SUMERU » Buddhist Psychology

Call for Papers (Conference): “Icons of Impermanence: Contemporary Buddhist Art”

Yönten — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:41:48 +0000

UBC’s Buddhism and Contemporary Society Program, funded by The Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation, will hold a conference on contemporary Buddhist art July 6-8, 2012 at the University of British Columbia’s Point Grey campus. Part of event series for Summer 2012 that includes the “Visions of Enlightenment” exhibition (May 10 – September 30), sponsored by the Canadian Society for Asian Arts, at the Museum of Anthropology, UBC.

Abstract submission deadline: April 10, 2012
Conference weekend: July 6-8, 2012

In Buddhism, as in other major religions, the visual arts have played a central role. Buddhist artists and artisans created images that inspired by their form and function. As Buddhism spread from place to place, it adapted local artistic traditions, creating styles and symbol-sets that not only represented Buddhism but, simultaneously, remained in touch with local sensibilities and culture. Portrayals of the Buddha and other important figures in stone, wood, bronze, and ink, for example, continue to anchor local communities, serve as their ritual center, and convey their teachings to new generations.

Today, a number of prominent Buddhist styles and symbols are recognized the world over—forming what is called “traditional” Buddhist art. In the face of this broad recognition of the traditional, it is easy to forget that the processes of localization, transformation, and creation are still at work. As demonstrated by Nam Jun Paik’s “Buddha” (1989), Mariko Mori’s “Enlightenment Capsule” (1998), Xu Bing’s “Where Does the Dust Itself Collect?” (2004), or Gonkar Gyatso’s “Buddha in Our Time” (2007), contemporary artists draw upon Buddhist iconic, conceptual, and ritual traditions to create works that speak to present day struggles with identity, politics, social practice, and consumer culture. Buddhist artists combine new and old media and display influences from the many kinds of training available in a mobile, globalized world: whether in traditions descended from the European fine arts, apprenticeship in the creation of Buddhist icons, or in the enclaves of the avant-garde.

How to submit an abstract:
We invite the submission of paper abstracts (150 words) and a brief CV (no more than 1 page) to bcsprogram@gmail.com by April 10, 2012. We encourage papers that explore (1) any facet of contemporary Buddhist art, or (2) contemporary issues in relation to Buddhist antiquities and traditional art objects. Papers may, for example:

- explore definitions of “contemporary Buddhist art”
- interpret form or content of art works using theory in the visual arts
- describe specific works, particular artists, or artistic communities
- examine the transnational linkages of contemporary Buddhist art
- explore local and global issues in the preservation, management, trade, and exhibition of Buddhist antiquities
- examine the deployment of traditional Buddhist art for contemporary political, cultural, or religious purposes that differ from original context and use

Designer Babies Welcome in Buddhism

Yönten — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:54:23 +0000

Suwanda Sugunasiri, Canadian Buddhist scholar and community activist, weighs in on Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis, an important aspect of bioethics, with a Buddhist perspective: http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=44144

CBC Quirks and Quarks on Vipassana

Yönten — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:53:02 +0000

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s weekly science show, Quirks and Quarks, did a segment this week on the positive medical science associated with insight meditation. The coverage consists of an interview with Dr. Judson Brewer, of the Yale Therapeutic Neural Science Centre, speaking about his recent research study.

Listen here: http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/media/2011-2012/qq-2012-01-28_06.mp3

Leonard Cohen: Old Ideas

Yönten — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:22:41 +0000

Listen here -

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/22/145340430/first-listen-leonard-cohen-old-ideas

The Cyborg Buddha Project

Yönten — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:29:43 +0000

From the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), comes this article on Religion and Transhumanism, written by Alex McGilvery, a United Church minister in Flin Flon, Manitoba. Normally, that would not be something we cover at Sumeru, but he makes extensive reference to Buddhism, and especially the “Cyborg Buddha Project.”

Here’s the IEET link: http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/McGilvery20120122

For more information about the Cyborg Buddha Project, follow this link: http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/cyborgbuddha

Investigating + Integrating Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care + Society

Yönten — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 23:32:48 +0000

The Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School will be holding their 10th annual International Scientific Conference, March 28-April 1, 2012, at the Four Points Conference Center in Norwood, Massachusetts.

Among the plenary sessions are:

Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery: The Story of an Emerging Research Program
Linda E. Carlson, Ph.D., R.Psych.
Enbridge Research Chair in Psychosocial Oncology
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Health Scholar
Professor, Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts
University of Calgary

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Comes of Age
Zindel Segal, PhD
Cameron Wilson Chair in Depression Studies
Head of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program
Professor, Department of Psychiatry
University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Here is the link to the full conference website: http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/conference/index.aspx

Dharma Brothers: Kodo and Tokujoo

Yönten — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:13:14 +0000

Dharma Brothers: Kodo and Tokujoo, A Historical Novel Based On The Lives Of Two Japanese Zen Masters (Volume 1)
Arthur Braverman
CreateSpace, December 2010
592 pages, 6 x 9
ISBN-13: 978-1453861530
(Also available in a Kindle digital edition)

From the publisher…
Dharma Brothers: Kodo and Tokujoo is based on the lives of two Japanese Zen Masters, how they grew from two ordinary boys, walking very different paths to become extraordinary men, and the deep spiritual bond between them. It is also the story of Japan from 1880 to 1965, of two personal accounts of Zen journeys to enlightenment, and of love and friendship. The story follows the lives of these two Dharma brothers, set against a backdrop of the Japanese-Russian War of 1905, and the rise of fascism in Japan in the 1930s. Kodo was an orphan, brought up in a harsh environment, while Tokujoo was the son of a well-to-do businessman. They both spent years studying in the most stringent Zen monasteries and became life-long friends. Each struggled to find his way clear of the circumstances in which he had been reared. Each sought a way of life offering more meaning and truth, ultimately becoming a different exemplar of Zen practice and living Buddhism.

