Exclusive reliance on Western modes of interpretation need not in itself be harmful. But it appears as if it can be, as we can see a distinct tendency in recent works on East Asian religion, and especially East Asian Buddhism, to regard the object of study in a disparaging manner. To, for example, wrap up the texts of the entire East Asian Ch’an/Sŏn/Zen traditions as being little other than rhetorical devices, or to report on the East Asian religious traditions by concentrating on examples of how poor East Asian Buddhists supposedly were at grasping the implications of their own writings. Or, on the other hand, to suggest that now that ten percent or so of the East Asian canon has been rendered into English, it is time to stop expending our energies in the effort of translation and interpretation, and rather devote ourselves toward the investigation of living traditions. Over its first century of existence, Western scholarship on the East Asian religions has tended toward two extremes: naive acceptance (seen during earlier periods of scholarship) or a subtle, but nonetheless perceptible arrogant downlooking, in which the leading figures of the tradition are seen as being wholly preoccupied with sectarian motivations, and either hopelessly simple-minded or untrustably deceptive.
Writing the Heart Sutra
This is the main page for the online class: Writing the Heart Sutra This one year class will meet online monthly on the first Saturday of the month starting on March 4, 2023. The class meets once a month on the first Saturday of the month. After each class is completed the recording will be […]
譬如北辰 (for example, the North star)
From the Analects:
[2-1] 子曰。爲政以德、譬如北辰居其所而衆星共之。
[2:1] The Master said: “If you govern with the power of your virtue, you will be like the North Star. It just stays in its place while all the other stars position themselves around it.”
How to use the “Writing the Ox” web application
The “Writing the Ox” web application is designed to help English speaking Buddhists learn Traditional Chinese Characters. A lot of the application is (hopefully) intuitive. Basically you can just go directly to it and start clicking around and see what happens. But it might be helpful to have some of the basics of the application explained for those using it for the first time.
與其詛咒黑暗,不如點燃一支蠟燭
不如 = bù-rú = better
點燃 = diǎn-rán = ignite, set on fire
一支 = yì-zhī = one single
蠟燭 = là-zhú = candle
More resources for studying The Four Great Vows
• Make your own practice sheets: Make your own character practice sheets at chineseconverter.com Make your own character practice sheets at purpleculture.net • You can also just buy books of ready made blank practice sheets. Personally I recommend “Mi-Zi-Ge” style with big squares, like this one available at Amazon: • Tuttle’s flashcards are really nice. […]
Four Great Vows: practice using Tuttle’s “First 100 Chinese Characters” and “Second 100 Chinese Characters”
• Lesson One: Most of the characters in Lesson One (derived from the title of the Four Great Vows) do not have their own entries in Tuttle’s “First 100 Chinese Characters” or “Second 100 Chinese Characters“. However, all but four have relevant entries that can be useful for practice. All page numbers below are in […]
Four Great Vows online class Master Page
One page to rule them all
This is a “master” page/post that should contain links to everything in this blog related to the online course: “The Four Vows in Chinese Characters”.
Video for First Lesson of Four Great Vows online class
Here is a link to the full 2 hour video of the first Four Great Vows class: If you have any feedback or want to ask a question please leave a comment to this post.