http://hdl.handle.net/10500/432 2013-06-19T00:54:05Z 2013-06-19T00:54:05Z Clasquin, Michel http://hdl.handle.net/10500/4721 2012-05-30T12:14:34Z 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z

Ixopo : the evolution of a South African Buddhist Centre Clasquin, Michel The Buddhist Retreat Centre (BRC), about 12 kilometers from the town of Ixopo in Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa, opened its doors for business in 1980. For twenty-five years it has been at the centre of the small but growing South African Buddhist community - to such an extent, indeed, that the name of the town has become transposed onto the centre, and within this community a question such as "Have you been to Ixopo recently?" refers not to the town itself, but to the BRC. This gives us an initial indication of how influential the centre has become. To mark the BRC's impending 25th anniversary, I researched its history, its functioning within its community and how it is likely to forge ahead. This entailed interviews with the founder and with staff members and teachers past and present, as well as a perusal o

2004-01-01T00:00:00Z Clasquin, Michel http://hdl.handle.net/10500/3625 2010-09-30T13:11:01Z 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

Researching a city's faiths : methodological notes from the coalface Clasquin, Michel In late 1992, the Department of Religious Studies and the Institute for Theological Research at the University of South Africa embarked on a joint research project that would last for three years. The purpose of the project was to survey the religious situation in Pretoria, to discover who was here, how many of them there are, and what these people do. A philosophical approach was adopted that stressed pluralism and interdependence. The objective was not to produce a neat encyclopædia of religions in Pretoria, with each tradition organised under a separate heading, but rather to determine the interaction among religious groups, to establish the scope and variety of religious traditions present here and to find trends in the religious lives of Pretorians. The final result of the project will be a book written by Professor JS Krüger and Mr M Clasquin. In this essay I intend to describe the methodology of our project in a narrow sense of the term. I shall describe how the project was launched, how data was gathered, processed and interpreted, and how the project was administered. It is hoped that this will be of value to future researchers who intend to survey the religious dynamics of a specific area. To this end, certain recommendations will also be made from time to time.

1995-01-01T00:00:00Z Clasquin, Michel http://hdl.handle.net/10500/3624 2012-08-27T12:11:49Z 1993-04-01T00:00:00Z

Religion, ethics and communal interaction in the new South Africa : the case of the declaration on religious rights and responsibilities Clasquin, Michel Considering the immense power of religion for either good or evil, it is imperative that the followers of different religions should discuss their differences and negotiate a shared future, especially in a religiously pluralistic country such as South Africa. This article describes one attempt to engage in such a process; the South African Chapter of the World Conference on Religion and Peace's creation of the "Declaration on Religious Rights and Responsibilities". The author was personally involved in the compilation of this text. The process that led up to this document is described, as is the intent behind some of its more contentious clauses. A prognosis for the document's future is also offered.

1993-04-01T00:00:00Z Clasquin, Michel http://hdl.handle.net/10500/3623 2012-02-09T09:29:02Z

Buddhism and human rights Clasquin, Michel This article follows on certain thoughts about the compatibility of human rights theory and traditional theistic religion by Martin Prozesky. The problem of reconciling human rights theory with the Buddhist doctrine of anatta¿ is discussed. Buddhists have supported human rights campaigns apparently unaware of the secularist and legal‑political presuppositions underlying this concept and the logical contradictions that it introduces when it is used within the Buddhist paradigm. The author concludes that one possible solution to this problem may be found in the Buddhist teaching of "skillful means".