M.A. - Religion
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Item THE ROLE OF ASCETIC PERFORMANCE FOR THE CULTIVATION OF POWER, FREEDOM, AND LIBERATION IN THE RENUNCIANT DHARMA TRADITIONS(2024) Abril, Allan; Lamb, Ramdas; ReligionItem American Buddhism as identity and practice : scholarly classifications of Buddhists in the United States(University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 2009-05) Walters, Christine L.; Baroni, Helen; ReligionItem Replicating Settler-Colonial Sacred Space on Stolen Land: The Byodo-In Temple in Kāneʻohe, Hawaiʻi(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2023) Clusel, Shannon; Baroni, Helen J.; ReligionThis paper examines the role of replicated settler-colonial structures on unceded land using the Byodo-In Temple in Hawaiʻi as a case study. In the late 19th Century, contract laborers emigrated from Japan to work on plantations in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. These immigrants faced decades of mistreatment and discrimination, with the Caucasian elite often characterizing Buddhist religious beliefs as antithetical to American Christian values. These anti-Japanese sentiments came to a head after the Pearl Harbor attack when the United States government incarcerated a vast number of Japanese immigrants and their Japanese-American children under suspicion of treason based on their race. After the Allied victory and the United States’ engagement in the Cold War, the government sought to promote an image of America as a champion of racial unity to deflect criticism from its imperialist policies. During this era, an American corporation built the Byodo-In Temple replica as part of a larger development project in Hawaiʻi. Using data from archives, interviews, and site visits, this study demonstrates the Byodo-In Temple’s involvement in settler-colonial industries that erase native (hi)stories, alienate the Indigenous population from their land, and support imperialist narratives circulated by and for the United States. This paper further argues that the Byodo-In Temple’s superficial connection to the local Japanese community and the dissimulated corporate greed that drives the temple’s existence complicate its authenticity as a Japanese sacred space. Finally, it calls for a decolonial reinterpretation of the site that would reaffirm native meanings of space while making apparent the temple’s settler-colonial history.Item Two Tokugawa Era Skeptics: Tominaga Nakamoto And Andō Shōeki(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2022) Nelson, Andrew Daniel; Mohr, Michel; ReligionThis thesis explores the worldviews of two relatively obscure intellectuals in Tokugawa Japan, Tominaga Nakamoto and Andō Shōeki, who are remarkable for their rebellion against the Three Teachings. Tominaga was the son of a merchant kicked out of his own school for undermining the traditional narrative of Confucian history. He would then go on to write a similar critique of Buddhist history and a shorter, concise work called The Writings of an Old Man (Okina no fumi). This thesis examines Tominaga's Writings of an Old Man and the idea presented there of the makoto no michi. Although the term makoto no michi is rendered by Michael Pye as “way of truth,” this thesis suggests that “way of sincerity” would be more accurate. Furthermore it explores how Tominaga understands this way of sincerity, and how he grounds it in his rejection of authority coming from the past. As for Shōeki, little is known about him aside from the fact that he was a doctor. Shōeki's worldview is examined from the perspective of nature (shizen). He can be understood as an egalitarian philosopher who understood hierarchy as the result of a kind of cosmic illness affecting humanity, causing us to predate on one another in the manner of animals. Shōeki thus argues against the status quo, and claims that his knowledge comes from a direct connection with nature, enabling him to reject both the student-teacher relationship and reliance on authoritative texts. The present thesis considers Tominaga and Shōeki together as radical outsiders who were able to work with existing intellectual resources towards creating new, independent worldviews diverging from the major East Asian traditions of their time.Item Ásatrúar Heathens In Hawaiʻi(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2020) Mason, Richard Lewis; Baroni, Helen J.; ReligionÁsatrú Heathenry is a steadily growing New Religious Movement (NRM) in the United States. This Neo-pagan Faith is a reconstructed return to the pre-Christian practices of the Viking Age. Few scholars have studied the religion, and no one has previously studied it in the military population within the geographical margins of Hawai`i. This study argues that the geographical isolation of the 50th State impacts the social structure of the local Ásatrú Heathen community. Moreover, this study contends that Ásatrú conversion bears distinctive motives resembling those of military enlistees and that Ásatrú’s ethical paradigms mirror the ethos favored by military service-people. With this strong military connection, the Ásatrú Heathens in Hawai`i also present a unique voice offering insight into the growth of the religion. In this research study, hermeneutical, ethnographic, and etymological methodologies are employed to better represent the varied practices found in the Ásatrú Heathens practitioner’s reconstruction of this ancient tradition. These practices are especially important to the Ásatrú in Hawai`i, who are forced to recreate the religion within the confines of their small military family units.Item Living Bodhisattvas—Historical and Textual Sources of Practitioner Identity in the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2019) Freese, Allen Courtland; Pettit, Jonathan; ReligionTaiwan’s Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is a charitable organization founded on the teachings of Humanistic Buddhism, which traces its history most directly to the Chinese Chan tradition. For practitioners of the Tzu Chi school of Buddhism, spiritual practice most often takes the form of regular participation in a variety of charitable activities. To advance the aims of her organization, Tzu Chi’s founder, Dharma Master Cheng Yen, makes use of traditional Buddhist teachings to inspire and mobilize her massive international network of volunteers. These volunteers, whom she calls Living Bodhisattvas, are encouraged to