Christian spiritualties. Then, we will try to highlight the actuality of their thoughts and markings and to see how their ideas can be used in Theological research and in everyday life by a simple faithful. In conclusion, the research will try both to bring into attention an area of research that hasn’t been investigated and to offer an interesting and useful approach for the everyday life of the contemporary Christian.

Kościół wobec niepełnosprawności: dobroczynność a miłosierdzie. Stanowisko wybranych teologów niepełnosprawności

Author(s): Anna Maliszewska / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The following paper in quite general way takes an issue of Church’s attitude towards people with disabilities. The polish context required to start with a short introducing of theology of disability which is completely unknown in Polish. In order to clearly present the problem, paper shows two attitudes towards people with disabilities which in spite of their similarity in the external manifestations are essentially different in intentions and thinking about disability. The article wants to show the way which must be undertaken by the Christians to finally erase the boundary between abled and disabled members of the Church. Full inclusion of people with disabilities is necessary not only for them, but for all members of the Church to truly achieve ecclesiastical communion and to benefit from the gift of every human person.

Miłosierdzie drogą do pokoju w kontekście objawień maryjnych Królowej Pokoju z Medziugorja

Author(s): Marek Baron / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

At the beginning of this work are clarified the terms “public revelation” and “private revelations” and the relationship between these concepts is shown. Subsequently, there is the representation of the phenomenon of the apparitions of Medjugorje and their current legal status. Underlined is the fact that so far they are the subject of research by the Church, which has not issued a final opinion, neither confirming or negating. The main issue of this paper is then presented, “May mercy be treated as a path to peace”? Given the fact that the Balkan Peninsula was the area of numerous conflicts due to religious and ethnic divisions, the main objective of the coming of Our Lady of Medjugorje may be inferred. It is the reconciliation of people with God and people with one another. The concept of peace in the message of Medjugorje should be understood not only as a multidimensional peace in the sense of absence of war, but most of all as God’s peace reigning in the human heart, which radiates in all directions; families, parishes, communities and ultimately the world. In the following paragraphs evaluations of the image of God and the Mother of God which emerged from the Medjugorje apparitions have taken place. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the content of the messages of the Queen of Peace under the terms of their motives for deeds of mercy regarding the soul and body. Furthermore, the issue of the sacrament of penance and conversion, from which is sprung the foundation of the whole Medjugorje message, is discussed. This work emphasizes that from the phenomenon of the apparitions in Medjugorje emerges a picture of a loving God and Our Lady of Mercy. Present within this are numerous motives, for instance deeds of mercy with regard to the soul and body. In summary, a key proposal stating that in one’s life accepting the mercy of God and the life of the attitude of mercy towards others is one of the main ways to achieve peace, both personal and social.

Marek Mejor: List of Publications

Author(s): Katarzyna Marciniak,Stanisław Jan Kania,Małgorzata Wielińska-Soltwedel,Agata Bareja-Starzyńska / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Marek Mejor: Gallery

Author(s): Katarzyna Marciniak,Stanisław Jan Kania,Małgorzata Wielińska-Soltwedel,Agata Bareja-Starzyńska / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Notes on the Survival of Buddhism in Communist Mongolia (1921–1989)

Author(s): Agata Bareja-Starzyńska,Byambaa Ragchaa / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The paper discusses how Buddhism survived in Mongolia from 1921 to 1989 regardless of the communists’ attempts to destroy it. It starts with a short account of the destruction of Buddhist institutions and mass repression and the condition of Buddhism after the battle: the remains of Buddhist heritage and the attitude of the Mongolian state to Buddhism. Then follows information about Buddhist institutions during the Mongolian People’s Republic and methods of Mongolian Buddhists to continue the religious practice – examples from Gandantegchenlin Monastery and depiction of some individual practices are provided, as well as a description of Buddhist rituals conducted in secret. Finally, as an epilogue, the revitalization of Buddhism, which started with the democratization process in Mongolia at the end of 1989, is briefly characterized.

