3rd International Conference on the Eastern Thought Word in the Cultures of the East: Sound - Language - Book Kraków, 28-30 November 2013 Book of Abstracts The Conference is part of the project that supports the launching of the new faculty of Eastern Philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy, UJ. The project is partly financed by the European Union within the framework of the European Social Fund. 1
FERHAT ABDELHAKIM, Prof., Batna University, Algeria Symbolism of Letters in Islamic Sufism Ilm al ḥurūf is the Science of letters in traditional Islamic Sufism, which deals with the symbolism of the Arabic letters, their similarities to the existence, and their spiritual meanings. For Sufis, the world of letters is similar to the world of human being, as well to the cosmos. They have the same ontological order, and similar spiritual meaning; they have the same system. In this paper I try to analyze the symbolism of letters in Islamic Sufism, and t show its spiritual meaning, and to present its ontological for Sufis, using analytical method. The Author is a professor of Sufism and comparative religion at Batna University, Algeria, a visiting professor at International Islamic University of Malaysia, and a director of a research project about Sufi Orders in Algeria. He is an author of 15 books about Sufism. MASHHAD AL-ALLAF, PhD, The Petroleum Institute, UAE The Biography of the Word Philosophy. From Greek to Islamic Philosophy as a Greek word carries its own cultural connotation. When this word was transliterated into Arabic language as Falsafah, it became loaded in the Islamic culture with additional positive connotation and yet become vulnerable to criticism. In this paper I discuss how the biography of the word philosophy itself changed in the Islamic Culture from that of a cultural bridge, intellectual interaction and coexistence, to a negative pursuing of wisdom that was heavily criticized by many Muslim Scholars. I discuss in this paper how Muslim scholars criticized philosophy in its Greek and Islamic manifestations, especially issues related to Metaphysics (Ilahiyyat) and Logic (Mantiq) as this criticism presented in the writings (books) of Al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiya. The Author holds a doctoral degree from the USA in Modern Philosophy: Science & Metaphysics (1995). His bachelor s and master s degrees concentrated on the Philosophy of Science. He has taught at Washington University, St. Louis University, and Webster University and is the author of several works, including The Basic Ideas and Institutions of Islam (2008), Locke s Philosophy of Science and Metaphysics (2007), and The Essential Ideas of Islamic Philosophy (2006). ADA AUGUSTYNIAK, M.A., Jagiellonian University, Poland Problems with the interpretation of the Later Mohists' theory of language Western taxonomy for different theories are not always easy to apply to ancient Chinese concepts of language. Later Mohists' philosophy of language is based on the idea of distinguishing kinds. Similar issues in the West usually can be classify in the category of realism, conceptualism and nominalism, but according to Chris Fraser, different Chinese theories 'all tend to fall roughly under the label of nominalism'. He thinks that a 'realism - conventionalism-relativism' spectrum would be more useful, where the realist position does not represent any concept of universals, but the idea that the distinctions between kinds are fixed and independent of human cognition. Later Mohists' theory seems to represent the realist side of this spectrum and would be the only realist position in Warring State period's 2
philosophy of language. Fraser states that Later Mohists' text is so vague that actually any interpretation is partly conjectural. In my presentation I would like to discuss the problem of the classification of the Later Mohists' theory of distinguishing kinds. I will try to show the possible ways of solving it. The Author is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. She is now finishing her thesis concerning the Chinese philosophy of language in the Warring State period. RAFAŁ BANKA, PhD, Jagiellonian University, Poland Script as Communication Medium in Xu Bing s Artworks Writing is a means of linguistic communication. Among the forms of script it assumes, Chinese characters, which are considerably graphically iconic and not primarily representation of the phonetic side, are considerably special. In spite of the fact that Chinese characters are used as artistic medium in calligraphy for aesthetic reasons, they are concurrently not deprived of their semantic function. Xu Bing s (b. 1955) print works seem to be a very special case of resorting to Chinese characters, because of processing their core iconic identity. In my paper, I am going to focus on Xu Bing s new employment of script in artistic communication, as well as try to refer it to the Chinese calligraphic tradition. The Author works at the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. His fields of research are Chinese philosophy, comparative philosophy and Chinese aesthetics. MAREK BARANIAK, PhD, University of Warsaw, Poland Tetragrammaton - word or sign The Greek term tetragrámmaton "four letters" refers to the Hebrew theonym written as the four consonants transliterated to the Latin letters YHWH, which are considered to be a proper name of the God used in the Hebrew Bible. Although it is not certain when the Tetragrammaton ceased to be pronounced, ultimately lack of use resulted in uncertainty over the tradition of vowel sounds in the name and hence in its meaning. Already Van der Toorn in analyzing potential sources for the name YHWH, has pointed out that the significance of the name Yahweh has been the subject of a staggering amount of publications - including the story from Exodus. The developed by J.M. Hoffman magic-letter theory accounts for lack of etymological derivation for YHWH by specifically claiming that the Hebrews appreciated the value of their newly-found vowel letters [waw, heh, yud] so much that they used them to define membership in their group, as with the name Abraham (from Abram), Sarah (from Saray), and one name for God. The Hebrews took the letters yud, heh, and waw, which had already been used to represent consonantal sounds, and used them to represent vowel sounds as well. In so doing, they paved the way not only for the preservation of their own writings, but also the widespread use of alphabets throughout the world. These vowel letters were destined to play a pivotal role in all of Hebrew s various stages. The Hebrew writers by the connection between the name of God and the vowel letters seem to tie the idea of (heno)monotheism to their works. It should be over looked that the names have meaning, just as words do. But a name is primarily used to refer to a person, and so it contains the identity 3
