OCBS - The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies

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Welcome to the July 2012 Issue of OCBS News.

In this issue we have two exciting pieces of news: the appointment of a new Numata Chair for Buddhist Studies at Oxford University, and the agreement of Aung San Suu Kyi to be our patron. More details on both below.

We also have a report from our Fellow Dr. Sarah Shaw on the recent International Day of Vesak, as well as her impressions of Buddhism in Southern Burma.

We end with a report by Richard Gombrich on a talk he recently gave in London, and some good news on the fundraising side.

FEATURED THIS MONTH

	Appointment of New Numata Chair of Buddhist Studies We are delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Stefano Zacchetti to the Numata Chair of Buddhist Studies at Oxford University. Here is a short bio for Professor Zacchetti. 1994 degree in Chinese; 1999 PhD, Venice University; further studies at Sichuan University, China, and Leiden University. 2001 to 2005 associate professor at the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Tokyo. 2005 to 2012 tenured lecturer at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. His research focuses on early Chinese Buddhist literature (particularly translations and commentaries), and the history of the canon. His publications include the monograph In Praise of the Light (Tokyo 2005). Professor Zachetti will be arriving in Oxford shortly and we are very much looking forward to his advice and collaboration in the future.
	New patron for the OCBS On her recent visit to Oxford, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi very kindly agreed to become one of our patrons. We would like to thank Daw Suu Kyi very much for her support of the Centre, and wish her all success in her groundbreaking work, an attempt to apply Buddhist principles to public life which is drawing universal admiration.
	The ninth United Nations Day of Vesak and the second International Association of Buddhist Universities Conference, United Nations Building, Bangkok and Mahachulalongkorn University, Ayutthaya by Sarah Shaw This year the annual conference to celebrate Vesak, normally held at the United Nations building in Bangkok, was combined with the International Association of Buddhist Universities conference, postponed because of last year's floods. It was considered a special event, as the ‘celebration of 2600 years of the Buddha’s Enlightenment’, and so the panels of speakers were larger than usual. From the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, guest speakers at the United Nations Day of Vesak were Venerable Dr Khammai Dhammasāmi and Dr Sarah Shaw. Venerable Dhammasāmi is also the chair of the International Association of Buddhist Universities, and led a meeting of this new organization at the United Nations building. The academic conference for the International Association of Buddhist Universities was held at the Mahachulalongkorn site in Ayutthaya, and speakers from OCBS included Geoffrey Bamford and Sarah Shaw. There were four panels around the theme of ‘Buddhist Philosophy and Praxis’: Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practices, Buddhist Philosophical Views, teaching Buddhism in new lands, and Buddhist Psychotherapy. There was an additional seminar on Buddhist texts and commentaries in traditional and contemporary contexts. Academics from around the world attended the vast conferences, held at the two sites, and the proceedings went on for four days. For a link to all the papers, see the ‘Buddhajayanti’ conference website: http://www.undv.org/vesak2012/en/
	Impressions of Buddhism in southern Burma by Sarah Shaw Before going to the conference in Thailand in May I visited Southern Burma. Here are some impressions of our trip from Rangoon, south to Moulmein, the farthest south tourists are permitted. The Mon area was the first part of the region to attract Buddhism and for centuries acted as a kind of reception area for the various forms of Sanskrit and Pali Buddhism that came from Eastern India, until, in the thirteenth century, Mogul invasions of Bengal reinforced already ancient links with Sri Lanka and a stronger connection with the kind of Buddhism practised there. The region reveals a Buddhism and Buddhist culture that is less well-known. If you go to this region you will be very glad of this decision, as it means real contact with Burmese people, who are friendly to visitors, and a chance to see Buddhist practice ‘on the ground’ with few Western influences. To read the full article, complete with more beautiful pictures from Burma please click here.
	Recent talk in London by Richard Gombrich On Sunday 24 June I was invited to give the “Keynote Address” at the “Sambuddhatva Jayanti Vesak-Poson Celebrations” at Brent Town Hall in London. I spoke on “Responsibility”. I explained that in Buddhism, as in Christianity, moral responsibility lies entirely with the individual. The idea which has grown up in some Buddhist traditions that there is also something called “collective karma” has no justification in the Buddha’s teaching. For the Buddha, karma lies in the intention of the individual, who always ultimately has the freedom to choose right or wrong, even if sometimes circumstances make the choice difficult. The Buddha showed that absolutely everything in life is liable to change. This must include the practice of Buddhism itself. Were Buddhism now to be the same as it was in the days of the Buddha, this would falsify his teaching. A curious feature of Buddhism today is the idea of “applied Buddhism”. This is curious simply because one has to ask what unapplied Buddhism is meant to be: would that truly be Buddhism? But maybe the term reflects a general timidity about applying Buddhist principles to the social and political issues that confront us. I illustrated the Buddhist view of responsibility by talking of the current economic crisis in Greece, which I analysed in terms of human agency. The response of the audience was gratifying. There was great applause. Some of the dignitaries present asked if they could have a copy of my speech, but I spoke ex tempore, so there was none. A summary of my analysis can therefore be read here.
	Donations to the OCBS We are very happy to announce two recent grants made to the Centre. The Oxford Buddha Vihara and its devotees have offered 2000 pounds for two years to the Centre to assist in the Journal production. We are very grateful to Ven. Dhammasami and all devotees of the Oxford Buddha Vihara for this contribution, which we will be using to upgrade the hosting programme of the Journal to enhance its attractiveness to universities. Fo Guang University have also added to their previous donation to help fund our core costs. The OCBS receives no money from the government or the University. We are grateful for all contributions that enable us to continue our work.
Please note that we include personal articles in the newsletter to represent a variety of views and the opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the OCBS or its officials. Your subscription: Not interested any more? [UNSUBSCRIBE]