Filtered through Multiple Lenses: What We Think Buddhists Thought Ritual Specialists Did

Author(s): Joanna Bialek / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The paper is a first attempt of a complete translation and interpretation of two short and only partially preserved manuscripts, ITJ 489v and ITJ 562r. In terms of their contents, ITJ 489v and ITJ 562r belong to the collection of Buddhist texts that were composed to discredit funeral practices and afterlife beliefs attributed to non-Buddhist ritual specialists and their community. The manuscripts have to be treated in the broader context of the spread of Buddhism on the Tibetan Plateau and the methodical replacement of local rites and customs by their Buddhist equivalents in practice and on the linguistic level by new, Buddhist interpretations.

Shel dkar Chos sde Monastery of Ding ri, Tibet

Author(s): Thupten Kunga Chashab / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The Shel dkar chos sde Monastery is located in the Southwest of Tibet, close to the Nepalese-Tibetan border at Kodari, Nepal. The monastery was founded and sponsored by a chieftain of La stod Lho, Si tu chos kyi rin chen in 1385 AD, on Rgyal mo shel ri Mountain in Ding ri Shel dkar. Prior to Si tu’s involvement in the establishment of this monastery, in the times of Dpang lo tsa ba in the 13th century, there was a small temple at the location. Before it was transformed into a Dge lugs pa school in the middle of the 17th century there were twenty-one colleges (grwa tshangs) of different Tibetan Buddhist traditions: the Sa skya pa, Bo dong, and Dga’ ldan pa practitioners. In 1959 the monastery was destroyed and the monks were resettled by the Chinese army. Out of around three hundred monks of the Shel dkar Monastery in Tibet, only forty-seven were able to escape into exile in Sollu Khumbu, Nepal. Thanks to donations given by the Tibetans, Sherpas, and Westerners the settlement monastery in Sho rong bde legs gling camp was built at Sollu Khumbu and assigned for the Shel dkar and Chu bzang monks to live in and continue their religious practices. In the middle of the 1980s, the Shel dkar monks decided to move to Kathmandu, Nepal. Nowadays the Shel dkar Monastery is in the vicinity of Tintsuli Baudhanath, Kathmandu. At present, there are around a hundred and ten monks at the monastery and the majority of the monks are from the Himalayan regions of Nepal and India. Only one-third of the monks are Tibetans from Tibet and the Tibetan community in exile.

Cleaving the Darkness of Faults and Splitting the Blackness of Night (doṣāndhakārabhiduraḥ in Cāndravr̥tti 1.2.108)

Author(s): Dragomir Dimitrov / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In this article a simple rule from Candragominʼs Cāndrasūtra, namely Cān 1.2.108, identical with rule 3.2.162 in Pāṇiniʼs Aṣṭādhyāyī, and the comments on it presented in the Cāndravr̥tti are discussed in some detail. The main commentary on this sūtra turns out to be quite important and particularly revealing, since it contains an interesting literary example, namely doṣāndhakārabhidura- “cleaving the darkness of faults / splitting the blackness of night”, which is attested in Candragomin’s own Śiṣyalekha, or “Letter to a Disciple”. While this passage from the Cāndravyākaraṇa has already attracted the attention of earlier scholars, it is discussed here for the first time in the light of the later Cāndra tradition, in particular taking into consideration the lucid scholarly explanation found in Ratna’s Cāndrapañjikā and the treatment of the same grammatical issue in Pali dealt with in Moggallāna’s grammar and Saṃgharakkhita’s commentary on it. It is shown, among other things, that the passage in the main Sanskrit commentary on Cān 1.2.108 certainly does not contradict the old idea, first introduced by Bruno Liebich, about a common authorship of the Cāndrasūtra and the Cāndravr̥tti, and in fact rather supports this proposition, which – apparently in vain – a few later scholars were tempted to put in doubt.