of a particular person whose name is heard or seen. When the Israelites saw the Tetragrammaton YHWH they saw it as a reference to their God. In some contexts certain connotations of YHWH are essential to the meaning of the text, while in other contexts YHWH should be transliterated as a sign, but elsewhere only the word for God could be substituted without any loss of meaning. The Author works at the Department of Hebrew Studies at the University of Warsaw, Poland. He graduated at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and specializes in biblical studies and early Jewish literature. ARYYA BHATTACHARYA, PhD, Calcutta University, India Vak: Its Ontological Status And Importance In Prayer And Rituals Of Sakti Oriented Tantric Tradition This paper explores the nature, ontological status, different spheres and symbolic representation of Vak in the Sakti oriented Tantric tradition, and how it lends credibility to the theory of emancipation through prayer, worship and mantra-sadhana. It is pertinent to mention here that in Tantric tradition, written mantras are devoid of power. They become effective only when heard from the lips of one s spiritual master or an unattached Yogini. The importance of Word is also affirmed by Vedic cosmogony. Vedas, or the canons of Hindu philosophy, proclaim that in the begining was Brahman and Brahman is Vak. The word Vak comes from the root Vach, which in Sanskrit can mean both the voice and the word it utters. Word is created by letters and letters are the products of sounds. Sound or Nada can be of two types one that is produced by the contact of two objects and another (called Anahata-Nada ) that is uncreate and self produced. Supersonic primordial sound AUM is Anahata-Nada. This sound is followed by alphabets, which, in turn, are followed by words. The meaning of Word, according to Vedic-Tantric traditon, is not conventionally determined as is usually held by the Western thinkers but Word always has its corresponding Meaning and referent and neither can be dissociated from the other. Language therefore, is not something arbitrary and invented. In the words of Tantra Vak is Prakasha or illuminating consciousness and the meaning of it is Vimarsha or the object of consciousness. Word is eternal in nature, by which it is meant that even after mahapralaya or complete annihilation of the universe, Word shall remain in seminal form(bijarup). So Vedic Word along with the alphabets and the primordial sound AUM is never created by any mind but revealed to it. The Author is the Head of the Department of Philosophy at Vivekananda College for Women under the Calcutta University, India. She studied Hindu religion and philosophy under the guidance of Anantasri Sitaramdas Omkarnath. SZYMON BOGACZ, B.A., Jagiellonian University, Poland What does it mean that the statement (vacana, vākya) has an essence (svabhāva)? Nāgārjuna's Vigrahavyāvartani 1-4, 21-29. Vigrahavyāvartani is one of the best examples of the madhyamaka dialectics method in refuting opponent's standpoint. It is also the only treaty in which Nāgārjuna deals with language. In the first four stanzas of Vigrahavyāvartani Nāgārjuna's opponent suggests that it is impossible to reject anything in discussion using statements (vacana, vākya) devoid of essence (svabhāva). The purpose of my paper is to clarify this objection and to present how 4
Nāgārjuna responds to it. The central issue of my work is to determine what is essence and how it can be related to statement. First of all essence could be understood as something inherently included in the manifold of dharmas or skandhas. It guaranties identity and stability of this manifold (Hayes 1994, Ronkin 2005). Second of all essence is what our cognitions refer to, it is something to be known in or about dharmas (Hayes 1994, Willemen Dassein Cox 1998). According to this distinction, I will present two understandings of vacanasvabhāva: (1) as a feature (lakṣaṇa) of a statement; (2) as a reference (asadgrāha) of a statement. I will argue that Nāgārjuna's respond to opponents objection consist of not only a thesis that meaneing and truth cannot correspond to mind independent reality (Westerhoff 2010) but also a thesis that statements as speech acts are dependent and unstable. The Author graduated at the Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland (specialization: Eastern Philosophy) and is now working on his M.A. thesis entitled Buddhist metaphysics. Mahayana sutras, sarvastivada abhidharma and Nāgārjuna s madhyamaka. Beside his interest in Buddhist philosophy, he is working on some topics in contemporary metaphysics (theories of meaning, process metaphysics, theories of agency). PIOTR BOREK, M.A., Jagiellonian University, Poland Unstable polyglossia of the early modernity in North India. A sociolinguistic approach to the history of literature. As many categories elaborated within the human sciences by the Western academia, the concept of a single history of literature proved unsuitable to a bulk of empirical evidence of the exotic world. The post-enlightment and modern intellectuals seem to interpret the past from its contemporary point of views, i.e. ignoring the possible perspectives of this past's agents. The problems arise when we try to reconstruct the history of India, the history of Hindi or any other oriental literature or when we attempt to find out what is a nation or democracy in the South Asian context, and so on. We are left with the neti neti outcomes, but our neti neti is not of deep philosophical but of disappointing pragmatical nature. When faced with the still exotic, the nomothetic theories decline. Are there any firm categories in the human sciences that we may apply to the outer evidence or are we definitely re-condemned to idiosyncrasy? The focus of my research for the purpose of this paper is on the sociolinguistic category of diglossia/polyglossia. I will provide an outline of more than half-century development process of this category. My aim is to suggest its application to the work on the early modern literatures which may consecutively support Sheldon Pollock's claims to replace the domain of the history of literature by the history of literary cultures. When attempting to adjust the sociolinguistic tool to the knowledge on literature I will also add the argument to break the understanding of the exotic as a concept limited to the non-western. The Author is a PhD student in Literature at the Department of Philology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. The main area of his interest is so called classical Hindi literature, i.e. Braj courtly literature produced on the fringes and behind the brajbhūmi area. His thesis is based predominantly on the Śivarājhūṣaṇa, 17 th century poetical treatise. 5
