1999 Meeting Abstracts A44: Non-Theistic Ethics and Buddhism and Phenomenology

A44 Natural Law in Theravada Buddhist Ethics
Sallie B. King, James Madison University

Theravada Buddhist ethical values are held in the context of a natural law perspective; the natural law is the Dhamma, Reality, or Nature. Buddhism sees Nature as containing within itself certain features that mandate for us certain ethical behaviors. The two most important features are: (1) causality, specifically karma and paticca-samuppada (conditioned coorigination); and (2) the nature of sentient beings. Interdependence mandates self- and other-mindful behavior in order to avoid suffering through the operation of karma. Humans strive to avoid suffering; Buddhist ethical principles indicate how to avoid creating suffering by understanding, and behaving in accordance with, natural law. This paper will develop the notion of natural law in Theravada teachings, especially drawing upon the work of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu and Phra Prayudh Payutto, and critically evaluate this idea as a foundation for ethical thought.

A44 Phenomenology and Beyond: Description and Transformation in Classical Indian Yogacara
John Y. Cha, Gustavus Adolphus College

Doctrines such as mind-only (citta-matra) and perception-only (vijnapti-matra), found in various texts of Indian Yogacara, have led many scholars to interpret Yogacara philosophy as a kind of idealism. While it places emphasis on consciousness and the processes of cognition, interpreting Yogacara as "idealism" tends to simplify those theoretical issues concerning the relation between consciousness and phenomena. Furthermore, the attempts to ground Yogacara doctrine in some kind of idealist ontology conceals the fundamental role that perceptual theory plays in Yogacara soteriology. The aim of this paper is to explore some common theoretical insights between Indian Yogacara thought and Western Phenomenology, concentrating primarily on the works of the fourth-century Yogacara philosopher Vasubandhu, and the twentieth-century French phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It will be argued that interpreting Yogacara in light of phenomenology will provide a more theoretically sophisticated context for understanding the soteriological nature of its philosophy.

A44 The Four Dimensions of Genjokoan: Dogen's Religious Philosophy as Phenomenology
Gereon Kopf, Luther College

In recent years, an increasing number of scholars have either noted similarities in the projects of individual Buddhist thinkers and phenomenologists or have used phenomenological methodology and terminology to interpret specific works within the Buddhist tradition. This paper proposes to go one step further and to argue that the religious philosophy of Zen master Dogen can not only be interpreted in the light of phenomenology but as a phenomenological project itself. To accomplish this goal, the paper will proceed in three steps and (1) examine Dogen's philosophical project, (2) interpret Dogen's project as phenomenology, and (3) revision the category "phenomenology" in the light of Dogen's project. In the course of this investigation, I will develop a terminology which arises from both phenomenology and Dogen's Zen Buddhism and, at the same time, enables me to interpret Zen Buddhism in the light of phenomenology and, conversely, phenomenology in the light of Zen Buddhism.