Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

is beyond rationality or irrationality, such
which
compassion, love, reverence and faith. Do you
as
with this dichotomy that Raman is posing?
agree
or whynot?
Why
status does religious knowledge have in
What
of legitimacy and reliability in comparison
terms
the other areas of knowledge? What contextual
to
affect its status? Why is it not considered
factors
area of knowledge? How would you respond
an
claims that non-Abrahamic traditions, or
to
religions, as Raman argues, are more
“Eastern”
with the scientific pursuit of knowledge?
aligned
explore this line of enquiry further, refer to
To
(2010) and Wallace (2003).
Capra
especially in its pop culture
Buddhism,
is often framed in psychological
imagining,
as a “science of the mind”, or alternatively
terms,
more of a philosophy than a religion. Even
as
early as 1974, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
as
predicted that “Buddhism will come to
had
West as a psychology” (quoted in Goleman
the
Perhaps these interpretations of Buddhism
2004).
tell us more about the cultures to
ultimately
it is spreading, than about Buddhism
which
is often perceived as spreading
Globalization
privileged set of knowledges and cultures
a
the world. How have religious
around
and practices met this force?
communities
the scope of religious thought expands,
When
some religions becoming global, it is
with
to consider how the global modernized
interesting
of those religions compares with the more
version
contextualized versions at their origin.
locally
religious knowledge be independent from
Can
place and people who produced it? While
the
knowledge can travel far, to what extent
religious
it be understood by those outside of the
can
community? For example, we consider
religious
knowledge issues involved in translation
the
Chapter 4. To what extent can religious
in
be thought of as consistent or truthful,
knowledge
translations and other transfers are used?
when
what extent would you agree that Tibetan
To
in California, and Tibetan Buddhism in
Buddhism
are the same religion? More generally, how
Tibet,
religious knowledge spread, and how might
does
we mentioned the enduring pluralism of
Earlier,
practices in the modern world. There
religious
today over a million Buddhists in North
are
the vast majority of whom were not
America,
to the faith. In Europe, there is a significant
born
population—tens of millions—and
Muslim
in places such as the Netherlands. Across
rising
world, practitioners and believers of
the
faiths are sharing space. Are religious
different
encountering one another and
knowledges
into conversation any differently from
entering
ways they have in the past?
the
many places around the world, religious
In
and identity were until very recently
knowledge
II. Perspectives
I. Scope
II. Perspectives
The very idea that Buddhism had anything to do with
psychology was at the time for most of us in the eld
patently absurd. But that attitude reected more our
own naivete than anything to do with Buddhism.
(Goleman 2004)
itself.
it change in response to being spread?
I I . P E R S P E C T I V E S
II.1 Engaging with religious multiplicity
inherited; they were forms of learning the values
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