Religious Diversity and Dialogue

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-75
Author(s):  
Asanga Tilakaratne
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Interreligious Dialogue ◽  
The Other ◽  
Recent History ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Buddhist Practice ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Roman Catholics

With the understanding that one’s views on religious diversity shapes one’s attitude to interreligious dialogue, in this article I try to articulate how the Buddha perceived the phenomenon of religious diversity and then to discuss how this perception could inform the Buddhist practice of interreligious dialogue. I begin this discussion with reference to the diversity of views held by the Roman Catholics themselves on interreligious dialogue and the Colonial and more recent history of dialogue in the local context of Sri Lanka. Next I move on to discuss Buddhism’s own self-understanding as a non-theistic system. In order to support the non-theistic claim of Buddhism I produce two arguments, one philosophical and the other experiential, both derived from the discourses of the Buddha. Having supported the non-theist stance of Buddhism, I propose that the Buddhist attitude is to be open to religious diversity while upholding the position that nirvana is the ultimate goal irreducible to any other similar goals. The discussion shows that to accept diversity is not necessarily to accept pluralism in religion, and that this position does not preclude Buddhists from engaging in interreligious dialogue.

On the nature of chemistry

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric R. Scerri
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Recent History ◽  
History Of Chemistry ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Fundamental Unity ◽  
The 19Th Century

<span>The very nature of chemistry presents us with a tension. A tension between the exhilaration of diversity of substances and forms on the one hand and the safety of fundamental unity on the other. Even just the recent history of chemistry has been al1 about this tension, from the debates about Prout's hypothesis as to whether there is a primary matter in the 19th century to the more recent speculations as to whether computers will enable us to virtually dispense with experimental chemistry.</span>

Aspects of Economic Dualism in Oman 1830–1930

1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 495-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Speece
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Plain ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Recent History ◽  
Port Cities ◽  
History Of ◽  
Head Of Government ◽  
The Ideal

The history of Oman is largely a story of competition, and often conflict, between two very different entities. This duality was even symbolized by the name of the country, “Sultanate of Muscat and Oman,” until 1970. The sultanate was formed from the fusion of the Batina coastal plain and its port cities, symbolically Muscat, and the interior of the country, Oman. During most periods in the recent history of the country, only the coast has been ruled by the sultan. Even before the institution of the sultanate emerged in the 18th century, however, the coast had usually been under separate, often foreign, rule. In the interior, the ideal head of government from very early times was that of an imam, even though the office often remained vacant. At many times during Omani history, of course, one part of the country or the other imposed its control and Oman was temporarily united, but the differences between the two sections of Omani society eventually split the country into two separate states again. Even within the last decade, one of the major problems in Oman's efforts to develop has been “the traditional antithesis between the sultan residing on the coast and the inwardly oriented tribes.”

Nathan Söderblom and the Study of Religion

1969 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric J. Sharpe
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Religion ◽  
The Other ◽  
Recent History ◽  
Biblical Criticism ◽  
The West ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject

To the student of the recent history of theological ideas in the West, it sometimes seems as though, of all the ‘new’ subjects that have been intro duced into theological discussion during the last hundred or so years, only two have proved to be of permanent significance. One is, of course, biblical criticism, and the other, the subject which in my University is still called ‘comparative religion’—the (as far as possible) dispassionate study of the religions of the world as phenomena in their own right.

Dalai Lama and Religious Diversity

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Abraham Vélez De Cea
Keyword(s):  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Spiritual Life ◽  
Dalai Lama ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
Final Goal ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Buddha

This article challenges exclusivist interpretations of the Buddha, and proposes alternative readings of early Buddhist texts that allow for the existence of the ultimate goal of the spiritual life outside Buddhism. The article clarifies the differences between exclusivist and non-exclusivist exegesis of the Buddha and suggests that exclusivist readings of his thought are a later scholastic development in the history of Buddhism. The main thesis of the article is that the Buddha cannot be considered an exclusivist because he did not understand the Dhamma and selfenlightened beings (paccekabuddhas) in sectarian terms as being the monopoly of any school. What the Buddha excludes from being paths to the final goal of the spiritual life are specific teachings incompatible with the Dhamma and the Noble Eightfold Path. This exclusion of specific teachings rather than of entire schools entails “specific exclusivism,” which is different from holding a sectarian “exclusivist view” of all non-Buddhists traditions anywhere and at any time.

scholarly journals “Snake” by D.H. Lawrence in a Buddhist Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
EA Gamini Fonseka
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
The Other ◽  
The World ◽  
Forms Of Life ◽  
The Buddha

