Towards Understanding
Experiences of Awe: A Bridge between Secular and Religious Spirituality? View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session John D. Copenhaver
Experiences of awe are a universal human emotion. Two of the most common sources of awe are nature and religion. Experiences of nature awe are a key feature in some accounts of secular spirituality and are frequently an element of religious spirituality. This paper explores the experience of awe as a bridge between the increasing number of ‘nones’ [many of whom identify as 'spiritual but not religious'] and those rooted in faith traditions. What the German theologian, Rudolph Otto, identified as the ‘numinous’ in religious experience has remarkable similarities with secular experiences of awe. Exploration of awe as bridge will be enriched by recent scientific studies of awe in positive psychology. The burgeoning scientific studies have identified a number of common characteristics in experiences of awe as well as a number of psychological benefits that overlap with spiritual values such as generosity, gratitude, and a sense of connectedness. Developing this bridge may help each group better understand and appreciate the other as well as cross fertilize the cultivation of awe as a psychological and spiritual benefit.
Buddha Biography as a Traveling Text: The Case of P’alsangnok View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Hyangsoon Yi
My paper discusses the characteristics of Buddha biography as a traveling text using P’alsangnok (Record of the Eight Marks of the Buddha) as a specific example. P’alsangnok was written anonymously in the early nineteenth century in Chosŏn Korea (1392-1910). This vernacular fictional biography of the Buddha has enjoyed immense popularity among the reading public due largely to its mixture of sacred and secular elements. One distinct feature of this book is the division of the Buddha’s course of life into eight stages, which is called the “eight marks.” This structural principle has become a defining characteristic of not only the Buddha biographies but also Buddhist art works produced in Korea. Focusing on the concept of the “eight marks,” my article will trace the ways in which Buddha biography traveled from India to China and then to Korea. Specifically, I will first survey the emergence of the Buddha biography genre in early Buddhism and the formative process of the “eight marks” in India and China. This is followed by an examination of the historical importance of the “eight marks” in the Korean Buddhist tradition. My discussion of the localization of the “eight marks” in Korea brings light the influence of Confucianism and native folk belief systems on Buddhist practice in late Chosŏn Korean society and culture.
Teaching Anne Frank as a Little Jewish Girl: Holocaust Studies Through an Interfaith Lens View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Naomi Yavneh Klos
Despite Dara Horn’s affirmation that “People like dead Jews,” as a scholar concerned less with teaching ABOUT the Holocaust than with how we teach THROUGH the Holocaust to address contemporary challenges with racism, intolerance and hatred, I would argue that, for the vast majority of my students, it’s not so much that they like dead Jews but that those are the only Jews they have ever heard about. Drawing on Chimamanda Adichie’s concept of the “single story” as an incomplete narrative that “make[s] one story the only story,” I argue that, to combat antisemitism and other forms of racism today, as well as to build understanding that allows for constructive conversation across differences of faith and ideology, we must contextualize the Holocaust in a narrative that not only addresses the complexity of pre-war Jewish life, but explores the diversity of Jewish belief and expression today. Bishop Krister Stendahl’s first rule of religious understanding calls us to listen to the adherents of a faith, rather than its enemies. Yet in teaching the Holocaust, we frequently create a Jewish identity composed solely of tragedy and victimhood. Framing Holocaust studies through a lens that centers the intersectionality of identity – how culture, religion, language, sexuality, gender, and socio-econoomic status are intertwined – creates a space to explore the many ways in which individuals of the past perceived their Jewishness. Restoring such individuality can create connection and empathy, with people from the past as well as others today.
