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Over the course of only a few decades during the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, part of mainstream Buddhist education underwent a striking shift in China. From being a secluded practice within monastery walls taught by monastics for monastics with a strict focus on Buddhist scripture, it became one where monastics and laypeople study together, guided by teachers, both monastic and lay, studying a curriculum of both Buddhist and secular subjects. Although general reforms within the Buddhist community of the times received considerable scholarly attention, the topic of education development was discussed in only a few instances. Therefore, the present article sets out to explore why this radical methodological shift happened, and more concretely, how the individual learning trajectories of the reforms' leading actors, and their involvement in specific communities, influenced the way the reforms unfolded. The author analyses the work and life of three generations of Buddhist reformers, namely the layman Yang Wenhui, and the monastic masters Taixu, Hsing Yun and Cheng Yen, employing Étienne Wenger's social theory of learning. The theory's main assertion that communities of practice provide the main fora of learning for individuals, and its description of the concrete ways in which this learning takes place can provide new insights regarding the specific unfolding of late-nineteenth to early-twentieth-century Buddhist education reforms in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of positive discipline, differentiated instruction strategies, and learning motivation on the learning outcomes of Buddhist Religious Education students at Maitreyawira Private High Schools in Indonesia. The study used questionnaires to collect data and found that positive discipline, differentiated instruction strategies, and learning motivation all had a positive and significant influence on learning outcomes. The article emphasizes the importance of discipline, effective teaching strategies, and motivation in improving student learning outcomes in Buddhist education. The findings align with previous research and suggest that teachers and schools should prioritize these practices to enhance learning in Buddhist education at the high school level. [Extracted from the article]

Over the course of only a few decades during the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, part of mainstream Buddhist education underwent a striking shift in China. From being a secluded practice within monastery walls taught by monastics for monastics with a strict focus on Buddhist scripture, it became one where monastics and laypeople study together, guided by teachers, both monastic and lay, studying a curriculum of both Buddhist and secular subjects. Although general reforms within the Buddhist community of the times received considerable scholarly attention, the topic of education development was discussed in only a few instances. Therefore, the present article sets out to explore why this radical methodological shift happened, and more concretely, how the individual learning trajectories of the reforms’ leading actors, and their involvement in specific communities, influenced the way the reforms unfolded. The author analyses the work and life of three generations of Buddhist reformers, namely the layman Yang Wenhui, and the monastic masters Taixu, Hsing Yun and Cheng Yen, employing Étienne Wenger’s social theory of learning. The theory’s main assertion that communities of practice provide the main fora of learning for individuals, and its description of the concrete ways in which this learning takes place can provide new insights regarding the specific unfolding of late-nineteenth to early-twentieth-century Buddhist education reforms in China.

This article investigates core ideas and principles of teaching and learning as found in the Nidāna-Kathā, a sacred Buddhist text that describes the lives and learning journeys of the Buddha. A three-tiered, exhaustive textual analysis revealed the following themes: resolve and responsibility, supererogatory effort, pabbajja, tradition, becoming, pedagogy and joy. Due in part to the noteworthy openness of a Buddhist conceptualization of canonicity, teachers have seldom drawn upon Buddhist sources (either living or written) to establish what might be termed Buddhist approaches to teaching and learning. While the purpose of this article is not to essentialize Buddhism nor its approach to education, by focusing on a single, primary source text detailing the Buddha's teaching and learning journeys, we seek to put forth a few Buddhist educative principles that, though not representative of all Buddhisms, are at least grounded historically, mythically and archetypically. We hope this article acts as a call for future research to further explore Buddhist approaches to education based on either historical sources or the lived experiences of its generations of inheritor–practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - A sublime social attitude (brahmavihāra) has been identified as a crucial aspect of Buddhist Education (BE) for fostering prosocial behavior. Therefore, this study aims to construct and establish the validity of a sublime social attitude scale for prospective teachers of BE, as well as to detect social desirability bias (SDB). Methodology – This is a development research through a survey method using a quantitative approach that produces a scale to measure the brahmavihāra of prospective Buddhist education teachers. The content validity was quantitatively analysed by calculating and comparing three statistical methods for item relevance, namely content validity index, binomial test, and asymmetric score confidence interval, based on the evaluation of nine experts. Furthermore, empirical testing was conducted using second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with 233 respondents from a population 1012. The identification of item susceptibility to SDB was carried out through qualitative rating by three raters on a draft of a sublime social attitude scale and empirically confirmed by CFA. Findings - The results showed that brahmavihāra, a psychological attribute consisting of four dimensions, namely loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, were empirically proven by CFA. Empirical testing resulted in 24 valid items having a fit model with the goodness of fit criteria fulfilled. Further, five items were identified by the experts as potentially vulnerable to SDB, and only one was empirically confirmed to be vulnerable based on the CFA. Significance - The instrument developed in this study could serve as an effective assessment tool for BE instructors and a psychological scale for other stakeholders to measure brahmavihāra in the recruitment of BE teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation significantly influences students' learning outcomes. Changing their learning motivation improves their performance. This study used an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach, with the participation of 140 adolescents attending retreats at three Zen monasteries belonging to the Truc Lam (Bamboo Forest) Zen sect, to examine how they changed their motivation, what made them change, and how the change improved their learning outcomes. The study also evaluated the effect of gender and age on changes in motivation. The results indicated that many teenagers had changed from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation thanks to Dharma lessons, teacher support, and leisure activities. Compared to students who maintained their extrinsic motivation unchanged, they had better learning outcomes. Age, but not gender, had a considerable effect on changes in teenagers' motivation. These findings provide more evidence for extending Buddhist education and conducting further research on young Buddhist learners' motivation in various contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the history of the Singapore Girls' Buddhist Institute, the first and only modern Buddhist education institution for women in Singapore and Malaysia. This paper aims to explore a dynamic transregional Buddhist network constructed by nuns, vegetarian nuns, and laywomen, with a particular emphasis on the prominent female figures and religious women communities involved. Through an analysis of the movements and religious practices of the Buddhist women community, the author demonstrates the contributions of Buddhist women to the transmission of religious knowledge and modern experiences. It is this paper's intention that the micro-history of the case could contribute to restaging the women-centered Buddhist community in the narrative of "South China Sea Buddhism". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buddhism is popular worldwide. It has been taught both inside and outside schools to enhance teenagers' attitudes and behaviour. To evaluate how it works, identifying teenagers' religiosity and the factors that influence it is essential. This study surveyed 140 teenagers attending retreats at three Zen monasteries belonging to the Truc Lam (Bamboo Forest) Zen sect in Vietnam, using a questionnaire to examine how the core dimensions constituting their religiosity associated with each other and with the demographics. Twelve in-depth interviews with teens were also conducted to explore how religious they were. The conclusion was that the religiosity of teenagers involved three core dimensions: religious understanding, faith and practice, which correlated with each other. Furthermore, age and gender had a considerable association with the teens' religiousness. These findings may help in expanding religious education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is well known for its diversity in different aspects such as religion, language, cultures, and race from the ancient period. Though India has been diverse since ancient times, the domination of the caste system and beliefs were present. The caste system explicitly divided the society into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, and imparted education based on their caste. During the medieval period, rulers gave much emphasis to Islamic teachings, and the British rulers brought western education into India during British rule. There were significant changes within ancient, medieval, and imperial periods based on the rulers' policies. This shows that the Indian education system has been in continuous flux since ancient times. This article attempts to understand Indian education from the ancient to the British rule period through the lens of multicultural education. Multicultural education is committed to social justice and equity. In simple words, multicultural education is a reform to give equal educational opportunity irrespective of race, social class, ethnic groups, and gender. It helps students to know more about their own and others' history, culture, and art. Multicultural education includes all learners from different cultures and instructs to shape an education that fits varied students' cultural backgrounds in classrooms. This article discusses four major education systems in India: Vedic education, Buddhist education, Muhammadan education, and British education in the light of multiculturalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Chan Monastery of the Golden Mountain (Dajinshan Chansi 大金山禪寺) is a large monastic complex for nuns located in Jiangxi province in southeast China and belonging to the Chan meditation school. The Jiangxi Dajinshan Buddhist Academy for Nuns (Jiangxi foxueyuan Dajinshan nizhong xueyuan 江西佛學院大金山尼眾學院), established at the monastery in 1994, is one of the few institutes for nuns in China to be especially axed on Chan studies and practice. What are the pedagogical goals and agenda of the Jiangxi Dajinshan Buddhist Academy for Nuns? What are the specificities of this academy as compared to other female academies, and to academies for monks? Why do nuns enroll at Dajinshan Buddhist Academy? What does this case study tell us about the gender balance in Chinese Buddhism today? This paper, based on fieldwork, will try to answer these questions by especially considering enrollment and scale, students and personnel, and curricula and schedule of the Jiangxi Dajinshan Buddhist Academy for Nuns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates core ideas and principles of teaching and learning as found in the Nidāna-Kathā, a sacred Buddhist text that describes the lives and learning journeys of the Buddha. A three-tiered, exhaustive textual analysis revealed the following themes: resolve and responsibility, supererogatory effort, pabbajja, tradition, becoming, pedagogy and joy. Due in part to the noteworthy openness of a Buddhist conceptualization of canonicity, teachers have seldom drawn upon Buddhist sources (either living or written) to establish what might be termed Buddhist approaches to teaching and learning. While the purpose of this article is not to essentialize Buddhism nor its approach to education, by focusing on a single, primary source text detailing the Buddha’s teaching and learning journeys, we seek to put forth a few Buddhist educative principles that, though not representative of all Buddhisms, are at least grounded historically, mythically and archetypically. We hope this article acts as a call for future research to further explore Buddhist approaches to education based on either historical sources or the lived experiences of its generations of inheritor–practitioners.

