Journal of the Pali Text Society. IX. Ed. by K. R. Norman. PTS and distributed by Routledge, Kegan Paul Ltd, London 1981. viii + 207 pp. £10.

BackgroundObtaining informed consent for participation in genomic research in low-income settings presents specific ethical issues requiring attention. These include the challenges that arise when providing information about unfamiliar and technical research methods, the implications of complicated infrastructure and data sharing requirements, and the potential consequences of future research with samples and data. This study investigated researchers’ and participants’ parents’ experiences of a consent process and understandings of a genome-wide association study of malaria involving children aged five and under in Mali. (...) It aimed to inform best practices in recruiting participants into genomic research.MethodsA qualitative rapid ethical assessment was undertaken. Fifty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted with the parents of research participants. An additional nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior research scientists, research assistants and with a member of an ethics committee. A focus group with five parents of research participants and direct observations of four consent processes were also conducted. French and translated English transcripts were descriptively and thematically coded using OpenCode software.ResultsParticipants’ parents in the MalariaGEN study had differing understandings of the causes of malaria, the rationale for collecting blood samples, the purposes of the study and the kinds of information the study would generate. Genomic aspects of the research, including the gene/environment interaction underlying susceptibility or resistance to severe malaria, proved particularly challenging to explain and understand.ConclusionsThis study identifies a number of areas to be addressed in the design of consent processes for genomic research, some of which require careful ethical analysis. These include determining how much information should be provided about differing aspects of the research and how best to promote understandings of genomic research. We conclude that it is important to build capacity in the design and conduct of effective and appropriate consent processes for genomic research in low and middle-income settings. Additionally, consideration should be given to the role of review committees and community consultation activities in protecting the interests of participants in genomic research. (shrink)

The Clarifier of the Sweet Meaning. Buddha datta Thera. Translated by I. B. Horner. Sacred Books of the Buddhists Series No. 33, PTS, London 1978. lviii + 453 pp. £15.50.

Il Cuore della Meditazione Buddhista. Nyanaponika Thera, translated into Italian by Nazzareno Ilari. Ubaldini Editore, Rome 1978, 209 pp. Lire 6000.

In Praise of Mount Samanta by Vedeha Thera, Tr. Ann Appleby Hazlewood. Sacred Books of the Buddhists XXXVII, Pali Text Society, London 1986. xiv + 122 pp. £8.95.

A Treasury of the Buddha's Words: Discourses from the Middle Collection. Translated by Nanamoli Thera, edited and arranged by Phra Khantipalo. 3 vols, Mahamakut, Bangkok, but available only from Wat Buddha-Dhamma, Ten Mile Hollow, Wisemans Ferry, NSW 2255, Australia.

This article first briefly examines the textual structure of the Vangisathera Samyutta of the Pali Samyutta-nikaya in conjunction with two other versions preserved in Chinese translation in Taisho vol. 2, nos. 99 and 100. Then it compares the main teachings contained in the three versions. These three versions of this collection on the subject of the venerable Vangisa represent three different early Buddhist schools within the Sthavira branch. This comparative study of these three different versions focuses on three major topics: (...) Arhants at the pravarana ceremony; sensual desire and the way to extinguish it; and the Buddha’s teachings to Vangisa. It reveals similarities and significant differences in structure and doctrinal content, thus advancing the historical/critical study of early Buddhist doctrine in this area. (shrink)

The present contribution suggests the common authorship of three P?li commentaries of the twelfth/thirteenth centuries CE, namely the Vinayavinicchaya??k? called Vinayas?ratthasand?pan?, the Uttaravinicchaya??k? called L?natthappak?san?, and the Saccasa?khepa??k? called S?ratthas?lin?. The information collected from these three commentaries themselves and from P?li literary histories concerning these three texts leads to the second quarter of the thirteenth century CE as the period of their origination. The data from parallel texts explicitly stated to having been written by V?cissara Thera in the texts (...) themselves render it possible to establish with a high degree of probability V?cissara Thera as their author. (shrink)

