SOPHIA (2014) 53:339–348
DOI 10.1007/s11841-013-0398-5
How Nonsectarian is ‘Nonsectarian’?: Jorge Ferrer's
Pluralist Alternative to Tibetan Buddhist Inclusivism
Douglas Duckworth
Published online: 18 December 2013
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
Abstract This paper queries the logic of the structure of hierarchical philosophical systems. Following the Indian tradition of siddhānta, Tibetan Buddhist
traditions articulate a hierarchy of philosophical views. The ‘Middle Way’
philosophy or Madhyamaka—the view that holds that the ultimate truth is
emptiness—is, in general, held to be the highest view in the systematic
depictions of philosophies in Tibet, and is contrasted with realist schools of
thought, Buddhist and non-Buddhist. But why should an antirealist or nominalist position be said to be ‘better’ than a realist position? What is the criterion
for this claim and is it, or can it, be more than a criterion that is traditionspecific for only Tibetan Buddhists? In this paper, I will look at the criteria to
evaluate Buddhist philosophical traditions, particularly as articulated in what
came to be referred as the ‘nonsectarian’ (ris med) tradition. I draw from the
recent work of Jorge Ferrer to query the assumptions of the hierarchical
structures of ‘nonsectarian’ traditions and attempt to articulate an evaluative
criteria for a nonsectarian stance that are not based solely on metaphysical or
tradition-specific claims.
Keywords Pluralism . Buddhism . Nonsectarian . Tibet . Pragmatism
Introduction
This paper queries the logic of the structure of hierarchical philosophical
systems. Following the Indian tradition of siddhānta, Tibetan Buddhist traditions articulate a hierarchy of philosophical views. The ‘Middle Way’ philosophy or Madhyamaka—the view that holds that the ultimate truth is emptiness—
is, in general, held to be the highest view in the systematic depictions of
philosophies in Tibet, and is contrasted with realist schools of thought,
D. Duckworth (*)
Department of Religion, Temple University, 1114 W. Polett Walk,Anderson Hall 647,
Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
e-mail: douglas.duckworth@temple.edu
340
D. Duckworth
Buddhist and non-Buddhist. But why should an antirealist or nominalist position be said to be ‘better’ than a realist position? What is the criterion for this
claim and is it, or can it, be more than a criterion that is tradition-specific for
only Tibetan Buddhists? In this paper, I will look at the criteria to evaluate
Buddhist philosophical traditions, particularly as articulated in what came to be
referred as the ‘nonsectarian’ (ris med) tradition. I draw from the recent work
of Jorge Ferrer to query the assumptions of the hierarchical structures of
‘nonsectarian’ traditions and attempt to articulate an evaluative criteria for a
nonsectarian stance that are not based solely on metaphysical or traditionspecific claims.
Tibetan Buddhist Hierarchies of Truth
In the nineteenth century, a constellation of Buddhist traditions emerged in
eastern Tibet that forged alliances amongst different philosophical traditions.
Despite the shared aims among the traditions that came to be called the
‘nonsectarian movement,’ we clearly find hierarchies of philosophical views
as well as strategies of marginalization laid out to show the superiority of
one tradition over another. A common practice in Tibet is to set forth a
hierarchy of philosophical systems and assert the superiority of one view (one's
own) over another. The ‘nonsectarian’ movement was no exception, with the
Madhyamaka view of ‘other-emptiness’ (gzhan stong) or the view of great
completeness (rdzogs chen) commonly found at the top of these hierarchies,
in contrast to what are positioned as inferior Buddhist views such as those of
the ‘lesser vehicle’ (hīnayāna), and non-Buddhist schools of thought at the
bottom of the ladder.
In the nineteenth century, many different traditions came to be allied in reaction to
the overwhelming dominance of the Geluk (dge lugs) tradition. The Geluk school
champions a unique view of Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka, which it holds to be not only
the supreme philosophical view, but also the only correct view through which nirvāṇa
is possible. 1 The overt exclusivism of the Geluk school contrasts sharply with the
inclusivism that characterizes the other schools that came to form what is commonly
associated with the nonsectarian ideal in Tibet, particularly the Kagyü and Nyingma
schools.
