Buddhism and Buddhology from the Viewpoint of Yoga Practice and Practical Theory

Title

Buddhism and Buddhology from the Viewpoint of Yoga Practice and Practical Theory

Author

Hidenori SAKUMA

Page

35-55

DOI

10.6163/tjeas.2016.13(1)35

Abstract

There is a difference between Buddhism as a religion and Buddhology as a field of scholarship regarding the way in which they think of Buddhism. Buddhology gives precedence to the accurate interpretation of texts on the basis of philological investigations, and by tracing currents of thought as they have undergone changes over time and across regions it has shown how Buddhist thought has changed, thereby making it possible to read Buddhist scriptures accurately without being influenced by beliefs and preconceptions. At the same time, although Buddhism is grounded in the experiences of practitioners, Buddhology has tended to be overly cautious about introducing into textual interpretation data about what is actually experienced by people today in the course of their Buddhist practices on the grounds that such data lack objectivity. Consequently Buddhology has also been reluctant to utilize the findings of neuroscience and other branches of the natural sciences that have been engaged in collecting data about the experiences of practitioners. This article represents an attempt to explore how Buddhology as a field of scholarship might be able to collaborate with the natural sciences and utilize its findings.

Keyword

Buddhism, Buddhology, Yogācāra, yoga, neuroscience, verbal conceptualisation, cognitive discrimination

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