A survey of the history of medieval Kōyasan, an important mountain-based headquarters for esoteric Shingon Buddhism since the early ninth century, cannot omit significant developments in the worship of kami (tutelary and ancestral gods) from the end of the Heian period (794–1185) to the Muromachi period (1333–1573). A fundamental aspect of kami worship at Kōyasan was the regular offering to the kami (shinbōraku 神法楽) of mondō-kō 問答講 (catechism/dialogue form, or 'question and answer' 'lectures') and rongi (debate examinations in the form of mondō). The relationship between Buddhist scholarship and kami worship has not been fully elucidated and such will enrich understanding of both subjects. The identities and meanings of the two oldest kami enshrined at Kōyasan, Niu Myōjin 丹生明神 (also called Niutsuhime) and Kariba Myōjin 狩場明神 (also called Kōya Myōjin), were delineated in texts produced by scholar monks (gakuryo 学侶) during a period when the debates were re-systematized after a period of sporadicity and decline, so the precise functions of this cinnabar goddess and hunter god in the related ritual offerings deserve attention. In this paper I examine ideas about the Kōyasan kami that can be found, specifically, in the institution and development of these mondō and rongi 論義. Placing them in this context yields new information, and offers new methods of understanding of not only related textual materials, but also of the icons used in the debates, and the related major ceremonies (hōe 法会) and individual ritual practices (gyōbō 行法) that were involved. Given that the candidates of a major ritual debate examination—to be discussed—that has been practiced from the Muromachi period up to the present day are said to 'represent' kami, and are even referred to by the names of kami, the history of the precise relationship between the kami and the debates invites more detailed explanation that has so far been largely lacking in the scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the history of the Singapore Girls’ Buddhist Institute, the first and only modern Buddhist education institution for women in Singapore and Malaysia. This paper aims to explore a dynamic transregional Buddhist network constructed by nuns, vegetarian nuns, and laywomen, with a particular emphasis on the prominent female figures and religious women communities involved. Through an analysis of the movements and religious practices of the Buddhist women community, the author demonstrates the contributions of Buddhist women to the transmission of religious knowledge and modern experiences. It is this paper’s intention that the micro-history of the case could contribute to restaging the women-centered Buddhist community in the narrative of “South China Sea Buddhism”.

Although Buddhist education has been widely used all over the world, Vietnamese students cannot currently access it at school. Recently, some Truc Lam (Bamboo Forest) Zen monasteries have offered religious education to adolescents in the hope of improving their moral behavior. However, no empirical studies have evaluated the effectiveness of these efforts. As a result, this study examined whether Buddhism helps teenagers develop moral behaviors. The findings showed that Buddhist religious education can enhance adolescents' understanding of Buddhist doctrines, increase their faith, and promote Buddhist practices. As a result, they committed antisocial behaviors less often. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on extensive fieldwork at Buddhist institutions in Ho Chi Minh City, this article explicates the recent proliferation of Buddhist educational programs for urban youth and examines the contours of what I conceive as an emerging youth-oriented Buddhism in contemporary Vietnam. It sheds light on how Vietnamese youth is situated at the center of ongoing projects to craft new forms of urban Buddhist identity and community. In so doing, the article investigates the co-working between urban monastics and lay Buddhist youth to reconfigure Buddhist knowledge and practices to appeal to young people’s dispositions, life experiences, and knowledge. I show how these creative endeavors rely on the revision of Buddhist texts using vernacular Vietnamese, the strategic deployment of new media technologies, and innovation of Buddhist pedagogies.