Bu çalışmamızda Kur’an’da ifadesini bulan tufan, çekirge, haşere, kurbağa ve kan ayetleri ile onların karşılığı olarak Tevrat’ta aktarılan kan, kurbağa, sivrisinek/bit, sinek/böcek, veba/sığır hastalığı, çıban, dolu, çekirge, karanlık ve ilk doğanların ölümü belaları ; rivâyetler, Tevrat verileri ve bilimselci yaklaşım ekseninde ele alınmıştır. Çalışmamızda, Kur’an’da firavun ve âline karşı Hz. Musa’ya dokuz ayet verildiğinden bahsedilmesine binaen bu mucizelerin neler olduğunun ortaya konulması ve ilgili ayet, rivayetler ve Tevrat’taki verilerin tekâbüliyet, nedensellik, tutarlılık, kozmik-büyüsel algı ve bilimsel veriler ekseninde değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Bu (...) doğrultuda ilk olarak tefsir kaynaklarımızda dokuz ayetin neler olabileceğine dair ortaya konulan görüşler hakkında bilgi verilmiş ve tarafımızca da değerlendirmede bulunulmuştur. Ayrıca rivâyetler ile Tevrat’taki verilerin tekābüliyeti hususunda gerek ayetteki ilgili lafızların anlamsal çerçevesi gerekse bilimsel veriler üzerinden tarafımızca fikir yürütülmüş, söz konusu veriler; nedensellik ve tutarlılık gibi farklı açılardan değerlendirilmiştir. Konuyla ilgili olarak Doğu’da bilimselci yaklaşımların yok denecek kadar az olmasına bağlı olarak Batılı araştırmacıların Tevrat’taki veriler üzerinden geliştirdikleri bilimselci yorumlar üzerinde durulmuştur. Bu çerçevede dış faktör olarak Ege Denizi’ndeki Thera yanardağının patlaması üzerinde, iç faktör olarak da Mısır’da muhtemelen gerçekleşmiş olan tabii olaylar üzerinde durulmuştur. (shrink)

The Kalama-sutta is frequently cited as proof of the rational and empirical spirit of early Buddhist epistemology, ‘The Buddha’s charter of free enquiry’, according to Soma Thera. A close reading, however, calls that interpretation into question. The Kalamas do not ask what is the truth, and the Buddha does not tell them how to find it. Rather the Kalamas ask ‘Who is telling the truth?’ in what may have been the pursuit of sacred or quasi magical power through the (...) person of a teacher. The Buddha, in turn, encourages them to adopt a set of attitudes and actions, which includes choosing a teacher. The method of evaluation that the Buddha gives, which includes the famous ‘know for yourselves’ is found to be as least as much ethical as it is epistemological and to invoke the opinion of authority and the public. The Buddha here seems to call for a decision that is partly based on faith, and the Kalamas respond not with independent research, but with an act of faith in committing themselves to the Buddha. (shrink)

This is a very good book. It gives 205 inscriptions from ten of the Cycladic islands. A number of them are published here for the first time. In their majority they are either funerary or invocations for divine help. Some are dedicatory. Some are inscriptions on well-paintings identifying the scene or the saint depicted or being themselves dedicatory or invocatory. Some are in praise of God or in thanks to God. Some are exhortations to the faithful or quotations from the (...) Scriptures. Two are boundary stones and two are magical exorcisms. Outstanding among them are the cadastre of the area of Perissa on the island of Thera, the invocations for divine help carved by weatherbeaten seafarers on the rocks of the desert cove of Grammata (= Letters) on the island of Syros, and the intriguing 60-odd funerary inscriptions of the angels, also from Thera, that keep defying explanation. As a whole they give an insight and lead to a close intimacy with the life of the islanders in these early centuries, fortified as they were by the christian faith, toiling on the thin soil of their land and venturing at sea. Some of them raise questions that cannot be easily answered. Others are quite straightforward. (shrink)

L’article esquisse d’abord le dispositif institutionnel d’accueil familial théra--peutique ( aft ) au sein duquel se déploie chez l’enfant la problématique étudiée – une affiliation spécifique en accueil familial. Il précise les conditions et les dynamiques de prise en charge en séparation protectrice, ici à dimension thérapeutique. Le cas clinique illustre l’évolution de l’affiliation, conforme à une longue expérience empirique acquise par l’équipe de professionnels dans l’accompagnent des dynamiques psychiques chez les enfants qui bénéficient de deux pôles d’affiliation, à travers (...) les liens avec la famille et la famille d’accueil. En appui sur les recherches et les articles parus sur ce sujet et sur les résultats d’une récente étude évoquant le destin des affiliations en accueil familial, l’auteur développe le concept de « double affiliation » que déploient les enfants en accueil familial dont le destin dépendra de la qualité du cadre d’accompagnement professionnel (humain et matériel) d’une telle situation existentielle extrême. (shrink)