In the Kagyü tradition, Kongtrül (kong sprul blo gros mtha’ yas, 1813–1899)
was a particularly influential figure who assimilated the works of (non-Geluk)
traditions in the nineteenth century. In his encyclopedic Treasury of Knowledge,
he assembled the views of various schools, and formulated a hierarchy of
philosophical systems that notably put the Madhyamaka interpretation of ‘other
emptiness’ above Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka, which he categorized as the doctrine of ‘self-emptiness.’ 2 In contrast to self-emptiness, which reflects the
ultimate truth understood as a negation that is the emptiness of a phenomenon's
1
See, for instance, José Cabezón, A Dose of Emptiness, 217.
Kongtrül Encyclopedia of Knowledge (shes bya kun khyab), 41; English trans. in Elizabeth Callahan, The
Treasury of Philosophy: Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2007), 74.
2
How Nonsectarian is ‘Nonsectarian’?
341
own essence, other-emptiness is an affirmation of ultimate truth as an unconditioned ground that is empty of all relative phenomena.
Along with Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka and the ‘other-emptiness’ interpretation of
Madhyamaka, another tradition that is commonly found at the capstone of philosophical hierarchies in Tibet, in the works of Kongtrül and followers of the Nyingma
tradition in particular, is the Great Perfection. Some scholars connect the Great
Perfection with ‘other-emptiness,’3 but other scholars, including Mipam (’ju mi pham
rgya mtsho, 1842–1912), associate Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka with the way of approaching the empty aspect of reality in the Great Perfection. 4 For Mipam, the
philosophy of Prāsaṅgika can be said to be primarily concerned with determining the
indeterminacy of the ultimate.5 That is, Prāsaṅgika denies any conceptual formulation
of ultimate truth, and sharply contrasts with the traditions of ‘other-emptiness,’ which
represent the experiential content of ultimate reality in affirming language.
We may wonder why ‘other-emptiness’ is held to be superior to ‘self-emptiness’ by
some traditions in Tibet, or why Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka or self-emptiness is held
above other-emptiness by others?6 In the next section, I aim to probe the logic of these
hierarchical schemes and show the demands that are placed by a more openly “nonsectarian,” or pluralist, stance.
3
For instance, Getsé Paṇchen (dge rtse paṇ chen, ’gyur med tshe dbang mchog grub, 1761–1829), stated that
‘The abiding mode of the Great Perfection singly accords with the Great Middle Way of other-emptiness.’
Getsé Paṇchen, Ornament of Buddha-Nature, 95.4: rdzogs pa chen po’i bzhugs tshul dang/ gzhan stong dbu
ma chen po gcig tu mthun. Getsé Paṇchen, Ornament of Buddha-Nature: A Discourse Ascertaining the
Manner of the Definitive Meaning Middle Way (nges don dbu ma chen po’i tshul rnam par nges pa’i gtam bde
gshegs snying po’i rgyan). Collected Works, vol. 1, 75–104.
4
Mipam, Words That Delight Guru Mañjughosa, 76; English trans. in Doctor, Speech of Delight 85. Mipam,
Beacon of Certainty, 19; English trans. in Pettit,˙ Mipam’s Beacon of Certainty 209. See Duckworth, Mipam on
Buddha-Nature, 39.
5
Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka is variously represented by different traditions in Tibet, and Mipam characterized
Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka as ‘discourse that emphasizes the uncategorized ultimate free from assertions.’ The
‘uncategorized ultimate’ is the nonconceptual ultimate, in contrast to the ‘categorized ultimate,’ which is a
conceptual understanding of the ultimate, a concept or idea of emptiness. See Mipam, Words That Delight
Guru Mañjughosa, 99; English trans. in Doctor, Speech of Delight 117. See also Duckworth, Mipam on
Buddha-Nature, ˙33.
