24 April
Lecture Room 1 – Oriental Institute
5.15pm
Professor Richard Gombrich, OCBS
New Discoveries about the Origins of the Buddhist Order of Nuns
Buddhism makes a reasonable claim to be the first world religion to emphasise human equality, including equality between the genders. But certain well known features of the Buddhist religion seem incompatible with this claim. Perhaps the most important of these are the tradition that the Buddha was reluctant to agree to the foundation of an Order of Nuns, and that when he finally agreed he said that it would mean that Buddhism would die out within this world in 500 years. Besides, Theravada Buddhism has for about a thousand years stopped ordaining nuns, a move backed by both religious and secular authorities.
Ven. Analayo, a German Theravada monk, published a book last year proving that these positions do not go back to the Buddha himself, but reflect misogynistic changes in the tradition and its texts. His discoveries deserve to be known and acted upon wherever Buddhism is found today. This lecture will simply summarise Analayo’s findings, which I believe to be momentous and convincing.
5 June
Lecture Room 1 – Oriental Institute
5.15pm
Dr Péter-Dániel Szántó
Tantric Buddhist Gurus in Mediaeval Indian Royal Courts
Although some passages of late tantric Buddhist literature (ca. 700 to 1200 CE) display a certain reticence towards royal courts, there is some evidence to suggest that a handful of tantric Buddhist masters did became kings’ chaplains. I will examine this corpus, consisting mostly of inscriptions and exegetical passages, trying to draw out as much information as possible about these masters’ perceived roles, standing, influence, and possible problems they may have encountered when trying to harmonise antinomian teachings and social morality.
Lingyin Lectures in Buddhist Studies – Trinity Term 2017
May 8th and May 22nd 2017, h. 5.15pm
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE
Lecture Room no. 1
Monday, May 8th 2017:
“The Indian Yogācāra Scholar Sthiramati and his Proofs of the Validity of the Mahāyāna”.
Prof. Jowita Kramer (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
Monday, May 22nd 2017:
“Reviving a Text and Questioning a Tradition: Yinshun (1906-2005) and New Studies of Da zhidu lun in Twentieth-century China and Taiwan”.
Prof. Stefania Travagnin (University of Groningen)
All are welcome to attend.
For information, please contact: stefano.zacchetti@orinst.ox.ac.uk