Hello Martino! Thank you for this wonderful series! It is a valuable resource to which I hope teachers of Buddhism will refer their students.
if I might expand on this term a little bit--
although the rise of a literate society, that is, one employing writing, does not in itself explain the rise of Mahayana, I think there is an important correlation. That correlation is made evident by the disparagement of śravakas in some of the (later) Mahayana literature, such as the Lotus. It looks to me as if there is a transitional period following the death of Śākyamuni in which, for example, some Mahayana texts propose the simultaneous existence of many buddhas, which is important because of the value of being reborn in a world where one can HEAR the teachings directly from a buddha. Indeed, it is understandable in an aural/oral culture that hearing directly is important, much better than hearing second or third-hand. It seems as if redefining śravakas in terms of an inferior aspiration was part of a rhetoric validating the use of written texts as sources of authority--a claim very much with us today, as for example, in the academic study of religions, where textually based religions are given primacy, while oral traditions are given second class status, and largely relegated to the field of anthropology.
Hello Richard! How have you been! I’m sorry I have been away for so long, I was immersed in a period of deep study for my Lyceum teacher habilitation. I now have more time for Substack. And by the way, thanks so much for your encouragement, what I put into the keyword series are just my notes and ideas from my old Introduction to Buddhism course. Thanks so much for this expansion through the notion of orality, breaking down the “hearing” of the śrāvakas through what some have called the religion of the book (the Mahāyāna). What you’re saying is glaring in those early Mahāyāna books like the Lotus and the Vimalakirti. What you’re saying makes me also think about shifts in the use of memory — do I just repeat and rehearse what someone before me has heard from the Buddha, or do I simply use another technology, that of writing, so I can retrieve the teachings more easily and efficiently? -. Can I ask your permission to cross post your note as an expansion to this “Śrāvaka” keyword?
yes, please feel free to use the comments however you think best, and welcome back, I hope the habilitation went well--I'm unfamiliar with the process, so perhaps there's more? all best, Richard
Thanks, Richard. It's a tedious process, both at the lyceum and the university level. I have been trying to secure a position in Chinese/Asian studies since I was back from the U.S. in 2017. Basically, before you earn a permanent position in the school/university system, since it is all state funded, you must be evaluated by a centralized committee of scholars in the field who teach in various public institutions. I am also publishing a book with Venice University Press, so finally something is moving. My recent exam went really well, so let's keep fingers crossed. Very different from the U.S. Thanks for your wishes.
Hello Martino! Thank you for this wonderful series! It is a valuable resource to which I hope teachers of Buddhism will refer their students.
if I might expand on this term a little bit--
although the rise of a literate society, that is, one employing writing, does not in itself explain the rise of Mahayana, I think there is an important correlation. That correlation is made evident by the disparagement of śravakas in some of the (later) Mahayana literature, such as the Lotus. It looks to me as if there is a transitional period following the death of Śākyamuni in which, for example, some Mahayana texts propose the simultaneous existence of many buddhas, which is important because of the value of being reborn in a world where one can HEAR the teachings directly from a buddha. Indeed, it is understandable in an aural/oral culture that hearing directly is important, much better than hearing second or third-hand. It seems as if redefining śravakas in terms of an inferior aspiration was part of a rhetoric validating the use of written texts as sources of authority--a claim very much with us today, as for example, in the academic study of religions, where textually based religions are given primacy, while oral traditions are given second class status, and largely relegated to the field of anthropology.
Hello Richard! How have you been! I’m sorry I have been away for so long, I was immersed in a period of deep study for my Lyceum teacher habilitation. I now have more time for Substack. And by the way, thanks so much for your encouragement, what I put into the keyword series are just my notes and ideas from my old Introduction to Buddhism course. Thanks so much for this expansion through the notion of orality, breaking down the “hearing” of the śrāvakas through what some have called the religion of the book (the Mahāyāna). What you’re saying is glaring in those early Mahāyāna books like the Lotus and the Vimalakirti. What you’re saying makes me also think about shifts in the use of memory — do I just repeat and rehearse what someone before me has heard from the Buddha, or do I simply use another technology, that of writing, so I can retrieve the teachings more easily and efficiently? -. Can I ask your permission to cross post your note as an expansion to this “Śrāvaka” keyword?
yes, please feel free to use the comments however you think best, and welcome back, I hope the habilitation went well--I'm unfamiliar with the process, so perhaps there's more? all best, Richard
Thanks, Richard. It's a tedious process, both at the lyceum and the university level. I have been trying to secure a position in Chinese/Asian studies since I was back from the U.S. in 2017. Basically, before you earn a permanent position in the school/university system, since it is all state funded, you must be evaluated by a centralized committee of scholars in the field who teach in various public institutions. I am also publishing a book with Venice University Press, so finally something is moving. My recent exam went really well, so let's keep fingers crossed. Very different from the U.S. Thanks for your wishes.