2 May
5pm
InvestCorp Theatre, St. Anthony’s College, Oxford
We are delighted to present William Dalrymple, who will be discussing his upcoming book The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World
We anticipate a high demand for this talk so pre-booking is essential. To secure your ticket please click here.
This term we will be presenting three lectures. These lectures are presented in conjunction with the Dhammachai International Research Institute, as part of our ongoing academic partnership.
The details are as follows:
24 October (5pm BST) / 31 October (5pm GMT) / 7 November (5pm GMT)
The lectures will be streamed on our YouTube page.
For a Zoom link to attend the lecture and ask questions (limited spaces), please contact steven.egan@ocbs.org
Suicide, Meditation and Anti-realism: Three Problems in the Study of Early Buddhism
Alexander Wynne
This lecture series will consider three apparently distinct problems in the study of early Buddhism: one ethical (suicide), one spiritual (meditation) and one metaphysical (anti-realism). By bringing out underlying connections and discontinuities between these subjects, the lectures will show how early Buddhism was decisively shaped by two forces: an ascetic spirituality based on the practice of mindfulness, and rooted in metaphysical anti-realism; and a heterodox Brahminic tradition of renunciation, stemming from the early Upaniṣads, and transmitting a tradition of calm meditation. Understanding early Buddhism in its historical context, and trying to draw out the implicit meaning of obscure canonical Suttas, these lectures will present the nascent Buddhist movement afresh as a creative fusion of two distinct streams of speculation.
1. Suicide (October 24th) (Watch Lecture: https://youtube.com/live/b_YT8mjMNdI)
Separate Pali Suttas, all with parallels in the Chinese Tipiṭaka, record the suicides of three bhikkhus: Channa, Vakkali and Godhika. These texts have little to say about the ethical problem of suicide, and are in fact deeply ambiguous: two treat Channa and Vakkali more or less as unenlightened disciples of the Buddha, whereas the account of Godhika’s suicide expresses unorthodox ideas about meditation and final liberation. This lecture will focus on the source of Godhika’s ideas and the likely influence it exerted on the accounts of of Channa’s and Vakkali’s suicides.
2. Meditation (October 31st) (Watch Lecture: https://youtu.be/MrIJBTM-2Xo)
In his famous article ‘Musīla et Nārada: le chemin du nirvāṇa’ (1937), Louis de La Vallée Poussin claimed that different understandings of the Buddhist path are presented in the canonical Suttas. The notion of an ancient debate, between the proponents of calm and insight, has been the subject of academic disagreement ever since. This lecture will argue that there was indeed a debate, and that it was provoked, at least in part, by an influx of non-Buddhist ideas and practices during the 4th century BC, ideas which motivated Godhika’s suicide.
3. Anti-realism (November 7th) (Watch Lecture: https://youtube.com/live/lfO5am9Cvkk)
Within the Pali canon, two short collections of the Khuddaka Nikāya – the Aṭṭhakavagga and Pārāyanavagga – stand out for their high antiquity and apparently unorthodox doctrinal content. Although their unusual teachings have attracted some attention – e.g. Luis O. Gómez, ‘Proto-Mādhyamika in the Pāli Canon’ (1976); Grace G. Burford, Desire, Death and Goodness (1991) – contemporary Buddhist Studies has not built on them. This lecture will extend the analyses of Gómez and Burford, by arguing that the Aṭṭhakavagga and Pārāyanavagga belong to a broader set of canonical teachings, which assume metaphysical anti-realism and teach mindfulness as the soteriological method.
Here are the details for this term’s lectures held by the University
Lecture Series in Buddhist Studies 2022-2023
Lecture Room 1 at 5pm
Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies , Pusey Lane, Oxford, OX1 2LE
All Welcome
Michaelmas Term 2022
Monday 7 November 2022
Ligeia Lugli, The Mangalam Research Centre, Berkeley, California.
