This was a lecture I gave at University of Arizona as part of their Pu Yin Buddhist Studies Lectu... more This was a lecture I gave at University of Arizona as part of their Pu Yin Buddhist Studies Lecture Series. 10/29/2021. In it, I connect the ideas of mind, yoga and emptiness from the Perfection of Wisdom to the Agnicayana and Asvamedha sacrifices.
Here is the first chapter (the introduction) of Genealogies of Mahayana Buddhism. Despite the fac... more Here is the first chapter (the introduction) of Genealogies of Mahayana Buddhism. Despite the fact that the pdf says "Taylor and Francis not for distribution," I did receive permission to distribute this from Taylor and Francis.
Genealogies of Mahāyāna Buddhism offers a solution to a problem that some have called the holy gr... more Genealogies of Mahāyāna Buddhism offers a solution to a problem that some have called the holy grail of Buddhist studies: the problem of the " origins " of Mahāyāna Buddhism. In a work that contributes both to a general theory of religion and power for religious studies as well as to the problem of the origin of a Buddhist movement, Walser argues that that it is the neglect of political and social power in the scholarly imagination of the history of Buddhism that has made the origins of Mahāyāna an intractable problem. Walser challenges commonly-held assumptions about Mahāyāna Buddhism, offering a fascinating new take on its genealogy that traces its doctrines of emptiness and mind-only from the present day back to the time before Mahāyāna was " Mahāyāna. " In situating such concepts in their political and social contexts across diverse regimes of power in Tibet, China and India, the book shows that what was at stake in the Mahāyāna championing of the doctrine of emptiness was the articulation and dissemination of court authority across the rural landscapes of Asia. This text will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students and scholars of Buddhism, religious studies, history and philosophy.
Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 4th series, #3, 2022
This is the link to the final, published version of "Buddhism without Buddhists? Academia & Learn... more This is the link to the final, published version of "Buddhism without Buddhists? Academia & Learning to See Buddhism Like a State" published in Pacific World.
Joseph Walser provides the first examination of Nagarjuna's life and writings in the context... more Joseph Walser provides the first examination of Nagarjuna's life and writings in the context of the religious and monastic debates of the second century CE. Walser explores how Nagarjuna secured the canonical authority of Mahayana teachings and considers his use of rhetoric ...
Published Journal of the American Academy of Religion, March 2018
Many textbooks for Introduct... more Published Journal of the American Academy of Religion, March 2018
Many textbooks for Introduction to Buddhism or World Religions courses treat Buddhism as a competitor of either “Hinduism” or “Brahmanism” by asserting that Buddhism teaches that there is no eternal self or soul and Hinduism teaches that there is. I ask whether these assumptions hold up for one of the earliest sources about Buddhism, the Pali canon. Using statistical analysis of 5,126 suttas or “discourses,” I argue that there is little evidence that the doctrine of soullessness was preached to “convert” representatives of the Brahmanical tradition to Buddhism. On the contrary, it would appear that Brahmin Buddhists had their own canon-within-a-canon that simply avoided the topic of soullessness. Rather than seeing the canon as “what the Buddha taught,” the argument here will present canonicity itself as one of the stakes in a nexus of power where different communities strove to assert their version of Buddhism to be “what the Buddha taught.”
Culture and Religion 16:4 (2015) 345-371.
Scholars have long worried over the fact that the categ... more Culture and Religion 16:4 (2015) 345-371. Scholars have long worried over the fact that the categories of religion that they bring to their scholarship imperfectly match folk classifications of the “same” religion. The more precisely we attempt to define a religion, the more the target seems to elude our grasp. Here I argue that by looking at religions through the lens of genre theory we can make more sense of both the ambiguities of classifications as well as the apparent uniformity assumed by scholars and practitioners at any given moment. Categories are nouns. The tack taken by a genre theory is to think of genres in a verbal sense as being performed (or not) by producers and distinguished (or not) by critics. When the emphasis shifts to actions and decisions made by individuals, we begin to address the variations and fluctuations that could not be accounted for when religious classes were understood as either objectively or analytically given. Moreover, when religious categories are simply taken as given, we have no way to talk about the origin of new categories (i.e., of new religions). Emphasizing the verbal aspect of producing and of criticizing, allows us to explain the origins of religions as the efforts of producers and critics working in tandem.
This is the power-point of the presentation I presented in the Data driven approaches to Buddhist... more This is the power-point of the presentation I presented in the Data driven approaches to Buddhist Studies panel at the Atlanta AAR conference. As there seemed to be some interest in my findings I am uploading it here. This data and my argument about it is a small piece of a much larger argument in my upcoming book on the Origins of Mahayana Buddhism. For this reason, I would welcome any feedback or criticisms.
