Ascetical and mystical experience in Chinese Buddhism
Ilija Dabetić
Kom : casopis za religijske nauke 2024 DOI: 10.5937/kom2401035d (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism Mystical experience |
| Key points | The text argues that ancient Chinese religious traditions, including ancestor cults, magic, alchemy, and "fangshi" sorcery, merged with Mahayana Buddhism to produce a distinctive form of asceticism and mysticism in the Far East, and that pre-Buddhist Chinese religious discipline influenced the prominence of monastic community in Chinese Buddhism. |
Abstract
The oldest religious beliefs of the ancient China were characterized by personification of natural phenomena, cult of ancestors with a developed magical element and frequent practice of alchemical experimentation. Sorcery continues to exist in later ages, as a feature of classical Chinese autochthonous religions, especially Daoist mystical efforts. In the period from the fourth to the second century before Christ, the presence of a sorcerer named "fangshi" (the way of the immortal - "Fangxiang dao") at the royal society was an established custom. The main idea of those spells was searching for ways that would provide man with eternal life. The historical momentum of meeting Chinese tradition with Buddhism could be noticed as one of the most significant events for the cultural history in this part of the world. The Buddhist teachings that reached Chinese people were quite different from the original apathetic and transtheistic ideology of Prince Siddhartha. The interpretation of Buddhism that appeared in China was religious Mahayana, which was open to mystical spirituality. The permeation of indigenous Chinese and newly arrived religious patterns will lead to the emergence of an unusual authentic form of ascetism and mysticism in religious life of the Far East. The discipline of pre-Buddhist Chinese religious devotees will influence the abundance and importance of the monastic community in Chinese Buddhism.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |