Preview

Body Synthesis Essay

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2038 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Body Synthesis Essay
The ultimate goal of the Buddhist way of life is the attainment of nibbāna or salvation. The body, in Buddhism is seen as a composite thing which is thus, transient. The Theragāthā, written by Buddhist monks and the Therīgāthā, written by Buddhist nuns both echo this view.

Women, in Buddhism, were seen as the embodiment of the pleasures of the body – as ones who distract bhikkhus from their path of abstinence and thus, bind them down to the world of material things. This, coupled with the concept of subordination of women, which entered into Buddhism from Hinduism, had resulted in the inferior status of women in the Buddhist tradition.1

The Pali canon, says Kathryn R Blackstone, is filled with passages and incidents in support of the …show more content…
The body is essentially composite. Its attractiveness detracts one from the true path of life – it is an illusion preventing one from focusing on the important goals of life, by means of desire and seduction. The transient nature of the body is emphasized by looking at the body as a combination of bones, flesh, membranes and fluids. Desire for the body is thwarted by means of corpse meditation. Decomposed bodies in cemeteries are observed to realize the actual components of the body which remain after death and mingle into the earth. Desire is overcome by perceiving what the body turns to, eventually, and understanding its …show more content…
Lang, Karen Christina; Lord Death's Snare: Gender-Related Imagery in the Theragāthā and the Therīgāthā; Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion; Vol. 2, No. 2 (Fall, 1986), pp. 71

7. Norman, K.R; The Elder’s Verses: Theragāthā; Pali Text Society, Oxford; 1995.p.72

8. Davids, Rhys; Psalms of the Early Buddhists: Pslams of the Sisters; Pali Text Society; London; 1909; p.30

9. Blackstone, Kathryn R; Looking Inwards: Attitude Towards the Body; Women in the Footsteps of the Buddha: Struggle for liberation in the Therīgāthā; Motilal Banarsidass Publishers; New Delhi; 2000; p. 69

10. Lang, Karen Christina; Lord Death's Snare: Gender-Related Imagery in the Theragāthā and the Therīgāthā; Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion; Vol. 2, No. 2 (Fall, 1986), pp. 63-79

11. Davids, Rhys; Psalms of the Early Buddhists: Pslams of the Sisters; Pali Text Society; London; 1909; p.164

12. Davids, Rhys; Psalms of the Early Buddhists: Pslams of the Sisters; Pali Text Society; London; 1909; p.120

13. Blackstone, Kathryn R; Looking Inwards: Attitude Towards the Body; Women in the Footsteps of the Buddha: Struggle for liberation in the Therīgāthā; Motilal Banarsidass Publishers; New Delhi; 2000; p.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Erika Costa
    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Erika Costa

    Collectively, epics of creation are well known for the world gradually going through the change from being completely chaotic to fairly and orderly. Looking specifically at Enuma Elish and the Ugaritic Baal Cycle, each depicts female and male gods in particular and unique ways. In successfully contrasting the males and females in these works, similarities are also therefore notably highlighted throughout the works. Both epics tell their story and characterize the gods and goddesses’ as ones who are extremely powerful and violent, principally the male gods, as well as the female and male “pairs” in the creations. Parallel to this, differences are highlighted in the acquiring of their titles as almighty ones, as well as their traits and roles.…

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lilith Vs Enthroned Virgin
    • 80 Words
    • 1 Page

    Lilith Vs Enthroned Virgin

    Despite being made over 800 years apart, Kiki Smith’s Lilith, made in 1994, and the artist that made the Enthroned Virgin, between the years of 1175-1200 in Sweden, both depict sculptures that embody strong women. There are no set of rules, skills or characteristics a woman must have in order to represent a strong woman, but through the different use of both artist’s posture, color and texture in their sculptures, we get a sense of both sculptures symbolizing powerful…

    • 80 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lotus Sutra: the Parable of the Burning House
    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lotus Sutra: the Parable of the Burning House

    Cited: Fieser, James and Powers, John. Scriptures of the World’s Religions. Lotus Sutra: Parable of the…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Female Figure Analysis
    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Female Figure Analysis

    Throughout history the woman figure has been depicted in many ways. One of the most prominent way in which the female figure is seen is as a reference to fertility. Another much more appealing aspect of femininity is its use to represent ferocious deities. This essay will examine the different ways in which the female figure has been depicted by examining four pieces of art. The four pieces I will focus on will be: Female figurine found at Dolni., Innana/Ishtar with Lions and Owls, The Gorgon, Medusa, from the west pediment for the Artemis Temple, and Coatlicue, from Aztec temple precinct at Tenochtitlán.…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Women's Role in Inanna
    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Women's Role in Inanna

    It is fascinating how the world has changed from the beginning of the ages until what we call modern time. The situation each human often finds his/herself in is often a response to one’s social status or in many cases their gender. This is especially true for women. All throughout history women have found themselves in many different roles, and those roles have changed from the beginning of written history as one will find in the story “The Descent of Inanna” Inanna finds her role as the Queen of Heaven leads her down a path very unlike those of a domesticated woman. She represents the role of woman in another place and time in her role as Queen. She represents woman’s knowledge in war, sexuality, and as the holders of power men of which could only dream.…

    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Elizabeth Grosz Refiguring Bodies Summary
    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Elizabeth Grosz Refiguring Bodies Summary

    In ‘’Refiguring bodies” published in 1994 by the Indian University Press, philosophical journal ‘Volatile Bodies: Towards a Corporeal Feminism’, Elizabeth Grosz, examines ‘key features of the received history that we have inherited in our current conceptions of bodies’ (47). The significant term ‘somatophobia’ is used by Grosz to describe the philosophical foundations of our notion of the body, meaning ‘fear of the body’. More importantly it acts as some sort of guide, leading to questions regarding the bodies of both men and women, more specifically the effects ‘mind’ and ‘body’ have on each other. Grosz argues that philosophy has…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Compare the ideas of Self (ātman) found in the Upaniṣads with the Buddhist concept of no-Self (anātman)
    • 2244 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Compare the ideas of Self (ātman) found in the Upaniṣads with the Buddhist concept of no-Self (anātman)

    This essay aims to highlight and explore the difference in the concept of the self between what is shown in the Upanisadic literature and in the Buddhist tradition, including the origin and consequences of these differences. In doing this, it is hoped to examine the theory that the differences steam from the divergent emphasis and goals of the religious life, although it should be argued that these differing attitudes and ideas result in a similar outcome, namely that of action without desire.3…

    • 2244 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Have Female Figures Played a Role in Art History Essay Example
    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Have Female Figures Played a Role in Art History Essay Example

    Throughout history female figures have played an important role as subject matter. The female figure is very subjective, as peered through the different lenses of varying cultures. The status and functions of women in these cultures are the primary factors that influence how they are portrayed in art of a certain culture. However, the female figure itself through its natural and inherent iconography represents fertility and the importance of women in society. This natural iconography creates certain parallels in content between all works that use the female figure as subject matter. This varying subjectivity of a female’s status based on an artist’s culture will create differences in content and themes; however some aspects remain similar to most art with a female subject. Parallels, content inconsistencies, and how culture affects these, is visible in the Shango Shrine Figure, Athena Parthenos, and Venus of Willendorf.…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Abortion in Buddhism
    • 2080 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Abortion in Buddhism

    There have been a lot of significant sources that indicates abortion has been disapproved of in the Buddhist tradition. Yet in the midst of this, abortion has been tolerated in Buddhist Japan and accommodated under exceptional circumstances by some modern Buddhists in the US. (1) Their defence was that prohibiting abortion are Theravādin and ancient. Japanese Buddhism as well as the traditions out of which a more lenient approach emerges are more recent and Mahāyāna traditions. In this essay, a look at this aspect will be looked at more closely in the Buddhist context.…

    • 2080 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    All I Asking for Is My Body
    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages

    All I Asking for Is My Body

    Bibliography: Murayama, Milton. All I asking for is my body . Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 1988. Print.…

