excerpted from the Institute of Asian Research Annual Report 2008-2009.
On April 27, 2008, the College for Interdisciplinary Studies (CFIS), The Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation, and the Buddhism and Contemporary Society Program presented Robert Thurman, America’s leading expert on Tibetan Buddhism, at UBC’s Chan Centre for Performing Arts. As the Je Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, Professor Thurman holds the first endowed chair in this field of study in the U.S. He is also co-founder and President of Tibet House and President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. His public lecture at UBC entitled, “Buddhism as a Civilization Matrix and the Current Global Crisis,” centered on Buddhism taken in the context of the crisis humanity faces as a struggling species on an overstressed planet. In addition, Professor Thurman gave two more free lectures at the Ridge Theatre (“The Manjushri Connection: Relations between Tibetan and Chinese Buddhisms”) and at the Tung Lin Kok Yuen, Canada Society (“The Layman Vimalakirti and the Basic Mahayana Buddhist Path”).
The Program welcomed many other speakers as well. Dr. Lauren Leve, Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, gave a lecture on “The Right Dharma for Today: Buddhist Revival and Neoliberal Reform in Post-1900 Nepal” on May 1, 2008.
The Buddhism and Contemporary Society Program supported a four-day international conference on “Contemporary Mongolia: Transitions, Development and Social Transformations” held November 14-17, 2008. One full day of this conference was jointly organized by Julian Dierkes and Tsering Shakya around the theme of “The Revival of Buddhism in Mongolia in the Context of Post-socialist Society.”
Mr. Levi McLaughlin from Princeton University’s Department of Religion gave a talk entitled, “How to Cultivate a Mass Movement: Buddhism, Education, and the Rise of Soka Gakkai, Japan’s Largest Active Religion.” Soka Gakkai, literally the “Value Creation Study Association,” is a Japanese lay Buddhist movement that is not only Japan’s largest active religion but also the largest active independent organization of any kind in Japan today. Mr. McLaughlin highlighted case studies that exemplify how Soka Gakkai’s origins in both Japanese Buddhism and Euro-American educational philosophies inform the lives of its grassroots practitioners. He also discussed reasons for Soka Gakkai’s unprecedented growth in the postwar era and the ways that Soka Gakkai’s distinctive combination of Buddhism and modern educational ideals contributes to its continuing development as a politically active mass movement with millions of adherents.
Ms. Jessica Main, from the Department of Religious Studies at McGill University, also gave a talk entitled, “The Constitution of a Religion: Ōtani-ha Shin Buddhism as Civil Society Actor,” and discussed how the structural reforms of the Ōtani-ha Shin Buddhism practiced in Japan are congruent with norms of human rights, gender equality, and democratic procedure, and as such, contribute to the civility of society.
Ms. Stefania Travagnin, Visiting Assistant Professor of East Asian Religions from the University of Missouri-Columbia, presented the world of Taiwanese Buddhism, a multi-faceted landscape which ranges from the emergence of worldwide “Engaged Buddhist” organizations to the reinvention of roles played by nuns, and from the production of biographical cartoons on living leading masters to the mummification of eminent monks. In her talk, she unveiled a definition of Buddhist modernity in the specific context of contemporary Taiwan.
Dr. Jeffrey Hopkins, Professor Emeritus of Tibetan Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia, has taught Tibetan Buddhist studies and Tibetan language for 33 years. He has founded programs in Buddhist Studies and Tibetan Studies and has published 40 books as well as 23 articles. He also served as His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s chief interpreter into English on lecture tours for ten years from 1979–1989. In addition, he also translated and edited 14 books by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, most recently How to See Yourself as You Really Are and Becoming Enlightened. Jointly hosted by UBC’s Buddhism and Contemporary Society Program, the College for Interdisciplinary Studies, and The Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation, Jeffrey Hopkins gave two public talks. The first one, on April 20 at the Asian Centre Auditorium, entitled “Gender, Sexuality and Tibetan Buddhism: How Sex is Used in the Spiritual Path” discussed that in Tibetan Buddhist systems, hints of a compatible relationship exist between reason and orgasmic bliss with practitioners seeking to use the blissful and powerful mind of orgasm to realize the truth and the all-good ground of consciousness.
The second lecture on April 21 at the Tung Lin Kok Yuen, Canada Society entitled, “The Dalai Lama’s Blending of ‘Classical’ Tibetan Buddhism with Contemporary Outlooks,” centered on His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s latest book, Becoming Enlightened.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.