66 research outputs found
A Sutra as a Notebook? Printing and Repurposing Scriptures in Medieval Japan
This study considers how printed scriptures were repurposed in medieval Japan through manuscript interventions. My starting point is the so-called ChÅ« HokekyÅ (Annotated Lotus Sutra), a copy of the Lotus Sutra probably printed in the Nara area and owned by the monk Nichiren (1222ā1282). On this sutric text Nichiren wrote ānotes,ā filling the negative space between the lines of the scripture, the upper and lower margins of the printed area, and the verso. Such interventions generate a palimpsestic object, overlapping two types of text, the printed and the manuscript, and creating complex dynamics of interaction and multiple use. Is there a relation between what is inserted and the point of the scripture at which it is inserted? What information is supplemented by the ānotes,ā and to whom is this directed? Nichirenās Lotus Sutra also urges us to interrogate the status and function of Buddhist printing in medieval Japan. Were sutras printed to be used as learning tools (reading matter and reference material), or does Nichirenās specimen document a practice of repurposing scriptures originally printed for other reasons? How many scriptures were printed and how many were annotated? What was the nature of such paratextual accretions? This article explores these questions by reconstructing the life of the Annotated Lotus Sutra as an object that was produced with specific techniques and continued its life after Nichirenās death. In order to contextualize this object, the article retrieves the printing history of the scripture owned by Nichiren, the Lotus Sutra, and the diverse practices of repurposing that affected this genre of printed scriptures in the medieval period
A (Presumably Chinese) tantric scripture and its Japanese exegesis: the Yuqi Jing ēē„ē¶ and the practices of the Yogin
The Yuqi jing [SÅ«tra of the Yogin] is often listed as one of the most important scriptures of Tantric Buddhism in East Asia, but its content and contribution to the esoteric system have so far been little understood. Traditionally regarded as a translation by Vajrabodhi, it was probably compiled in China in the late eighth century. The role that it played in Chinese Buddhism, however, remains unclear. In medieval Japan on the other hand, the scripture appears to have been rediscovered and enjoyed great fortunes. Medieval interpreters intervened on the text by articulating novel conceptual associations, often expressed through curious imagery. At the same time, a new type of initiatory abhiį¹£eka informed by the sÅ«tra emerged, which engendered a distinctive discourse on the yogic identities pursued by a tantric practitioner. What spurred such sudden interest in the Yuqi jing in medieval Japan? What did Japanese exegetes read into the text? This article addresses these issues by exploring ācanonicalā commentaries and unpublished initiatory documents that have recently come to light in temple archives
āAnd the zasu Changed his Shoesā: The Resurgence of Combinatory Rituals in Contemporary Japan.
It is often assumed that the combinatory practices that have characterised Japanese religious history were wiped away by the separation of Buddhism and Shinto imposed by the Meiji restoration. Yet field evidence attests that shinbutsu rituals are still performed today in major Shinto institutions. This paper offers a reflection on the nature of contemporary combinatory rituals through three study cases: rituals that continue premodern traditions at Kasuga and Hiyoshi Taisha; new rituals created to emphasise the combinatory as the proper dimension of religion in Japan; exorcistic rituals recovered as a contribution to the current health emergenc
Communicating Seismic Risk Information: The Effect of Risk Comparisons on Risk Perception Sensitivity
Communicating seismic risk to individuals can be difficult for an institution because it involves providing technical and scientific information, including the low probability of an adverse event, that is not always easy to understand. One way to facilitate understanding of low probabilities is to provide comparisons with the probability of occurrence of other more familiar events. In a randomized trials experiment, we investigated the effect of providing individuals with a set of risk comparisons on their sensitivity to different levels of seismic risk (1 in 100, 1 in 1,000, and 1 in 10,000). The findings show that providing risk comparisons increased individual risk sensitivity to information about the likelihood of experiencing a seismic event. Our findings are explained by the evaluability hypothesis, which states that a single probability value is better understood if the recipient is given some reference data to evaluate it. Our results have implications for disaster risk communication, providing ways to increase risk awareness and, consequently, disaster prevention
Advances in the neurorehabilitation of severe disorder of consciousness
Introduction. The paper describes the evolution of knowledge concerning severe brainĀ injury which determines the Vegetative State/Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome. Background. The term Vegetative State was proposed by Jennet and Plum in 1972. LaterĀ on, the Intensive Care Units progresses increased the survival of these patients and, contemporary, decreased their characteristic conditions of cachexia and severe dystonia. InĀ 1994, the disease was conceived as a disconnection syndrome of the hemispheres from theĀ brainstem, mainly due to a temporary or permanent deficit of the functions of the whiteĀ matter. From 2005 on, the psychophysiological parameters relative to an emotional consciousness, albeit submerged, were described. Since then, it has been recognized that theĀ brain of these patients was not only to be considered living but also working.Conclusion. The latest studies that have greatly improved the knowledge of the physi-opathology of this particular state of consciousness. These new insights have led to theĀ formation of a European Union Task Force, which has proposed in 2009 to change theĀ nameĀ fromĀ aĀ VegetativeĀ StateĀ toĀ UnresponsiveĀ WakefulnessĀ Syndrome,Ā outliningĀ theĀ character of syndrome and not that of state, as forms of even late recovery in consciousness levels have been observed and described.Ā
LIPSS Applied to Wide Bandgap Semiconductors and Dielectrics: Assessment and Future Perspectives
With the aim of presenting the processes governing the Laser-Induced Periodic Surface
Structures (LIPSS), its main theoretical models have been reported. More emphasis is given to
those suitable for clarifying the experimental structures observed on the surface of wide bandgap
semiconductors (WBS) and dielectric materials. The role played by radiation surface electromagnetic
waves as well as Surface Plasmon Polaritons in determining both Low and High Spatial Frequency
LIPSS is briefly discussed, together with some experimental evidence. Non-conventional techniques
for LIPSS formation are concisely introduced to point out the high technical possibility of enhancing
the homogeneity of surface structures as well as tuning the electronic properties driven by point
defects induced in WBS. Among these, double- or multiple-fs-pulse irradiations are shown to be
suitable for providing further insight into the LIPSS process together with fine control on the formed
surface structures. Modifications occurring by LIPSS on surfaces of WBS and dielectrics display high
potentialities for their cross-cutting technological features and wide applications in which the main
surface and electronic properties can be engineered. By these assessments, the employment of such
nanostructured materials in innovative devices could be envisaged
Care and Neurorehabilitation in the Disorder of Consciousness: A Model in Progress
The operational model and strategies developed at the Institute S. Anna-RAN to be applied in the care and neurorehabilitation of subjects with disorders of consciousness (DOC) are described. The institute units are sequentially organized to guarantee appropriate care and provide rehabilitation programs adapted to the patientsā clinical condition and individualās needs at each phase of evolution during treatment in a fast turnover rate. Patients eligible of home care are monitored remotely. Transferring advanced technology to a stage of regular operation is the main mission. Responsiveness and the time windows characterized by better residual responsiveness are identified and the spontaneous/induced changes in the autonomic system functional state and biological parameters are monitored both in dedicated sessions and by means of an ambient intelligence platform acquiring large databases from traditional and innovative sensors and interfaced with knowledge management and knowledge discovery systems. Diagnosis of vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome or minimal conscious state and early prognosis are in accordance with the current criteria. Over one thousand patients with DOC have been admitted and treated in the years 1998ā2013. The model application has progressively shortened the time of hospitalization and reduced costs at unchanged quality of services
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