Table of Contents
- LECTURE> Tianzhu Book Prize Lecture: The
Meanings of Meditation in Early Zen Buddhism, by Sam van Schaik
- NEW BOOK> Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, by Charles
Jones
- NEW BOOK> Geoffrey C. Goble "Chinese
Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a
Tradition"
- CALL FOR APPLICATIONS> The Robert H. N. Ho
Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies is calling for new
Applications!
LECTURE>
Tianzhu Book Prize Lecture: The Meanings of Meditation in Early Zen Buddhism,
by Sam van Schaik
by Carol Lee
Dear all, We are pleased to announce the second winner of the Tianzhu Book Prize for Excellence in Chan Studies. The recipient of the 2019 award is Dr. Sam van Schaik, Head of the Endangered Archives Programme at the British Library, for his book The Spirit of Zen (Yale University Press, 2018). Please join us on congratulating Dr. van Schaik on this receiving this award. As part of the award ceremony, Dr. van Schaik will be delivering a lecture at UBC St. John's College on September 21, 2019.
Date: Saturday, September 21, 2019, 7 pm
Venue: UBC St. John’s College
Webpage: https://tianzhubuddhistnetwork.org/tianzhu-book-prize-lecture-sam-van-schaik/
Abstract:
It is well known that ‘Zen’ (or Chan or Son) means ‘meditation’. But there is less agreement about what meditation itself meant to early Zen teachers and their students. In this talk I will look at the Zen lineage history called ‘The Masters and Students of the Lanka’, as well as well as some Zen teachings preserved in Tibetan translation, to see what light they shed on early Zen meditation teaching. I will argue that these sources show that there was a multiplicity of meditation methods in early Zen writings. Rather than meditation meaning one thing (or nothing) to these early teachers, it could mean many things. But I will also suggest that there is evidence for a developing ‘Zen approach’ to meditation, for example in statements that there is no buddha apart from the mind, and that one should not be attached to the act of meditation itself.
About the Speaker:
Sam van Schaik is the head of the Endangered Archives Programme at the British Library, which facilitates the digitisation of archives and manuscripts around the world that are at risk of deterioration or destruction. He received his Ph.D. in Tibetan Buddhism from the University of Manchester, after which he worked for the International Dunhuang Project at the British Library, where his research encompassed Tibetan tantric practice, early Zen, the study of Buddhist manuscript cultures, and the spread of Buddhism along the Silk Routes. His publications include Tibet: A History (Yale, 2011), Tibetan Zen (Snow Lion, 2015) and The Spirit of Zen (Yale, 2018). A new book entitled Buddhist Magic will be published in 2020.
This guest lecture is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is preferred. Register at: https://bit.ly/2m3chIP.
This lecture is sponsored by Tianzhu Global Network for the Study of Buddhist Cultures with administrative support from FROGBEAR.
Thank you for your attention.
Warmest regards,
Carol Lee
Communications Officer
NEW
BOOK> Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, by Charles Jones
by Charles Jones
I am pleased to announce the
release of my new book, Chinese Pure Land Buddhism: Understanding a Tradition of
Practice, University of
Hawai‘i Press, 2019. ISBN-13: 9780824879716.This is a volume in the Pure Land Buddhist Studies series that provides an overview of the Chinese Pure Land tradition. A complete description may be found here:
https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/product/chinese-pure-land-buddhism-understanding-a-tradition-of...
NEW
BOOK> Geoffrey C. Goble "Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the
Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition"
by Geoffrey Goble
Dear Colleagues,my new book may be of interest to members of the H-Buddhism listserve:
Goble, Geoffrey C. 2019. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition. New York: Columbia University Press.
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism is generally held to have been established as a distinct and institutionalized Buddhist school in eighth-century China by “the Three Great Masters of Kaiyuan”: Śubhākarasiṃha, Vajrabodhi, and Amoghavajra. Geoffrey C. Goble provides an innovative account of the tradition’s emergence that sheds new light on the structures and traditions that shaped its institutionalization.
Goble focuses on Amoghavajra (704–774), contending that he was the central figure in Esoteric Buddhism’s rapid rise in Tang dynasty China, and the other two “patriarchs” are known primarily through Amoghavajra’s teachings and writings. He presents the scriptural, mythological, and practical aspects of Chinese Esoteric Buddhism in the eighth century and places them in the historical contexts within which Amoghavajra operated. By telling the story of Amoghavajra’s rise to prominence and of Esoteric Buddhism’s corresponding institutionalization in China, Goble makes the case that the evolution of this tradition was predicated on Indic scriptures and practical norms rather than being the product of conscious adaptation to a Chinese cultural environment. He demonstrates that Esoteric Buddhism was employed by Chinese rulers to defeat military and political rivals. Based on close readings of a broad range of textual sources previously untapped by English-language scholarship, this book overturns many assumptions about the origins of Chinese Esoteric Buddhism.
The book’s official publication date is October 8, 2019 and is currently available for sale from the Coumbia University Press warehouse. Those in the United States, Canada, and most of Latin America, the Caribbean, and East Asia, will receive a 30% discount off the price of the book by using the promo code CUP30 when ordering directly from CUP. https://cup.columbia.edu/book/chinese-esoteric-buddhism/9780231194082
For customers in the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Middle East, South Asia, and South Africa, please contact our distributor John Wiley & Sons, to order a book and for information regarding price and shipping cost.
E-mail: customer@wiley.com
Tel: (1243) 843-291
Fax: (1243) 843-296
For customers in Australia and New Zealand, please contact Footprint Books to purchase books:
http://www.footprint.com.au/
CALL
FOR APPLICATIONS> The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist
Studies is calling for new Applications!
by Ryan Cuthbert
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