Reading Notes on the Vigrahavyāvartanī

Author(s): Eli Franco / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This paper suggests a new understanding of some key-concepts used in the Vigrahavyāvartanī (VV), such as dṛṣtānta (reading note 1), pratijñālakṣaṇa (note 4) and hetu (note 6). It argues that contrary to the commonly held opinion, Nāgārjuna’s opponent was not a Naiyāyika inasmuch as the philosophical tradition of Nyāya did not yet exist, but rather an Ābhidharmika, yet not of the Sarvāstivāda tradition (note 5, cf. also note 12). In this connection, the paper underscores the fact that certain Buddhists held a theory of four pramāṇas, and explains how the rejection of pramāṇas by Nāgārjuna did not keep him from making use of dialectics and knowledge claims (note 8). Furthermore, it advances a nihilistic interpretation of the VV against the claims that Nāgārjuna was a prāsaṅgika (K. Bhattacharya) or a skeptic (E. Mills), or that he availed himself of special semantics (J. Westerhoff). The paper also argues that Nāgārjuna held a thesis, in fact a triple thesis, namely, that all things are empty, his own statement is included in all things, and empty things can perform actions (note 7). Finally, it distinguishes two different proofs of emptiness advanced in the VV (notes 9–10).

The (Re-)Appearance of the “Discourse on the Salt River” (Kṣāranadī-sūtra)

Author(s): Jens-Uwe Hartmann / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Although various sources have long indicated the existence of a canonical text with a probable Sanskrit title, Kṣāranadī-sūtra, “Discourse on the Salt River”, and even quoted from it, neither the title nor citations could be connected to any surviving text. Only the discovery of an unknown Tibetan translation, preserved in two of the so-called proto-Kanjurs, Gondhla and Tholing, brought to light a sūtra that contains one of the previously known quotations, and could thus be connected to the Sanskrit title. Shortly afterwards, the full Sanskrit text of the Kṣāranadī-sūtra was found in a so far unstudied text, the Tridaṇḍamālā ascribed to Aśvaghoṣa. The Sanskrit sūtra closely corresponds to the Tibetan translation. The body of evidence, including a related sūtra in the Chinese translation of the Saṃyuktāgama, shows that this version must belong to the (Mūla-)Sarvāstivādins.

Two Notes on Tibetan √reg ‘shave’

Author(s): Nathan W. Hill / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

On the basis of an edition of a short passage in the "Vinayakṣudrakavastu", this article argues that Tibetan has an intransitive verb regs ‘be shaven’ and a transitive verb ḥdreg, bregs, breg, reg(s) ‘shave’.

Metaphor of River in the "Dhammapada"

Author(s): Joanna Jurewicz / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The paper discusses the metaphor of river in the Dhammapada with the assumption of the embodied cognition and the use of the conceptual metaphor theory. Such an approach allows for reconstructing the enriched meaning of this metaphor and its conceptual relationship with the earlier Vedic tradition.

Tattva-saṅgraha(-pañjikā) VIId Digambara-parikalpitâtma-parīkṣā

Author(s): Stanisław Jan Kania / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The "Digambara-parikalpitâtma-parīkṣā" is a relatively brief section of the voluminous "Tattva-saṅgraha" of Śāntarakṣita. It presents a fictitious, idealised Mahāyānist-Jaina debate, its subject being the Jaina doctrine of the soul. The Sanskrit original of both Śāntarakṣita’s verses and Kamalaśīla’s prose commentary thereon, the "Pañjikā", has been edited twice thus far: in the complete editions of the two texts by E. Krishnamacharya (1926), and D. Shastri (1968). Both works are of limited reliability, and neither consults the Tibetan versions of these texts. The present article offers a new critical edition of said section of the "Tattva-saṅgraha(-pañjikā)", together with an annotated English translation.

na sarvathā gatiḥ

Author(s): Shoryu Katsura / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In his “Dignāga, sein Werk und seine Entwicklung” (1959), Erich Frauwallner examines the theory of “the wheel of reasons” and that of “exclusion of others” in the logico-epistemological works of Dignāga, thereby establishing the historical order of those works; namely, "Hetucakraḍamaru, Nyāyamukha, Hetumukha", and "Pramāṇasamuccaya". It is amazing that he could come to such a conclusion primarily by means of Chinese and Tibetan translations of Dignāga’s works, with just a few fragmentary materials left in Sanskrit. Since then we have obtained more Sanskrit materials of Dignāga, especially from the Sanskrit version of Jinendrabuddhi’s "Pramāṇasamuccaya-ṭīkā". Thus, the aim of this paper is to clarify the difference between perception and conceptual cognition in Dignāga’s epistemology, by focusing on the phrase “Not known in toto” (na sarvathā gatiḥ) that appears three times in the "Pramāṇasamuccaya".

