by Tsering Shakya, Canada Research Chair in Religion and Contemporary Society in Asia.
This year the Buddhism and Contemporary Society Program began with the appointment of Professor Kate Crosby as the Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation Chair in Buddhism and Contemporary Society at UBC. Professor Crosby will be joining UBC from the University of London, UK. The program was also joined by Dr. Guang Xing from the Centre of Buddhist Studies, University of Hong Kong. Dr. Guang was appointed from January to June 2007 as the Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation Visiting Professor on Buddhism and Contemporary Society. Dr. Guang Xing obtained his PhD from the University of London. Widely published in English and Chinese on Buddhism, he is the author of The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to Trikaya Theory (Routledge 2005)
and The Historical Buddha (Beijing Religion and Culture Publication, 2005). While at UBC, Dr. Guang Xing conducted an undergraduate course on “An Introduction to Buddhism.” The course introduced students to the history, thought and practices of Buddhism. He also held a graduate seminar on Buddhism and Contemporary Society, which focused on a discussion of issues relating to Buddhism in the contemporary society. Students are asked to read selected texts written by both modern Buddhist scholars and practitioners. Written presentations based on these selected texts as well as active participation in discussions are required of students attending this course.
In January, Dr. Reginald Ray from Naropa University, Boulder Colorado presented a seminar entitled “Asian Buddhism and Western Converts: Conflicts, Assimilations, and Beyond.” The lecture explored the dimension of encounter, the coming together of Westerners interested in practicing Buddhism and Asian teachers seeking to transmit their tradition to the West. Dr. Ray’s talk raised interesting and important questions on how Buddhism is being assimilated in the West and in this encounter producing a genuinely new form of spirituality in the Western environment.
The year’s major event for the Buddhism and Contemporary Society Program was the visit of Buddhist monk, biochemist and accomplished photographer, Dr. Matthieu Ricard. Dr. Ricard presented a series of public lectures on Buddhism. He is a renowned writer and scholar of Tibetan Buddhism and the official French interpreter and translator of His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama. His book The Monk and the Philosopher: A Father and Son Discuss the Meaning of Life was an international bestseller translated into 21 languages. The book is a dialogue between Dr. Ricard and his father French philosopher, Jean-François Revel.
Dr. Ricard’s visit to Vancouver was aimed at both the UBC community and the public. Dr. Ricard delivered three public lectures. The first talk at UBC entitled, “Training the Mind: Science & Spirituality,” focused on scientific research on electrical activity in the brains of long-time meditation practitioners. MRI scans have shown that long-term meditation practitioners experience high levels in the left pre-frontal cortex of the brain, correlated with happiness. The lecture provided an opportunity for Dr. Ricard to present latest research findings on brain plasticity and mind training; the brain activity in volunteers who were novices was compared with that of Buddhist monks who had spent many years in meditation. The results of the scans of the monks showed a dramatic increase in high-frequency brain activity called gamma waves during compassion meditation. Gamma waves underlie higher mental activity such as consciousness. The novices showed a slight increase in gamma activity whereas most monks showed extremely large increases of a sort that has never been reported before in neuroscience literature.
The lecture series attracted a range of public and media interest and Matthieu Ricard’s visit to UBC was widely reported in local and national press. The Buddhist Community in BC actively participated and attended the lectures. Over 600 people attended the public lecture at the Ridge Theatre entitled “Change Yourself: Change the World” and many had to be turned away due to lack of space and other safety reasons. Overall, the three-day event was well-received by the community attracting more than 2000 people to the free lectures organized over the course of Dr. Ricard’s visit.
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