DATE
Monday, March 18th, 2019
TIME
5:30 to 7:00 PM
LOCATION
UBC | C.K. Choi Building
Room 120 | 1855 West Mall
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism and Contemporary Society is delighted to welcome Dagmar Schwerk, Khyentse Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Asian Studies, who will give a lecture entitled:
Carrying a Basket of Gold: A Historical Reflection on Buddhist Concepts and Ethics in Bhutan
About this event
What lies behind the idea and policies of Gross National Happiness (GNH) in Bhutan and how have Buddhist concepts and ethics been implemented on an institutional level in past and present? In this talk, Dagmar Schwerk provides a historical perspective on the development and institutionalization of Buddhist concepts and ethics in Bhutan which first manifested themselves in a twofold system of governance under a charismatic Buddhist master in the seventeenth century. She also takes a closer look at the broader intellectual history of the twofold system of governance, just kingship, and knowledge systems of Buddhist ethics—along with the connected intertwining between religion and other societal areas in pre-modern Bhutan.
About the speaker
Dagmar Schwerk’s research covers Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan and Bhutanese intellectual, political, and social history. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Hamburg, Germany, and was a 2016 Dissertation Fellow of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies (ACLS). Her Ph.D. thesis focused on the Mahāmudrā controversy in Tibetan Buddhism and is the current Khyentse Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Tibetan Buddhist Studies at UBC’s Department of Asian Studies. In her current research activities, she is especially interested in Buddhist conceptions of state and governance as well as applied Buddhist ethics in secular contexts in Asia and the West. In her talk, she will present findings connected to a recently completed post-doctoral research project at the University of Leipzig, Germany. (“Bhutan in Transition. Metamorphosis and Institutionalisation of Buddhist Concepts”).
This lecture is free and open to the public. Seating on a first-come, first-served basis.
If you would like to join us for light refreshments following the talk, please click here to register.
Co-sponsored by UBC’s Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism and Contemporary Society (何鴻毅家族基金佛學與當代社會課程) and Himalaya Program (https://himalaya.arts.ubc.ca).