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IMC 2011: Sessions

Session 1609: Between Life and Death in Buddhism and Christianity

Thursday 14 July 2011, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:Department of Theology & Religious Studies, University of Bristol
Organiser:Eliana Corbari, Department of Theology & Religious Studies, University of Bristol
Moderator/Chair:Alison More, Afdeling Geschiedenis, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
Paper 1609-aBetween Life and Death in Medieval Japan and Europe
(Language: English)
Jon Morris, Faculty of Arts & Letters, Tohoku University
Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Other, Religious Life, Theology
Paper 1609-bPaupers to Princes: Comparative Considerations on Hagiographical Holy Deaths - St Francis of Assisi and Mi la ras pa
(Language: English)
Massimo Rondolino, University of Bristol
Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Comparative, Religious Life, Theology
Paper 1609-cMeeting Life in Hell: Souls as Earthly Creatures in Dante's Commedia
(Language: English)
Valentina Berardini, Università di Macerata
Index terms: Language and Literature - Italian, Religious Life, Teaching the Middle Ages, Theology
Abstract

In medieval Buddhism and Christianity, life and death, like wealth and poverty, are not clear opposites. Jonathan Morris compares the phenomena of post-mortem incorruptibility of holy women and men in medieval Japan and Europe; drawing on the Oujouden (Tales of Rebirth in the Pure Land) and the Legenda Aurea he explores concepts of relative wealth or poverty related to heaven and the afterlife in the context of luxury and purity. Massimo Rondolino reflects on the post-mortem miracles of Francis of Assisi and Mi la ras pa, narrated by their hagiographers as signs of glorious spiritual realisation for saints who advocated poverty and asceticism, contextualizing them in their Christian and Tantric Buddhist doctrines, and with the respective political and religious polemics. Valentina Berardini investigates Dante's exploration of the afterworld in his Commedia, which he makes concrete thanks to his continuous appeal to real life; in particular, examining his travels through the Hell where he encounters people of influence and wealth, she underlines Dante's ability to introduce life in a dead world.