SUMERU » Education

Studying Buddhism in Practice

Yönten — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:10:51 +0000

Studying Buddhism in Practice
John S. Harding, editor

Paperback, 200 pages, $29.95
Published by Routledge, January 2012
ISBN: 978-0415464864
Hardcover and e-book also available

About the author:

JOHN S. HARDING is Associate Professor and Chair of the Religious Studies Department at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. His books include Introduction to the Study of Religion with Hillary P. Rodrigues (2008) and Wild Geese: Buddhism in Canada with Victor Sōgen Hori and Alexander Soucy (2010).

From the publisher:

This book introduces the rich realities of the Buddhist tradition and the academic approaches through which they are studied. Based on personal experiences of Buddhism on the ground, it provides a reflective context within which religious practices can be understood and appreciated. The engaging narratives cover a broad range of Buddhist countries and traditions, drawing on fieldwork to explore topics such as ordination, pilgrimage, funerals, gender roles, and film-making. All the entries provide valuable contextual discussion and are accompanied by photographs and suggestions for further reading.

The narratives include:

Coronation at Kōyasan: how one woman became king and learned about homeland security and national health care in ancient Japan (Pamela D. Winfield)
Buddhism through the lens: a study of the study of Buddhism through film (Lina Verchery)*
Voice and gender in Vietnamese Buddhist practice (Alexander Soucy)*
Feasting for the dead: Theravāda Buddhist funerals (Rita Langer)
Buddha for our time: images of a Sri Lankan culture hero (John Clifford Holt)
Shifting signposts in Shikoku pilgrimage (John S. Harding)*
From texts to people: developing new skills (Mavis L. Fenn)*
Merit, gender, and Theravāda Buddhist practices in times of crisis (Monica Lindberg Falk)
Encounters with Jizo-san in an aging Japan (Jason A. Danely)
Amitabha’s birthday and the liberation of life (Paul Crowe)*
Preaching as performance: notes on a secretive Shin Buddhist sermon (Clark Chilson)
The insides and outsides of a Tibetan Buddhist ritual on the outskirts of Sujata village (James B. Apple)*
Practicing the study of Buddhism: cross-cultural journeys and renewed humanism in the history of religions (William R. Lafleur)

* Articles by Canadian scholars

The Sumeru review:

Studying Buddhism in Practice was conceived as a complement to standard undergraduate textbooks on the study of Buddhism. Its approach is closest in style to ethnographic anthropology, insofar as it comprises observation of Buddhist ritual and personal reflection by the observers, who are self-proclaimed “outsiders.” In the introduction, the editor takes pains to explain that this hybrid approach is somewhat unorthodox, chosen to elucidate both the lived experience of practitioners and also that of the scholarly observer. In other words, the book is as much about how we study Buddhism as how Buddhists practice Buddhism, within their specific cultural contexts.

The largest issue this book raises for me is its reticence about the increasingly blurry boundaries between scholars, practitioners and scholar-practitioners. Indeed, the notion of scholar-practitioner does not even appear in the front-matter of the book. That is a serious problem.

As Buddhist practice has matured in the west, we have seen a concomitant growth in the number of Buddhist teachers who can speak and write deeply about the practice of Buddhism, its history and its philosophical perspective across many cultural expressions. Nobody looks at Robert Thurman and says, “Oh gee, he can’t be an objective scholar because he used to be a monk and is obviously a practicing Buddhist!” That is just one exaggerated example to make the point. Scholars who cling to the notion that they can somehow be objective, independent, impartial and above the fray are merely demonstrating their service to a different ideology – that of secular humanism. This book has an aura of spiritual tourism about it. The essays veer frequently into the territory of “Oh gee, I studied Buddhism and it changed me.”

I am not proposing that there is no place for objective, independent observation and the attempt to see events within larger systems of context. However, since Charles Prebish proposed the designation of scholar-practitioner, we have yet to see academia embrace it en masse as a valid perspective. I couldn’t hep feeling, while reading Studying Buddhism in Practice, as if I were a CIA operative trying to figure out why “those people over there” do what they do so I could categorize and respond to them better, while firmly entrenched within my own ideological bunker. It was not a good feeling.