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 Welcome to the (Insert Month) 2012 Issue of OCBS News.  (Insert text here) 
 FEATURED THIS MONTH      
Report from Richard Gombrich  
 For the second year running,   
The Centre for Applied Buddhism  
The Centre for Applied Buddhism 
We would like to bring you details of a new initiative from our colleagues at the Institute of Oriental Philosophy ( http://iopuk.org/ ) – the launch of a new ‘Centre for Applied Buddhism’. 
"The time is right to embark on a new venture investigating Applied Buddhism in all its aspects. The application of Buddhism in people’s daily lives, the interaction of Buddhism with contemporary society and the dialogue with psychology, science, philosophy, creativity and many other areas. 
This new centre will continue and develop the work that has previously been carried out within the Institute of Oriental Philosophy-UK which is now closing down. 
  
In recent years the IOP-UK had increasingly become involved in the work of making Buddhism more widely accessible through its programme of ‘Creative Awakening’ seminars. The new centre will develop this work through an innovative programme of events, seminars and conferences open to all and covering areas such as environmental issues, war, economics, politics and science in relation to Buddhism. 
The IOP-UK’s academic work will continue within the Centre for Applied Buddhism as will the development of the Library with its wonderful collection of books on Buddhism and related subjects. 
The centre will be based at Taplow Court near Maidenhead, just thirty minutes by train from London and with easy airport accessibility.” 
  
There will be a launch event for the new Centre at Taplow on 31st March at 2.30pm. 
Speakers will include Michele Lamb from SGI-UK, Maitrisara from the Triratna Buddhist Order and Ven. Amaranatho a Theravadin monk who now lives as an alms mendicant. 
If you wish to attend or for more information please contact Val Stephenson at vs@iopuk.org ( mailto:vs@iopuk.org ). 
OCBS Student Grant  
 We are very happy to announce that this term’s student grant of £500 has been awarded to Chris Jones.  Chris is reading for a DPhil. in Buddhist Studies at Oxford.  We are very grateful to the generosity of Dr. Thet Thet Nwe for making this award possible.    Read more  
Visit of His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa  
 His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa is visiting Oxford today.  There will be a number of activities including a visit to the OCBS.   There will also be two public events held at Wolfson College:   Education, Health and Environment in the Buddhist Himalayas Time: 3:30-4:00pm  As head of the Drukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and founder of the Live to Love Foundation – a worldwide humanitarian initiative, his Holiness will speak about some of his current projects.  Panel discussion - Mindfulness: Combining Ancient Wisdom with Modern Science Time: 4:30pm - 5:30pm  with His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa and Mark Leonard (Oxford Mindfulness Centre) Chaired by Diana Quick.  followed by a reception at Wolfson College from 5:30pm    ( http://ocbs.org/events-ocbsmain-129/33-academic-events/221-visit-of-his-holiness-the-gyalwang-drukpa-to-oxford ) Read more  
Update on the OCBS  
 Here at the OCBS we are preparing for the arrival of the new Numata Chair in Buddhist Studies – an event we are very excited about.  We have had a very productive few months to start the year – our Hilary Term Lecture Series ( http://ocbs.org/events-ocbsmain-129/33-academic-events/212-hilary-term-2012-lecture-series ) has gone well with very high attendance and we have had another Buddhism Lunch at the University for all of those interested in Buddhist Studies.  We are also gearing up for the publication of the next volume of the Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies ( http://ocbs.org/journal ).  If you haven’t subscribed yet and are interested in doing so please visit www.ocbs.org/journal ( http://ocbs.org/journal ).  Our volunteers have been very active, assisting us in all parts of our operations.  We also now have a small team of volunteers assisting us in developing our fundraising activities to secure the future of the Centre.  This is a very important project for us and there will be more details about this going up on our site soon.  Thank you for your continued interest and support of the Centre.   Read more  
Visit of Dr. Lobsang Rapgay  
 It was an honour for the OCBS to host Dr. Lobsang Rapgay on Thursday 8th March at 4pm. He delivered a talk entitled:   “Emerging independent scientific support from modern cognitive sciences for the original version of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness - Thoughts of how to advance the understanding and practice of mindfulness”.  The audio podcast of this talk will be available on our website in the coming week.    Podcast  
Volunteers at the OCBS  
 We are very happy to announce that we now have a total of 10 people volunteering at the OCBS.  They help us out with many differing aspects of our activities including the website, this newsletter,  audio recordings, the library and much more.  We are lucky to have such a committed and talented group of people working for us and it has helped us to expand our activities even more.    On 22nd February we had an evening to say thank you to all of our volunteers with catering provided by one of our fellows – Sarah Shaw.  It went on until 10pm and it was great to have some of our students and fellows turn up to give our volunteers a sense of the bigger picture and the benefits their activities are bringing.  Get Involved ( http://ocbs.org/contact-ocbsmain-126/12-contact-us/10-steven-egan )  
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Patrons

HH the Dalai Lama

HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand

His Majesty the 5th Druk Gyalpo Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck of Bhutan

Mr Toshihide Numata, President of the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Hon. DCL(Oxon)

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