ŁUKASZ BYRSKI, B.A., Jagiellonian University, Poland Divine Origins of the Writing Systems in Cultures of the East A Comparative Study The main issue of this presentation is how people of the past have seen origins of their own writing system. What is the difference between native beliefs on the beginning of writing and that what we know today about invention of graphic signs representing the words of a language? What was the reason of explaining creation of the script by the divine intervention? In trying to answer those questions there is a need to look for examples in different cultures. Similar legends were common among the great civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, but they were also present in some other cultures, like Persian, Armenian, Georgian and Slavic. In ancient Mesopotamia have existed several different beliefs connected with writing system. Patrons of the script were goddess Nidaba and god Nabu, but credited for the creation of cuneiform writing were god Enki (myth: Inanna and Enki ), king Enmerkar from divine inspiration (epic: Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta ) or strange watery being called Oannes ( Babyloniaca of Berossos - known in fragments from History of Chaldea by Alexander Polyhistor). In Egypt it was believed that hieroglyphs were created by the god Thoth, but strong connection with Egyptian script had also goddess Seshat. The hieroglyphs themselves were often called mdw ntr or the the words of god [Thoth]. In China contribution for creation of characters of the script was granted to three mythical divine emperors or their officials. For the ancient Persian view on beginning of the writing system we have two sources: inscription on rock in Behistun of Darius the Great and legend recorded later by Ferdousi in epic Shahnama. The comparison of those examples will be helpful in determining the answers for questions stated above. The Author holds B.A. titles on Comparative Studies of Civilisations and Archeology. He is now an M.A. student in the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations, Jagiellonian University, Poland. His research interests include writing systems - especially non-alphabetical scripts, epigraphy, ancient linguistics, paleography and calligraphy. JIAMING CHEN, Prof., Xiamen University, China On the Special Language Views in Chinese Traditional Philosophy With to the view of language, there are two notable features in traditional Chinese philosophy. One is that the role of name was concerned by its political significance, i.e. taken as the right principle of government, such as let the rule be rule, the minister minister, the father father, and the son son. Every name has its own implications which constitute the objects essence and their duties. Confucius such kind of doctrine of rectification of names can be seen as a special political Pragmatics. Another is, based on the idea that words cannot fully express meaning, some ancient philosophers maintain that images (words) can be abandoned after meaning has been got. According to this view, language is just like an instrument. When fish is captured, the fishing net may be threw away, so does the language. Similar to this kind of idea of language, Chinese native religions Zen, even created a particular doctrine and cultivation practice of understanding by heart,i.e. not by the means of language expression, but through personal contacts and hints of behavior, to achieve the goal of grasping its religious significance. The Author is a professor of philosophy at Xiamen University, China and the Chief Editor of the Journal of Xiamen University. He got his PhD title at The Graduate School of Chinese Social 6
Academy of Science, participated in the Fulbright Fellowship at Harvard University and K.C. Wong Fellowship at British Academy. HERMINA CIELAS, M.A., Jagiellonian University, Poland Sound, image and meaning. Many aspects of Sanskrit figurative poetry Citrakāvya is a Sanskrit concrete poetry, in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important as the other elements of the poem, such as the meaning or the rhythm, the meter. It has entertaining and educational purposes. Graphic side of the poem is approachable for everyone also those, who cannot read. On the other hand, to notice visual side of the poem (which is not indicated directly as in case of European concept of carmina figurata), a reader has to have particular knowledge or needs a help of guru a teacher. Citrakāvya is the result of combining word, sound (śabda) and its meaning (artha) with image (citra) which as a graphic sign conveys meaning with symbolic value and has its own denotation. In Sanskrit elements of figurative poetry were used to emphasize certain content. To read such work fully we have to pay an attention to all of domains of language included; otherwise, final aesthetic experience will not be completed. The aim of the presentation is to investigate a relationship between them, used to create this complex system of interdependence called citrakāvya. The main goal is to define how those tools play a special role in emphasizing particular contents in a text and to designate in what narrative points poets were using elements of figurative poetry. The Author is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Philology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. Her thesis concerns the relationship between Indian literature and art. Her fields of interest are the concept of figurative poetry, philosophy of language and Indian aesthetic theories. RENATA CZEKALSKA, PhD, Jagiellonian University, Poland The real and the mythicised function of word in the work of a modern Indian poet The paper is dedicated to analysing the function of word, which in the poetic oeuvre of Ashok Vajpeyi a modern Indian poet writing in Hindi is treated not only as a tool of artistic expression but also as a material for philosophical meditations. The communicative function of word in this poetry fulfils the role of a craftsman s tool, but in fact it is an autonomous existence, with qualities allowing it to connect contradictory elements of the poet s inner world with the outer world of other beings. A spoken or a written word interferes with the beyond-verbal space through its mere existence. It originates in the depths of an I and, through perception, connects with another I, hence with every potential you. A word written down, so in a sense incarnated in letters, lasts longer than even the deepest I, it has the quality of timelessness. Treating the source material on the theoretical background of Jerzy J. Smolicz s core values theory, the paper will aim at presenting the poetic word as the prime carrier of axiological senses. The Author is an assistant professor at the Institute of the Middle and Far East, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. She specialises in South Asian culture, 20 th century Hindi literature, the modern history of South Asia, translation practice and theory, as well as intercultural communication. 7