As a practitioner of Buddhism, I seek to see the spiritual in everyday life. The narratives in this book seek to explain the spiritual in terms of everyday life. That’s kind of like looking through a telescope from the wrong end!

Be that as it may, for the right audience (young adults with no experience of Buddhist practice in their own culture), in the right context (an undergraduate university course where the material can be discussed), this is a good book. The sincerity and backgrounds of the authors are solid.

Each essay is arranged in three parts: a narrative, discussion and readings. The readings refer to writings by other Canadian scholars of Buddhism as well.

Numata Lectures

Yönten — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:13:12 +0000

The University of Toronto/McMaster University Numata Buddhist Studies Program presents

“Conventional Truth and Symbolic Terms in Saraha’s Adamantine Songs”
Dr. Lara Braitstein, McGill University
Lecture: Thursday, January 26, 4-6 pm, University Hall 122, McMaster University

“Rdo ring pa’s Rnam thar and the Limits of Reading History from Autobiography”
University of Toronto Reading Group Session
Friday, January 27, 3-5 pm, Jackman Humanities Building, Room 318, 170 St George Street, University of Toronto

ABSTRACT: The Shamarpas (zhva dmar pa), or Red Hat Lamas, are the second-oldest reincarnate lineage in Tibet and among the highest ranked hierarchs of the Kagyu School. In earlier times, the Shamarpas were renowned for their contributions to poetry, philosophy, political mediation, and for the establishment and maintenance of monasteries. The events surrounding the life of the 10th Shamarpa, Chodrup Gyatso (1742-1792) mark a dramatic shift in that perception, one that led to a 171-year long ban on his reincarnation. This paper studies the life and death of this now infamous figure from Tibet’s past in light of the diary of the 18th century Tibetan politician Tenzin Peljor Doringpa (bstan ‘dzin dpal ‘byor rdo ring pa), suggests that there are many ways to interpret the life and death of this renegade Rinpoche, and much to be learned from how his story has been remembered.

For reading group materials and questions, please contact frances.garrett@utoronto.ca

Numata lectures @ UofT + McMaster

Yönten — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:19:42 +0000

The University of Toronto / McMaster University Yehan Numata Buddhist Studies Program

Presents

Tōru Funayama (Kyoto University)

Professor Tōru Funayama has been described as a Buddhological renaissance man because of the breadth of his knowledge about Buddhism in India, Tibet, China and Japan. He has published six books and more than 50 articles or book chapters dealing with Indian philosophy, the linguistic features of texts translated from Sanskrit into Chinese, Chinese biographies of Buddhist monks, lay Buddhist practice in China, and Chinese philosophy in the fifth and sixth centuries. He has taught at various universities in Japan (including Koyasan University, Kyushu University, Otani University, Ryukoku University, University of Tokyo, and Tsukuba University) and abroad (including Harvard, Heidelberg, Leiden, and Stanford).

“Kamalaśīla’s View on Yogic Perception and the Bodhisattva Path”

Thursday, December 1, 3-5 pm

University of Toronto Reading Group Session

Department for the Study of Religion (170 St George St.), Room 317

“Mahāyāna Vinaya? Aspirations for the composition of a Vinaya for bodhisattvas in India and China”

Friday, December 2, 4-6 pm

University Hall 122, McMaster University

ABSTRACT: As is clearly evident from Chinese Buddhist catalogs, medieval Chinese Buddhists accepted the view of a “Mahāyāna Vinaya” (dasheng lü). On the other hand, we know that such a vinaya never existed in the history of Indian Buddhism. Is this idea a result of Chinese misunderstanding? Naturally this question is also concerned with Sinification of Buddhism. In this talk, I will attempt to explore the origin and development of this notion with a special focus on the Scripture of Brahma’s Net (Fanwang jing). By referring to internal evidence, I want to point out that this well-known apocryphal sutra played a critical role for the establishment of the term dasheng lü in China. Further, I want to verify that basically the same idea, if not entirely identical, is found in the Skt. Bodhisattvabhūmi, the most significant text for bodhisattva precepts in India, in order to claim that early Yogacarins wished to establish a Mahāyāna equivalent of the orthodox Vinaya in India and that such an intention was more emphasized by the composition of the Scripture of Brahma’s Net in China.