Modelling the Dharma: advances in Buddhist Sanskrit Corpus linguistics and Natural Language Processing
This talk introduces a new corpus of Buddhist Sanskrit literature that is being developed at the Mangalam Research Centre (Berkeley, California). After presenting the corpus and some of the problems that it poses, the talk will outline the motivations that led to its creation and the methodological avenues that it opens up. It will briefly report on the experimentations with different Word Embedding Models for Buddhist Sanskrit that are currently underway at the Mangalam Research Centre. It then offers some practical examples of how the corpus can be used for Buddhist studies.
Ligeia Lugli holds a PhD in Study of Religions from SOAS, where she worked on the Mahāyāna discourse on language. Since 2016 she is Head of Lexicography at the Mangalam Research Centre (Berkeley, California), where she directs the Buddhist Translators Workbench, a project aimed at creating digital resources for the study of the Buddhist Sanskrit vocabulary. She is currently also leading a project on Buddhist Sanskrit Natural Language Processing, in collaboration with researchers from the Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. At the same time, she is working on the development of a Buddhist Sanskrit corpus, with funding from the Khyentse Foundation, and a programme of education in digital lexicography at the State University of São Paulo, with funding from Brazil’s Ministry of Education.
Monday 28 November 2022
Andrew Skilton, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford
The Prohibition of Anal Surgery in the Vinaya
This talk unpacks the prohibition on anal surgery in the bhesajjakhanda/bhaiṣajyavastu section of the Vinaya, revealing a detailed familiarity with the dangers of such surgery, the risks of sexual misinterpretation and the importance of focusing in on technical terminology when translating Buddhist texts.
Andrew Skilton conducts research on Mahāyāna and Vinaya literature in Sanskrit and Pali, which he teaches in the faculty. He is interested in the interpretation of texts. He has held posts in Cardiff, King’s College, London, and the Bodleian Library.
We thought you might be interested in this upcoming course held at the University of Oxford’s Department of Continuing Education
Led by Geshe Tenzin Namdak
How do we perceive the world and how does our mind shape those perceptions into an understanding of what we perceive? Learn more about these essential aspects of our minds and come to know how to eliminate destructive emotions and distorted perceptions, understand ultimate reality and the paths to liberation and enlightenment.
Date
Sat 22 Oct 2022
Time
9:45am-5:00pm
Location
Online or Rewley House
1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA
For further details visit: https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/buddhist-mind-science-and-its-philosophy?code=O22P197THJ
There are two lectures in the Lingyin Lecture Series in Buddhist Studies for the Michaelmas term 2021
The first lecture is as follows
Meditation Sickness and the Ethics of Buddhist Studies
Dr. Pierce Salguero (Penn State University’s Abington College)
Date: November 22nd, 2021.
Time: 5:00 PM GMT
Venue: Zoom
Why does a certain percentage of people experience psychotic breaks or other adverse mental and physical side-effects from practicing meditation? Are these the symptoms of improper practice or an unavoidable part of spiritual cultivation? In either case, the phenomenon that centuries-old Buddhist texts called “meditation sickness” is now amply documented in contemporary scientific literature. Writings from medieval China not only identify the mental and physical symptoms that can arise in the course of meditation practice, but also explain why these pathologies arise and how they can be effectively treated. Might these materials contain important therapeutic information that is relevant for meditators today? The possibility is tantalizing, but we Buddhist studies scholars find ourselves in a predicament. We are the only people who can translate these premodern texts for contemporary audiences and interpret them in light of modern medical theories. But will our professional norms and disciplinary identities let us help?
Dr. Pierce Salguero is a transdisciplinary humanities scholar who is fascinated by historical and contemporary intersections between Buddhism, medicine, and crosscultural exchange. He holds a Ph.D. in History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (2010), and teaches Asian history, medicine, and religion at Penn State University’s Abington College, located near Philadelphia.
The major theme in his scholarship is discovering the role of Buddhism in the global transmission and local reception of knowledge about health, disease, and the body. He approaches this topic using methodologies from history, religious studies, translation studies, and literary studies. More recently, He has gotten into ethnography and documentary filmmaking as well.
This lecture series is generously sponsored by Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou, China.