Snake is a reptile, very much respected in many cultures throughout the world, depending on what species it is. Ornate snake sculptures in Sri Lanka, India, England, China, Greece, Rome, Egypt, Africa, America, Australia, etc. (Steel, 2021) are evidence of the respect the reptile earned in most of the ancient civilisations by becoming a seminal influence in the mythologies, folklores, beliefs, values, morals, rituals, and arts that have evolved in them. Coming from a Western Christian elite socio-cultural background, D.H. Lawrence gets fascinated by the asp rattler that he meets in Sicily in 1920, and in a while tries to kill it under the influence of his zoological knowledge and the warnings he has had on the deadliness of its venom. Later he feels relieved that his attack did not hurt the snake and yet regrets his being indecent to the creature. Lawrence’s delayed realisation of the snake’s right to existence tallies the example of unreserved compassion towards life, irrespective of what species it is, the Buddha sets during his two famous encounters with lethal snakes. Unlike Lawrence’s silent snake, one of the two snakes the Buddha encounters protects him from the rain, and the other vertically challenges him, spraying his deadly venom at him. Nevertheless, the Buddha’s only reaction to them both is to unveil his compassion indiscriminately. Unlike Lawrence, he concludes both encounters without regret. Taking the respective behaviours of Lawrence and the Buddha in the presence of snakes, this paper proposes that, in preventing regret, while managing interactions with other forms of life, compassion inspired by spirituality transcends all other emotions engendered by fascination and apprehension that are part and parcel of Lawrence’s religion, “flesh and blood”

Contingency and Mysticism from Economics to Finance: Knight, Ayache, DeLillo

2021 ◽  
pp. 026327642110305
Author(s):  
Jordan Sjol
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Recent History ◽  
Characteristic Form ◽  
Philosophical Account ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
History Of ◽  
Risk Uncertainty ◽  
History Of Finance

The recent history of finance has been widely portrayed, by both critics and practitioners, as a story about risk. As pointed out by Mary Poovey, focusing on risk entails forgetting uncertainty. In this paper, I argue forgetting uncertainty leads to an inability to distinguish between rational and mystical modes of financial thinking. Using literary-theoretical analysis, I read three exemplary texts across each other: Frank Knight’s seminal 1921 treatise, Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit, which helped justify the modern corporate financial form; Elie Ayache’s 2010 The Blank Swan, a philosophical account of derivatives trading that exemplifies more recent developments in finance; and Don DeLillo’s 2013 Cosmopolis, a novel that remediates the structures of thought implied by the other texts’ philosophical commitments. This textual nexus allows me to explicate the characteristic form of financial mysticism, rendering it visible against claims that derivatives and financial theory have fully rationalized finance.

scholarly journals The serological diagnosis of whooping cough

1979 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret E. macaulay
Keyword(s):  
Bordetella Pertussis ◽  
Complement Fixation ◽  
Whooping Cough ◽  
Serological Diagnosis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Recent History ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Indirect Haemagglutination ◽  
History Of

SUMMARYIndirect haemagglutination (IHA), agglutination and complement fixation tests (CFT) for Bordetella pertussis antibodies were compared on paired sera from 52 suspected cases of whooping cough and single sera from 83 children with no recent history of whooping cough. All three tests detected serotype antibodies 1, 2 and 3, but the IHA test was the most sensitive; in seven cases it was the only test to show a rise in titre. It is recommended, particularly with vaccinated children, that the serological diagnosis of whooping cough should be based upon a rise in titre. There should be a gap of at least 2–4 weeks between serum samples, depending on the age and vaccination state of the child. The CFT appears to detect a different antibody from that detected by the other two tests, and in three cases it was the only test to show a rise in titre.

scholarly journals Reappropriating the Balkan Route: Mobility Struggles and Joint-Agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Two Homelands ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrej Kurnik ◽  
Maple Razsa
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
The Other ◽  
Recent History ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Freedom Of Movement ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
History Of ◽  
Joint Agency ◽  
Alternative Reading

In this article the authors question how the EU’s enlistment of the post-Yugoslav states into the EU’s border regime has exacerbated local nationalisms. They also question how, on the other hand, migrant struggles to cross this territory have intersected with local movements against nationalism and silenced political alternatives. They use the notion of joint-agency, that is, the co-articulation of mobility struggles and anti­nationalist struggles, in ex-Yugoslavia to read the recent history of the route across the region generally and the current predicament in Bosnia and Herzegovina in particu­lar. This alternative reading facilitates an understanding of the potential of struggles for freedom of movement to reanimate a critique of the coloniality of power in the EUropean borderlands such as the Balkans.

Interfaith relations and the global church

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-62
Author(s):  
Shanta Premawardhana
Keyword(s):  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Interreligious Dialogue ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Interfaith Relations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Global Church ◽  
Theological Methodology ◽  
Early Human

Ever since early human beings were able to seek meaning and purpose in life, religious diversity has existed. Jesus and the early Church needed to navigate this reality as well. Through most of the five hundred year history of the colonial period, Western Christians neglected to address this question with the seriousness it requires, mostly because of a theological attitude of Christian superiority and triumphalism that accompanied the colonial movement. Notable exceptions include the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions convened in Chicago by a Presbyterian minister and chaired by a Swedenborgian layman, and the 1910 International Mission Conference convened in Edinburgh that gave birth to the modern ecumenical movement. This article will lay out the key theological touch points in the global ecumenical movement’s journey toward interreligious dialogue from 1910 to the present day. It will also offer a proposal for addressing challenges and promises of theological methodology if we were to take seriously the reality of religious diversity.

Asala Perahara

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Clifford Holt
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Detailed History ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Buddha

This chapter provides the mythical account and then a detailed history of the origins of the Dalada (“Tooth-Relic”) of the Buddha and its importance as a legitimating device for Buddhist kingship in traditional Sri Lanka. It also traces how the annual ritual procession of the Dalada has changed into a symbolic nationalistic statement regarding the character of the contemporary Sri Lankan state in a time when the nation was facing a 26 year long civil war.

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