ROBERT CZYŻYKOWSKI, PhD, Jagiellonian University, Poland Divine sound Tantric mantras as a tool of transformation Lecture is intended to throw the light on the topic of special kind of sound - the form of Tantric mantras, its generation, structure and its psychosomatic effects. In many Indian traditions (Hindu and Buddhist) mantras are viewed as a basic tool for realizing the religious goal or for achieving the various kinds of siddhis (perfections). Sound lays as a foundation of Indian culture and conception of language. Divine sound was main interest of Vedic and later Indian thinkers. This reflection led to development of various elaborated and subtle philosophies but in large degree had also a pragmatic side. This practical aspect will be my main interest how concrete sounds, Tantric mantras were supposed to be means to affect human psyche and how structure of the mantras and modes of incantation were expected to be efficient means for alternating human consciousness. I base my presentation on analyze of various medieval Hindu and Buddhist Tantric and Yogic texts (in Sanskrit and Bengali language). The cultural and theological aspects of mantras, for example their cosmological roots, were supposed to be confirmed by practice of uttering these mystical incantations. Next I try to include some reflections on this subject using the some contemporary methodologies formulated in Religious Studies and Indology. The Author works at the Institue for Scientific Study of Religion, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. He obtained his PhD title in Religious Studies with thesis entitled Mystical and Physical Body in Selected Traditions of North-East India. His area of interest are Indian religions, Tantric and Yoga traditions, the question of mystical experience and anthropology of religion. MARTA DMUCHOWSKA, M.A., Jagiellonian University, Poland Selected contemporary views on the language in Śankara s Vedanta The presentation is a critical discussion of Śankara s views on self-knowledge. His ideas are inspired by the śrutis and organized into a system of ontologic-epistemic-exegetic syntheses. In his texts, he revises the archaic idea of the world as a dream, and argues for illusiveness of death and transience. Trying to solve teleologic-eschatological issues based on canonical texts, Śankara finds sannyasa, renunciation, the best interpretation of the śrutis. He translates the Upanishadic metaphorics into a logical discourse, overcoming the inaccessible mysticism. The present analyses of his works aim at a compromise between analytic-critical attitude and respect for the Vedic message. There are also arguments for a kind of syncretic picture-like thinking that transcends and overcomes the limited and finite personal perspective. Hence the use of the peripheries of word meanings, vagueness of concepts, metaphors. The presentation is a review of selected contemporary texts on the nature of the Vedantic language. The views of Hacker, Mayeda, Rao, and some others, are taken under consideration. The Author is a PhD candidate in the Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. Her interests include vedānta, yoga and Sanskrit. Her research concerns mainly the issues of self-knowlegde. 8
AGNIESZKA ERDT, M.A., Warsaw University, Poland Word that created the universe. The function of God`s word in the emanationist doctrine of creation in Shi i philosophy and exegesis In Islam, revelation starts with the word Read! (Ar. iqra`), uttered by the angel Gabriel and addressed to Muhammad. The same root q-r-` is also found in the word Qur`an. The Qur`an is thus the word of God recited, or read to the humankind, comprehensible to all, through which God guides His creation. Theologians perceived the Qur`an fore and foremost as the direct, literal word of God revealed in the beautiful Arabic language. Philosophers, however, differed in this regard. The paper expounds their views in some detail, while concentrating mainly on Shi i philosophy. In general, philosophers have argued that the Qur`an is only the last of the instantiations of Divine speech. God, who was initially alone in his singleness and in the primordial silence, uttered the first command Be. Subsequently, the cosmos was created in a series of emanations of various beings and modes of existence (worlds) descending from the highest to the lowest level, each of which had its own revelation. To put it differently, God`s word was one reality which had different levels corresponding to different stages of creation. Word, while limiting itself, existentiated also more limited and specific beings. The paper, after having presented the outline of the doctrine, moves on to analyzing some key interrelated issues. These include the status of the Qur`an as the incarnation of Divine speech, which makes it equivalent to the status of Jesus in Christianity; the role of prophets and Shi i Imams in bringing the revelation and their special knowledge of God`s word; and lastly, the possibility of acquiring the knowledge of the meanings of the Qur`an through exegesis. The paper is informed by a wide range of sources from ahadith (narratives attributed to Muhammad and Shi i Imams) to the writings of key Shi i philosophers: seventeenth-century Mulla Sadra and modern-day Iranian philosopher Allama Tabatabai. The Author is a PhD candidate in the Department of Iranian Studies at Warsaw University, Poland. She is now finishing her thesis entitled Allama Tabatai s Qur anic Commentaries on the Creation of the Human Soul. She studied at the University of Tehran wan was a Fulbright grantee at the University of Texas, Austin. Her research interests include: Qur anic commentaries (tafsir), Shi i philosophy and theology, and the image of the West in Iran. THIAGARAJAN GANESAN, PhD, French Institute of Pondicherry, India Nāda and dhvani in the śaivasiddhānta The sound and the word are the fundamental complimentary principles that play a vital rôle in the Śaivasiddhānta philosophy. An oft cited passage states that the The primordial sound (nāda) is represented by the Liṅga -- nādaṃ liṅgamiti proktaṃ. The primordial sound is variously called nāda, śabda, unarticulated speech (aghoṣā vāk), etc. The creation of the material universe is conceived in the Śaivāgama-s as that of the universe of sound and that of the universe of matter - śabdaprapañca and arthaprapañca. The supreme reality, Śiva is conceived to exist in the form of supreme sound - paranāda - and He is the unique source of the entire universe. The great medieval Śaivasiddhānta philosopher Bhaṭṭa Rāmakaṇṭha states at the commencement of his treatise on sound Nādakārikā: buddhyasmitāmanobhyo vidyāto rāgataḥ kalāyāśca māyāpuṁśaktibhyo nādo'nyo dṛśyate dhvanibhyo'pi 1 9
that sound is perceived to be different from all categories such as intellect, mind, matter, power of the self and even articulated sound (dhvani). Such is the fundamental importance of sound and its product word in the Śaivasiddhānta system. The fundamental importance of the sound is stated that it is the most important factor in the production of discursive thought in the supreme Reality, not to speak of the human beings, who are of limited knowledge and power. That sound is not produced from nowhere; it has a non-material source called technically bindu in the Śaivasiddhānta texts. My paper will be an attempt in exploring briefly into this less known aspect of sound and its material effects as presented and elaborated in the canonical texts (Śaiva Āgama) and in the Śaivasiddhānta doctrinal texts. The Author, with the PhD in Sanskrit, is Directeur de Recherche at the French Institute, Pondicherry (IFP). He joined as cataloguing assistant in the project Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts of the French Institute he is now working on the project A Comprehensive History of Śaivasiddhānta in Tamilnadu surveying the contents of the entire gamut of Śaivasiddhānta literature (published and unpublished) that spans more than a millennium. His book Two Śaiva Teachers of the sixteenth century: Nigamajñāna I and his disciple Nigamajñāna II has been published in the beginning of 2009 from the French Institute, Pondicherry. Śivajñānabodhasūtra with the Laghuṭīkā of Śivāgrayogī, Siddhāntaprakāśikā of Sarvātmaśambhu with Tamil and English translations and a few other important Śaivasiddhānta texts along with Śivajñānabodhasūtra with the hitherto unpublished commentary of Nigamajñānadeśika are some of the important śaiva texts edited by him. JOANNA GRUSZEWSKA, M.A., Jagiellonian University, Poland The language of Brahmins in the world of the Buddhists adopting Sanskrit as Buddhist canonical language Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, which is also called mixed Sanskrit, is a unique form of Sanskrit language found in Buddhist literature from the second century of Common Era. According to The Pali Canon, Buddha prohibited the usage of Sanskrit for preaching and prescribed monks to spread the dhamma in one s own dialect. The presentation will be an attempt to answer how it is possible that Buddhism adopted Sanskrit as a canonical language and what are the most probable reasons for such transformation. It will rely on the perspective of perceiving Sanskrit presented by Sheldon Pollock, to whose book the title refers, and also it will take into account social, religious and historical contexts of ancient India. The Author holds an M.A. in Study of Religions and Indology. She is a PhD candidate in the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. Her research focuses on social and political aspects of Buddhism (ancient and contemporary) and Sanskrit and Pali literature. CHRISTINE GUILLEBAUD, PhD, University of Paris Ouest-Nanterre, France The sound engineering of the Hindu temple: artefacts, perception and effects This paper focuses on sound displays in the Hindu temple and gives an ethnographic insight of the use of musical automatons and sound devices in the main religious centre in South India. It reflects on the hybrid character of mechanically produced music and on its relation to other visual and sound devices such as hand operated bells, recordings on CD s and other electronic devices. It shows how the controversy surrounding the automaton crystallised the 10
debate concerning its intrinsic property, that is the ability to make sound visible by nonhuman action. The ambivalent character of the machine becomes the source of controversies and negotiations involving the automaton designer (a Madras engineer), the temple priests, the gods, the devotees, religious authorities, the industrial producers and ultimately state ministers. The Author is an ethnomusicologist and a social anthropologist, she is a Research Fellow at the (French Government) National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). She belongs to the Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (CREM-LESC), located at the University of Paris Ouest-Nanterre. Specialist of Kerala music, in South India, she is the author of the book Le chants des serpents. Musiciens itinérants du Kerala (Song of snakes: Itinerant Musicians in Kerala, 2008), awarded by the Music Academy Charles Cros and co-editor of the volume La Musique n a pas d auteur (Who Owns Music? Ethnographies of Copyright, 2010). She currently coordinates the MILSON research program "For an anthropology of sound milieux" (milson.fr) founded by the Fyssen Fondation, dedidated to the study of sound environments in their sociocultural context of production and perception. Member of the Administrative Board of the French Society for Ethnomusicology, she is also a member of the editorial Board of the scientific journals Cahiers d ethnomusicologie (Geneva), Gradhiva. Anthropology and Arts History (Paris, Musée du quai Branly), and the Book collection Hommes et Musiques (SFE) JOANNA JUREWICZ, Prof., Warsaw University, Poland Spoken word and time In the paper I would like to show how the experience of recitation influenced thinking about time in the ancient Indian tradition. The Author is professor at the Oriental Studies Department of Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland. She teaches Sanskrit and early Indian philosophy. She uses philology and cognitive linguistics to analyse ancient Indian texts and demonstrates how the philosophical thought expressed in those texts was closely connected to everyday human experience. She is the author of three books and numerous articles. MAŁGORZATA BARBARA KASZAK, M.A., University of Gdańsk, Poland Green-blue confusion in the Orient: is language thinking-affective? In Vietnam, Korea, China and Japan, there are no separate terms for colours blue and green. According to Ju Brown and John Brown, Blue and green have an interesting relationship in the Japanese mind. Green is seen as a shade of blue, and aoi 青い is a sort of ideal blue, halfway between green and blue. Japanese refer to green traffic lights, cucumbers, spinach, and even the grass as blue. The sky is said to be blue, but a different shade than grass (2006: 59). Why green is not always green and blue is not always blue? Do these unspecified terms for the aforementioned colours affect the way people from the Orient view the reality? The overriding goal of the present study is to try to determine, whether the perception of the world is altered in relation to words for particular hues, which are uttered. Many developmental psychologists have been struck by the correlation between language development and cognitive development. One of the versions of the language-affects-thought claim is associated with Whorf (1956) and Sapir (1921), who believe that differences between languages lead to differences in thought. One of the most prominent cognitive scientists, Steven Pinker in The LANGUAGE INSTINCT How the Mind Creates Language, explains that 11
language pervades thought, with different languages causing their speakers to construe reality in different ways (1994: 17-18). Bloom and Keil, however, in their Thinking Through Language state that a strong impression that the language one speaks must influence how one thinks, [ ] is more seductive than it is instructive (2001: 365). The Author is a doctoral student whose main scientific interest is linguistics, mainly cognitive linguistics and corpus studies. Her thesis supervisor is prof. UG, dr hab. Olga Sokołowska, who is an expert in cognitive linguistics. SEYAD AHMAD REZA KHEZRI, Prof, University of Tehran, Iran Persian calligraphy and Its Spiritual Message in Islamic arts Pershian Calligraphy, is the artistic practice of handwriting, in the lands sharing a common Islamic cultural heritage. This art form is based on the Arabic script, which for a long time was used by all Muslims in their respective languages. They used it to represent God because they denied representing God with images. Persian calligraphy is especially revered among Islamic arts since it was the primary means for the preservation of the Qur'an. Suspicion of figurative art as idolatrous led to calligraphy and abstract depictions becoming a major form of artistic expression in Islamic cultures, especially in religious contexts. In addition the Persian literature emerged as the main sources of the development of Muslim art of calligraphy, painting, architecture and various forms of Islamic decorative arts. The spiritual aspect remained the dominant factor in all art and thought of Islamic World.In order to knows the true spirit of Iranian calligraphy and its spiritual message and significance, we shall have to comprehend briefly its origin as well as some of its main forms such as architecture, painting, music, poetry and decorative arts in general with special reference to Iran as the contribution of Iran to these Islamic art-forms can be deemed to be second to none. In summary, we can say ; Persian calligraphy is the art of the Islamic civilization and it have an important role in other Islamic art like Architecture, painting,weaving of textiles, coins and decorative arts, and it have a spiritual message that this paper intended to review it. The Author is a professor of Islamic history and civilization, Department of History and Islamic Civilization, University of Tehran, Iran. He holds a PHD title in Islamic history and civilization in 1995 from university of Tehran. He has 23 years experience in teaching in different universities of Iran. He is an author of 6 books in the context of Iranian and Islamic civilization and culture in Persian, of 4 books in the context of Iranian and Islamic civilization in Spanish, and of more than 40 articles in the context of Iranian and Islamic civilization. WOJCIECH KOSIOR, PhD, Jagiellonian University, Poland El Shadday. The Apotropaic Potential of the Name The rabbinic Judaism is often considered the religion of the book. While pretty much the same could be said about any other spiritual tradition that puts much emphasis on the written word, in the broadly understood Judaism, the linguistic notion is particularly developed. One of its aspects is the category of several divine names initially belonging to particular deities of the ancient Near East and with flow of time attributed to one God of Israel, who is sometimes, nomen-omen, referred to as ha-shem ( the name ). The supernatural power of these appellations is widely recognized within the Jewish tradition. Since the early midrashes, through medieval exegesis up until the modern era the names have 12
been believed to be burdened with kavod and thus bearing the extraordinary performative potential. It is said of Betzalel that he knew the art of the letters permutation (BT Berakhot 55a) or of the four who entered the Pardes that they had done it with the help of the tetragrammaton (YT Hagigah 2:1, BT Hagigah 14b). This is plainly the case with the capital divine appellations like Yahveh or, to a lesser extent, with Elohim. Somewhat overshadowed is however the name Shadday, traditionally written on mezuzah cases and expanded as an abbreviation for shomer delatot Israel the keeper of Israel s doors. Even though the custom itself gets elaborate rationalistic exposition, the strong apotropaic undertones make their way through the enlightened explanatory layer. Such clues are present already in the Hebrew Bible (e.g. Genesis 17, Psalm 91) but become more apparent only in later exegesis. A midrash (Tanhuma Tzav 14) describing the bodily inscription of Shadday will serve as the point of departure for the planned presentation. Accordingly, its main purpose is to follow the notion of the apotropaic function conveyed by the name hinted at in the selected pieces of the rabbinic literature. The Author is a psychologist and religiologist. His main field of interest includes the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinics. He has been researching the biblical demonology and