This study aimed to develop a Two Tier Multiple Choice Question Assessment instrument that is suitable for use in Pancadharma material and to find out the teachers and students’ responses to the instrument developed. This study was conducted using the RD method applying the steps from Borg and Gall. The locations of the study were at the State Junior High Schools 1 and 2 Keling in Jepara Regency. Data collection used questionnaires, test, interviews and documentation. The results of this study exhibited that the TTMCQ assessment instrument developed for the Pancadharma material had 92.22% of content validation; the reliability scores were 0.754 for first tier and 0.826 for two tier; the power of distinguishing questions was categorized into a good category with the percentage of 66.67% for the main questions, and 46.66% for the reason questions. The difficulty level test indicated that 40% of the multiple choice questions were easy and 53.33% of them were medium, and 60% of the reason questions were easy, and 33.33% of them were medium. The teachers and students’ responses to the TTMCQ instrument developed in the form of multiple-choice multiple-level questions were more complicated than those of regular multiple-choice questions; the form of the questions was good and neatly organized; and the form of the questions was more about children’s responsibility in terms of thinking and solving problems. Thus, the TTMCQ instrument that had been developed was included in the appropriate category to be used as an assessment instrument of the Pancadharma material.

With over 90% of Thai citizens identifying as Buddhist, how are Buddhist values communicated to youth? In the past, the temple was the center for learning, where elders taught their grandchildren how to chant and pay respect to monks. But in contemporary Thailand, this system is quickly losing influence. Because of this, a number of strategies have recently developed to communicate Buddhist teachings to Thai youth. This paper investigates two significant strategies: private schools with Buddhist-inspired curricula and media targeted towards Thai youth. The first part of this article focuses on the Buddhist education philosophy of Than Ajahn Jayasaro, who is the spiritual director of two schools in Thailand. The second section highlights the media produced by Phra Maha Wutthichai Vajiramedhi and Phra Maha Sompong Talaphutto, who hope to reach younger generations with relevant topics, which they infuse with Buddhist teachings.

The Great Chan Monastery of the Golden Mountain (Dajinshan Chansi 大金山禪寺) is a large monastic complex for nuns located in Jiangxi province in southeast China and belonging to the Chan meditation school. The Jiangxi Dajinshan Buddhist Academy for Nuns (Jiangxi foxueyuan Dajinshan nizhong xueyuan 江西佛學院大金山尼眾學院), established at the monastery in 1994, is one of the few institutes for nuns in China to be especially axed on Chan studies and practice. What are the pedagogical goals and agenda of the Jiangxi Dajinshan Buddhist Academy for Nuns? What are the specificities of this academy as compared to other female academies, and to academies for monks? Why do nuns enroll at Dajinshan Buddhist Academy? What does this case study tell us about the gender balance in Chinese Buddhism today? This paper, based on fieldwork, will try to answer these questions by especially considering enrollment and scale, students and personnel, and curricula and schedule of the Jiangxi Dajinshan Buddhist Academy for Nuns.

