Intrinsic patterns in the history of religious change from early Hindu traditions to contemporary Mahayana Buddhism : an application of Cumpsty's theory of religion

• Main Author: Leatt, Ann-Marie Joy
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2015
• Subjects: Religious Studies
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14404

Bibliography: leaves 124-133. === This thesis, Intrinsic Patterns in the History of Religious Change from early Hindu Traditions to contemporary Mahayana Buddhism: an Application of Cumpsty's Theory of Religion, is an application of a comprehensive theory of religion to a broad sweep of religious history and diversity. It follows development from the Indian sub-continent to Japan, and to the West. It covers the period from about 500BCE to the present. As such, it assumes in the reader some background in theory of religion, and John Cumpsty's theory in particular, as well as some knowledge of the history and traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The first chapter deals with conceptual issues through a characterisation of early Hinduism, a description Cumpsty's three ideal-types, and a discussion of the relationship between moksa and dharma. Chapter two provides historical grounding to the thesis by providing empirical evidence for the arguments made in chapter one about the "bridging-out" to the Withdrawal paradigm. It studies four orthodox responses to the paradigm, that is, the brahmanical synthesis, Saivism, the Gita, and Sankara. The third chapter offers an analysis of early Buddhism, the development of Theravada and its academic characterisation, as an example of "allocation" as a bridging and change mechanism. Chapter four offers an analysis ·of the Mahayana in China and Japan. It gives reasons for its missionary success, and provides three examples of bridging symbols common to all Mahayana - the Trikaya, skillful means, and the Bodhisattva ideal. The fifth chapter discusses developments in the Mahayana. Three modes of creating correspondence between Samsara and Nirvana are described: Madhyamika, Ch'an (Zen), and Yogacara. It also deals with developments in the Pure Land and the move into the Secular World Affirming paradigm. The final chapter deals with the modem period and draws together the argument of the thesis. "Socially engaged Buddhism" as a modem phenomenon in Therevada is described, and Mahayana is examined for similar moves, and an explanation is given. The chapter then goes on to describe religious transference back to the West, and explains their success. The thesis concludes with an assessment of the fruitfulness of the application of Cumpsty's theory of religion. In terms of methodology the thesis is an application of a theory of religion to a broad sweep of religious history in the Indian sub-continent and eastwards, as well as the West. The thesis highlights situations of change in both worldview and practice, and subjects them to analysis in terms of the theory. The result is an extension of that part of the theory that is most involved in the analysis of the religious traditions concerned. In order to do this a wide range of phenomenological and sociological material has been used.