Buddhism

Islamobuddhica: What If Buddhism Is a Scriptural Religion? “The Scriptures of Shakyamuni” in the Arabic Compendium of Chronicles of Rashīd al-Dīn

Devatāsūtra in the Arabic Compendium of Chronicles of Rashīd al-Dīn

In the Compendium of Chronicles ( Jāmi‘ al-tawārīkh) of a famous medieval scholar, physician, and influential vizier at the Ilkhanid court Rashīd al-Dīn Hamadhānī (1249/50–1318) that was compiled on the basis of the works of the court historian Abū-l-Qāsim Qāshānī (died after 1323/4), one finds a History of India (Tārīkh al-Hind wa’lSind), which contains a lengthy section about the Buddha and Buddhism. Among the Arabic sources on Buddhism, this work is considered to be the most important.

Pilgrimage as a Path to Faith: An Essay on a Social Construction of Religiosity

The article is devoted to pilgrimage and represents an anthropological interview with the researcher’s comments. The interview was recorded on April 2019, in Elista, at the religious community of the Temple “Golden Abode of Shakyamuni Buddha”. The narrative shows how a pilgrimage to India is perceived by Kalmykia’s believers as a means of coping with life’s hurdles and of searching for its new meaning.

Buddhist Revival and Buddhist Community Construction in Contemporary Buryatia

The current development of Buddhism in Buryatia is often characterized by the term “revival”. The leadership of Buriat Buddhists, Pandito Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheev and his circle, played the central role in the ideological construction of this revived tradition. The activities of the “Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia” (BTSR) are not limited to the religious sphere and cover a variety of aspects of the socio-political and economic life of Buryatia. BTSR is often opposed by other Buddhist organizations and groups.

The Reception of Buddhism in Russia and the “Russian Asiaphiles” in the Late 19th — early 20th Century

The article discusses the main factors and trends of Buddhism’s reception in Russia. The author highlights both internal sociocultural and religious interest within the Russian intelligentsia, and the interest to cultures of India, Tibet and China in the context of the political events of the time.

The Sangha in the Age of Degradation. Responses of the Russian Buddhists to the Russian Revolution and Civil War

The Buriat Buddhists who constituted the majority of the Buddhist population of the former Russian Empire did not stay away from the revolutionary events. The secular segment of the Buriat society viewed the collapse of the monarchy as the unfolding opportunity to get rid of the colonial legacy, including discrimination of their religion. However, already in 1918 the deviation of the positions of clerical and secular segments of the Buriat society became obvious.

Religion and Identity in Buryatia: Competition between Orthodoxy and Buddhism in Late Imperial Russia (On Materials from St. Petersburg Archives)

This paper discusses the political importance of religious identity in the context of competition between Orthodoxy and Buddhism in the Buryat spiritual space in the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. Christianization of Buryats as well as other non‑Russians in the remote regions of Russia seemed a necessary tool for strengthening the borders of the empire, which were under threat from Qing China.

The Constitutional Theocracy of Lubsan-Samdan Tsydenov: an Attempt to Establish a Buddhist State in Transbaikalia (1918–1922)

The Reinterpretation of Death in Cyberpunk Culture: Some Religious Tropes

The article explores religious components in understanding death in Cyberpunk genre of the mass culture. Authors working in this genre tried to change and rethink the inherited sci-fi themes, which were deeply connected to a certain cultural code. In particular, previous works of mainstream art largely followed the Christian traditional view of death as a chance to attain resurrection and eternal life.