6
For instance, one way this plays out is stated in the works of a Nyingma scholar, Lochen Dharmaśrī, who
suggests that Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka can be said to be ‘better’ than the Madhyamaka of other-emptiness if
the criterion is set to be the one that is the best means for establishing the ultimate nature things as free from
conceptual constructs in study. However, if the criterion is the one that is the best means of setting forth the
way ultimate reality is understood as an experiential presence in meditation, other-emptiness is better. Lochen
Dharmaśrī states: “If one thinks, ‘In the scriptures such as the Treasury of Philosophies and the root and
[auto-]commentary of the Wish-Fulfilling Treasury, is it not a contradiction that: (1) in the context of
identifying what is to be ascertained by means of study, Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka is established as the
pinnacle of the Causal Vehicle of Mahāyāna, and (2) in the contexts of ascertainment by means of meditative
experience, individual reflexive wisdom free from perceived-perceiver [duality] is asserted?’ There is no
contradiction because it is difficult for an ordinary being to deconstruct the reifications of the mind at the time
of ascertaining the view by means of study and contemplation. Therefore, in negating these [reifications of the
mind] through the supreme knowledge that arises through study and contemplation, Prāsaṅgika is a sharper
awareness that cuts through superimpositions. Also, at the time of ascertaining by experience [the supreme
knowledge] that arises in meditation, the view of the Middle Way taught in the last wheel itself is profound and
much better because: (1) the naturally pure expanse, the ultimate truth that is the self-existing wisdom, is itself
the primordial mode of reality of all phenomena, and (2) it is also in accord with the practice of the view that is
accepted in the profound tantras of Secret Mantra.” Lochen Dharmaśrī, Cluster of Supreme Intentions:
Commentary on ‘Ascertaining the Three Vows’ (sdom pa gsum rnam par nges pa’i ’grel pa legs bshad ngo
mtshar dpag bsam gyi snye ma), (Bylakuppe: Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, n.d.), 377.4-378.4.
342
D. Duckworth
Nonsectarian Alternatives
One of the ways that a philosophical view could be said to be better than another is that
it is a more accurate representation of reality. We might assume that views at the higher
end of a spectrum of philosophical views are those that more accurately represent
ultimate reality while those at the lower end are those that misrepresent it. Alternatively,
it could be that traditions with the most effective emancipatory power are those that are
said to be higher. Either of these criteria may not be problematic strictly within a
Buddhist context (although arguably, a problem emerges when competing Buddhist
views are considered on their own terms), yet when other traditions are brought into the
conversation (e.g., Hindu, Christian) a problem comes into a more clear focus.
We encounter a problem when we cannot empirically reconcile conflicting claims about
ultimate truth—whereas Buddhists assert no-self, Vedāntins claim a self, while some claim
an impersonal ground of reality, others assert a personal or pantheistic deity at the ground of
all, or the emptiness of all things…We can see this problem clearly when we consider the
following thought experiment7: consider a Theravāda Buddhist monk who comes from his
meditation retreat and reports an experience of having seen the eternal, independent Self, or,
suppose he had another vision—an intimate experience with a personal and loving God
upon penetrating the depths of the soul. After conveying either of these experiences to his
teacher, he would most certainly be told to go back to his meditation cushion until he saw
things “as they really are”: impermanent, suffering, and without a self. Yet we can expect
that the result would be just the opposite if the teacher were a follower of Advaita Vedānta
(in the former case) or Christian mysticism (in the latter).
If we take the claims of religious experience seriously—and not brush them aside as
mere illusions or projections—the lessons to be drawn from this example are clear:
given that the diversity of claims has yet to be resolved by such “experiential evidence,”
nor by a clean philosophical or religious debate (and a dirty bomb has yet to settle
these differences either), it may be time to look for another way around this problem—
unless we remain content with tried alternatives: isolationism (in the ivory tower, a
cave, or on the iphone), relativism (which suffers from indifferent isolationism too, as
well as being self-defeating), exclusivism (which claims the universal validity of one's
own culturally-contingent view), or perennialism (which, while ignoring critical differences among traditions, is guilty of the problems of exclusivism, too). Jorge Ferrer,
however, points out that there may be another way to resolve the problem of religious
diversity. Ferrer claims that many of the competing claims of religions present a
problem only with an objectivist view, one that sees such conflicting truths as more
or less accurate representations of ultimate reality. He states:
The diversity of spiritual claims is a problem only when we have previously
presupposed that they are referring to a single ready-made reality…if they intend
to represent or convey the nature of a single referent with determined features.
But if we see such a spiritual referent as malleable, undetermined, and creatively
open to a multiplicity of disclosures largely contingent on human religious
endeavors, then the reasons for conflict vanish like a mirage.8
7
8
I have taken this thought experiment from Jorge Ferrer, Revisioning Transpersonal Theory, 63.
Ferrer, ‘Spiritual Knowing as Participatory Enaction, 149.
How Nonsectarian is ‘Nonsectarian’?
343
Ferrer argues that this kind of religious diversity is only problematic when we
assume that there is a determinate ultimate reality that can be exclusively depicted by
a single representation. If ultimate reality is undetermined, there could be multiple ways
it would manifest, and thus the “problem” of diversity would dissolve, echoing
Wittgenstein's words in the Tractatus that “The solution of the problem of life is seen
in the vanishing of the problem.” 9 Thus, rather than seeing religious diversity as a
problem, Ferrer celebrates pluralism's irreducibility.
Does this move to embracing pluralism and an undetermined ultimate reality leave us
with relativism—equalizing all assertions and disclosures? Not necessarily. Empirical
claims can still be distinguished on empirical grounds, 10 while claims about ultimate
reality can be distinguished, too. Yet, rather than one claim being better than another by
more accurately referring to an objective, predetermined ultimate truth, it can be said to
be better based on the potency of its emanicipatory effects. With this, a representational or
objectivist picture of language can be left behind, as there is no need for a conception of
language that models a pregiven reality. Rather, language can be thought of here as a
vehicle to elicit transformative experience, like the example of a finger that points to the
moon. That is, when evaluating competing claims, a more effective or aesthetically
pleasing, simpler or more elegant way to evoke an experience of ultimate reality could
be said to be a better one, even if what is expressed is not something that could be
represented. Thus, instead of seeing language about ultimate reality as descriptive, this is
what Ferrer proposes in the prescriptive or performative language of mystical traditions:
The expression “things as they really are” is misguided only if understood in the
context of objectivist and essentialist epistemologies… After all, what most mystical
traditions offer are not so much descriptions of a pregiven ultimate reality to be
confirmed or falsified by experiential evidence but prescriptions of ways of “beingand-the-world” to be intentionally cultivated and lived. In the end, mystical traditions aim at transformation, not representation… It may be more accurate to talk
about them not so much in terms of “things as they really are,” but of “things as they
really can be” or, perhaps more normatively, “things as they really should be.”11
In contrast to a criterion of representational adequacy, another way to evaluate the
claims of traditions is through their transformational potency.
Thus, the presumption that ultimate reality is undetermined does not necessarily lead
to relativism, but could support a hierarchical model of truth, too. The logic of such a
hierarchy could be based on what has more emanicipatory power, like we see in some
Tibetan Buddhist philosophical hierarchies. In such a Buddhist context, claims that are
more effective in eliciting nirvāṇa, an end to suffering, are said to be better. This kind
of inclusivism is hierarchical, too, as a tradition represents its own stance as the most
accurate and complete, while those of others are seen as partial or incomplete. Yet
Ferrer points out a problem with inclusivism as a picture that predetermines the way
that opposing views fit into one's own framework and structures all divergent ideas into
one's own, ready-made model. He states:
9
Wittgenstein, Tractatus, 6.521.
Empirical validity, as Ferrer points out, is not reducible to objective (third person) verification or falsification, but encompasses intersubjective verification (and falsification) as well as disciplined introspection. See
Ferrer, Revisioning Transpersonal Theory, chapter 2.
11
Ferrer, ‘Spiritual Knowing as Participatory Enaction,’ 155.