MT21 Lingyin lecture Pierce Salguero
The second lecture is as follows:
CHAN ISN’T JUST MEDITATION: Chan Master Hanyue’s Attitude toward Sutra Teachings in the Ming
Speaker: Prof. Yi-hsun Huang (Shanghai University, China)
Date: Monday, 29 November 2021
Time: 10 AM – 12:00 PM (UK time),
Venue: Online via Zoom.
This talk introduces Chan Master Hanyue’s 漢月 (1573–1635) attitude towards sūtra teachings in the late Ming by using a rare book, Hanyue’s Guiding Words on the Zhizheng zhuan. Hanyue represents a mature and confident attitude towards sūtra teachings on the part of a Chan master during this late stage of development in imperial China.
Prof. Yi-hsun Huang is a researcher of the Center for Chan Buddhism at Shanghai University, China. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and specializes in Chan and Pure Land Buddhism. She has published Rare Texts by Chan Master Hanyue in the Ming I, A Study of a Chan Dictionary: The Zuting Shiyuan, A Study of Chan Master Xuedou, and Integrating Chinese Buddhism: A Study of Yongming Yanshou’s Guanxin Xuanshu, as well as various articles in Chinese and English.
This lecture series is generously sponsored by Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou, China.
All are welcome. Attendance free. Advance registration required. For registration details please click on the link below to see the full poster.
This year’s So-Wide Academic Visitor will deliver a lecture on 12th March at 5.30pm in the Buttery at Wolfson College. This will be followed by a farewell reception at 7pm as his visit comes to an end. All are welcome.
Lama Shanta Kumar Negi, CIHTS Leh-Ladakh
Traditional Learning Systems in a period of change – a personal reflection
Our visitor will explain his own journey through the Tibetan-Buddhist traditional learning systems in India, outlining his background in the tribal area of Kinnaur and the stages by which he came to his current position on the doctoral program of the CIHTS.
In this context he will offer some reflections about Himalayan Buddhism in modern India, the challenges and opportunities presented in this changing environment, and the relevance of interaction with the global academy.
We will have one OCBS lecture this term.
28th October, 5.15pm
Lecture Room 1, Oriental Institute
Prof Richard Gombrich, OCBS
New thoughts on how the Mahayana began
Two themes in the earliest history of Buddhism have perhaps received insufficient scholarly attention: treatment of the dead, and the gradual reification of moral goodness (merit). It strikes me that where these two themes intersect we can learn about massive changes which Buddhism underwent shortly before and after the death of the Buddha.
There will be two Lingyin lectures as well.
November 11th and November 18th 2019, h. 5.15pm
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE
Lecture Room no. 1
Monday, November 11th, 2019:
“Pathways to nirvāṇa – Paintings in Kucha between Gandharan heritage and local innovation”.
Prof. Dr. Monika Zin (Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities / Leipzig University).
Monday, November 18th, 2019:
“Reference and representation according to the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā”.
Prof. Dr. Martin Lehnert (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München).
All are welcome to attend.
For information, please contact: stefano.zacchetti@orinst.ox.ac.uk
This term we will present one lecture on 20th May. There will also be two Lingyin lectures.
20th May, 5.15pm
Oriental Institute, Lecture Room 1
Honouring the Body: early Buddhist relic assemblages from Greater Gandhara and India
Dr. Wannaporn Kay Rienjang, University of Oxford
The lecture will present an overview of reliquaries recovered from stupas in ancient Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of India. It will also look at beads that these reliquaries contained and discuss their possible functions in the veneration of Buddhist relics.
There are also two Lingyin Lectures this term.
Lingyin Lectures in Buddhist Studies – Trinity Term 2019
June 3rd and 17th 2019, h. 5.15pm
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE
Lecture Room no. 1
Monday, June 3rd 2019:
“Acceptance and transmission of Buddhist practices in Early medieval China: the changing function of text extracts in the making of compendia and miscellanea”.
Dr.Sylvie Hureau (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris).