“Radiant Sun Illuminating the Darkness of the Sentient Beings”

Author(s): Karénina Kollmar-Paulenz / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This contribution offers a glimpse into the life of the second sTong ‘khor Qutuɣtu Yon tan rgya mtsho (1556–1587), who arrived in Mongolia in the entourage of the Third Dalai Lama bSod nams rgya mtsho (1543–1588) and stayed on in the country for five years before returning to his native Tibet. Drawing on Mongolian historical sources and his Tibetan rnam thar, I provide, among other aspects, information about his ritual preferences, including the choice of protective deities he propagated among his Mongolian audience. The sources confirm the now familiar picture of the conversion techniques used by the dGe lugs pa in the Mongolian religious field. Furthermore, they point to a rather close connection of the dGe lugs pa with the bKa’ brgyud pa during the early conversion period.

Analiza schematu aktu poznawczego w wybranych fragmentach tekstów śruti w kontekście kształtowania się nurtu protosankhji

Author(s): Marta Kudelska / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

In my reflections I refer to the broadest understanding of the sāṁkhya tradition. I place the sāṁkhya within one of the three traditions of ānvīkṣiki, which above all strove to explain reality in a rational way. For this purpose, various schemata were searched to make the description as simple and as clear as possible. One of them was the enumeration/numbering of the components of a given object of cognition by means of systematic reasoning. This clearly refers to the act of cognition itself. Its analysis determines the most basic components which are the starting point for the establishment of the principal numbers. For my consideration, the most important, apart from “one”, are numbers “two” and “three”. The key passages in the śruti texts that I refer to are the Vedic hymns I.164, X.90 and X.129 as well as the sixth book of "Chāndogyopaniṣad". I would argue that the teachings of Uddalaka Aruni may be considered a coherent protosankhya treatise.

Nils Simonsson (1920–1994)

Author(s): Per Kværne / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The Swedish Indologist and Tibetologist Nils Simonsson (1920–1994) taught as Professor, from 1964 at the University of Oslo, Norway, and from 1975 to 1985 at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. With the exception of his ground-breaking doctoral dissertation, "Indo-tibetische Studien. Die Methoden der tibetischen Übersetzer, untersucht im Hinblick auf die Bedeutung ihrer Übersetzungen für die Sanskritphilologie", Uppsala, 1957, his contribution to Oriental studies has not received the recognition it deserves, as most of his research was published in various journals. Important studies were published in Swedish, for example the "Sāṃkhyakārikā" together with Māṭhara’s commentary in 1955. His scholarly output, invariably the result of careful philological scrutiny, covered a wide range of topics in Indian philosophy and grammatical theory, using Hindu as well as Buddhist sources in several languages, principally Sanskrit and Tibetan, but also Prakrit. This article provides an overview of his entire scholarly production, and attempts to indicate its originality and importance.

Emperors and Buddhist Canon

Author(s): Darui Long / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

China has produced more than 18 editions of the Buddhist canon since the Song Dynasty (960–1279). This paper focuses on the Yongle Northern Canon prepared in the years 1421–1440 and 1584 and the Dragon Canon engraved in the years 1735–1738. Both canons were court editions. They were initiated, sponsored, and supervised by the imperial court. Chinese emperors, usually holding absolute power, had their decisive say on the fate of any scripture – i.e., whether it was to be included in the canon or excluded from it. Compilations of the Buddhist canon are one of the examples showing how emperors would select Buddhist works at their will. The paper addresses a number of issues: why did emperors include scriptures they preferred? Why did they remove works already in the canon? How did they control Buddhism and make it instrumental, particularly in the production of the Buddhist canon? What were the consequences of adding or removing scriptures? How do we evaluate Buddhist canonicity, authenticity, authority, and apocryphal activity?