Drawing on extensive fieldwork at Buddhist institutions in Ho Chi Minh City, this article explicates the recent proliferation of Buddhist educational programs for urban youth and examines the contours of what I conceive as an emerging youth-oriented Buddhism in contemporary Vietnam. It sheds light on how Vietnamese youth is situated at the center of ongoing projects to craft new forms of urban Buddhist identity and community. In so doing, the article investigates the co-working between urban monastics and lay Buddhist youth to reconfigure Buddhist knowledge and practices to appeal to young people's dispositions, life experiences, and knowledge. I show how these creative endeavors rely on the revision of Buddhist texts using vernacular Vietnamese, the strategic deployment of new media technologies, and innovation of Buddhist pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With over 90% of Thai citizens identifying as Buddhist, how are Buddhist values communicated to youth? In the past, the temple was the center for learning, where elders taught their grandchildren how to chant and pay respect to monks. But in contemporary Thailand, this system is quickly losing influence. Because of this, a number of strategies have recently developed to communicate Buddhist teachings to Thai youth. This paper investigates two significant strategies: private schools with Buddhist-inspired curricula and media targeted towards Thai youth. The first part of this article focuses on the Buddhist education philosophy of Than Ajahn Jayasaro, who is the spiritual director of two schools in Thailand. The second section highlights the media produced by Phra Maha Wutthichai Vajiramedhi and Phra Maha Sompong Talaphutto, who hope to reach younger generations with relevant topics, which they infuse with Buddhist teachings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey of the history of medieval Kōyasan, an important mountain-based headquarters for esoteric Shingon Buddhism since the early ninth century, cannot omit significant developments in the worship of kami (tutelary and ancestral gods) from the end of the Heian period (794–1185) to the Muromachi period (1333–1573). A fundamental aspect of kami worship at Kōyasan was the regular offering to the kami (shinbōraku 神法楽) of mondō-kō 問答講 (catechism/dialogue form, or ‘question and answer’ ‘lectures’) and rongi (debate examinations in the form of mondō). The relationship between Buddhist scholarship and kami worship has not been fully elucidated and such will enrich understanding of both subjects. The identities and meanings of the two oldest kami enshrined at Kōyasan, Niu Myōjin 丹生明神 (also called Niutsuhime) and Kariba Myōjin 狩場明神 (also called Kōya Myōjin), were delineated in texts produced by scholar monks (gakuryo 学侶) during a period when the debates were re-systematized after a period of sporadicity and decline, so the precise functions of this cinnabar goddess and hunter god in the related ritual offerings deserve attention. In this paper I examine ideas about the Kōyasan kami that can be found, specifically, in the institution and development of these mondō and rongi 論義. Placing them in this context yields new information, and offers new methods of understanding of not only related textual materials, but also of the icons used in the debates, and the related major ceremonies (hōe 法会) and individual ritual practices (gyōbō 行法) that were involved. Given that the candidates of a major ritual debate examination—to be discussed—that has been practiced from the Muromachi period up to the present day are said to ‘represent’ kami, and are even referred to by the names of kami, the history of the precise relationship between the kami and the debates invites more detailed explanation that has so far been largely lacking in the scholarship.

This paper assumes that educators are now involved in a struggle for their souls and for the souls of their students. The idea of the soul in this case is not the religious one, but the soul invoked by Foucault (1977) to name that aspect of self, (subjectivity, psyche) that 'exists, or is produced ... within the body ... or born ... out of methods of punishment, supervision and constraint' (p. 29). Neoliberalising social policy not only aims to transform structures and enact new technologies of control but also involves the transformation of values and cultures, and hence the formation of new subjectivities. With that in mind this paper argues for an education understood as experiments with alternative modalities of self-formation (spirituality) that are responsive to the key challenges of our times. The paper experiments with as aphoristic style and hence is structured through six fragments that provide various takes on this problematic, including: an autobiographical moment; a brief rendering of Foucault's genealogy of the relationship between truth and the subject; Hadot's genealogy of philosophy; various definitions of spirituality; and an account of Buddhist epistemology that distinguishes knowing and realization. The paper concludes by arguing for a Buddhist inspired pedagogy that is defined in terms of the relationships between teacher, student and realization. From such a perspective, it is not identity work that is the ethico-political project of our times, but of learning how to quite literally get free of our self (ego). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to know the situation of the target students and its problems related so that to seek for the solution to cope with to improve their English Oral Presentation and to be applicable for the similar scenarios, especially, those in the Buddhist Universities in South East Asia. In the context, it is found that anxiety and shyness are the key factors of the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the Covid-19 pandemic has altered many aspects of life in South Korea over 2020, its impact on South Korea’s religious landscape has been enormous as the country’s three major religions (Catholicism, Buddhism, and Protestant Christianity) have suffered considerable loses in both their income and membership. Despite these challenges, however, Buddhism’s public image has actually improved since the start of the epidemic due to the rapid and proactive responses of the nation’s largest Buddhist organization, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism (K. Daehan bulgyo jogyejong). This article critically examines the Jogye Order’s response to the epidemic and its impact on the order thus far, along with discussions regarding the order’s future. In particular it will examine the results of three conferences held by the order in response to the epidemic and the resulting recommendations on how Korean Buddhism should adapt to effectively address the many challenges brought by the pandemic. These recommendations include establishing an online Buddhist education system, further engaging the order’s lay supporters through various social media platforms, upgrading the current lay education program with virtual learning options that directly address problems faced by the general public during the pandemic, and distributing virtual meditation classes world-wide for those who remain in quarantine or social isolation. By adopting these changes, the Jogye Order will be able to play a crucial role in promoting mental stability and the cultivation of positive emotions among the many suffering from anxiety, social isolation and financial difficulties during the pandemic.

