We are pleased to co-sponsor a talk with the Center
for Chinese Studies:
Conspicuous
Dharma: Han Chinese Practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism in the PRC
Lecture by John Osburg, University of RochesterWednesday, March 09, 2016
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Public Lecture Series: Transformations and Innovations of Chinese
Cultural Tradition in the Era of New Media
Partially supported by the Education Section of the Chinese Consulate-General in Los Angeles and Dacheng Law Offices.
Partially supported by the Education Section of the Chinese Consulate-General in Los Angeles and Dacheng Law Offices.
In the context of a perceived spiritual and moral crisis in Chinese
society, growing numbers of Han Chinese are turning to Tibetan Buddhism for
ethical guidance. This talk is based on an ethnographic study of a group of
wealthy, urban Han Chinese who have become followers of Tibetan Buddhism and
patrons of reincarnated lamas and charismatic Tibetan monks. I will examine the
sources of the appeal of Tibetan Buddhism for wealthy Chinese and the range of
ways in which they integrate Buddhist principles and ritual practice into their
lives. For some, donations to monks serve as a form of “spiritual protection
money” that will safeguard their businesses and enhance their careers, while
for others Buddhist principles become the basis for dramatic moral and social
transformation.
John Osburg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the
University of Rochester, USA. His is the author of Anxious Wealth: Money and
Morality Among China’s New Rich (Stanford, 2013). His research interests
include morality, political corruption, gender and sexuality, and spirituality
in contemporary China. His current research examines wealthy Han Chinese who
have become followers and patrons of Tibetan Buddhism.
And our next CBS event is:
What Did It Mean to Be Ordained as a
Monk in Medieval Japanese Tendai?
Colloquium talk by Professor Paul Groner (University
of Virginia)
Friday, April 15, 2016
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
243 Royce Hall, UCLA
When the founder of the Japanese Tendai precepts rejected the
traditional Buddhist rules of monastic discipline, he set off a series of
interpretations that would give Japanese monks a unique interpretation of
monastic discipline, which often included sexual relations, drinking alcohol,
and eating meat. They also identified ordination, traditionally considered to
be an initiation into Buddhist groups, with the realization of advanced states
on the Buddhist path. At the same time, medieval Japanese exegetes were aware
that they differed from more traditional Buddhist practitioners and some were
preoccupied with explaining their position. I look at how they explained and
defended their interpretations.Paul Groner received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies at Yale and spent most of his career at the University of Virginia. His research has focused on Japanese Tendai with an emphasis on the relation between institutional history and doctrine. His major publications are Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School and Ryōgen and Mount Hiei: Japanese Tendai in the Tenth Century. He has also written articles on the bodhisattva precepts, doctrinal justifications of violence, Eison and the establishment of the Shingon Ritsu tradition, and the biography of the monk who established the first public library in Japan.
This event is co-sponsored with the Terasaki Center
for Japanese Studies and the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures.
We hope to see you there!
Best,
CBS Staff
