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BUDDHISM AND WARThe article raises the issue of Buddhism and its attitude towards war. An analysis of a number of canonical documents as well as historical sources shows that in spite of the declared idea of avoidance of aggressive conduct, in certain periods of its history, Buddhism had not been able to avoid resorting to aggression and violence. It was both aggression directed towards oneself (suicide)...
JUDAISM AND SHOAH. THE DEBATE IN THE AMERICAN JEWISH PERIODICALSThe aim of the article is to present the most important elements of the debate on the Holocaust which is currently taking place in the United States, particularly within the Jewish community. The author shows how this discussion had been initiated in the sixties of the past century, pointing out to the problem of “God’s death” as an issue...
RELIGION AND TERRORISM ACCORDING TO BRUCE HOFFMAN’S CONCEPTIONBruce Hoffman’s book Inside Terrorism was published in 1998 in London. In my article, I focus primarily on the chapter entitled “Religion and Terrorism”. According to the author, the first “modern religious terrorist groups” appeared only in the year 1980. It was also in this year that there began a process of gradual dying out of ethnic-nationalistic...
THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS AND MODERN-DAY CONFLICTSAmong the problems of the contemporary world, it is the religiously motivated conflicts that prove to be the most serious ones. Scholars specializing in religious studies are interested in them mainly due to the fact that they constitute an immense wealth of research material. Some of the above-mentioned conflicts which pose a real danger to world peace...
THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN WAR ON THE MARGINS OF THE REPORTS FROM THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA BY T. MAZOWIECKIThe article tries to analyse some of the conflict reasons in former Yugoslavia. The start point this study is the necessity of explaining such terms as: Nation, ethnic, nationalism, with the special focus on connecting them with the problem of the causes and the results of the Balkan war. However,...
BAAL – IL DIO GUERRIERO DI UGARITL’articolo tratta del guerriero divino Baal nel ciclo mitico di Ugarit che porta il suo nome – lb‘l. Il suo atteggiamento da guerriero viene esemplificato attraverso la presentazione dei diversi conflitti nei quali è stato coinvolto. Prima di tutto vengono analizzate le lotte contro Jamm, il dio del mare, e Mot, il signore della morte. L’analisi riguarda il modo nel...
THE CHARACTER OF PARTICIPATION OF THE GODS IN THE EGYPTIAN MILITARY CAMPAIGNS DURING THE REIGN OF THE RAMESSIDE KINGThe article presents the problem of the participation of gods in the Egyptian military campaigns, on the basis of selected source materials, referring chiefly to the war campaigns of three Pharaohs belonging to the Ramses dynasty: Ramses II, Merenptaha and Ramses III. The above materials...
CELTIC WAR-GODDESSESA very interesting feature in the Celtic religion is that a war deity is feminine. The Irish goddesses of war form a distinct group of warriors. Quite interesting is their appearance and the type of weapons they use, as well their connection with water and fertility. There is actually nothing mentioned about a god of war in the Irish literature, although we do have epigraphic and...
THE ATTITUDE OF THE ZEALOTS TOWARDS WAR AND TERRORThe Zealots appeared on the historical stage as a group which could be defined as radical heirs of the Maccabean ethos. They recruited themselves from practically all classes of the Jewish society and were united by the idea of introducing direct theocracy. They identified their plan of creating a new order with God’s will and they tried to implement...
THE ATTITUDE OF JEHOVAH WITNESSES TO THE WARS OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURYThe tragic war experiences of the Researchers of the Holy Scripture, and since 1931 of Jehovah Witnesses, were the direct result of the doctrine professed by them as well as the moral precepts which were accepted by them on its basis. They made eschatology the foundation of their teaching and created a complete conception...
RELIGIONS AND VIOLENCE THROUGH THE PERSPECTIVE OF COGNITIVE ANTHROPOLOGY. SOME CRITICAL REMARKS IN CONNECTION WITH PASCAL BOYER’S PUBLICATIONThe question regarding the religiously motivated xenophobia, aggression and violence seems to constantly return as an area of special interest of social sciences. At the basis of all explanations of the above problems, one finds the assumption that the commonly...
FUNDAMENTALISM AND JIHAD. SINISTER FACE OF ISLAM?A problem of fundamentalism in Islam has been rooted in a different way, then in European terminology. The word usûl meant – “movement of reforms in shism”, it meant also theologians and lawyers – people who worked upon usûl ad-din – “the fundament of religion”, and usûl al-fiqh – “the fundament of laws”. In the first centuries of Islam the word was...
THE PRESENCE OF GUARDIAN WAR-GODS IN THE MILITARY CAMPAIGNS OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ROMEAccording to the beliefs and popular imagination of ancient Greeks and Romans, numerous deities associated with war watched over their communities and interfered in various ways in nearly every phase of military campaigns. Additionally, they provided protection to these communities also once the war was over and...
THE APPEALS OF MEDIEVAL ECUMENICAL COUNCILS FOR PARTICIPATION IN CRUSADES IN PALESTINEThere is no doubt that the idea of crusades originated in the era of the Gregorian reform and was closely associated with it. Before pope Urban II summoned Christians to take part in a crusade to conquer the Holy Land in 1095, his predecessors, Leo IX, Alexander II and Gregory VII had already suggested the existence...
“THE END OF PHILOSOPHY” IN THE WEST AND BUDDHISMHilary Putnam says: “Whether we want to be there or not, science has put us in the position of having to live without foundations. It was shocking when Nietzsche said this, but today it is commonplace; our historical position – and no end to it is in sight – is that of having to philosophize without »foundation«”.The article discusses the issue of a...
DZOGCHEN AND BÖN IN POLANDThe article presents the beginnings of the research on the Tibetan sciences of Dzogchen and Bön in Poland. The author emphasises the relativity of the divisions between the various kinds of Tibetan religious sciences: Bön, Buddhism and Dzogchen. The above relativity is confirmed by: referring to each Tibetan spiritual path as Chos, the assimilation of the older traditions...
REMARKS ON THE HISTORY AND PERSPECTIVES OF DEVELOPMENT OF BUDDHIST STUDIESThe article entitled “Remarks on the History and Perspectives of Development of Buddhist Studies” is an extended version of the paper presented at the conference: “Buddhism and Buddhist Studies in Poland”, Kraków, 25–26 April, 2003. The article consists of three parts: Oriental and Buddhist Studies, Studies on Buddhism in the...
TEISHÕ, THE LANGUAGE OF DHARMA AND MONDO. THE PROBLEMS OF GENRE AND STYLEThe article is associated with the problems of Zen Buddhism, in which the imparting of the individual experience of insight (satori) to other people, is looked upon as a specific kind of paradox. The above tension occurs most frequently in the case of a relation between master and pupil, although this phenomenon relates to a...
THE BUDDHIST CONCEPTIONS OF IMPERMANENCEThe author traces the development of one of the central concepts of Buddhist thought, i.e. the category of impermanence (anityatā). He distinguishes two types of impermanence in sutras: anthropological and ontological ones. He then discusses the abhidharmic conception of the immediacy of conditioned dharmas which emerge out of Early Buddhist thought. On the...
EMPTINESS AS AN AESTHETIC CATEGORY. IN THE SPHERE OF THE BUDDHIST CHAN INK PAINTINGThe author of the article outlines a new interpretation of the Chinese monochromatic painting which had gained considerable fame and almost religious significance, within the sphere of meditative Buddhism of the Chan school. This type of painting was associated in the Chan school with the practical method leading to...
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