This paper analyses the Japanese influence upon Taiwanese Buddhist communities during the Colonial Period. I will discuss the interplay between monasticism, education, and politics by examining the process of institutionalisation of monastics and Buddhist educational programs in Taiwan between 1895 and 1945. In accord with pertinent historical developments, this paper is divided into five sections: (1) the Sōtō Zen lineage, (2) the Rinzai Zen lineage, (3) the Pure Land (Jōdo) lineage, (4) Taiwanese monastics who studied in Japan, and (5) Taiwanese nuns. Based on the strong Japanese sectarian tradition, different sects had disparate strategies in Taiwan. The Sōtō lineage arrived first, engaged in precept ceremonies, and started up a well-run Buddhist college. The Myōshinji Sect of Rinzai took Kaiyuansi in Tainan as the main headquarters in southern Taiwan for teaching Buddhist classes as well as holding monumental precept-conferral ceremonies. As for the Pure Land lineage, they came slightly later but eventually established 37 branches across Taiwan, implementing social-educational programs actively. Finally, the nuns and monks who went abroad to study Buddhism in Japan matured and took important roles in advancing Buddhist education in Taiwan. All of these cases demonstrate a profound Japanese influence upon Taiwanese Buddhist education and monastic culture.

The written curriculum of Tibet's prestigious Mindrölling monastery, composed in 1689, marries a firm pedagogical structure with flexibility for individual students. This reflects the monastery's balance of institutional priorities, shaped by its religious, cultural, and political climate. The curriculum's author was Terdak Lingpa, a charismatic visionary and systematizer of the "Ancient" or Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism who forged alliances with the Fifth Dalai Lama's government in Lhasa starting in the seventeenth century. As part of Mindrölling's formal constitutional document, the curriculum commits students and teachers to a distinctive approach to Buddhist training and helps to constitute the monastery and its members as a Buddhist "field of merit." As such, Mindrölling is presented as a worthy recipient of support and protection from patrons and of respect from the community. The curriculum reflects a variety of overarching priorities for a relatively diverse student body over time and therefore calls for individual flexibility within a reliable and sustainable institutional structure. In this way, the curriculum demonstrates Mindrölling's identity as a bridge between the potentially competing values of the Tibetan Buddhist schools of the author's day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, part of a special issue on pedagogy and performance in Tibetan Buddhism, explores two closely-related yet apparently opposite Tibetan repertoires of virtuoso Buddhist mastery as sites of performative pedagogy. One of these modes of Buddhist mastery is connected with the ideal virtuoso figure of the yogic siddha, or druptop (Tib. grub thob), and with remarkable manifestations of yogic prowess (what are sometimes called yogic "miracles" in English). The other mode is connected with the ideal of renunciation, and the Tibetan Buddhist virtuoso figure of the renunciant hermit-wanderer, or chatralwa (Tib. bya bral ba). In Indic and Tibetan literature, both of these repertoires of Buddhist mastery are classically associated with a bodhisattva's teaching activity in the world, and with a bodhisattva's use of many kinds of skillful means (Skt. upāya; Tib. thabs) to develop individuals on the Buddhist path. (A bodhisattva, in Mahayana Buddhist terms, is someone who has vowed to achieve Buddhahood to benefit others.) I explore how these related modes of virtuoso pedagogical performance emerge in oral and textual life stories of two notable twentieth-century Tibetan masters. These modes of virtuoso Buddhist pedagogy and Tibetan ways of talking about them challenge our understandings of what it means to "perform" and what it means to "renounce," with renunciation emerging as a guarantor of the genuineness of someone's altruism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chishang Township, of Taitung County, is situated in the central part of the Hwadong Rift Valley in Eastern Taiwan, with a population of approximately 9,000 people. Minnan and Hakka groups that moved to this area from Western Taiwan after the 1920s are the major residents. The other 20 or so per cent consists of the Amis peoples, the most significant minority ethnic group in the Chishang area, who arrived from Southern Taiwan after the 1830s. The primary religion in this area is a folk religion blending Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. After the establishment of worship centred on the Yuqing Temple in the late 1950s, Han religion consolidated its dominance in Chishang Township. However, the Jehovah's Witnesses started to propagate their Kingdom Hall among the Amis in the late 1930s during the Japanese rule. In the 1950s to 1960s after Taiwan came under Chinese Nationalist (KMT) rule, at least 70 per cent of the local Amis accepted this branch of Christianity. Although there is presently a high proportion of Amis that have converted to the Han religion, there is still a significant Jehovah's Witnesses presence within the Amis community. This paper employs