This is the database that I compiled in preparation for my AAR talk [When even the Devil can Quot... more This is the database that I compiled in preparation for my AAR talk [When even the Devil can Quote Sutra -- Sunday Morning] on when the doctrine of anatman came to mark the distinction between Buddhism and Brahmanism. [Spoiler: it isn't in the Pali Sutra Pitaka]. I am uploading my spreadsheet so that those interested can double-check my results. If anyone finds errors or omissions, please email me so that I can correct it.
This is a longer draft of a paper I gave at the World Sanskrit Conference in Kyoto. Since I wrote... more This is a longer draft of a paper I gave at the World Sanskrit Conference in Kyoto. Since I wrote this paper, Jason Neelis pointed out to me that Harry Falk has published two pieces related to Buddhist asanas. The first is his article "Small Scale Buddhism" and the other is a chapter in his book on Asokan Sites and Artifacts (2006, pp. 284ff.). Both of these are a must-read. Finally, the genre theory in this piece was inspired by hours of conversations with Wyatt Phillips, whose work on genre and industrial practices in early American film are truly inspiring.
This was a lecture I gave at University of Arizona as part of their Pu Yin Buddhist Studies Lectu... more This was a lecture I gave at University of Arizona as part of their Pu Yin Buddhist Studies Lecture Series. 10/29/2021. In it, I connect the ideas of mind, yoga and emptiness from the Perfection of Wisdom to the Agnicayana and Asvamedha sacrifices.
Here is the first chapter (the introduction) of Genealogies of Mahayana Buddhism. Despite the fac... more Here is the first chapter (the introduction) of Genealogies of Mahayana Buddhism. Despite the fact that the pdf says "Taylor and Francis not for distribution," I did receive permission to distribute this from Taylor and Francis.
Genealogies of Mahāyāna Buddhism offers a solution to a problem that some have called the holy gr... more Genealogies of Mahāyāna Buddhism offers a solution to a problem that some have called the holy grail of Buddhist studies: the problem of the " origins " of Mahāyāna Buddhism. In a work that contributes both to a general theory of religion and power for religious studies as well as to the problem of the origin of a Buddhist movement, Walser argues that that it is the neglect of political and social power in the scholarly imagination of the history of Buddhism that has made the origins of Mahāyāna an intractable problem. Walser challenges commonly-held assumptions about Mahāyāna Buddhism, offering a fascinating new take on its genealogy that traces its doctrines of emptiness and mind-only from the present day back to the time before Mahāyāna was " Mahāyāna. " In situating such concepts in their political and social contexts across diverse regimes of power in Tibet, China and India, the book shows that what was at stake in the Mahāyāna championing of the doctrine of emptiness was the articulation and dissemination of court authority across the rural landscapes of Asia. This text will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students and scholars of Buddhism, religious studies, history and philosophy.
Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 4th series, #3, 2022
This is the link to the final, published version of "Buddhism without Buddhists? Academia & Learn... more This is the link to the final, published version of "Buddhism without Buddhists? Academia & Learning to See Buddhism Like a State" published in Pacific World.
Joseph Walser provides the first examination of Nagarjuna's life and writings in the context... more Joseph Walser provides the first examination of Nagarjuna's life and writings in the context of the religious and monastic debates of the second century CE. Walser explores how Nagarjuna secured the canonical authority of Mahayana teachings and considers his use of rhetoric ...
Published Journal of the American Academy of Religion, March 2018
Many textbooks for Introduct... more Published Journal of the American Academy of Religion, March 2018
Many textbooks for Introduction to Buddhism or World Religions courses treat Buddhism as a competitor of either “Hinduism” or “Brahmanism” by asserting that Buddhism teaches that there is no eternal self or soul and Hinduism teaches that there is. I ask whether these assumptions hold up for one of the earliest sources about Buddhism, the Pali canon. Using statistical analysis of 5,126 suttas or “discourses,” I argue that there is little evidence that the doctrine of soullessness was preached to “convert” representatives of the Brahmanical tradition to Buddhism. On the contrary, it would appear that Brahmin Buddhists had their own canon-within-a-canon that simply avoided the topic of soullessness. Rather than seeing the canon as “what the Buddha taught,” the argument here will present canonicity itself as one of the stakes in a nexus of power where different communities strove to assert their version of Buddhism to be “what the Buddha taught.”