1. Les îles de Kimolos, Pholegandros, Sikinos et Théra ont été intégrées dans l'empire athénien à la suite de l'expédition d'Alcidas (427), pour verrouiller la mer Egée. 2. Les diminutions du tribut de Colophon et Notion dans les années vingt sont à mettre en rapport avec les opérations de Pachès en 427 et la « nouvelle fondation » dont parle Thucydide (III, 34, 4). Appendice : II n'y a pas eu de bordereau de taxation en 428. La liste ATL II, (...) 27, qui date de 426/5, reflète le bordereau de la période VIII, qui n'a duré qu'un an. (shrink)

The Sārasaṅgaha is a Pāli text of XIIth–XIIIth century by the Sinhalese monk Siddhattha Thera. Its themes include the aspiration to become a Buddha, shrines, meditation, theories on rain, wind, gender and more. The main body consists of citations from the Nikāyas, the Jātakas, the Visuddhimagga and above all, from commentarial literature. By analysing the way the Sārasaṅgaha refers to and establishes a dialogue with the quoted works, this paper promotes a new assessment of the cultural and textual tendencies (...) that influenced the development of Buddhist literature especially in the Middle Ages. In particular, the analysis of this text and the quotations of which it is composed reveals the importance of commentarial literature, a literary genre that only recently has attracted the attention of Pāli scholars. (shrink)

Au total 1367 documents avec une inscription en linéaire A sur les 1427 connus peuvent être datés selon le système d'Evans. Ils permettent d'établir avec certitude que cette écriture a été en usage en Crète du MM II au MR I B, avec peut-être un prolongement au MR II. En dehors de Crète, elle est attestée dans les Cyclades, à Kéa au MM III et au MR I B, à Milos au MR I et à Théra au MR I A (...) ; elle est connue à Cythère au MM IIΙ Β-MR I Aet elle a même gagné la Laconie sans qu'on puisse dire à quelle époque. (shrink)

La Semaine d'épigraphie créto-mycénienne a été organisée par l'École française d'Athènes du 24 au 28 mars 1998, dans le but de réunir, pour quelques séances de travail, des savants reconnus et de jeunes doctorants spécialisés dans l'étude des écritures linéaires A et B. Chacun des participants a présenté un état de ses recherches personnelles : M.-L. Bech Nosch, L'administration des textes en Crète centrale, hors des séries Lc/Le/Ln ; Chr. Boulotis, Les nouveaux documents en linéaire A d'Akrotiri (Théra) : remarques (...) préliminaires ; P. Carlier, wa-na-ka derechef. Nouvelles réflexions sur les royautés mycéniennes; P. Darcque, Archives réelles, archives virtuelles en linéaire B; H. Landenius Enegren, Some Problems of the Prosopography of Knossos; J. T. Killen, The Pylos Ta Tablets Revisited ; S. Lupack, The Role of the Religious Sector in Mycenaean Economics; J.-P. Olivier, Le syllabaire chyproclassique : un inventaire; M. Perna, Gli ideogrammi dei vasi in lineare A ; Fr. Rougemont, Quelques problèmes liés à l'étude des «collecteurs» dans les tablettes en linéaire B; M.-St. Speciale, Gli antroponimi in lineare B di Cnosso e la Creta del TM II-III; M. Tsipopoulou, The Hieroglyphic Archive at Petras, Siteia ; C. Varias Garcia, Antroponimia micénica en las tablillas de h sene B de Cnoso y en Micenas. (shrink)

