Table of Contents
- NEW BOOK> Buddhist Nonduality, Paschal Paradox: A Christian Commentary on The Teaching of Vimalakirti (Vimalakirtinirdesa), by Joseph O'Leary
- RESOURCE> H-Buddhism Zotero Bibliography for Buddhist Studies
- CALL FOR PAPERS> "The good in 'bad Buddhism': beyond ancient wisdom for contemporary woes" @ ASA2018 in Oxford
- CALL FOR PAPERS> From Chang’an to Nālandā: The Life and Legacy of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang (c. 602-664)
NEW BOOK> Buddhist Nonduality, Paschal Paradox: A Christian Commentary on The Teaching of Vimalakirti (Vimalakirtinirdesa), by Joseph O'Leary
by A. Charles Muller
Posted on behalf of Joseph O'Leary:Summary:
The Teaching of Vimalakirti, treasured in China and Japan and best known in the West in Canon Étienne Lamotte's classic translation from the Tibetan and Chinese, has now surfaced in its original language, Sanskrit, after two thousand years. Centered on a lay bodhisattva, a master of paradox, who has no equal in debate except the Buddha and Manjusri, the embodiment of wisdom, Vimalakirti is the most humorous and engaging of the major Buddhist scriptures, comparable to the Book of Job in its dramatic format. In the first commentary on the recovered text, an Irish theologian reads Vimalakirti and the Gospels in light of each other, and finds resonances between the Buddhist wisdom of nonduality and the Christian dynamic of incarnation and paschal transformation.
For further details, please see: http://www.peeters-leuven.be/boekoverz_print.asp?nr=10420
RESOURCE> H-Buddhism Zotero Bibliography for Buddhist Studies
by A. Charles Muller
I'd like to remind all of our subscribers that our Zotero bibliography
project continues to grow, presently containing almost 9,400 entries, which are
for the most part well curated and tagged. I do my best to include all of
articles contained in the TOCs of the major journals in the field--especially
those that allow for an easy-export function, as well as all new books posted
on H-Buddhism. I personally try to stay on top of the new works coming out on
Yogacara and Korean Buddhism, and I'd venture to say that the bibliographical
data we have on these two areas is the most complete available. You can see
these athttps://www.zotero.org/groups/73933/h-buddhism_bibliography_project/items/tag/Yogacara
https://www.zotero.org/groups/73933/h-buddhism_bibliography_project/items/tag/Korea
New members are always warmly welcomed, but before you apply, please properly fill out your Zotero profile. We don't accept applications from non-human names with no background!
Regards,
Chuck
CALL FOR PAPERS> "The good in 'bad Buddhism': beyond ancient wisdom for contemporary woes" @ ASA2018 in Oxford
by Hannah Gould
CALL FOR PAPERS The annual conference for The Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth, ASA2018, will take place at The University of Oxford, 18-21st September 2018. Call for papers deadline closes 20 APRIL, 23:59 GMT.
"THE GOOD IN 'BAD BUDDHISM': BEYONG ANCIENT WISDOM FOR CONTEMPORARY WOES"
Panel convenors: Hannah
Gould (The University of Melbourne) and Melyn McKay (Oxford University).
This panel asks how historical
imaginings of Buddhism intersect with contemporary ethnographic experience. We
invite scholars working in all regions to consider how their engagement with
Buddhism's consumerism, violence, or politics creates opportunities for
re-thinking the anthropology of religion.
ABSTRACT
From global peace icons like
the Dalai Lama, to discourses of anti-materialism and medical studies of the
benefits of meditation, Buddhism has garnered a reputation in global popular
culture as a 'good' religion. Often, this shining image is couched in an
imagining of Buddhism as an "ancient salve" for modern times, free
from the degenerate violence, politics, and consumerism of contemporary (often
Western) society. Inside academia, work on canonical texts similarly fixes
'true' Buddhism in a long-passed era and diminishes the centrality of
transformations in understanding and practice.
For anthropologists, who are
methodologically primed to resist reproducing orthodoxy, contemporary Buddhism
thus presents a challenge. Some scholars explore divergences as sites of
separation between faith and social processes; others, who assert the lived
nature of contemporary religion, find themselves writing ethnographies of 'bad
Buddhists' and 'bad Buddhism'.
