Collaborative or Independent? Buddhist Monks’ Perceptions of Nonconflict Between Religion and Science
Few studies have explored religious professionals’ interactions with scientific authority in work settings. Fewer still examine professionals outside Western contexts. We analyze the science-religion interface as it exists in Shaolin Temple—an ancient Chan Buddhist temple with a worldwide reputation...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
2024
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| In: |
Journal for the scientific study of religion
Year: 2024, Volume: 63, Issue: 3, Pages: 617-637 |
| Further subjects: | B
Buddhism
B Shaolin Temple B Science and religion B mix-methods B nonconflict |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Few studies have explored religious professionals’ interactions with scientific authority in work settings. Fewer still examine professionals outside Western contexts. We analyze the science-religion interface as it exists in Shaolin Temple—an ancient Chan Buddhist temple with a worldwide reputation for Shaolin Kungfu. Drawing on a near-exhaustive survey within Shaolin monastery and 23 interviews with Shaolin monks, we discern and differentiate two modes of nonconflict operating in monks’ psychic lives. One group understands Buddhism and science as comprising independent realms—nonconflictual by virtue of their noninteractivity. Another views science and religion as being interpenetrative and nonconflictual in the sense of being mutually constitutive. These differing orientations, which reflect established categories of “transcendentalist” versus “immanentist” religion, further correlate with different facets of religiosity: Monks with high religious knowledge tend to view Buddhism and science as independent, while monks with high levels of piety tend to see them as collaborative or mutually constitutive. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-5906 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12915 |