currently works on the figures of the dissident rabbis in the Babylonian Talmud. AGNIESZKA KUCZKIEWICZ-FRAŚ, PhD, Jagiellonian University, Poland Qavvālī the transcendent power of Ṣūfī spiritual texts Qavvālī is a musical performance of Ṣūfī Muslim poetry, sung responsorially by a group of male singers (qavvāl-s) that aims to lead listeners to a state of religious ecstasy. It arose from the combined traditions of Persian mystical poetry and performative practice, and the North- Indian literary and musical environment, blending popular elements with classical convention and remaining in the mainstream tradition of Hindustānī music. The developed tendency to improvisation as well as the types of employed tonal frameworks (rāg-s) bring qavvālī close to other classical or semi-classical North Indian musical forms (like ṭhumrī or ġazal), but with one crucial difference: while the classical music recitals are music-based (with the text playing a secondary role), qavvālī is text-based and the text is of great consequence, as it is the medium for transmitting the hidden message to the audience and for spiritually arousing the listeners. Texts used for qavvālī are centred around the themes of spiritual emotion and mystical love and their role is to facilitate the union between the devotee and God. Being originally based on the classical Persian Ṣūfī poetry, the texts exploit a broad spectrum of artistic expressions for mystical love mostly images and metaphors which by figurative focus on the earthly, human love serve as an equivalent of metaphysical or spiritual passion. In my presentation I will analyze the main types of texts exploited for qavvālī, dedicating special attention to the power of word used as the means of artistic expression employed by the qavvāl-s to convey the spiritual message. The Author is an Assistant Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Her main field of research is Hindi-Urdu linguistics as well as the Islamicate traditions and culture in South Asia and intercultural communication. She also translates from Hindi and Urdu into Polish. Her main publications contain: Perso-Arabic Hybrids in Hindi. The Socio-linguistic and Structural Analysis (New Delhi: Manohar, 2003); Perso-Arabic Loanwords in Hindustani. Part I: Dictionary (Krakow: Księgarnia Akademicka, 2008), Part II: Linguistic Study (Krakow: Księgarnia Akademicka, 2012); Umrao Dźan Ada. Pamiętnik kurtyzany (translation, edition & introduction, Krakow: Księgarnia Akademicka, 2011); Islamicate Traditions in South Asia: Themes from Culture and History (ed., New 13
Delhi: Manohar, 2013), etc. At present she is preparing a comprehensive study of Indo-Muslim courtesans (tawa'if) and the socio-cultural role they played in the Islamicate society of North India. HANG LIN, PhD, University of Hamburg, Germany Paratext in Manuscripts and Imprints: A Glimpse at the Social History of Book in Late Imperial China China enjoys (probably) the longest history of printing in the world. The evolution in print technologies facilitated an initial growth in book production and the expansion of commercial printing in China, in particular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Yet manuscripts continued to exist in China until the introduction of of Western mechanized printing technologies in the late nineteenth century. Both types, manuscripts and imprints, together comprised the world of Chinese books throughout imperial China. What else is an old Chinese book but a treasured artwork? Surely books as objects can tell us much about the social history of the book. Certain features of a book, often collectively referred to as the paratext - all the materials other than the main text - can yield valuable information unavailable elsewhere concerning the history of the Chinese book. While a number of paratextual elements were already evident in manuscripts prior to the spread of woodblock printing in China, they became far more evident and developed among imprints. In this paper I intend to illustrate some of the essential facts about the books, such as the publication date, location, transmission, publishers, and collectors. In doing so, I will focus on a wide range of manuscripts and imprints from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), especially after 1500, to examine various paratextual elements of manuscripts and imprints. Such a comparative analysis can provide valuable insights into the production, distribution, and consumption of books in late imperial China. The Author is currently research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg, Germany. His research focuses on the history of non-chinese peoples in China, material culture in Medieval China, and the manuscript culture in late imperial China. His recent publications include "Cross Culture Borders: Marriage Customs of Non-Han Peoples in Jin China (1125-1234)," Crossroads: Studies on the History of Exchange Relations in the East Asian World 6 (2012): 127-144; Silk Production in Song China (960-1279): An Investigation of the Treatise on Textiles in the Official Dynastic History of Song, Princeton Journal of East Asian Studies 3 (2013): 32-44; Traditional Confucianism and its Contemporary Relevance, Asian Philosophy, vol. 21, no. 4 (2011): 437-445. OŁENA ŁUCYSZYNA, PhD, University of Humanities and Economics, Poland Sāṁkhya View on the Relationship between the Word (śabda) and Its Meaning (artha) The nature of the relationship between the word and its meaning was vividly discussed in Indian philosophy. The main contributors to this discussion were Mīmāṁsā, which held that the relationship was natural (autpattika), and its rival Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika, which defended the theory of a conventional (sāmayika) origin of this relationship. The aim of my study is to reconstruct the classical Sāṁkhya view on the nature of this relationship. The study is based on all the extant classical Sāṁkhya texts, which embrace the Sāṁkhyakārikā by Īśvarakṛṣṇa and eight commentaries on it, but its chief focus is on the Yuktidīpikā, for this classical Sāṁkhya commentary provides the main material for our analysis. 14