About the author…
Arthur Braverman is author of Living and Dying in Zazen and translator of Mud and Water: A Collection of Talks by the Zen Master Bassui; Warrior of Zen: The Diamond-hard Wisdom Mind of Suzuki Shosan; and A Quiet Room: The Poetry of Zen Master Jakushitsu. He studied Zen at Antaiji Temple in Kyoto, Japan under Zen Master Kosho Uchiyama (Kodo Sawaki’s Dharma heir). He lives in Ojai, California.

The Sumeru review…

I read a lot of books, and they fight for space on my table. Good books get finished, while the not so good ones languish half-read. Dharma Brothers quickly became my book of choice and yesterday I finished it, after a few weeks of stolen moments.

What was the pull? It’s very simple – I could see myself mirrored in the story and I wanted to know what happened next. Braverman’s novel, based on the true stories of two well-known Japanese roshis, illuminated the day-to-day path of zen practice with grace and wit in a narrative story format. That is not a topic which would appeal to a broad audience (which is why it is self-published), but for practitioners, it is one of immense import.

It is not easy to write a novel. It is not easy to write a historical novel that portrays another culture credibly. And it is not easy to write convincingly of a spiritual journey, without tumbling into either hagiography or maudlin melodrama.

Braverman does a very good job of walking the middle way. That’s not to say the book is without structural flaws, but those flaws are matched with vignettes that soar. My biggest complaint is that a lot of the book is spent in setting up the early practice of Kodo Sawaki Roshi and Tokujoo Kato Roshi. Braverman’s choice to focus on the intimate details of their daily lives comes at the expense of our learning more about their public activity, teaching and dharma work later in life. I would have liked to know more about their sermons and teaching methods in the public sphere, since they were such influential teachers in the 20^th century.

Similarly, I would have liked to know more about Japan’s social, cultural and political evolution over the period covered in the book. Braverman spent a number of years practicing in Japan with Kodo Sawaki’s dharma heir, Kosho Uchiyama. That experience has allowed him to portray Japan at the turn of the century with riveting accuracy. It would have been fascinating for him to include more of that context in the book, since it was such an important part of world history and since it was so integral to the transformation of all schools of Japanese Buddhism.

On the other hand, Braverman has captured perfectly the nuances of monastic practice and the “one taste” of zen. His accounts of zazen, koan study, dokusan, shikantaza, kinhin, physical labour as practice, temple architecture and routines, hermit practice, life for hereditary priests, and so on, all ring true without a false note.

Dharma Brothers steers clear of describing Kodo or Tokujoo’s satori experiences in any great detail, and even goes so far as to downplay those awakenings by placing them within the context of life’s ongoing challenges and emotional waves. Failure and uncertainty are recognized as teachers too. As Tokujoo’s teacher notes at one point in Tokujoo’s middle practice – the early student tries to control everything in his environment; the advanced student lets nature unfold and responds appropriately.

Zen is a Buddhist tradition that relies much more heavily on experiential learning through meditation than on study of sutras and commentary. It also places great value on everyday living. But it would be disingenuous to imply that one can progress along the path without knowing what that path is. Which leads us to some of the deeper issues raised in this excellent book:

priests, monks, hermits and laypeople in Japan’s Buddhist landscape
operation and maintenance of Buddhist institutions in Japan after 1880
lives and prospects of non-eminent monks
marriage as part of the dharma path, rather than antithetical to it
zen versus bushido
tradition versus modernity
real practice versus going through the motions

Dharma Brothers: Kodo and Tokujoo, A Historical Novel Based On The Lives Of Two Japanese Zen Masters (Volume 1) tackles all of these topics, to greater or lesser degrees, in the context of a story that makes you want to keep turning pages. You will as likely be left with more questions than answers, but that is a good thing.

Braverman never gives any explanation of why his first novel is tagged as volume one, but we can only hope he keeps writing fiction along with his other endeavours.
Karma Yönten Gyatso

Michael Stone on “Occupy…”

Yönten — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:10:19 +0000

From The Globe and Mail: Michael Stone a street sage with no easy answers.

Crazy Wisdom @ VIFF

Yönten — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:14:42 +0000

Review from The Province: http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/VIFF+Waking+love/5533449/story.html

The movie “Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche” is also a potential candidate for entry in the Arclight Documentary Film Festival, if enough of the public “Like” it on the Arclight YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzZRiE7C_Ac

Bon Retreat @ Sherab Chamma Ling, Vancouver Island: 10.21-23.11

Yönten — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:45:47 +0000

From the Comox Valley Record… http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_north/comoxvalleyrecord/community/131536943.html