Monday, June 17th 2019:
“Does meditation produce knowledge? Kamalaśīla on the relationship between philosophy and meditative practice”.
Prof. Dr. Birgit Kellner (Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia,
Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna).
All are welcome to attend.
For information, please contact: stefano.zacchetti@orinst.ox.ac.uk
The OCBS won’t be running any lectures this term. There will be lectures from the Oriental Institute:
Lingyin Lecture in Buddhist Studies – Hilary Term 2019
February 18th 2019, h. 5.15pm
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE
Lecture Room no. 1
Monday, February 18th 2019:
“Producing Buddhist Manuscripts (and Textual Alterations) in Medieval China: Reflections on Scriptural Transmission and Textual Corruption Processes, with a Focus on Dunhuang Materials”.
Prof. Costantino Moretti (École française d’Extrême-Orient).
The OCBS is holding one lecture this term. There will also be two Lingyin lectures.
OCBS Lecture
October 8 – 5.15pm
Oriental Institute Lecture Room 1
Professor Todd Lewis (College of the Holy Cross)
Reconfiguration and Revival: Newar Buddhist Traditions in the Kathmandu Valley (and Beyond)
Beginning with Sylvain Lévi, most scholars for the past century who have assessed the state of Newar Buddhism in the Kathmandu Valley have described the tradition as “decadent,” “corrupted by Hinduism,” and so in serious decline. Many predicted its withering away, most often due to competition from the reformist Theravādins, a movement that arrived in Nepal a century ago. The predations of the modern Nepalese state with its staunchly Hindu biases have also been a central axis of analysis. What has emerged over the last decade, however, is a hitherto unimagined revival among traditional Newar Buddhists and their venerable tradition centered on Mahāyāna-Vajrayāna teachings and practices. Led by younger Buddhist vajrācāryas and scholars, leaders have introduced a welter of new spiritual initiatives, institutional innovations, along with gender and caste reforms; supported by wealthy merchants, newly-rich landholders, and a growing number of migrants living abroad, Newar Buddhist traditions have shown a remarkable resiliency and vibrancy. The talk will sketch this confluence of re-configurations and revivals, with special focus on how these factors converged in the nearly-completed construction of a Newar Vajrayāna monastery in Lumbini.
Lingyin Lectures in Buddhist Studies – Michaelmas Term 2018
October 29th and November 19th 2018, h. 5.15pm
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE
Lecture Room no. 1
Monday, October 29th, 2018:
“The paradox that is language and what the Yogācāra had to say about it”.
Prof. Roy Tzohar (Department of East Asian Studies, Tel Aviv University).
Monday, November 19th, 2018:
“Meditation and its subjects: tracing kammaṭṭhāna from the early canon to the boran kammathan traditions of South East Asia”.
Dr. Andrew Skilton (King’s College London).
All are welcome to attend.
For information, please contact: stefano.zacchetti@orinst.ox.ac.uk
There will be two lectures this term, given in the Oriental Institute, Lecture Room 1. All are welcome
April 23 – 5.15pm
Prof. Richard Gombrich (OCBS)
The Origin of Pali
April 30 – 5.15pm
Professor Paul Bernier (Université de Moncton)
Causation and Free Will in Early Buddhist Philosophy
The problem of free will and determinism has a long history in Western philosophy; it is also an important issue in contemporary metaphysics. While this problem has not been the focus of discussions in the commentarial tradition of Buddhist philosophy, it has recently attracted the attention of many Buddhist scholars, who have defended conflicting interpretations.
As we know, causation is a central notion of Buddhist philosophy, particularly in the context of the doctrine of Dependent arising (paṭiccasamuppāda). It is very tempting to interpret this notion as entailing universal causal determinism, as many scholars have done. This interpretation, however, raises a serious problem with respect to a passage of the Aṅguttara Nikāya (A. I. 173-175), where the Buddha rejects as “wrong views” three so-called “sectarian views”. I argue that a good reason to reject these “sectarian views” is also a reason to reject universal causal determinism. This suggests that causation in Early Buddhism does not entail universal causal determinism and that it leaves room for indeterminist causation and a form of free will.