historical documentation and fieldwork data to explore the history and social background of the developments of different denominations of Christianity in Chishang Township and the changes in the local Amis religious landscape. I will focus on the rise and fall of different Christian denominations in Amis society under the dominance of Han religion, specifically the Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase of ethnocultural and ethnoconfessional interactions in the context of modern cultural and religious diversity of Russia demands modernization of learning process according to the existing educational policy of multicultural education and defines the relevancy of the article. The purpose of the article is to analyze retrospectively the functioning of Buddhist religious education system in the Republic of Buryatia taking into account the multicultural component. The central methods in this research along with analysis, synthesis, abstraction, induction, deduction, generalization are the analysis of interactive documents and the method of case-study, an active problem-contextual analysis. The article briefly characterizes the main stages of Buddhist education development and the current religious situation in the Republic of Buryatia, reveals the peculiarities of introducing the subjects studying the basics of religious cultures and secular ethics in educational process, defines national and territorial characteristics of Buddhist education implementation in secular schools in the Republic of Buryatia, justifies its preventive educational potential for multicultural society. The study material can be useful for orientalist scholars and also both theorists and practitioners of general pedagogics, Buddhist and multicultural education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the new system of lay Buddhist education revolutionizing the Chogye Order of Korean Buddhism in the twenty-first century. Already involving over a half a million Buddhist laypeople and five hundred monasteries throughout the country, this system is now the hallmark of the Chogye Order's propagation agenda, and it has transformed lay Buddhist activities in contemporary Korea. It is grounded upon a novel lay registration network which requires attending a basic Buddhism course at a designated temple in order to receive an official Lay ID. It now involves a lay ranking structure based on educational achievements, and culminates in the yearly Lay Propagator Exam. Besides delineating the historical construction of this system, this paper will investigate lay attitudes and motivations for joining the programs, analyze official textbook agendas, and provide ethnographic snippets from classroom rituals, in an overall attempt to paint a picture of the new Korean Buddhist lay orthodoxy the Chogye Order is currently in the process of creating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper highlights the intellectual contributions of ancient Peshawar with special reference to eminent teachers in Mahayana Buddhism. It extracted data from the archives of National Library of Beijing and Peking University, China. It consists of the Chinese Royal histories, the oldest extant biographies of Buddhist teachers, and anthologies of the Chinese pilgrims to Gandhāra. Furthermore, an extensive literature review of renowned scholars; and other chronicles, e.g., the dictionaries of Chinese and Pali Buddhist terms, is also referred to in the study. The presen paper pinpoints Peshawar as a place of origin for renowned Mahayanists who had previously been placed under the generic name 'India'. It details the distinct Kavya style of Aśvaghosa; the philosophical contributions of Yogacāra school of Asanga and Vasubandhu, and intellectual contributions of Jinangupta who travelled to China in 6th century CE, and translated a number of scriptures from Gandhari Prakrit to the Chinese language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 800 years ago—at approximately the same time as the founding of the first European universities—the renowned monastic institution known as the Nālandā Mahāvihāra disappeared from historical records. Since 2006, a transnational Asian initiative to revive ancient Nalanda as ‘Nalanda University’ in Bihar, India, has been embraced at the highest government and philanthropic levels by a consortium of South, Southeast, and East Asian nations. Nalanda, described as an ‘icon of Asian renaissance’, and the issues surrounding its revival raise important questions about how a new interest in ‘pan-Indo-Asianism’ and a newly imagined vision of ‘Asian’ education are seen as converging to promote Asian interests. First, I consider the ambivalent relationship of the revival and its pre-modern namesake against the Nālandā Mahāvihāra's known history. Then I characterize two kinds of discourse on the contemporary project: one that is ‘pan-Indo-Asian’ and frames the revival as serving transnational Asian goals; and another that is Indic and imagines Nalanda as advancing Indian national concerns. While, for the various stakeholders, serious fissures are evident in the symbolic values of Nalanda—as an exemplar of Asia and of India—both types of discourse, taken together, reveal important insights into the development of an alternative model of education that is both modern and ‘Asian’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]