Više začuđuje da je Aristip, koji se smatra rodonačelnikom kirenskog hedonizma, sokratovac, nego činjenica da je rodom iz mediteranske Kirene. Grad u kome je rođen, osnovali su nekoliko stoljeća prije grčki koloni, koji su došli s otoka Tere. Po Pindaru, njegova je porodica bila najbogatija i najuzvišenijeg roda u cijeloj Libiji, čime se objašnjava činjenica što je budući hedonist, od malena, bio naviknut na život u raskoši. Nikada ga nisu smatrali sokratovcem u pravom smislu te riječi , što će biti (...) razlogom spora među Sokratovim sljedbenicima. Svijet čulne realnosti kojem je on pripadao, s jedne strane, te Platonov idealni, s druge, implicira pitanje Sokratova izvornog učenja: hedonistički, kirenski ili onaj platonizirani Sokrat, kako sugerira najveći broj istraživača?The fact that Aristippus, considered the founding father of Cyrenaic hedonism, is a Socratic is far more astounding than the fact that he was born in Cyrene on the Mediterranean. His hometown was founded a few centuries earlier by Greek colonists arriving from the Island of Thera. According to Pindar, his family was the richest and of the noblest lineage in the whole of Libya, which says that this future hedonist had been used to a life in luxury ever since he was born. He was never considered a Socratic in the true sense of the word , which was to become the cause of controversy between Socrates’s followers. The world of sensual reality he belonged to on the one hand and Plato’s world of ideas on the other pose the question of Socrates’s original orientation – was he originally a hedonist, a Cyrenaic or a Platonist, which is what most researchers suggest? (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Abhidhamma Studies: Buddhist Explorations of Consciousness and TimeDouglas W. ShraderAbhidhamma Studies: Buddhist Explorations of Consciousness and Time. By Venerable Nyanaponika Thera. Fourth edition. Edited with an introduction by Bhikkhu Bodhi. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1998. Pp. 160. Paper $16.95.The delightful, thought-provoking Abhidhamma Studies: Buddhist Explorations of Consciousness and Timeby the Venerable Nyanaponika Thera is the fourth incarnation of a text originally composed shortly after World War II, (...) published in 1949 (Frewin and Co., Ltd.). The Buddhist Publication Society issued a second, revised and enlarged edition in 1965 as well as a third edition, with relatively minor corrections, in 1976. The present edition, edited by Bhikkhu Bodhi, incorporates a variety of welcome changes, reflecting considerable effort and devotion to the task. In addition to authoring a superb introductory essay, Bodhi has "reformulated a few awkward sentences..., reorganized the notes, provided additional references, and supplied a bibliography" (p. viii). Perhaps the most intriguing and potentially significant change is evident in the title itself. Originally subtitled Researches in Buddhist Psychology, an apt but relatively uninformative description of its contents, the title now announces, even to the uninitiated, the book's unique, captivating subject matter: Buddhist Explorations of Consciousness and Time.This book is essential reading for any serious student of Buddhism. Additionally, it will appeal to those interested in a wide variety of both phenomenological and ontological issues: the manifold of experience, the nature of consciousness, the analysis of time, concepts of anattā(ego selflessness) and paticca-samuppāda(dependent origination), and so forth. An intermediate to advanced level of familiarity and understanding of basic Buddhist doctrines is recommended. It will prove particularly useful to scholars and students who have been intimidated by the vast, often cryptic, Abhidhamma literature.Apparently, the Buddha and his teachings were as enticing and yet profoundly puzzling and enigmatic to his contemporaries and followers as they remain to millions today. They challenge everything we commonly take to be real. That which appears substantial, we are told, is not. Contrary to our own (unexamined) inner/ subjective experience, as well as the teachings of most major world religions, we neither arenor havea self, for there is no self either to be or to have. The attempt to reconcile the teachings of the Buddha with existing beliefs and assumptions concerning the nature of reality led to a proliferation of competing philosophical schools. Each school developed its own distinctive Abhidhamma literature, ostensibly representing a deeper understanding of the teachings of the Buddha. In practice, the literature served to distinguish one school from another, guarding against and/or [End Page 637]correcting the "erroneous" teachings of the other schools. Over a period of approximately three centuries, the Abhidhamma Pitaka grew rapidly…in terms of the sheer volume of literature as well as complexity of doctrine. Paralleling that increase, it came to play a position of ever greater prominence, rivaling even the canonical collections of the Buddha's word (the Sutta and Vinaya Pitakas). Together the three became known as the Tipitaka: "Three Baskets of the Doctrine."Unfortunately for scholars, the only Abhidhammas to survive the widespread persecution of Buddhism in India during the twelfth century A.D.were those that had been transported to, and transplanted in, other lands. Specifically, the Theravāda Abhidhamma (seven books in Pāli) found an enduring home in Sri Lanka. The Sarvāstivāda Abhidhamma (also seven books) along with the Śāriputra-abhidharmaśāstra(probably the Dharmaguptaka School) were carried to China, where they were translated from Sanskrit into Chinese. Of these, it is the Theravaāda collection— particularly its first book (the Dharmasanganī) as well as the seventh book (the Patthana)—that forms the subject matter of Ven. Nyanaponika's study. The other two schools have long since vanished, except, as Bhikkhu Bodhi points out, that "a late exposition of the Sarvāstivāda Abhidhamma system, Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośa, continues to be studied among Tibetan Buddhists and in the Far East" (p. x).Abhidhamma Studiesis divided into five chapters and two appendixes. Chapter 1, which was added in the second edition, provides a brief historical overview of "The Abhidhamma Philosophy." Those who approach the Abhidhamma... (shrink)