Lingyin Lectures in Buddhist Studies – Trinity Term 2018
May 14th, June 4th, and June 11th 2018, h. 5.15pm
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE
Lecture Room no. 1
Monday, May 14th 2018:
“The Three Nature (trisvabhāva) Theory in the Yogācāra Texts of the Five Maitreya Works”.
Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes (Institut für Südasien-, Tibet- und Buddhismuskunde, Universität Wien).
Monday, June 4th 2018:
“Legality, ideologies and identitarian dynamics in the contemporary re-establishment of the Theravāda bhikkhunī-saṅgha”.
Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā (Āgama Research Group, Department of Buddhist Studies, Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts).
Monday, June 11th 2018:
“What can we learn from Musīla and Nārada?”
Prof. Johannes Bronkhorst (Université de Lausanne).
All are welcome to attend.
For information, please contact: stefano.zacchetti@orinst.ox.ac.uk
A talk given by Geshe Zopa on the 2nd March at 5pm
This will take place in Wolfson College
All Welcome.
This term we will be presenting a series of five lectures by Dr. Alex Wynne.
The lectures take place every Monday, 29 Jan – 26 Feb, at 5.15pm in Lecture Room 1 at the Oriental Institute. All are welcome.
Early Buddhist Meditation: A Philosophical Investigation
What is the philosophical basis of Buddhist meditation? The theory of ‘calm’ (samatha) and ‘insight’ (vipassanā) was the norm in Buddhist India, and remains standard in modern Theravāda. Other Indian options include concentration alone and ‘dry insight’; the former is found in some forms of contemporary Theravāda, whereas recent therapeutic adaptations of mindfulness depend on the latter.
Going against the general consensus, these lectures will claim that none of the traditional theories of spiritual praxis makes sense of early Buddhist philosophy. Instead, it will be argued that the theory of calm and insight was a non-Buddhist idea which distorted the original meaning of Buddhist jhāna. In the earliest form of Buddhist meditation, the four jhānas were not states of inner concentration, and ‘mindfulness’ (satipaṭṭhāna) was not a sort of ‘insight’ (vipassanā) meditation.
Through close textual readings and conceptual analysis, and touching on the early Buddhist philosophies of mind and personhood, the earliest Buddhist meditation will be re-imagined as a natural process of absorption (jhāna), devoid of specific or necessary objects, but enabled by bodily attention (kāya-gatā sati).
Lectures
1. Monday January 29th: Conceptual foundations: Sāriputta or Kaccāyana?
2. Monday February 5th: Māluṅkyaputta
3. Monday February 12th: What did the Buddha mean by bare cognition’ (viññāṇa-matta)?
4. Monday February 19th: Jhāna
5. Monday February 26th: The Gateway
Lingyin Lecture
5th March. 5.15pm
Lecture Room 1: Oriental Institute
Dr. Francesca Tarocco
“(Re)locating Chinese Buddhism in the Digital Age”.
This lecture isn’t being given by the OCBS, but we had a lot of interest in Dr. Formigatti’s lecture course last year, so are posting this here for interested parties.
6 November
Oriental Institute, Lecture Room 1
5.15pm
Dr. Nick Allen, University of Oxford
Chronicle and epic, or the introductions to the Mahāvaṃsa and to the Mahābhārata: selected comparisons
The Mahāvaṃsa (written in Pali) presents itself as a chronicle recounting the origins of Buddhism and its import to Lanka, where it became the State religion. Examined in detail, the chronicle shows surprisingly pervasive similarities to the great Sanskrit epic. A selection of such similarities, drawn from the respective introductions, will be presented, and possible explanations will be considered.
20 November
Oriental Institute, Lecture Room 1
5.15pm
Dr. Alex Wynne
Buddhist India
In his Buddhist India (1903), T. W. Rhys Davids described ancient India from the Buddhist rather than Brahminic perspective. But he was aware that such an approach would regarded by some as a form of lèse majesté: ‘the brahmin view … has been regarded so long with reverence among us that it seems almost an impertinence now, to put forward the other’. This lecture will review Rhys Davids’ thesis in the light of recent work by Giovanni Verardi and Johannes Bronkhorst; by drawing on these works and barely noticed material from the Pali canon, it will re-evaluate the relationship between Buddhism and Brahminism in classical India.