The view on the relationship between the word and its meaning that can be reconstructed from the classical Sāṁkhya texts is not clear and consistent. On the one hand, the Yuktidīpikā contains the evidence for ascribing to Sāṁkhya the theory of a conventional origin of language. In the Introduction to the Yuktidīpikā the author claims that the supreme seer (ṛṣi) Kapila, who was born in the beginning of the world (viśvâgra-ja), gave names to all the principles (tattva), being the ultimate objects of knowledge, and the later teachers (ācārya) do not introduce new names into the highest science. On the other hand, the Sāṁkhya texts provide the evidence that does not agree with the theory of a conventional origin of the relationship between the word and its meaning, implying that this relationship is natural. In the Yuktidīpikā 10 the author argues that words do not arise and disappear, but they are just manifested in the process of human communication and have permanent connection with their meanings (in the context of Sāṁkhya this permanence can be understood as duration from pralaya to pralaya and reappearance from prakṛti in the beginning of a new creation after the period of cosmic dissolution). The author of the Yuktidīpikā and Vācaspati Miśra in his Sāṁkhya commentary called Tattvakaumudī state directly that the Vedas have no author (Yuktidīpikā 5; Tattvakaumudī 2 and 5); the idea of the authorless Vedas, reemerging from prakṛti in the beginning of a new creation, is incompatible with the theory that primary linguistic convention is the source of language. In my presentation I shall analyze the evidence mentioned above and test the compatibility of each of two theories of the relationship between the word and its meaning with the Sāṁkhya doctrine. The Author is a researcher of Indian philosophy. She earned her doctoral degree in Philosophy in 2004 from the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Her teachers of Indian philosophy are Maciej St. Zięba (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland), Paweł Sajdek (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland), and Liudmyla Fylypovych (Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine). She is the author of more than 40 scientific publications (including one monograph) in Ukrainian, Polish, English, and Russian languages. Currently, she teaches philosophy (as an associate professor) at the University of Humanities and Economics in Lodz, Poland and preparing the habilitation thesis on Sāṁkhya epistemology and philosophy of language. MAREK ŁYCZKA, M.A., Jagiellonian University, Poland Conciousness without Awareness (vijñānaghanaṃ saṃjñābhāvaṃ ca) and The Son of Barren Woman (vandhyāputra). Is Pure Consciousness An Empty Notion? Every act of speech, in particular, in the context of debate, involves using expressions that are meaningful. This is because of the fact that the main goal of our speech and conversation is to be understood by the audience. In other words, we speak in order to transmit some content to other people. Nonetheless, syntactic rules of language permit creating expressions or even whole sentences that are meaningless. The son of barren woman or circle square are just examples of a few of them. These phrases are empty, that is, they fail to refer to something because of their selfcontradiction. Are we allowed to use these kind of expressions in philosophical statements? If not, why do we come across them reading some classical Indian treaties? Why do we sometimes refute some and accept others empty notions trying to defend their usage? Are there any semantic or other criteria that we have? In other words, why in the ground of Sankhya, Yoga and Advaita 15
schools, philosophers apply double semantic standards speaking, for instance, about consciousness? Why do they permit empty notions in the systems and at the same time they fight against them in natural language? Can ontology solves these questions? My presentation deals with these problems and tries to find their linguistic-logical genesis. The Author is a PhD student in Department of Philosophy at Jagiellonian University. He studied theology at The Pontifical University of John Paul II where he undertook the philosophy of religion in the light of Christian-Hindu dialog, especially of works of Jules Monchanin (Swāmī Paramārubyāndam) and Henri Le Saux (Swāmī Abhishiktānanda). Later, he graduated in philosophy from the Jagiellonian University. His MA thesis Conscious Mind in Shankara s System. Towards a Cognitive Analysis constitutes the first phase of the current project on confronting the classical Indian models of mind with the most recent research in cognitive sciences. He is interested in working at the interface of philosophy (Western and Indian) and science. FARHAD MAZLUM, Prof, Maragheh University, Iran; HASSAN AZIZI, M.A., Islamic Azad University, Iran; SAFAR KHAZAEI, Payame Noor University of Amol, Iran Word and Language: Moslem Thinkers and Philosophers Views Historically speaking, Moslem thinkers have taken an interest in investigating the nature of 'word' and 'language' for two main reasons. The first one is the belief that the Holy Quran as the unique and sacred Book is full of lexical and semantic structures which make It the eternal miracle. To prove that the Holy Quran is a miracle, different Moslem thinkers have followed different approaches and have dealt with different issues; (e.g., whether God's Messages/Revelations were communicated through usual 'words' or through 'meanings'). All this has led to interesting discussions about the nature of the word, its relation to sound and thinking. The second reason is the question of how God 'speaks'; does He speak the same as human beings or differently? This paper aims at discussing two different lines of arguments about the nature of 'word' and its relation to thinking. The first argument is that of Hakim Abu-Nasr-Farabi known as the founder of Islamic philosophy. He is the first Moslem thinker who studied the nature of 'word' and its relation to thinking. His studies then belong to what is generally known as philosophy of language today. The second argument belongs to Fakhr al-din al-razi and Abu Mohammad al-ghazzali. Their approach to 'word' and 'language' is rooted in philosophy of religion. Both argue that God speaks through His Words in general; the same as two human beings speaking to each other. They further hold that such an argument does not go against the Divinity and Greatness of God. Farhad Mazlum is a faculty of Maragheh University. He holds a PhD in applied linguistics and has been teaching different EFL courses for more than 10 years. He has published a paper on Iranian teachers views on educational philosophies of Dewey, Aristotle and Rousseau (co-authored with M. R. Atai). Hassan Azizi is currently doing his PhD in philosophy in Islamic Azad University, Isfahan. His research interests include philosophy and Islam and the nature of material. Safar Khazei is a Public School teacher in Amol, Iran. 16