10
344
D. Duckworth
Once one believes oneself to be in possession of a picture of “things as they really
are,” dialogue with traditions maintaining different spiritual visions often becomes an uninteresting and sterile monologue. At its worst, the conflicting
viewpoints are regarded as less evolved, incoherent, or simply false. At best,
the challenges presented are assimilated within the all-encompassing perennialist
scheme. In both cases, the perennialist philosopher appears not to listen to what
other people are saying, because all new or conflicting information is screened,
processed, or assimilated in terms of the perennialist framework. Therefore, a
genuine or symmetrical encounter with the other in which opposing spiritual
visions are regarded as real options is rendered unlikely.12
Here, Ferrer argues against a predetermined hierarchical scheme for spiritual truths, not
only for the reason that he rejects exclusivism (because no tradition has exclusive priority
to claims that are non-empirical), but because he rejects an objectivist model that
presumes a structure that is pregiven, generalizable, and fixed for all individuals across
space and time.13 This applies not only to ultimate truths, but to hierarchies of philosophical systems, as well as structures of paths understood to lay out ‘The Way’ to liberation in
a way that mirrors an intrinsic, objective reality that everyone must follow. He contends
that not only does such a preconception preclude the possibility of genuine interreligious
dialogue, but it delimits transformative possibilities to one's own preconceived notion of
the result of a process of spiritual transformation. Thus, Ferrer challenges a hardwired,
vertical hierarchy of religious truth, and opts for a more fluid or multi-centered structure
that embraces not only a plurality of paths, but a plurality of ultimate(s) goals as well, in
what could be said to be, in a Deleuzian sense, a ‘rhizomatic’ landscape.14
This kind of model still permits a (soft) hierarchy within traditions in terms of their
efficacy in different contexts for varied individuals, and a fluid or soft hierarchy can
also be laid out here with regards to claims about the ultimate as well. That is, there can
be times when the monistic singularity of reality may serve as a ‘better’ description (or
prescription or performative ‘path’) for someone and other times when the pluralistic
diversity of reality may be better and yet another time when a denial of both singularity
and plurality may be preferable. Likewise, it may be better to emphasize the continuity
of reality in some contexts while in others, rupture and disjunction may be better,
depending on the desired outcome for the particular community or individual in the
situation at hand. In other words, whether or not these expressions may be said to be
‘better’ does not depend on how well they hook up to a universal structure or objective
referent in the world, but to the efficacy for a desired outcome in a given context.
It is in this last criterion of efficacy, the pragmatic or transformative effectiveness of
a tradition and its claims, where we find what pertains to the ethical rather than simply
the metaphysical. It is in this domain where we find what does the work that determines
the criteria for evaluating traditions according to Ferrer, as he states:
Although my work does not privilege any tradition or type of spirituality over
others on objectivist or ontological grounds (i.e., saying that theism, monism, or
12
Ferrer, Revisioning Transpersonal Theory, 94.
Ferrer, ‘Participation, Metaphysics, and Enlightenment: Reflections on Ken Wilber's Recent Work,’ 8; see
also Ferrer, Revisioning Transpersonal Theory, 164–5.
14
For Deleuze (and Guattari) on the rhizome, see, for instance, their A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and
Schizophrenia, trans. by Brain Massumi (Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1987), 21.
13
How Nonsectarian is ‘Nonsectarian’?
345
nondualism corresponds to the nature of ultimate reality and/or is intrinsically
superior), it does offer criteria for making qualitative distinctions among spiritual
systems on pragmatic and transformational grounds.15
Rather than just a metaphysical criterion, Ferrer incorporates ethical standards for
evaluating mystical traditions, too, and solicits two main criteria to evaluate them: the
egocentricism test and the dissociation test. The egocentricism test evaluates ‘to what
extent… a spiritual tradition, path, or practice free(s) its practitioners from gross and
subtle forms of narcissism and self-centeredness?’16 And the dissociation test evaluates
‘to what extent… a spiritual tradition, path, or practice foster(s) the integrated
blossoming of all dimensions of the person?’17 The ‘integrated dimensions of a person’
refers to criteria that incorporate both cognitive and embodied aspects of an individual.18
Ferrer further adds a third criterion (that could be considered a subset of the second)
that he calls the eco–social–political test, which he says, ‘assesses the extent to which
spiritual systems foster ecological balance, social and economic justice, religious and
political freedom, class and gender equality, and other fundamental human rights.’19
The importance of these evaluative criteria is that they are nonsectarian or, rather, are
not tradition-specific, but attempt to provide a means to make qualitative distinctions
across different religious traditions without taking on a privileged perspective from any
one tradition's view. Arguably, this allows one to sidestep absolutist claims because no
single tradition is held to presume an exclusive monopoly on truth, and furthermore,
standards are not measured with reference to a predetermined, objective reality. Rather, the
evaluative measures are based on pragmatic markers that are applicable across traditions.
These criteria arguably avoid relativism, too, because, despite a real diversity of empirically irreconcilable truth claims amongst different traditions, their varying qualities of truth
can be differentiated qualitatively on the grounds of their enacted results—on (integrative
and dissociative) psychological, sociological, and ecological grounds—rather than based
on which one most accurately depicts the right metaphysical picture of reality.