Lingyin Lectures in Buddhist Studies – Michaelmas Term 2017
October 30th and November 27th 2017, h. 5.15pm
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE
Lecture Room no. 1
Monday, October 30th 2017:
Philosophy and Philology in Edo Commentaries on Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō: Construction and Deconstruction of the 95-Fascicle Honzan Edition.
Prof. Steven Heine, (Florida International University)
Monday, November 27th 2017:
The Ox-Bezoars Empowerment for Safe Childbirth in Heian Japan.
Dr. Benedetta Lomi (University of Bristol)
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.
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
A talk given by Gakar Rinpoche.
Date: 24/2
Time: 17:00
Place: Florey Room, Wolfson College
Rinpoche will discuss his Buddhist heritage in Dolpo, and will present his experience of the wider Buddhist scene in and around Nepal in the light of his training at Shechen Monastery. He will reflect on the changes that Nepal has been undergoing, and Nepali Buddhism with it, then he will invite the audience to offer academic perspectives on what he has said and on that basis to enquire further.
These lectures are offered by the Faculty of Philosophy, rather than the OCBS. We are sure that many of our visitors will be interested in them:
Course: Buddhist Philosophy
Lecturer: Rafal K Stepien
Time: Hilary Term 2017, Fridays 2-3pm (except 2nd Week: 10-11am)
Place: Radcliffe Humanities Lecture Room, Faculty of Philosophy, Woodstock Road
This series of lectures constitutes a thematic introduction to Buddhist philosophy. It explores major topics in Buddhist ontology, epistemology, philosophy of logic and language, philosophy of mind, ethics, and other fields. While arranged thematically, the course also serves as an introduction to the history of Buddhist philosophy, in that each lecture singles out certain prominent thinkers or movements to illustrate the problematic at hand. This approach allows classical Buddhist philosophers to be studied who represent all the major schools of Buddhist thought from India, Tibet, China, and Japan. In addition to reading relevant primary sources in translation, students are encouraged to read secondary scholarship selected so as to help guide them through the seriously mind-altering ideas encountered in the Buddhist philosophical world. The course also proposes ways in which Buddhist thought can contribute to Western philosophical issues and, conversely, how intellectual paradigms prevalent in the West can be used to understand Buddhist philosophy. Students interested in broadening their mind beyond the confines of Western philosophy should find this course rewarding. The foreseen order of topics is as follows:
1st Week: Buddhism as Philosophy
Surveys the history of Buddhist philosophy, introduces the core philosophical tenets shared across traditions, and provides a rationale for studying Buddhist philosophy as philosophy.
2nd Week: Causation, Interdependence, and Impermanence
Addresses the metaphysical underpinnings of the Buddhist worldview. (Note different time: 10-11am).
3rd Week: Ontology
Explores Buddhist anti-foundationalist ontologies of emptiness.
4th Week: Selfhood & Personhood
Draws on the Buddha’s arguments for the ultimate non-existence of a substantial self to explicate the conventional operation of personal action.
5th Week: Epistemology
Addresses the nature of knowledge and examines the validity of perception and inference as means of its acquisition.
6th Week: Philosophy of Mind
Addresses cognition and self-cognition in the light of idealist and phenomenological accounts of mind.
7th Week: Philosophy of Logic & Language
Focuses on Buddhist formulations of non-classical logics and the linguistic expression of concepts.
8th Week: Ethics
Addresses normative ethics and their application to contemporary social issues.
All are welcome.