For reading group materials and questions, please contact frances.garrett@utoronto.ca

“What to see in a Buddhist Cave” lecture, Vancouver, 11.30.11

Yönten — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:59:55 +0000

The UBC Kameyama Lecture Series, with the UBC Buddhism and Contemporary Society Program, presents a lecture by Dr. Eugene Wang, the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Professor of Asian Art at Harvard University:

“What to See in a Buddhist Cave?”

Date: Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Time: 4:30 – 7:00 PM
Place: C.K. Choi Building, Room 120, 1855 West Mall, UBC Point Grey Campus

Lectures are free and open to the public. Seating will be on a first-come first-serve basis

Click on the poster for more details:

Canadian Buddhism Survey launched

Yönten — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 02:19:00 +0000

The Sumeru Press is currently updating our directory of Canadian Buddhist organizations for www.canadianbuddhism.info and we are asking for participation from Buddhist organizations across Canada. More than 15,000 people a year turn to this website and its sister news site, www.sumeru-books.com, for information about where to practice and learn about Buddhism in Canada. We want to make sure that the information they find is as accurate and current as possible.

To this end, we have embarked on a new project in association with the Department for the Study of Religion, at the University of Toronto – to create Canada’s first printed guide to Canadian Buddhist organizations, including not just their contact information such as address, phone number and website, but also information about teachers, programs and related activities. Our goal is to publish in the summer of 2012.

There are more than 500 Canadian Buddhist organizations to be included! If we were unable to reach your organization directly, please make use of the link below to download a survey and send it back to us.

The survey has two parts. The first part contains questions about Canadian Buddhist organization that are important for potential members of, and visitors to, each group. In the second part, we are gathering sociological information about the state of Buddhist organizational development in Canada. No study like this has ever been done before. The data we hope to collect will be extremely valuable to benchmark each group’s activities and place them within the larger context of Sangha in Canada.

The survey is entirely voluntary, and all of the data we collect in the second part will be presented in a way that does not identify any individual organization specifically. In other words, responses to part two of the survey will remain entirely anonymous.

The survey is presented in an interactive digital document – answers can be typed right into the form. It can be saved as a new file and submitted electronically. Printed versions of the survey are also available. Click here for a copy of the survey package: NEW Canadian Buddhism Interactive Survey Package. A low-tech version of the survey is also available in Word .doc format. For that, click here: Canadian Buddhism Survey.

This research has been formally approved by the Department for the Study of Religion and the Office of Research Ethics at the University of Toronto. If you have any questions or concerns, you may contact me (buddhismsurvey@sumeru-books.com), or Dr. Frances Garrett, Associate Chair, Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto (frances.garrett@utoronto.ca or 416-978-1020).

Buddhism under Pol Pot – Lecture @ U of T Scarborough, 11.4.11

Yönten — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:41:50 +0000

The Arts & Events Programming website at the University lists this item for 7:00 pm, Friday, November 4, in room AA112 at the Scarborough campus.

Tung Lin Kok Yuen Public Lecture Series presents:
Buddhism Under Pol Pot
TLKY Distinguished Visiting Professor in Buddhist Studies, Dr. Ian Harris, will give a free public lecture examining the violent and repressive conditions faced by Cambodian Buddhist monks as Cambodia unravelled through the 1970s. Please RSVP for this event by contacting AEP at aep-rsvp@utsc.utoronto.ca or 416 208 4769.

The public lecture given by Dr. Harris will examine a modern experience of Buddhism encountering political conflict. Dr. Harris will look at the struggles of Buddhist monks in the face of a violent and repressive regime in Cambodia in the 1970s. He will consider the regional variations in the Khmer Rouge’s treatment of religion, the number of monks that perished, monastic survivors, the re-establishment of Cambodian Buddhism, and the development of Cambodia’s violent communist movement after the fall of Pol Pot.

Dr. Ian Harris is Professor Emeritus at the University of Cumbria. His current research interests focus on the modern and contemporary history of Cambodia, Buddhism and politics in Southeast Asia, Buddhist environmentalism, and landscape aesthetics. Dr. Harris has held previous visiting professor positions at the University of Oxford, the University of British Columbia, the National University of Singapore, and the Documentary Center of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. His most recent books are Cambodian Buddhism: History and Practice and Buddhism Under Pol Pot.

Admission to the lecture is FREE. To reserve your spot, please contact Arts & Events Programming at aep-rsvp@utsc.utoronto.caor at 416 208 4769. Please note that for those travelling from downtown Toronto, a free shuttle bus will depart from Hart House Circle at 5:30pm and will return once the lecture is over at 9:00pm. To RSVP for the bus, please email aep-rsvp@utsc.utoronto.ca.

Numata Lectures, Dec 2011 – April 2012

Yönten — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:46:21 +0000

UPCOMING IN WINTER/SPRING 2012

LARA BRAITSTEIN (McGill University)
LECTURE: Thursday, January 26, 4-6, McMaster, University Hall 122
READING GROUP: Friday, January 27, 3-5, U of T, Jackman Humanities Building, Room 318

PIERCE SALGUERO (Penn State University, Abington College)
READING GROUP: Thursday, March 1, McMaster, University Hall 122
LECTURE: Friday, March 2, U of T, Jackman Humanities Building, Room 318

COLLETT COX (University of Washington)
LECTURE: Thursday, March 22, McMaster, University Hall 122
READING GROUP: Friday, March 23, U of T, Jackman Humanities Building, Room 318

JOHANNES BRONKHORST (University of Lausanne)
READING GROUP (Co-hosted by the Hindu Studies Colloquium): Greater Magadha and Buddhism in the Shadow of Brahmanism
Tuesday, March 27, U of T

CHRISTINA SCHERRER-SCHAUB (University of Lausanne)
READING GROUP: Thursday, April 5, 4-6, McMaster, University Hall 122
LECTURE: Friday, April 6, 3-5, U of T
For reading group materials and questions, please contact

frances.garrett@utoronto.ca or see http://buddhiststudies.chass.utoronto.ca/

Numata Lectures, Nov 10 (Hamilton), Nov 11 (Toronto)

Yönten — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:41:03 +0000

M Wang Numata program 2011-12

Charles Prebish podcast on “New Books in Buddhist Studies”

Yönten — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:21:49 +0000

Charles Prebish is among the most prominent scholars of American Buddhism. He has been a pioneer in studying the forms that Buddhist tradition has taken in the United States. Now retired, he has written this unusual new book, An American Buddhist Life: Memoirs of a Modern Dharma Pioneer (Sumeru Press, 2011). The book tells the story of Prebish’s role in bringing the field of American Buddhism to prominence. The difficulties he faced in establishing American Buddhism as a legitimate field of study, and in trying to be recognized as a “scholar-practitioner,” will resonate with up-and-coming scholars trying to carve out a new niche for their scholarship. The book is filled with anecdotes about recognized authorities in Buddhist studies, providing a uniquely personal window into the development of the field in the late 20th century and beyond.

Here the podcast of his interview with NBIBS here: http://newbooksinbuddhiststudies.com/2011/10/05/charles-prebish-an-american-buddhist-life-memoirs-of-a-modern-dharma-pioneer-sumeru-press-2011/

Buddhism & Psychology Student Union @ U of T

Yönten — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:31:25 +0000

This is a very recently-formed organization.

Here is their mission statement:

The Buddhism and Psychology Student Union (BPSU) is a child of the ongoing dialogue between Buddhism and the mind sciences. Our main aim is to offer a forum for University of Toronto students to openly investigate and uncover whatever implications this dialogue may bring.

Additionally, we hope to provide opportunities for our members to integrate the Dharma into their other academic and personal pursuits. Although BPSU represents students in the Buddhism, Psychology, & Mental Health (BPMH) program, everyone is welcome to attend our academic and social events. More importantly, everyone is encouraged to participate in what we feel is an expansion of what it means to study the body-mind complex.

Here is their contact information:

Buddhism & Psychology Student Union
St. George Campus, University of Toronto
Toronto, ON
M5A 2N4
http://bpsu.blogs.chass.utoronto.ca/
E-mail: ut.bpsu@gmail.com

More contact details can be found on our sister site: www.canadianbuddhism.info