adopt the values she emphasizes through her teachings and to integrate them into their identity as Tzu Chi practitioners. This thesis provides an examination of the construction of this practitioner identity, from its historical roots to the implications it holds for the lives of the everyday followers of Tzu Chi in Taiwan. A range of moral values are identified, followed by an analysis of how they are adapted to form the cohesive religious identity of Tzu Chi’s Living Bodhisattva-practitioners. In the final analysis, this examination is intended to suggest how this form of practitioner identity contributes to the spirit and success of the organization as a whole. Chapter I begins with a history of Humanistic Buddhism, followed by an analysis of Cheng Yen’s interpretation of Buddhist doctrine in Chapter II, and a survey in Chapter III of biographical narratives from Tzu Chi’s publications, through which the organization’s values are projected onto the lives of real practitioners.Item Freedom of Religion and the Indian Supreme Court: The Religious Denomination and Essential Practices Tests(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2019) Williams, Coleman; Lamb, Ramdas; ReligionAs a religiously diverse society and self-proclaimed secular state, India is an ideal setting to explore the complex and often controversial intersections between religion and law. The religious freedom clauses of the Indian Constitution allow for the state to regulate and restrict certain activities associated with religious practice. By interpreting the constitutional provisions for religious freedom, the judiciary plays an important role in determining the extent to which the state can lawfully regulate religious affairs. This thesis seeks to historicize the related development of two jurisprudential tests employed by the Supreme Court of India: the religious denomination test and the essential practices test. The religious denomination test gives the Court the authority to determine which groups constitute religious denominations, and therefore, qualify for legal protection. The essential practices test limits the constitutional protection of religious practices to those that are deemed ‘essential’ to the respective faith. From their origins in the 1950s up to their application in contemporary cases on religious freedom, these two tests have served to limit the scope of legal protection under the Constitution and legitimize the interventionist tendencies of the Indian state. Additionally, this thesis will discuss the principles behind the operation of the two tests, their most prominent criticisms, and the potential implications of the Court’s approach.Item Bhakti Bells and Bollywood: Positioning Kathak Dance as a Religious Ritual in Urban India(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2019) Stoltenberg, Hannah Rebekah; Lamb, Ramdas; ReligionThe North Indian classical dance form of Kathak remains a prominent mode of artistic and cultural expression in the rapidly changing environments of urban India. As elements of the dance have been included in mediums of pop-culture, the traditional form and religious aspects have been maintained by practitioners in the midst of change. Kathak has inherent religious qualities and a rich cultural history intersecting with both Hindu and Muslim practices and ideologies. This dance form maintains it nature as a religious ritual relevant to a multiplicity of practitioners in the midst of significant historical changes and outside cultural influences through the balance of tradition and change in transmission. Examining the history and positioning of Kathak in religious thought and performance circles reveals the ritual relevancy for practitioners in urban settings. In the midst of change, Kathak has not become an art form of the past or an entertainment-driven dance form but fosters connections to culture, history, and spirituality providing practitioners with unique modes of engagement with art and transcendence.Item He Hulikoʻa Kanaloa- Seeking the Depths of Kanaloa(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2018-12) Au, Jane; Brown, Marie Alohalani; ReligionThe purpose of this thesis is to reach a more holistic understanding of Kanaloa, one of the major male forms of the divine in the Hawaiian pantheon. It examines infrequently accessed Hawaiian language resources in order to expand on his functions in ancestral times, as well as readdress narrow interpretations of him that ignore the depth and breadth of ʻike kupuna. In addition to prioritizing primary resources, this thesis also works to acknowledge Kanaloa’s position as a pan-Polynesian deity, and speaks to the variation with which Oceanic deities have been understood across time and place. The first chapter of this thesis discusses Tahiti’s Taʻaroa and the connections he bears to Kanaloa in Hawaiʻi. The second goes over Kanaloa’s portrayal in selected primary Hawaiian language resources, namely 19th and 20th century newspapers, which reveal several ways his functions and roles can be expanded. The third chapter discusses Kanaloa’s demonization during the advent of Christianity, and provides context for the legends that portray him as a “Hawaiian devil.” This thesis also includes an introduction detailing methodology and a conclusion that provides an analysis of the claims made.Item Holistic Education At Naropa And Dila: Religious Or Educational Innovation?(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2017-05) Leonardi, Aaron; ReligionThis thesis examines the educational orientations and innovations of two non-sectarian schools with charismatic Buddhist founders: the first is Naropa University in Boulder, CO, and the second is Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts (DILA), in Jinshan Taiwan. I hypothesize that the double identity of these schools provides insight into some of their pedagogical tools that, although Buddhist-inspired, could be transferred to other educational contexts. Ultimately, I propose that although the educational paths of Naropa and DILA differ in their points of departure from those of public education, they have the potential to converge on a goal. This convergent orientation is identified as holistic education. Finally, through the themes and innovations gathered from these schools, I examine holistic education as a pedagogy providing students with tools and insights that help them understand themselves in new and empowering ways.