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Edible Woman Landscapes
    • 8110 Words
    • 33 Pages

    The Edible Woman Landscapes

    Cited: Atwood, Margaret. 2004. Lady Oracle. London: Virago Press. ---. 2004. The Edible Woman. London: Virago Press. Barzilai, Shuli. 2000. ‘“Say That I Had a Lovely Face”: The Grimms’ Rapunzel, Tennyson’s Lady of Shalott, and Atwood’s Lady Oracle’. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 19: 231-54. Bordo, Susan. 2003. Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture and the Body. London: University of California Press, Ltd. Brook, Barbara. 1999. Feminist Perspectives on the Body. New York: Pearson Education Inc. Chernin, Kim. The Hungry Self: Women, Eating and Identity. London: Virago Press Ltd., 1986. ---. 1994. The Obsession: Reflections on the Tyranny of Slenderness. New York: HarperPerennial. Conboy, Katie, et al. Eds., 1997. Writing on the Body: Female Embodiment and Feminist Theory. New York: Columbia University Press. Davis, Kathy. Ed. 1997. Embodied Practices: Feminist Perspectives on the Body. London: Sage Publications. Fee, Margery. 1993. The Fat Lady Dances: Margaret Atwood’s Lady Oracle. Toronto: ECW Press. Frank, Arthur. 1990. ‘Bringing Bodies Back In: A Decade Review’. Theory Culture and Society 7: 131-62. Hite, Molly. 1992. The Other Side of the Story. New York: Cornell University Press. ---. ‘Writing-and Reading-the Body: Female Sexuality and Recent Feminist Fiction’. 1988. Feminist Studies 14: 120-42. Humm, Maggie. 1991. ‘Going through the green channel: Margaret Atwood and Body Boundaries’. Border Traffic: Strategies of Contemporary Women Writers. Manchester: Manchester University Press: 123-15. Jackson, Stevi and Sue Scott. 2001. ‘Putting the Body’s Feet on the Ground: Towards a Sociological Reconceptualization of Gendered and Sexual Embodiment’. Constructing Gendered Bodies. Ed. Kathryn Backett-Milburn et al.…

    • 8110 Words
    • 33 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Goddess Laxmi
    • 3873 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Goddess Laxmi

    17. ^ Kinsley, David (1988). Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06339-2. p. 95.…

    • 3873 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Maja Gimbutas The Goddess Movement Analysis
    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Maja Gimbutas The Goddess Movement Analysis

    When in 1974 respected archaeologist Marija Gimbutas published The Goddess and Gods of Old Europe (Berkeley: University of California Press), little did she know the effect it would have on feminism, religion and society. Her book was about the spiritual practices of people living in southeastern Europe 6000 to 8000 years ago. Her book presented a theory of matriarchal and matrilineal societies that in many ways were ideal. Men and women lived in harmony, women ran the temples where a “Great Mother Goddess” was worshipped, and in doing so held prominent positions, while men were more responsible for the physical chores such as hunting and building. Their values were nonviolence and reverence for nature. She then argued…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Crime Against Women
    • 8067 Words
    • 33 Pages

    Crime Against Women

    In the ancient Indian women held a high place of respect in the society as mentioned in Rigveda and other scriptures. Volumes can be written about the status of our women and their heroic deeds from the vedic period to the modern times. But later on, because of social, political and economic changes, women lost their status and were elegated to the background. Many evil customs and traditions stepped in which enslaved the women and tied them to the boundaries of the house1.…

    • 8067 Words
    • 33 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Women Character in Kanthapura
    • 1215 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Women Character in Kanthapura

    But Gandhi’s movement was essentially against women’s militancy and their public roles were entirely an extension of their domestic selves in concurrence with the patriarchal conceptions of the family and society. Despite the references to Rani Laxmibai in Kanthapura, the ideal woman is projected in the figure of the ever-obedient and eternally suffering Sita. It was simply a transition “from a traditional child bride into the nationalist ideal of the wife as help-mate and companion”…

    • 1215 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics