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Contemplative technologies in the form of Buddhist practices that challenge the sense of self and thereby enhance the experience of interrelationality are viable strategies for addressing existential concerns such as the environmental crisis. Much of the existing research on Buddhism and ecology neglects to measure environmentally sustainable behavior or engage with empirical research. Likewise, experiments measuring the effects of contemplative practice on oxytocin, a neuropeptide hormone often implicated in interrelational contexts, are scarce. This study explores the existential relevance of Chan and Huayan practices for oxytocin and environmentally sustainable behavior. Using empirical methods, it reports on an experimental fieldwork study among international participants in a one-month retreat at a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan. Salivary oxytocin, recycling, and food waste were measured, while phenomenological reports of experiences during contemplative practice were also obtained. Results of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay indicate a marginal increase in oxytocin following Chan practice of the huatou "Who recites the Buddha's name?" which targets the sense of self, consistent with phenomenological reports reflecting an interrelational, ecological sense of self through huatou. Results also indicate increased recycling and decreased food waste by mass as a function of time on retreat. While the precise mechanisms explaining why participants exhibited more environmentally sustainable behaviors are currently unclear, the discussion proposes an empirically testable framework for bridging ecologies that links emotion, sense of self, and behavior. Contemplative practices may contribute to changes in oxytocin and environmentally sustainable behavior through activation of existential, aesthetic emotions such as doubt and awe, thereby inducing changes in the practitioner's sense of self, which they may then experience as interrelated with broader ecologies, a possibility awaiting further research. The huatou fieldwork and proposed follow-up study on the Huayan sanmei men thus shed light on the relevance of contemplative technologies from Chinese Buddhism for bridging ecologies in the existentially relational sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses several important aspects of the historical spread of the Huayan and Chan Buddhist teachings in the Tangut state, and traces local developments of Chan and Huayan thought among the Tang-uts. These developments, as they emerge from the received texts, indicate not only local developments in Xixia, but also provide broader implications for the study of Sinitic Buddhism in Northern China and Central Asia during 11th–13th centuries. The core of the paper concerns Tangut Huayan commentaries, the Huayan lineage composed by Yixing Huijue, Tangut recensions of texts authored by Guifeng Zongmi and the Tangut texts of Hongzhou Chan Buddhism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the texts of Huayan Buddhism, the study of the Treatise of the Golden Lion remains at the level of literal translation. Neither the core doctrines of the Treatise nor the original contexts of its delivery have received much scholarly attention. This paper first contextualizes the preaching background of the Treatise and its relevant doctrines, and then conducts a section-by-section explanation of the Treatise with special consideration given to the intention of Fazang and his manner of preaching. The doctrines of the ten mysterious gates and the six characteristics, along with the manifestation of the distinctive teaching of one vehicle, constitute the key components of the preaching. They are the representation and revelation of the doctrine of the infinite dependent arising of dharmadhātu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commentarial literature constitutes a cornerstone in the edifice of Chinese Buddhism, providing critical exegesis of Indian Buddhist texts. This paper examines the pivotal role of Chengguan (738–839), the fourth patriarch of the Huayan school, revered for his extensive commentarial work on the Chinese translations of the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra. Chengguan not only composed a written commentary but also engaged in discourses with the monastic and lay communities at Wutaishan, prompting the creation of a sub-commentary derived from these oral elucidations. The study posits that the composition of Chengguan's audiences, comprising Confucian-educated scholars and Buddhist monks, necessitated a pedagogical strategy that integrated Chinese intellectual traditions into the Buddhist narrative to enhance comprehension. This analysis focuses on Chengguan's citations of the Analects, showcasing how he interweaves Confucian maxims into the fabric of his commentary to illuminate Buddhist doctrines. The research articulates the method he employed to make the Buddhist texts resonate with a Chinese audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemplative technologies in the form of Buddhist practices that challenge the sense of self and thereby enhance the experience of interrelationality are viable strategies for addressing existential concerns such as the environmental crisis. Much of the existing research on Buddhism and ecology neglects to measure environmentally sustainable behavior or engage with empirical research. Likewise, experiments measuring the effects of contemplative practice on oxytocin, a neuropeptide hormone often implicated in interrelational contexts, are scarce. This study explores the existential relevance of Chan and Huayan practices for oxytocin and environmentally sustainable behavior. Using empirical methods, it reports on an experimental fieldwork study among international participants in a one-month retreat at a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan. Salivary oxytocin, recycling, and food waste were measured, while phenomenological reports of experiences during contemplative practice were also obtained. Results of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay indicate a marginal increase in oxytocin following Chan practice of the huatou “Who recites the Buddha’s name?” which targets the sense of self, consistent with phenomenological reports reflecting an interrelational, ecological sense of self through huatou. Results also indicate increased recycling and decreased food waste by mass as a function of time on retreat. While the precise mechanisms explaining why participants exhibited more environmentally sustainable behaviors are currently unclear, the discussion proposes an empirically testable framework for bridging ecologies that links emotion, sense of self, and behavior. Contemplative practices may contribute to changes in oxytocin and environmentally sustainable behavior through activation of existential, aesthetic emotions such as doubt and awe, thereby inducing changes in the practitioner’s sense of self, which they may then experience as interrelated with broader ecologies, a possibility awaiting further research. The huatou fieldwork and proposed follow-up study on the Huayan sanmei men thus shed light on the relevance of contemplative technologies from Chinese Buddhism for bridging ecologies in the existentially relational sense.

Among the texts of Huayan Buddhism, the study of the Treatise of the Golden Lion remains at the level of literal translation. Neither the core doctrines of the Treatise nor the original contexts of its delivery have received much scholarly attention. This paper first contextualizes the preaching background of the Treatise and its relevant doctrines, and then conducts a section-by-section explanation of the Treatise with special consideration given to the intention of Fazang and his manner of preaching. The doctrines of the ten mysterious gates and the six characteristics, along with the manifestation of the distinctive teaching of one vehicle, constitute the key components of the preaching. They are the representation and revelation of the doctrine of the infinite dependent arising of dharmadhātu.

Commentarial literature constitutes a cornerstone in the edifice of Chinese Buddhism, providing critical exegesis of Indian Buddhist texts. This paper examines the pivotal role of Chengguan (738–839), the fourth patriarch of the Huayan school, revered for his extensive commentarial work on the Chinese translations of the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra. Chengguan not only composed a written commentary but also engaged in discourses with the monastic and lay communities at Wutaishan, prompting the creation of a sub-commentary derived from these oral elucidations. The study posits that the composition of Chengguan’s audiences, comprising Confucian-educated scholars and Buddhist monks, necessitated a pedagogical strategy that integrated Chinese intellectual traditions into the Buddhist narrative to enhance comprehension. This analysis focuses on Chengguan’s citations of the Analects, showcasing how he interweaves Confucian maxims into the fabric of his commentary to illuminate Buddhist doctrines. The research articulates the method he employed to make the Buddhist texts resonate with a Chinese audience.

The Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism inherited the legacy of the early transmission of Yogācāra teachings through the Dilun and Shelun schools, signifying a scholarly endeavour to synthetise the Yogācāra and Tathāgatagarbha teachings. In contrast to the Indian Yogācāra tradition, which was subsequently introduced to China by the renowned monk and traveller Xuanzang 玄奘 (602–664), these arly schools emphasised a kind of actual or pure reality behind the phenomenal world and was not satisfied with the worldview that the world can be traced back to a tainted entity, the ālayavijñāna, the source of all phenomena. This distinctive Chinese viewpoint finds explicit expression in the apocryphal Chinese text theAwakening of Faith Mahāyāna (Dasheng Qixin lun 大乘起信論), which has become one of the most important philosophical treatises in the history of Chinese Buddhism. This text proposes the concept of one-mind, which has the tathatā aspect (zhenru men 真如門) and the saṃsāra aspect (shengmie men 生滅門). Huayan exegetes, who authored commentaries on the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra, the scripture that they regarded as the most perfect teaching of the Buddha, were influenced by the Awakening of Faith and the early Chinese Yogācāra schools in their understanding of this scripture. In this article, we are going to introduce the teachings of Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra that were interpreted as not only the appearance of Yogācāra thought but also as an unequivocal articulation of the concept of one-mind as it was put forward in the Awakening of Faith by Huayan scholars. We will show how this concept was further elaborated in Huayan philosophy and practice.

The Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism inherited the legacy of the early transmission of Yogācāra teachings through the Dilun and Shelun schools, signifying a scholarly endeavour to synthetise the Yogācāra and Tathāgatagarbha teachings. In contrast to the Indian Yogācāra tradition, which was subsequently introduced to China by the renowned monk and traveller Xuanzang 玄奘 (602-664), these arly schools emphasised a kind of actual or pure reality behind the phenomenal world and was not satisfied with the worldview that the world can be traced back to a tainted entity, the ālayavijñāna, the source of all phenomena. This distinctive Chinese viewpoint finds explicit expression in the apocryphal Chinese text the Awakening of Faith Mahāyāna (Dasheng Qixin lun 大乘起信論), which has become one of the most important philosophical treatises in the history of Chinese Buddhism. This text proposes the concept of one-mind, which has the tathatā aspect (zhenru men 真如門) and the saṃsāra aspect (shengmie men 生滅門). Huayan exegetes, who authored commentaries on the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra, the scripture that they regarded as the most perfect teaching of the Buddha, were influenced by the Awakening of Faith and the early Chinese Yogācāra schools in their understanding of this scripture. In this article, we are going to introduce the teachings of Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra that were interpreted as not only the appearance of Yogācāra thought but also as an unequivocal articulation of the concept of one-mind as it was put forward in the Awakening of Faith by Huayan scholars. We will show how this concept was further elaborated in Huayan philosophy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buddhism is a tradition that set itself decidedly against theism, with the development of complex arguments against the existence of God. I propose that the metaphysical conclusions reached by some schools in the Mahayana tradition present a vision of reality that, with some apparently small modification, would ground an argument for the existence of God. This argument involves explanation in terms of natures rather than causal agency. Yet I conclude not only that the Buddhist becomes a theist in embracing such explanations as legitimate, but also ipso facto abandons their metaphysical project and ceases to be a Buddhist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Michelle Wang's Maṇḍalas in the Making is a groundbreaking treatment of mainly ninth- and tenth-century wall murals at Dunhuang making use of recent scholarship on early Esoteric Buddhist texts, teachers, and themes in Chinese and Tibetan sources. The review article assesses and extends the understanding and definitions of forms of mandala in India and China, recognizing the distinction between textual accounts of internal, visualized mandalas (bhāvyamaṇḍala), and the external, physical objects (lekhyamaṇḍala). Questions concerning the role(s) of the viewer and the purpose(s) of the Dunhuang shrines for the patrons and designers are also raised. For the patrons and designers, the shrines surely provided opportunities for acts of merit-making and expressions of gratitude for good fortune. For viewers and later visitors, were the shrines coded expressions of discursive Buddhist "meaning" and "repentance rituals," as Wang mainly argues, or (perhaps also) locales for gestalt experience of the presence of consecrated deities? The attribution of the visual style to a Nepalese-derived Tibetan mode is also examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most influential contemporary Buddhist protagonists, and also a famous interpreter of Christianity. In this paper, I will focus on Thich Nhat Hanh's reading of the Holy Spirit. Nhat Hanh's Buddhist pneumatology is mainly informed by the cornerstone of his teaching, mindfulness, which in turn closely connects with the doctrine of Buddha-nature. The doctrinal framework of Nhat Hanh's conception of mindfulness is grounded in the psychology of the Yogācāra school, particularly in its eight aspects of consciousness and the notion of seeds. According to Nhat Hanh, the transformation of unwholesome and the nourishing of wholesome seeds via mindfulness practice is crucial to overcome the hindrances to enlightenment. This is possible because the seed of awakening or Buddha-nature is already ingrained in sentient beings. Nhat Hanh discerns the Holy Spirit as a functional equivalent to the Buddha-nature. I will argue that his reading of the Spirit can be described by three mutually interconnected main characteristics: as an innate, salvific potential, an all-embracing, dynamic force, and further as a foundation for ethical conduct. Finally, I will reflect on a crucial hermeneutical issue emerging from Nhat Hanh's Buddhist pneumatology: Does the right to interpret the Holy Spirit belong to Christians alone? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses some problems pertaining to the spread of Sinitic Buddhism, especially of the Huayan Chan tradition in Xixia. These include issues of the transmission of the teaching as well as codicological and conceptual problems of the dissemination of the publications of Huayan Chan texts in Xixia. The paper presents evidence that the Chan Buddhist content available to the Tanguts was not limited to Huayan Chan, but included some knowledge of the Song-period Chan Buddhism. The paper introduces the previously unknown Tangut composition Suiyuan ji and discusses its structure as well as aspects of its contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pei Xiu 裴休 (791–864) was a literati follower of Buddhist teachers, among whom the two most eminent were Zongmi 宗密 (780–841) and Huangbo Xiyun 黃檗希運 (?–850). These two teachers had notably different spiritual orientations: one was the synthesizer of Chan and Huayan teachings, the other a member of the more radical Hongzhou 洪州 school. Rather than passively patronizing Buddhist teachers, Pei Xiu served as an active agent of his own religiosity and influenced Buddhist communities broadly. Through examining Pei Xiu's Quanfa putixin wen 勸發菩提心文 [Essay Exhorting the Generation of Bodhicitta ], Chuanxin fayao 傳心法要 [Essentials of The Transmission of Mind], which he prefaced and edited, and his various prefaces and epitaphs written for Zongmi and other monks, this study scrutinizes the transformation of early Chinese Chan communities before they were reimagined as 'mature' and 'classical' in later times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]