Since Ferrer's model is based on a pragmatic and ‘participatory’ account of truth rather
than a metaphysical one, his approach is different than the one proposed by John Hick,
who relied on a Kantian metaphysic to formulate his ‘pluralistic hypothesis’ of different
religions experiencing ‘the Real’ in different ways.20 In contrast to Hick's metaphysical
‘Real,’ Ferrer does not subscribe to objectivist metaphysics. He stresses that reality is
indeterminate (or undetermined) and that there is no real, pregiven structure to reality.
Thus, he arguably avoids unwarranted metaphysical assumptions. While Ferrer's pluralist
model of alternative religious ends resembles a position articulated by Mark Heim,21 he
distinguishes his model from Heim's on precisely this point where he differs from Hick.22
Ferrer argues that Heim is guilty of presuming an independent, pregiven reality
and perpetuating Kantian dualism,23 while Ferrer himself claims that ‘the model I
15
Ferrer, ‘Participation, Metaphysics, and Enlightenment: Reflections on Ken Wilber's Recent Work,’ 7.
Ferrer, ‘Spiritual Knowing as Participatory Enaction,’ 153.
17
Ferrer, ‘Spiritual Knowing as Participatory Enaction,’ 153.
18
Ferrer, ‘Participatory Spirituality and Transpersonal Theory: A Ten-Year Retrospective,’ 3.
19
Ferrer, ‘Participatory Spirituality and Transpersonal Theory: A Ten-Year Retrospective,’ 7.
20
See John Hick, An Interpretation of Religion, 240–46.
21
See Mark Heim, Salvations: Truth and Difference in Religions.
22
Ferrer, Revisioning Transpersonal Theory, 215n27.
23
Ferrer, ‘Spiritual Knowing as Participatory Enaction,’ 165–66n49.
16
346
D. Duckworth
am advancing here is that no pregiven ultimate reality exists, and that different
spiritual ultimates can be enacted through intentional or spontaneous creative
participation in an indeterminate spiritual power or mystery.’ 24 Of course, a lot
hinges upon what is meant by this ‘indeterminate spiritual power or mystery,’ but
Ferrer maintains that his denial of any pregiven reality is not the same as his
affirming a positive theory about it. Thus, he claims to avoid the ontological
presuppositions of the metaphysical systems he critiques. 25 The move Ferrer
makes here to avoid self-contradiction is reminiscent of the one made by
Nāgārjuna in support of his Middle Way doctrine of emptiness. 26 Indeed, there
is a real affinity with Ferrer's position and the Buddhist Middle Way.
Yet the ‘one vehicle’ of the Middle Way tradition in Tibet affirms that all Buddhist
paths lead in the end to the same goal (of becoming Buddha). This is a classic view of
inclusivism, not pluralism. This view is said to be better than the ‘Mind Only’
tradition's assertion of three vehicles (Auditor, Solitary Realizer, and Bodhisattva) that
lead to different final results (and only the last leads to becoming a Buddha). Probing
this internal diversity of Buddhist tradition can be a good point of entry to query
Buddhist attitudes toward other religions.27 Here, we have a place from which to ask
critical questions about contemporary Buddhist inclusivism: Why is it better to hold
one final goal for all these Buddhist traditions (and for all other traditions, too, with the
claim that all beings will eventually become Buddhas)? Is it because this accords with
how reality is or is it better because subscribing to this is an effective means to
overcome egocentrism and dissocation? The Uttaratantra, a classical text that supports
the universality of Buddhist enlightenment, suggests the latter.28 Yet how is the single
final destination reconciled with non-Buddhist paths that claim other ends (like heaven
(or hell), union with God, Brahman, etc.)? Is asserting one end for everyone better
because it does not exclude people in other religions from the final fruit of one's own—
for Buddhists at least? for everyone? This last question is particularly relevant for
traditions in the contemporary world to address, Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike. A
nonsectarian stance of pluralism rather than inclusivism—one that concedes multiple
ends, like Ferrer’s—is one possible alternative. This kind of pluralism offers a nonsectarian stance in a global context. As a stance that stakes a certain claim, it indeed is not
neutral, relativistic, or apathetic, and certainly (and by definition) is not the only one.29
Conclusion
While Ferrer's notion of ultimate reality being undetermined resonates with
Buddhist emptiness (as does his egocentrism test), his idea of an undetermined
24
Ferrer, Revisioning Transpersonal Theory, 151.