Culture and Religion 16:4 (2015) 345-371.
Scholars have long worried over the fact that the categ... more Culture and Religion 16:4 (2015) 345-371. Scholars have long worried over the fact that the categories of religion that they bring to their scholarship imperfectly match folk classifications of the “same” religion. The more precisely we attempt to define a religion, the more the target seems to elude our grasp. Here I argue that by looking at religions through the lens of genre theory we can make more sense of both the ambiguities of classifications as well as the apparent uniformity assumed by scholars and practitioners at any given moment. Categories are nouns. The tack taken by a genre theory is to think of genres in a verbal sense as being performed (or not) by producers and distinguished (or not) by critics. When the emphasis shifts to actions and decisions made by individuals, we begin to address the variations and fluctuations that could not be accounted for when religious classes were understood as either objectively or analytically given. Moreover, when religious categories are simply taken as given, we have no way to talk about the origin of new categories (i.e., of new religions). Emphasizing the verbal aspect of producing and of criticizing, allows us to explain the origins of religions as the efforts of producers and critics working in tandem.
This is the power-point of the presentation I presented in the Data driven approaches to Buddhist... more This is the power-point of the presentation I presented in the Data driven approaches to Buddhist Studies panel at the Atlanta AAR conference. As there seemed to be some interest in my findings I am uploading it here. This data and my argument about it is a small piece of a much larger argument in my upcoming book on the Origins of Mahayana Buddhism. For this reason, I would welcome any feedback or criticisms.
This is the database that I compiled in preparation for my AAR talk [When even the Devil can Quot... more This is the database that I compiled in preparation for my AAR talk [When even the Devil can Quote Sutra -- Sunday Morning] on when the doctrine of anatman came to mark the distinction between Buddhism and Brahmanism. [Spoiler: it isn't in the Pali Sutra Pitaka]. I am uploading my spreadsheet so that those interested can double-check my results. If anyone finds errors or omissions, please email me so that I can correct it.
This is a longer draft of a paper I gave at the World Sanskrit Conference in Kyoto. Since I wrote... more This is a longer draft of a paper I gave at the World Sanskrit Conference in Kyoto. Since I wrote this paper, Jason Neelis pointed out to me that Harry Falk has published two pieces related to Buddhist asanas. The first is his article "Small Scale Buddhism" and the other is a chapter in his book on Asokan Sites and Artifacts (2006, pp. 284ff.). Both of these are a must-read. Finally, the genre theory in this piece was inspired by hours of conversations with Wyatt Phillips, whose work on genre and industrial practices in early American film are truly inspiring.
I wrote this right after my 2007 article on the origins of the term 'Mahayana' appeared in JIABS.... more I wrote this right after my 2007 article on the origins of the term 'Mahayana' appeared in JIABS. I tried to get it published about 6 years ago but it was rejected on the grounds that I had not made a critical edition of the texts that I was discussing. Since then, I have moved on to other things and I don't think it is worth the trouble to publish this. Nevertheless, someone working on early Chinese translations of Buddhist Agamas might find something in here that is useful for their own work.
ABSTRACT References to a “Great Vehicle” appear in a number of early translations of Buddhist texts into Chinese. There is, however, some reason to question whether the term actually appeared in the Indic original that was available to early translators or whether it was inserted by the translators themselves. Analysis of all of the passages containing this term reveals both the wide range of possible divergences between different recensions of the “same” text, while also suggesting a kind of textual logic that might explain why the texts diverge in the ways that they do. While the results cannot prove whether differences between recensions were introduced in India or by the translators themselves, neither do they provide overwhelming evidence that these passages were forgeries.
Description: This course will be an investigation into the relations between religion and the sta... more Description: This course will be an investigation into the relations between religion and the state seen through the lens of law and the day to day function of the legal apparatus. We will look at both the ways that religions provide the justification and structural foundation for the exercise of political and legal power within and between states as well as ways that religions respond to legal constraints enacted by governments. The focus will be on the repercussions of "Freedom of Religion" both historically and internationally and the role of secularism in fostering distinctly modern forms of religiosity and "fundamentalisms". We will begin with an in depth look at First Amendment case-law in the United States and then move on to issues of sovereignty, law and the state in India and China.
