Table of Contents
- CONFERENCE> Unlocking Buddhist Written Heritage,
British Library - February 7-8, 2020
- PASSING> Ben-Ami Scharfstein
CONFERENCE>
Unlocking Buddhist Written Heritage, British Library - February 7-8, 2020
by Charles Manson
'Explore Buddhist manuscript
collections and Buddhist practices'https://www.bl.uk/events/buddhism-conference-two-day-ticket
From the beautiful illuminated manuscripts of Thailand to the medical texts of the Silk Roads, our speakers examine how collection items give context to our understanding of Buddhism and its practices.
This ticket is for both days of the conference. Separate Friday and Saturday tickets are also available.
Friday programme
Keynote speaker
Birgit Kellner, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
Worshipped as precious relics? On the valuation of Indian manuscripts in the history of Tibetan Buddhism
Panel 1 Collections and Buddhist Practice: Texts and Translation
Exploring how particular textual collections and their translations shape our understanding of the history of Buddhism and continue to shape Buddhist practices
Stefano Zacchetti, Oxford University
Remnants of a textual shipwreck: manuscript fragments of Early Chinese Buddhist exegetical literature
Camillo Formigatti, Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University
Translating manuscripts from Sanskrit to Tibet and vice versa
Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim, Goldsmiths, University of London
Experiencing breath in translation
Panel 2 Collections in the Monastic Context
Examining collections from Buddhist monasteries, temples and courts, and how that context informs Buddhist practice
Ven. Mahinda Deegalle, Bath Spa University
Texts as Sacred Objects in Theravada: The riches of the largest temple library collection of palm leaves in Hanguranketa Potgul Rajamaha Vihara, Sri Lanka
Andrew Skilton, Oxford University (tba)
Kate Crosby and Amal Gunasena, King’s College London and SOAS, University of London
The colonial context
of Theravada meditation in manuscripts from Sri Lanka:
Why is it so different
from the practices that spread West?
Saturday programme
Panel 3 Collections and Buddhist Practice: Art and Performance
Presenting visual arts and ritual performance as collections which provide insights into Buddhist practice
Jana Igunma, British Library
The Buddha and his natural environment in Southeast Asian manuscript art
Christian Luczanits, SOAS, University of London
Buddhist monastery collections in Mustang, Nepal: A review
Lucia Dolce, SOAS, University of London
The body and Tantric ritual practice in medieval Japanese Buddhism
Panel 4 Collections in the Heritage Context: Conservation, Preservation, Dissemination
A consideration of the life of collections in cultural heritage institutions, and the ongoing work to conserve, preserve and disseminate their contents for a global audience.
Melodie Doumy and Marie Kaladgew, British Library
The Materiality of Buddhist scrolls: reflections on its Preservation and Conservation
Jann Ronis, Buddhist Digital Resource Center, Boston USA
Manuscripts in the Digital Age
Sam van Schaik, British Library
Buddhist manuscripts from the ground up: a survey of Buddhist manuscripts in local and private collections digitized through the Endangered Archives Programme
Chair for the concluding discussion Tim Barrett, SOAS, University of London
In partnership with the School of Oriental and African Studies and supported by The Robert H N Ho Family Foundation
Contact Info:
charles.manson@bl.uk
PASSING>
Ben-Ami Scharfstein
by Matthew Kapstein
Dear colleagues,It is with sadness that I report the passing of Ben-Ami Scharfstein, professor emeritus of Philosophy at the Univsersity of Tel-Aviv, at 100 years of age in Tel-Aviv in early December. Scharfstein embraced the prospects of comparative philosophy and published a well-regarded edited volume in the area, Philosophy East Philosophy West: A Critical Comparison of Indian, Chinese, Islamic and European Philiosophy (Oxford 1978) as well as a far-reaching synthesis of his own reflections about this: A Comparative History of World Philosophy: From the Upanishads to Kant (SUNY 1998). Although his own work on Indian and Chinese philosophies, including of course Buddhist philosophy, was entirely based on secondary reading (which he pursued with an exemplary level of attention to the best current specialized scholarship), he encouraged his students to learn to engage the primary sources and thus played an important role in the development of several branches of Asian Studies in Israel. Ben-Ami Scharfstein was a native of New York City, educated at Brooklyn College, Harvard, and the Jewish Theological Seminary before completing his doctorate at Columbia University in 1942 on the philosophy of Henri Bergson. He joined the faculty of Tel-Aviv University at its foundation in 1956. A full obituary in English has not so far appeared and others may be able to add to my brief remarks here. I should just note that, although I did not know him well, I did have the pleasure of meeting Ben-Ami on several occasions and subsequently corresponding with him. He was impressive both for his learning and a great humility through which he appeared always eager to learn from others. Ben-Ami seemed to embody the very spirit of philosophical wonderment.
Matthew Kapstein
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, and the University of Chicago