Ferrer, ‘Spiritual Knowing as Participatory Enaction,’ 168n63.
26
Nāgārjuna, Vigrahavyāvartanī v. 29: ‘If I had a thesis, I would have fault; since I have no thesis, I am only
faultless,’ and Mūlamadhyāmakakārikā XIII.8: ‘The Victorious Ones have proclaimed emptiness as that
which relinquishes all views; but those who hold emptiness as a view are incurable.’
27
See Kristen Kiblinger, Buddhist Inclusivism: Attitudes toward Religious Others (England: Ashgate Publications, 2005).
28
See Uttaratantra I.157. See also, Duckworth, Mipam on Buddha-nature, 136–7.
29
See John Makransky (2008) for a defense of Buddhist inclusivism that sustains multiple ends for different
religious traditions, but asserts a distinctive Buddhist end (for its distinct path).
25
How Nonsectarian is ‘Nonsectarian’?
347
ultimate precludes emptiness from being the final word on reality because,
being undetermined, ultimate reality can also be disclosed as theistic in a
personal God. And importantly, this God is not a “lower” reality than emptiness
because, of course, being lower depends on the criteria of a given context, not
an objective truth. That is, its value is based on the pragmatic results or
emancipatory functions it serves for an individual or community at a specific
time, in the way it functions to overcome egocentrism and dissociation. It is
with this logic that Ferrer challenges the structure of predetermined paths and
sectarian hierarchies within a scripted Buddhist universe, and with this he offers
a challenge to the assumptions of so-called “nonsectarian” traditions of Buddhist Tibet. However, the logic that drives his argument is precisely the logic of
interdependence (or context-dependence), and this again can be seen as a
Buddhist position.
Moreover, Ferrer's notions of the dissociation test and eco–social–political test are
also not foreign to a Buddhist worldview, but grow out of the notion of the bodhisattva.
Indeed, he articulates his own updated version of the bodhisattva vow to engage the
world that he calls ‘the integrated bodhisattva vow.’ With this, he describes a commitment to cultivate fully the integrated dimensions of heart and mind, and not neglect the
horizontal ‘breadth’ of one's living body (e.g., the emotional, energetic, and somatic
dimensions) and world (e.g., the social, political, and ecological dimensions) while
vertically ascending the ‘heights’ (and depths) of cognitive development.30 In this light,
Ferrer can be seen as a ‘Buddhist modernist,’ or rather, as offering a critical and
constructive version of Buddhism for Northwestern European cultural traditions of
the twenty-first century.31
The strengths of Ferrer's contribution are that he brings traditional religious systems,
and Buddhism in particular, into conversation with the concerns of the contemporary
world, a world that is not bound to the singular narrative of one pre-modern ethos, but
which resonates with a multiplicity of voices—feminist and historical, empirical and
theoretical, hermeneutic and scientific, mystical and secular, Hindu and Muslim. Yet
Ferrer can be seen to clearly be drawing from Buddhist principles: emptiness (with his
notion of an undetermined ultimate), interdependence (with his emphasis on contextdependence for evaluating normative values), no-self (which he formulates in the
egocentricism test), and the bodhisattva ideal (which he reformulates in the dissociation
and eco–social–political tests). In this light, Ferrer is doing nothing more (and nothing
less) than offering an updated version of Buddhism, a global Buddhism. Nonetheless, his
most significant contribution may be in illustrating what a “nonsectarian” stance might
look like in a contemporary, religiously diverse world. While doing so, he shows us what
is lost, and what is gained, if we adopt such a truly “nonsectarian” or pluralist stance: what
we stand to lose is our particular version of a determinate ultimate truth and a fixed
referent of what the end religious goal looks like; what we stand to gain is the real
possibility of a transformative dialogue with different traditions, and a new, open relation
to the world, ourselves, and each other.
30
See Ferrer, ‘Participation, Metaphysics, and Enlightenment: Reflections on Ken Wilber's Recent Work,’ 16–
19.
31
A similar project to reconstruct a modern Buddhist stance toward religious others are taken up in J.