Mon 7th November
5.30pm
Oriental Institute, Lecture Room No. 1
Prof Richard Gombrich
Tzu Chi: the rapid development of a new Buddhist sect
Lingyin Lecture in Buddhist Studies – Michaelmas Term 2016
Monday 24 October
5.15pm
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE
Lecture Room no. 1
Dr Christian Luczanits (SOAS, London)
Portraiture in the Light of Symmetry: Revisiting the Sculptures of the Path with the Fruit Teaching Lineage at Mindroling Monastery, Tibet.
The Second Symposium of the Institute of Oriental Philosophy and the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies
Wolfson College
6 – 7 April 2016
The OCBS will be hosting this joint Symposium on 6th and 7th April.
On the 6th, six papers will be delivered, exploring various ways that Buddhism interacts with the modern world. The 7th April will see a discussion of the areas explored.
All are welcome. If you wish to attend then please inform steven.egan@ocbs.org ahead of time, as space is limited.
Papers:
Dr. Sarah Shaw: “Voices of Freedom: friendship, trust and liberation in the poems of the early Buddhist nuns”
Dr. Kurihara: “The world without nuclear weapons and women’s roles”
Mr. Mark Leonard: “Mindfulness meditation and social change: from therapy to wisdom and ethics”
Dr. Onishi: “Natural disasters and Buddhist organizations’ activities”
Ven. Dr. Dhammasami: “A Reflection on the Practice of Compassion in the Theravada Buddhist Meditation Traditions”
Dr. Kawada: “Medical ethics and Buddhism – The issues of death with dignity and the vegetable state”
Monday 2nd May
Lecture Room XXIII, Balliol College
6.15pm (PLEASE NOTE THE DIFFERENT START TIME)
Dr. Marie-Hélène Gorisse (SOAS)
Who can infer the existence of God from the concept of ‘product’? Genealogy of a Buddhist refutation.
In his Īśvarasādhanadūṣaṇam, Ratnakīrti (11th c.) attacks the thesis according to which God exists as the creator of the world. Ratnakīrti’s multi-layered refutation is a witness of the history of debate in classical India, because it displays changes of focus and of technical terminology, which are indicators of the fact that specific philosophical problems were overcome thanks to the development of new theories concerning the art of debating. This lecture aims at showing the impact of these philosophical transitions on the main argumentation over God, especially in relation to the conception of probative inferential evidence.
Thursday 19 May
Wolfson College
5.30pm
Mr Alex Wrona (University of Vienna)
An Arabic Dhamma? – On Sri Lankan Theravadins in the Sultanate of Oman
There are currently around 14,000 Sri Lankan expatriates in Oman, at least half of which settled in Muscat, the Sultanate’s capitol. Most of them follow Theravāda Buddhism. Only little research has been done on the modern phenomenon of Asian migrant workers in the Gulf, and nearly exclusively from a social or legal perspective. In this lecture, the focus is on Theravāda Buddhism as constituted in the Sultanate of Oman, namely in the community of the Sri Lankan expatriates. It would appear that this community has not been studied in such a way before.
Mr Wrona will present parts of the results of his ethnographic research in the Sri Lankan community in Muscat, carried out from September 2015 to December 2015. He will try to explain the major aspects of the situation the Sri Lankan community in Oman finds itself in and investigate how the Theravāda Buddhists within this community experience and develop their religious identity, being a religious and ethnic minority in an Arab-muslim majority country. It will thereby become clear that this process of religious identity building can at least partly be understood as a result of mechanisms of transnationalism.
Lingyin Lectures in Buddhist Studies – Trinity Term 2016
May 16th and May 30th 2016, h. 5.15pm
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE
Lecture Room no. 1
PLEASE NOTE:
Unfortunately, Prof. Nicoletta Celli’s lecture (“The Dawn of Buddhist Art in China: Reflections on the Image of the Buddha in Meditation”), originally scheduled for Monday May 16th, has been cancelled.
Monday, May 30th 2016:
“Mahāyāna in Gandhāra”.
Prof. Dr. Ingo Strauch (Université de Lausanne)
All are welcome to attend.