This is the revised Religion and Law course for 2020 with US, India and China instead of US, Egyp... more This is the revised Religion and Law course for 2020 with US, India and China instead of US, Egypt and China
Description: This course will be an investigation into the relations between religion and the sta... more Description: This course will be an investigation into the relations between religion and the state seen through the lens of law and the day to day function of the legal apparatus. We will look at both the ways that religions provide the justification and structural foundation for the exercise of political and legal power within and between states as well as ways that religions respond to legal constraints enacted by governments. The focus will be on the repercussions of "Freedom of Religion" both historically and internationally and the role of secularism in fostering distinctly modern forms of religiosity and "fundamentalisms". We will begin with an in depth look at First Amendment case-law in the United States and then move on to issues of sovereignty, law and the state in Egypt and China.
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Many textbooks for Introduction to Buddhism or World Religions courses treat Buddhism as a competitor of either “Hinduism” or “Brahmanism” by asserting that Buddhism teaches that there is no eternal self or soul and Hinduism teaches that there is. I ask whether these assumptions hold up for one of the earliest sources about Buddhism, the Pali canon. Using statistical analysis of 5,126 suttas or “discourses,” I argue that there is little evidence that the doctrine of soullessness was preached to “convert” representatives of the Brahmanical tradition to Buddhism. On the contrary, it would appear that Brahmin Buddhists had their own canon-within-a-canon that simply avoided the topic of soullessness. Rather than seeing the canon as “what the Buddha taught,” the argument here will present canonicity itself as one of the stakes in a nexus of power where different communities strove to assert their version of Buddhism to be “what the Buddha taught.”
Scholars have long worried over the fact that the categories of religion that they bring to their scholarship imperfectly match folk classifications of the “same” religion. The more precisely we attempt to define a religion, the more the target seems to elude our grasp. Here I argue that by looking at religions through the lens of genre theory we can make more sense of both the ambiguities of classifications as well as the apparent uniformity assumed by scholars and practitioners at any given moment. Categories are nouns. The tack taken by a genre theory is to think of genres in a verbal sense as being performed (or not) by producers and distinguished (or not) by critics. When the emphasis shifts to actions and decisions made by individuals, we begin to address the variations and fluctuations that could not be accounted for when religious classes were understood as either objectively or analytically given. Moreover, when religious categories are simply taken as given, we have no way to talk about the origin of new categories (i.e., of new religions). Emphasizing the verbal aspect of producing and of criticizing, allows us to explain the origins of religions as the efforts of producers and critics working in tandem.
Many textbooks for Introduction to Buddhism or World Religions courses treat Buddhism as a competitor of either “Hinduism” or “Brahmanism” by asserting that Buddhism teaches that there is no eternal self or soul and Hinduism teaches that there is. I ask whether these assumptions hold up for one of the earliest sources about Buddhism, the Pali canon. Using statistical analysis of 5,126 suttas or “discourses,” I argue that there is little evidence that the doctrine of soullessness was preached to “convert” representatives of the Brahmanical tradition to Buddhism. On the contrary, it would appear that Brahmin Buddhists had their own canon-within-a-canon that simply avoided the topic of soullessness. Rather than seeing the canon as “what the Buddha taught,” the argument here will present canonicity itself as one of the stakes in a nexus of power where different communities strove to assert their version of Buddhism to be “what the Buddha taught.”
Scholars have long worried over the fact that the categories of religion that they bring to their scholarship imperfectly match folk classifications of the “same” religion. The more precisely we attempt to define a religion, the more the target seems to elude our grasp. Here I argue that by looking at religions through the lens of genre theory we can make more sense of both the ambiguities of classifications as well as the apparent uniformity assumed by scholars and practitioners at any given moment. Categories are nouns. The tack taken by a genre theory is to think of genres in a verbal sense as being performed (or not) by producers and distinguished (or not) by critics. When the emphasis shifts to actions and decisions made by individuals, we begin to address the variations and fluctuations that could not be accounted for when religious classes were understood as either objectively or analytically given. Moreover, when religious categories are simply taken as given, we have no way to talk about the origin of new categories (i.e., of new religions). Emphasizing the verbal aspect of producing and of criticizing, allows us to explain the origins of religions as the efforts of producers and critics working in tandem.
ABSTRACT
References to a “Great Vehicle” appear in a number of early translations of Buddhist texts into Chinese. There is, however, some reason to question whether the term actually appeared in the Indic original that was available to early translators or whether it was inserted by the translators themselves. Analysis of all of the passages containing this term reveals both the wide range of possible divergences between different recensions of the “same” text, while also suggesting a kind of textual logic that might explain why the texts diverge in the ways that they do. While the results cannot prove whether differences between recensions were introduced in India or by the translators themselves, neither do they provide overwhelming evidence that these passages were forgeries.