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)