Joy as Contextualized Feeling

Two Contrasting Pictures of Joy in East Asian Yogācāra

Bibliographic Data

ID8202010
AuthorsJingjing Li (0009-0006-0033-1522, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume91
Issue3
Pages698-713
Publication date2023-12-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Academy of Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7189 • E-ISSN: 1477-4585
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jaarel/lfae024
OpenAlexW4394964145
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited24

In this article, I elaborate on the approach to joy preserved in East Asian Yogācāra texts authored by Xuanzang and his disciple, Kuiji. I argue that these Yogācāra Buddhists propose a contextualist approach that does not presume joy to be an emotion with an essential property but rather perceives joy as always contextualized in lifeworlds at the personal and interpersonal levels. As such, Xuanzang and Kuiji outline two contrasting pictures of joy to capture how it is experienced in the lifeworld of ignorance and the lifeworld of wisdom, respectively. Upon delineating what joy is and how it is experienced, I continue to explore what joy can promise. Since joy does not have an inherent property, people can always make a collaborative effort to recontextualize joy for inclusion and emancipation. As such, I hope to draw on the Yogācāra analysis of joy to enrich the feminist discussion on happiness

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · China · East Asia · Feeling · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology

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