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Saints & sages lectures
Reginald Ray on Indian Tantra |
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On November 12, prominent Buddhist teacher and writer Reginald Ray discussed the history and characteristics of Buddhist Tantra in India. Dr. Ray, author of the award-winning book Buddhist Saints of India, drew a set of sharp contrasts between the early Tantric siddha and the exemplary figures portrayed in the non-Tantric Buddhist texts — the arhat, pratyeka-buddha, bodhisattva, and buddha. Unlike the latter types, the siddhas were often said to be lower-caste householders, unaffiliated with any institution; a surprisingly high percentage were women.
Ray went on to contrast these early types with the later “orthodox” Vajrayāna, in which the Tantric materials were incorporated into the Buddhist mainstream, and the often antinomian practices of the siddhas were given Buddhist philosophical interpretation. The conclusion of the talk focused on a discussion of Tantric sexual practices, as a vehicle for exploring the nature of humans as desiring beings. |
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| The lecture, co-sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center, was the first in a year-long series, entitled “Saints and Sages,” organized by HCBSS with the Department of Religious Studies. For more on this program, see “Saints and Paradises.” |
Exploring Buddha Fields
Gómez examines early pure land cult |
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On November 5th, eminent Buddhist scholar Luis Gómez (Michigan, emeritus) presented his reconstruction of the beliefs of an early community of pure land faithful in India. In an animated lecture to an overflow audience, Gómez spoke from a chapter of his forthcoming book on the Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra.
While acknowledging that the reconstruction of the context of an ancient Indian text was a problematic exercise, he argued that the two extant Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtras reveal that, for the community that produced these texts, birth in the pure land was not a "generalized religious goal," as Gregory Schopen has suggested, but an aspiration directed toward the specific land of Sukhāvatī and inspired by the particular Buddha Amitābha. He went on to suggest that such a cult may have arisen in competition with other communities of Buddhist belief in buddha fields.
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| The lecture was the first event in the 2009-10 HCBSS forum on "Exploring the Buddha Fields." For more on this program, see "Saints and Paradises." |
Matthieu Ricard on altruism
Is true altruism possible? |
| On the evening of October 13, prominent author, lecturer and photographer Matthieu Ricard delivered a talk on the nature of altruism and compassion. The lecture, entitled "The Roots of Altruism," was presented by Buddhism in the Modern World, a joint program of HCBSS, the Buddhist Community at Stanford, and Stanford's Office for Religious Life. It was co-sponsored by the Tibetan Studies Initiative and Project Compassion, an initiative Stanford's School of Medicine. Read more. |
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Himalayan Buddhist art specialist
Luczanits visits winter term |
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Christian Luczanits, noted historian of the Buddhist art of India and Tibet, will be Visiting Professor of Religious Studies and Fellow of HCBSS during winter term 2010. A graduate of Vienna, he is the author of Buddhist Sculpture in Clay: Early Western Himalayan Art, Late 10th to Early 13th Centuries (2004) and other works on the western Himalaya.
While in residence, Dr. Luczanits will offer a lecture course on Gandharan Buddhist art and a seminar on the buddha image. He will also present a public lecture on the early history of Alchi Monastery for the Tibetan Studies Initiative, and a public seminar on the Tibetan mandala for the Understanding Buddhist Art program. |
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| Gimello named Shinnyo-en Visiting Professor |
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Robert Gimello, distinguished scholar of Chinese Buddhism, will be the 2009-10 Shinnyo-en Visiting Professor of Buddhism. Long known for his work on early Huayan thought, Professor Gimello is the author of numerous studies of Buddhism in the Tang and Song dynasties. A graduate of Columbia University, he currently holds a post as research professor at Notre Dame and has previously taught at Dartmouth, UC Santa Barbara, the University of Arizona, and Harvard.
Professor Gimello will be in residence at Stanford during spring term, when he will offer a course in the department of Religious Studies on Chinese Buddhism in the Liao and Xixia kingdoms. He will also present the annual Shinnyo-en Lecture, on the topic of Buddhist asthetics, as well as a talk for the department on his work toward a Catholic theology of Buddhism. |
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| The Shinnyo-en Visiting Professorship in Buddhist Studies is a program of HCBSS inaugurated in 2008 through an endowment from the Shinnyo-en Foundation. |
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| van der Kuijp to give Evans-Wentz lecture |
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Distinguished Tibet scholar Leonard van der Kuijp will deliver this spring the XXXVth annual Evans-Wentz Lecture in Oriental Philosophies, Religions, and Ethics. Van der Kuijp, a graduate of Hamburg, is professor of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at Harvard, where he chairs the department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, as well as the Committee on Inner Asian and Altaic Studies.. Best known for his studies of Buddhist epistemology, he is the author of numerous works on Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, including his most recent book, In Search of Dharma: Indian and Ceylonese Travelers in Fifteenth Century Tibet (2009). |
Professor van der Kuijp's lecture, entitled "Buddhist Tantras On their Origins," is scheduled for Thursday, April 15. The event is co-sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center and the Tibetan Studies Initiative.
The Evans-Wentz lectures are a program of the department of Religious Studies, administered by HCBSS. The lectureship, founded through the bequest of Walter Y. Evans-Wentz (Stanford, ‘06; M.A., ‘07), began in 1969, with the inaugural lecture delivered by the eminent Sinologist Holmes Welch. |
featured research
Professor Paul Harrison on the Diamond Sutra |
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The work of HCBSS co-director Paul Harrison is the subject of a feature story on the web site The Human Experience: Inside the Humanities at Stanford University. The story highlights Harrison's ongoing study of the Diamond Sutra, one of the most popular texts of Mahayana Buddhism. Harrison, Edwin Burnell Professor in the department of Religious Studies, hopes to publish his findings during the coming year.
Read the story and view a video clip.
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featured book
Alumnus James Robson on Nanyue |
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A new book by Buddhist studies program alumnus James Robson ('02) explores the religious history of Mt. Nanyue, a major center of Buddhist and Daoist practice in medieval China. Entitled Power of Place: The Religious Landscape of the Southern Sacred Peak (Nanyue 南嶽) in Medieval China, the work is published by Harvard University. Robson, formerly at Michigan, is associate professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard.
Read more.
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