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LECTURE> Kevin Buckelew: “Possessing Enlightenment: Demons, Difference, and Intentionality in Medieval Chinese Buddhism" Kyoto Asian Studies Group Dec. 14th
Dear colleagues,The speaker for the December meeting of the Kyoto Asian Studies Group is Kevin Buckelew, who will present “Possessing Enlightenment: Demons, Difference, and Intentionality in Medieval Chinese Buddhism” (see abstract below).
*Please note that the venue is Kyoto University, not Doshisha University*
The lecture will be held on Monday, December 14th from 6:00-8:00 in Room L132 (Daini kogishitsu) of the Kyoto University Faculty of Letters (see link below for access information).
Abstract:
Possessing Enlightenment: Demons, Difference, and Intentionality in Medieval Chinese Buddhism
The rise of Chan (Zen) Buddhism during China’s Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties is widely understood to represent the culmination of universal buddhahood as the reigning Chinese Buddhist orthodoxy. The Record of Linji (Linji lu; J. Rinzai roku), for example, tells practitioners that merely by having faith in one’s own inherent buddhahood, one attains immediate liberation. And yet the same Record of Linji warns that “with a single thought of doubt, Mara enters your mind.” Indeed, a close examination of this quintessential Chan text reveals its extensive preoccupation with distinguishing demons from buddhas, and its repeated warnings about the danger of doubt, hesitation, or listening to the opinions of others, all figured as demonic. How should we understand this apparent paradox? As a preliminary inquiry into the topic, this presentation attempts to trace the theme of demonic attack on the path to enlightenment through Buddhist history. I identify a turning point in the apocryphal eighth-century Lengyan jing, which opens with the Buddha’s faithful disciple Ananda, under the influence of a magical spell, nearly breaking his vow of chastity. Here, I argue, we see the figure of the demon effecting a shift in the Buddhist understanding of intentionality: whereas previously intention was used to determine the magnitude of transgressions (an unintended transgression was no transgression at all), in the Lengyan jing and Chan texts like the Linji lu, fragmented intentionality itself became the problem and resolute faith the solution. At the same time, in an unprecedented way, doubters became demons and the faithful became buddhas. Closely examining the role of demons in Chan literature thus demonstrates that even the most ardent advocates of universal buddhahood were “haunted” by the problems of ontological difference and fragmented intentionality.
Kevin Buckelew is a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University, and a research student at Kyoto University’s Institute for Research in Humanities for the 2015-16 year.
For access information please see:
http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/access/downlodemap/documents/2015/main_j.pdf
On this map, the venue appears as an unmarked building directly south of the Faculty of Letters Main Building (8) and north of the Faculty of Law building (5). The room is accessible from the outside ground level, and is in the northwest corner of the unmarked building.
Please refrain from bringing food or drinks into the meeting room.
Contact: Hillary Pedersen, hillyped@yahoo.com
