Embraced By All Buddhas
信楽まことにうるひとは摂取不捨の利益ゆえ等正覚にいたるなり
I'm Wamae Muriuki, and I am a PhD Candidate in the Department of Comparative Studies at the Ohio State University. Originally from Kenya, I have spent the last 10 or so years in the US pursuing an ever growing (and diverging) interest in philosophy.
My research is centered on Japanese Buddhist philosophies and practices of the body, specifically those concerned with the body’s role in the enlightenment experience. My M.A. thesis "This Very Body The Buddha: The Reworking of a Common Tradition in the Thought of Dōgen and Kūkai" argued that Kūkai and Dōgen were united in their belief that sentient beings could be enlightened “in this very body,” or sokushin jōbutsu (即身成仏) though they differed in just how that enlightenment came to be actualized. In brief, Dōgen and Kūkai both describe a world where enlightenment is readily available to all, whether it be through a resonance with the activities of the universe in Kūkai, or through a manifestation of enlightenment through activity in Dōgen.
More recently I have become interested in Shinran’s Jōdō Shinshū tradition; an interest sparked by the curious role that emotion plays in the relationship between the "ordinary" individual (bonbu) and Amida Buddha. I am also intrigued by recent developments in Continental philosophy around the idea of affect and just how these divergent traditions may share some common insights.
My research blog contains some of my working notes and rough translations of works and ideas that I hope will find their way into my dissertation.
Feel free to look around, comment, and let me know what you think!