This panel explores how
historical imaginings of Buddhism intersect with contemporary ethnographic
experience. We invite scholars working in all geographical regions to take
points of disconnection between Buddhism's imagining, materiality and sociality
as opportunities for re-thinking the anthropology of religion. Particularly, we
ask them to consider how their work's engagement with Buddhism's consumerism,
violence, or political engagement relates to a 'thing called Buddhism' in both
academia and popular culture. How might we view these phenomena as a part of
Buddhism, rather than responses to social pressures cloaked in religious
symbolism, for efficacy, influence, and popular acceptance? Does speaking of
multiple 'Buddhisms' help us? Or can a re-imagined anthropology offer an escape
from 'bad Buddhism'?
To propose a paper, please
visit the ASA2018 website: https://nomadit.co.uk/asa/asa2018/conferencesuite.php/panels/6863
CALL FOR PAPERS> From Chang’an to Nālandā: The Life and Legacy of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang (c. 602-664)
by Vicky Baker
Call for PapersAn International Conference: From Chang’an to Nālandā: The Life and Legacy of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang (c. 602-664)
August 17-19, 2018; Xi’an, China
The Chinese Guiyuan Society of Promoting the Xuanzang culture (中國歸元玄奘文化促進會), assisted by the Jintai Cultural Academy in Shannxi 陝西金臺書院, the UBC Buddhist Studies Forum, and the Research Institute of Xuanzang 玄奘研究院 at the Northwest University 西北大學 in China, cordially invites proposals for an international conference on “From Chang’an to Nālandā: The Life and Legacy of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang (c. 602-664)” (從長安到那爛陀：玄奘其人及其遺產) to be held between August 17-19, 2018, in Xi’an, China. This conference, exclusively devoted to the different aspects of the eventful life and far-reaching legacy of this complex monk and man, will be the first in a series of conferences on Xuanzang and East Asian Culture to be sponsored by the newly established Chinese Guiyuan Society of Promoting the Xuanzang culture.
Xuanzang 玄奘 (c. 602-664) was neither the first Chinese Buddhist monk to complete the perilous journey across central Asia to India and back to Chang’an to leave a detailed record of his travels (Bianji’s 辯機 Da Tang xiyu ji 大唐西域記, T no. 2087), maybe nor has he been considered the most influential translator of Sanskrit—or Indic language—Buddhist texts into Chinese (roughly 1330 rolls), nor was he even the first Chinese monastic to delve into complicated and voluminous Indian commentaries. But Xuanzang is undeniably the most famous Chinese pilgrim who traveled to Central and South Asia in search of sacred scriptures, translator of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese, and—especially in Japan—he is considered to be the founder of a separate tradition of East Asian Yogācāra exegesis (Hossō 法相宗). He is credited with translating the largest book in the Chinese Buddhist canon, Mahāprajñāpāramitā-sūtra (Da bore boluomiduo jing 大般若波羅蜜多經 in 600 rolls), numerous arcane Indian commentaries, developing a “new” system of translating Sanskrit into Chinese, and, long before the publication of Wu Cheng’en’s 吳承恩 (1501-1582) legendary Journey to the West (Xiyouji 西遊記), Xuanzang became the most famous Chinese Buddhist monk. The impact of Xuanzang upon East Asia requires attention from both Buddhist and non-Buddhist perspectives, within China and beyond.
Approximately thirty scholars, from mainland China and abroad, have already committed to join this conference. We would now like to enlist ten additional scholars to join us in Xi’an. The organizing committee welcomes paper proposals on any aspect of Xuanzang’s complicated life, legacy, and impact, including but not limited to:
- Xuanzang: Biographical and Hagiographical Study
- Xuanzang and Yogācāra Buddhism
- Xuanzang and the Guiyuan Temple
- Xuanzang and Tang Politics
- Xuanzang and Buddhist Arts
- Xuanzang and Buddhist Translation
- Xuanzang and East Asian Literature
- Xuanzang in the Context of Sino-Indian Cultural Communication
- Xuanzang’s Impact on East Asian Buddhism
- Xuanzang and the Silk Road
A conference volume, to be published in Europe or North America, will collect all the papers in English, plus the English translations of several papers written in non-English languages; a Chinese volume, to be published in China, will include the Chinese versions for all non-Chinese papers in addition to those papers contributed by our colleagues based in China. Only scholars who are confident in finishing their draft papers by the end of July and publishable papers by the end of November, 2018 are encouraged to apply.
