REL-1300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Office Of Biometric Identity Management, Mahayana, Fierce Deities
Document Summary
Role of monastaries in establishing/spreading buddhism: political, economic, and religious centers, enlightenment for monks, good karma for laity, social order for rulers. Modernization: buddhism challenged by secularity and science. Psychologizing meditation practices: used for self-help. Countries with highest proportion of buddhism are countries where they practice theravada. Jack kornfield: clinical psychologist, vipassana teacher, 1967 dartmouth, asian studies, peace corps thailand, 1969 ordination burma, 1977 phd psychology. In order to hold the gap open, we must tolerate pain and fear and thus control our actions: sitting/breathing meditation, self-help trajectory in theravada. Going from an esoteric meditation that only monks did to a more popularizing form that is also used for self-help. Buddhist revival in sri lanka and burma: henry steele olcott. Protestant buddhism: emphasis on moral life, purging buddhism of idolatry and corrupt priesthood. Protestants saw themselves as purging christianity of these things when they separated from catholicism: lay-oriented.