Abraham Vélez de Cea, The Buddha and Religious Diversity (New York: Routledge, 2013).
348
D. Duckworth
References
Cabezón, J. (1992). A dose of emptiness: an annotated translation of the stong thun chen mo of mkhas grub
dge legs dpal bzang. Albany: SUNY Press.
Callahan, E. (2007). The treasury of philosophy: frameworks of Buddhist philosophy. Ithaca: Snow Lion
Publications.
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus: capitalism and schizophrenia. Minnesota: University
of Minnesota Press. Translated by Brain Massumi.
Doctor, T. (2004). Speech of delight: Mipham's commentary on Śāntarak ita's ornament of the middle way.
Ithaca: Snow Lion.
Duckworth, D. (2008). Mipam on Buddha-nature. Albany: SUNY Press.
Ferrer, J. (2002). Revisioning transpersonal theory: a participatory vision of human spirituality. Albany:
SUNY Press.
Ferrer, J. (2008). Spiritual knowing as participatory enaction. In J. Ferrer & J. Sherman (Eds.), The
Participatory Turn: Spirituality, Mysticism, Religious studies (pp. 135–69). Albany: SUNY Press.
Ferrer, J. (2011a). Participatory spirituality and transpersonal theory: a ten-year retrospective. Journal of
Transpersonal Psychology, 43, 1.
Ferrer, J. (2011b). Participation, metaphysics, and enlightenment: reflections on Ken Wilber's recent work.
Transpersonal Psychology Review, 14(2), 3–24.
Getsé Paṇchen (dge rtse paṇ chen, ’gyur med tshe dbang mchog grub, 1761–1829) (2001). Ornament of
Buddha-Nature: A Discourse Ascertaining the Manner of the Definitive Meaning Middle Way (nges don
dbu ma chen po’i tshul rnam par nges pa’i gtam bde gshegs snying po’i rgyan). Collected Works, vol. 1,
75–104. Chengdu, China: People's Press.
Heim, S. M. (1995). Salvations: truth and difference in religion. Mary Knoll: Orbis Books.
Hick, J. (1989). An interpretation of religion. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Kiblinger, K. (2005). Buddhist inclusivism: attitudes toward religious others. England: Ashgate Publications.
Kongtrül (kong sprul blo gros mtha’ yas, 1813–1899) (2002). Encyclopedia of Knowledge (shes bya kun
khyab). Beijing, China: Nationalities Press.
Lochen Dharmaśrī (lo chen dharmaśrī, 1654–1717). Cluster of Supreme Intentions: Commentary on
“Ascertaining the Three Vows” (sdom pa gsum rnam par nges pa’i ’grel pa legs bshad ngo mtshar dpag
bsam gyi snye ma). Bylakuppe: Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, n.d.
Maitreya (1957). Uttaratantra (theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma’i bstan bcos). In Suzuki, D. T. (Ed.), The Tibetan
Tripitika, Peking edition (#5525, vol. 108). Tokyo, Japan: Tibetan Tripitika Research Institute.
Makranskxy, J. (2008). Buddhist inclusivism: reflections toward a contemporary theology of religions. In P.
Schmidt-Leukel (Ed.), Buddhist attitudes toward other religions (pp. 47–68). Germany: EOS.
Mipam (’ju mi pham rgya mtsho, 1846–1912). Words That Delight Guru Mañjughosa: Commentary on the
˙ dgyes pa’i zhal lung).
‘Ornament of the Middle Way’ (dbu ma rgyan gyi rnam bshad ’jam byangs bla ma
Published in dbu ma rgyan rtsa ’grel. Sichuan, China: Nationalities Press, 1990.
Nāgārjuna (1957). Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (dbu ma rtsa ba’i shes rab). In Suzuki, D. T. (Ed.), The Tibetan
Tripitika, Peking edition (#5224, vol. 95). Tokyo, Japan: Tibetan Tripitika Research Institute.
Nāgārjuna (1957). Vigrahavyāvartanī (rtsod zlog). In Suzuki, D. T. (Ed.), The Tibetan Tripitika, Peking edition
(#5228, vol. 95). Tokyo, Japan: Tibetan Tripitika Research Institute.
Vélez, A. J. (2013). The Buddha and religious diversity. New York: Routledge.