For information, please contact: stefano.zacchetti@orinst.ox.ac.uk
This term we will be holding two lectures. The lectures will start at 5.15pm at the Oriental Institute, Lecture Room 1 . The details are as follows:
Monday 18 January
Nawang Jinpa, Independent Researcher
Introduction to the Drukpa Lineage – the yogic order of ‘divine madmen’
In 13th century Tibet, it was said that “half the world is Drukpa, and half the Drukpa are mendicant hermits”. In the 17th century, as Tibet was being reshaped by civil wars and Mongol invasions, Himalayan rulers still eagerly sought out Drukpa yogis.
This lecture will introduce the religious characteristics and social influence of that yogic tradition, and will outline its contemporary importance in Ladakh and in Bhutan, where it is still the ‘state religion’.
Monday 15 February
Prof Rey-sheng Her, Tzu Chi
Tzu Chi: Buddhism as compassion in action
Prof Rey-sheng Her will also be delivering a lecture at the University of Oxford China Centre, Dickson Poon Building, Canterbury Road
Tuesday 16th February at 2pm
Organizing Charity in China: the work of Tzu Chi in the People’s Republic.
This term’s Lingyin lectures are as follows:
Lingyin Lectures in Buddhist Studies – Hilary Term 2016
January 25th and February 8th 2016, h. 5.15pm
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE
Lecture Room no. 1
Monday, January 25th 2016:
“Bodily care in Buddhist Monastic Life of Ancient India and China: An Advancing Purity Threshold?”
Prof. Ann Heirman (Ghent University)
Monday, February 8th 2016:
“Monk and Lay in the Mahāyāna Sūtras”.
Prof. Jens Erland Braarvig (University of Oslo)
All are welcome to attend.
For information, please contact: stefano.zacchetti@orinst.ox.ac.uk
This term we will be holding two lectures. The lectures will start at 5.30pm in Balliol College, Lecture Room XXIII. The details are as follows:
Monday 26 October
Dr. Alexander Wynne,
Hope University, Liverpool
The ur-text of the Pali Tipiṭaka: some reflections based on new research into the manuscript tradition.
Wat Dhammakaya in Thailand are preparing a critical edition of the Pali Canon, and Dr Wynne has been playing a leading role in their work. He will explain the importance and difficulties of the project, and suggest what benefits it may produce.
Monday 23 November
Dr Tadaatsu Tajima,
Professor of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Tenshi College, Sapporo, Japan
Ethnic Buddhist Temples and Korean Diaspora in Japan
Some Korean-Japanese have established their own Buddhist temples for the performance of ancestral rituals. This will be discussed from the point of view of the sociology of religion.
Please also find below details on the Lingyin Lecture Series for this term:
Lingyin Lectures in Buddhist Studies – Michaelmas Term 2015
October 19th and November 16th 2015, h. 5.15pm
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE
Lecture Room no. 1
Monday, October 19th 2015:
“Writing on Mountains to Save the World”.
Prof. Dr. Lothar Ledderose (Seniorprofessor für Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens, Universität Heidelberg)
Monday, November 16th 2015:
“Buddhist Texts and Buddhist Images. New Evidence from Kanaganahalli”.
Prof. Dr. Oskar von Hinüber (Professor Emeritus, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg)
All are welcome to attend.
For information, please contact: stefano.zacchetti@orinst.ox.ac.uk
There will be two lectures this Trinity Term for the OCBS Lecture Series in the Dorfman Centre, St. Peter’s College.
There will be three lectures this Hilary term for the OCBS Lecture Seriesin the Dorfman Centre, St. Peter’s College.
We are also pleased to invite you to the Lingyin Lectures in Buddhist Studies held in The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Lecture Room no. 1.
We are very pleased to announce that Oxford University is offering a MPhil in Buddhist Studies in 2015-16.
This newly launched two-year degree aims to give comprehensive training in one of the main Buddhist canonical languages, namely Sanskrit, Classical Tibetan and Classical Chinese. In-depth explorations of Buddhist history, philosophy, and literature will be the focus, along with a comprehensive study of important Buddhist texts in the original language.
This degree can be a standalone qualification or preparation for doctoral research.
More information about this programme can be found at:
