Table of Contents
- JOURNAL> The first volume of Buddhism, Law & Society
- Lecture> Michael Zimmermann at Waseda, February 15, Wednesday
- RESOURCE> URL to Dharma Drum resources
- NEW BOOKS/RESOURCES> Shambhala and Snow Lion Publications
- SYMPOSIUM> Transnational Buddhism: Philosophical, Historical and Anthropological Perspectives, Rangjung Yeshe Institute, March 25-26, 2017, Kathmandu, Nepal
JOURNAL> The first volume of Buddhism, Law & Society
by Rebecca Redwood
French
We are pleased to announce the publication of the first volume
of Buddhism, Law &
Society
VOLUME
1 – 2015-2016
CONTENTS
Rebecca Redwood French – Editor's Introduction
Petra Kieffer-Pülz – “Re-ordination of Former Buddhist Nuns in
the Theravada Tradition”
Buddhist monks (bhikkhu)
have the possibility of formally or informally withdrawing from the Buddhist
community (saṅgha),
and to later be ordained again as Buddhist monks. It’s generally held today
that Buddhist nuns (bhikkhunī)
may only informally withdraw (vibbhamati)
from the Buddhist community, and are prohibited from receiving full ordination
again as Buddhist nuns. Looking at all relevant sources from the middle Indic
language Pāli, from the canonical Vinaya text
to the subcommentaries, this article answers questions about how nuns are
regulated.
Dhammadinna Bhikkhuni – “Women's Aspirations and Soteriological
Agency in Sarvāstivāda and Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya Narratives”
This article explores narratives of women's soteriological
agency during the Middle Period in two parallel versions of a story located
respectively in the Mūlasarvāstivāda and the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya. Both stories (and
the Vinaya commentary)
show a positive attitude towards women. The primary sources and the topics
broached in the discussion offer a window onto the intersection of Buddhist
soteriological and social ideologies as reflected in Buddhist legal texts in
late antique and medieval India, and beyond.
Peter Skilling – “Ideology and Law: The Three Seals Code on
Crimes Related to Relics, Images, and Bodhi-Trees”
The idea that damaging sacred artifacts is a heinous deed is
expressed not only in Indian and Sri Lankan Buddhist inscriptions and in Pāli
literature, but also in the literature of the Indian Buddhist schools. It is a
social idea, a product of a shared imagination, bound up with concepts of
material culture; it should be traced to the evolution of the cult relics,
stūpas, Bodhi-trees, and images, rather than to any particular text or school.
Those who damage religious objects are threatened with dire consequences in
their next life. Examples from translated texts, including the Thai "Three
Seals Law Code," illustrate the state's serious involvement in and
enforcement of religious rules.
Jason A. Carbine – “How King Rāmādhipati Handled His Boundary
Case: Sīmā, Sāsana, and Buddhist Law”
This paper examines the structure and content of a legal
judgment (vinicchaya)
concerning sīmās (boundaries
for acts of the community) by the Mon king, Rāmādhipati, and learned monks in
15th century Rāmaññadesa, a region in what is now lower Myanmar. The king was
disturbed by monastic fragmentation and ritual impropriety in his domain and
launched a boundary (sīmā)
case to delegitimize the existing monastic ordinances, rituals and succession
and reconstitute them on a properly established sīmā. This case
exemplifies a pattern within some of the historically dominant legal cultures
of Sri Lanka and mainland Southeast Asia, wherein the responsible Buddhist king
is expected to inject state authority into monastic affairs when appropriate.
Dorothea Heuschert-Laage – “Negotiating Modalities of
Succession: The Interplay between Different Legal Spheres in Eighteenth-Century
Mongolia”
For 18th century Mongols living under Qing rule, the imperial
state was only one among several other sources of binding law, which included
Buddhist legal traditions, customary legal practices as well as other
manifestations and levels of state law. On the basis of archival material, this
paper discusses two legal cases in the 18th century in which people switched
between these different regulatory orders in a legally pluralistic environment.
The existence of these different legal practices raises many questions about
how the specific way these laws were interwoven, how Mongols used them and how
individuals could be acting in different spheres of law at the same time.
CALL
FOR PAPERS
Buddhism, Law & Society is the
first interdisciplinary academic journal to focus on Buddhist law and the
relationship between Buddhism, law, and society. Buddhism and its many social
and legal manifestations are a central area of interest for the journal, as are
the state’s legal relations to Buddhist actors, institutions and texts.
The scope of the journal is broad. We invite articles on
jurisprudence, philosophy, procedure, local community practices, ethics, and
social sanctions, both historical and contemporary, as they relate to Buddhism
and law in society in Asian and global contexts. The journal welcomes
submissions from legal practitioners as well as academics in a wide variety of
disciplines in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Law and will consider
publishing panels of papers from conferences, geographically specific areas,
festschrifts and symposia.
The journal is being produced at SUNY University at Buffalo
School of Law, New York, and published by William S. Hein & Co., Inc., the
world’s largest distributor of law and law-related periodicals and materials to
more than 3,200 locations.
Articles will be published electronically on a rolling basis,
and compiled into a print volume at the end of each year. Manuscripts/papers
and queries can be submitted to editor@buddhismandlaw.org.
Paper requirements:
All submitted articles will first be assessed by the Editor and
Managing Editor to ensure that they fit within the scope of the journal, are in
grammatical English, are of a reasonable length, and adhere to the journal’s
formatting and referencing requirements.
Articles that meet these requirements will be sent out for
double-blind peer review to a minimum of two reviewers. All of a journal’s
content, apart from any editorial and book review material that is clearly
marked as such, shall be subjected to peer review. Reviews should take a
maximum of 3 months. Once the reviewers have made their recommendations, the
Editor and Managing Editor will determine whether the article is accepted
without revisions, accepted with some revisions, accepted on the condition of
major revisions, or rejected. The author will be notified and given a deadline
for any revisions required.
At no point will the identity of the author or the reviewers be
divulged to outside parties, or to the respective authors and reviewers. Buddhism, Law & Society follows
academic best practices for journal reviewing, editing and publishing.
Copy-editing will be undertaken in-house. A specific style guide
is available at the journal website. In general, submitted papers should
conform to the following style guidelines, depending on the discipline:
- Humanities
and Social Sciences disciplines: Chicago
Manual of Style (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2010)
- Law
and related disciplines: The
Blue Book; A Uniform System of Citation (Cambridge, MA:
The Harvard Law Review Association, 2015)
The in-house editors at Buddhism,
Law & Society expect articles to be submitted in
the correct format. If the references require significant copy-editing in the
final article, authors will be asked to complete these themselves. Regarding
other edits, authors will only be consulted in cases where significant changes
are required. A final proof will be sent to all authors for checking.
For more information, visit the official
website of the journal: http://www.law.buffalo.edu/beyond/journals/buddhism.html
Lecture> Michael Zimmermann at Waseda, February 15, Wednesday
by Noboyoshi Yamabe
It is my great pleasure to announce a public lecture by Professor Michael
Zimmermann (Professor for Buddhist Studies at Hamburg University/Professor at
the University of Tsukuba) at Waseda Uiversity. The lecture will be given in
English and translated into Japanese. No preregistration is required.
Anybody interested is welcome. The details are as follows:Title: Socially Engaged Buddhism: Old Ideas for Modern Times?
Venue: Waseda University, Toyama Campus. Bldg 33, Rm 333.
Date & Time: February 15, Wednesday. 5pm-6:30pm.
Abstract: Among the major features of a „new“ Buddhism today, a dimension of social engagement has emerged. Are there literary sources from the early times of Buddhism which promote this social engagement? Or is this only a recent development in Buddhism, under the influence of Western Christian ideals?
The talk will deal with some old Buddhist texts from different traditions, in particular the Bodhisattvabhūmi, proposing that there is strong evidence that the Buddhist follower who has adopted the ideal of striving for awakening (bodhisattva), should, under certain circumstances, engage in „wholesome“ worldy activities. The talk will also shed light on the question of how this social engagement is organically anchored in the general ethical setup of the Buddhist traditions.
About the Speaker: Professor Zimmermann studied Classical Indology, Tibetology and Japanology at the University of Hamburg. His dissertation dealt with the origin of the buddha-nature theory in India. Four years of his PhD studies were spent at universities in Kyoto and Tokyo. He later worked for the Nepalese-German Manuscript Preservation Project of the German Research Council (DFG) in Hamburg and Kathmandu where he also directed the Nepal Research Centre from 2002 to 2003. After four years as assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies of Stanford University (USA) and director of the Stanford Center for Buddhist Studies, in 2007, he became professor for Indian Buddhism at the Asien-Afrika-Institut of the University of Hamburg.
Zimmermann’s research focuses on all aspects of Mahayana Buddhism in India, in particular its textual-historical dimension, based on the study of primary sources in the Buddhist canonical languages of India, Tibet and China. He is also interested in questions of Buddhist ethics such as the relation of Buddhism to political ideas and violence. He is co-director of the Numata Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Hamburg and co-editor of the book series Hamburg Buddhist Studies.
RESOURCE> URL to Dharma Drum resources
by Marcus
Bingenheimer
Dear List Members,Some of you might have experienced problems accessing Dharma Drum resources such as the Dharma Drum Buddhist Authority Databases for names and places, or the Buddhist Temple Gazetteer Archive.
The reason for this is that the Taiwanese Ministry of Education has disabled the domain name "ddbc.edu". This cannot be fixed on our end with a URL forward.
To solve the problem please update your legacy links: replace "ddbc" (Dharma Drum Buddhist College) with "dila" (Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts) in the URL.
E.g.:
authority.ddbc.edu.tw becomes authority.dila.edu.tw
buddhistinformatics.ddbc.edu.tw/fosizhi becomes buddhistinformatics.dila.edu.tw/fosizhi
Apologies for the inconvenience. We would have preferred to keep the older URLs alive, but this does not seem possible right now. All resources, however, are still available.
all the best
Marcus Bingenheimer & Joey Hung
Dr. Marcus Bingenheimer 馬德偉
Department of Religion, Temple University
http://mbingenheimer.net
NEW BOOKS/RESOURCES> Shambhala and Snow Lion Publications
by Nikko Odiseos
Dear Friends,I am happy to share a few new books of interest to this group as well as some new online resources.
BOOKS
The first book is Entering the Way of the Great Vehicle: Dzogchen as the Culmination of the Mahāyanā by Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo (aka Rongzom Mahapandita, aka Ronzongpa) translated and introduced by Dr. Dominic Sur. Rongzompa wrote this treatise in the eleventh century during the renaissance of Buddhism in Tibet that was spurred by the influx of new translations of Indian Buddhist texts, tantras, and transmissions from India. In this heterogeneous environment of varying viewpoints about authenticity and correct understanding, Rongzompa wrote this work in order to clearly and definitively articulate how Dzogchen was very much in line with the wide variety of teachings from the sutras and tantras espoused by the new and emerging schools.
ISBN: 9781611803686
Availability: Everywhere and http://shmb.la/great-vehicle
The second is Adorning Maitreya’s Intent: Arriving at the View of Nonduality by Rongtön Sheja Künrig (aka Rongtönpa), the 14th/15th century teacher whise students included Shakya Chokden and Gorampa Sönam Senge. This is translated and introduced by Christian Bernert. This is a commentary on the Madhyāntavibhāga and explains the three vehicles of Buddhism, emphasizing the view of Yogācāra, and demonstrates the inseparability of experience and emptiness. It offers a detailed presentation of the three natures of reality.
ISBN: 9781611803662
Availability: Available now at http://shmb.la/adorning and everywhere else on February 21.
The third is Tsongkhapa'a first volume of The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra: Tantra in Tibet. This includes a commentary by the Dalai Lama. It is introduced by Jeffrey Hopikins who also contributed to the volume. Volumes 2 and 3 will be out in the coming months and announced on this list. This dovetails (though there is a gap) with Columbia's works on this which starts includes some of the later volumes. ISBN: 9781611803594
Availability: Available now everywhere and at http://shmb.la/tantra-tibet.
Desk and exam copies are all available from Penguin Random House via RHAcademic@penguinrandomhouse.com or by phone: (212) 782-8482.
THE STATE OF BUDDHIST PUBLISHING
Also of possible interest is this article on The State of Buddhist Publishing. While its focus is not on academic publishing per se, it will likely still be relevant to some on this list. http://bit.ly/buddhist-pub.
VIDEO RESOURCES
We have also posted about nine hours of video footage from our recent workshop, co-sponsored with the Tsadra Foundation, on Kongtrul's Treasury of Precious Instructions, featuring Dr. Sarah Harding, translator Elizabeth Callahan, and Acharya Tenpa Gyaltsen. http://www.shambhala.com/8chariots
Finally, we also have a great video of an evening we hosted featuring Dr. Harding and Larry Mermelstein (Nalanda Translation Committee) on translating Buddhism from Tibetan: http://shmb.la/mermel
Best Wishes,
Nikko
Nikko Odiseos
President
Shambhala Publications | Snow Lion Publications
4720 Walnut St, Boulder, CO 80301 | o: 720-799-8245
Distributed by Penguin Random House
SYMPOSIUM> Transnational Buddhism: Philosophical, Historical and Anthropological Perspectives, Rangjung Yeshe Institute, March 25-26, 2017, Kathmandu, Nepal
by Joanne Larson
Dear Colleagues,Rangjung Yeshe Institute is pleased to announce the continuation of its series of international symposia. The 11th Symposium on Buddhist Studies will be held in March 25-26, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency in Kathmandu. Interested scholars and graduate students are welcome to attend the discussions. The symposium schedule and details are available at www.ryi.org/symposium-2017.
Symposium Title:
“Transnational Buddhism: Philosophical, Historical and Anthropological Perspectives”
Symposium Theme:
This symposium explores the nature of transnational Buddhism in its historical and transcultural origins and its contemporary global dimensions, examining the import of this dynamic interchange for the future of Buddhist communities and scholarship. Particular attention will be paid to the role played by the Kathmandu Valley, and Nepal more broadly, as a frequent center of intense intercultural contact for Buddhist practitioners and scholars from a variety of Buddhist traditions.
Symposium Panels:
The philosophy panels will focus on the study of Buddhist philosophy as it is influenced by exchanges between scholars from different nations and cultures. In particular, the exchange between traditional scholarship and modern academic research will be highlighted, considering, for example, how comparative philosophical perspectives transform our understanding of Buddhism and the world, or how transnational academic and scientific culture are transforming Buddhist ways of learning and reflecting.
The anthropology and history panel will consider this issue from anthropological and historical perspectives. Throughout its history, Buddhism has adopted unique forms as it acculturated to the various societies it reached, while in turn transforming those societies. The modern history of Buddhism has seen the rise of humanistic and engaged Buddhism as a result of its encounter with the western world. Moreover, globalization has led to more sustained encounters between the various schools of Buddhism as well as to the spread of Buddhism to traditionally non-Buddhist communities.
Symposium Speakers:
Keynote speaker: John Dunne (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Additional speakers: Douglas Duckworth (Temple University) | Jonardon Ganeri (New York University, Abu-Dhabi)| Anne MacDonald (University of Vienna) | Klaus-Dieter Mathes (University of Vienna) | Karin Meyers (KU Centre for Buddhist Studies, RYI) | Jin Park (American University) | William Waldron (Middlebury College) | Ana Cristina O. Lopes (University of Virginia) | Ong See Yaw (Malaysian Buddhism Development Foundation) | Alexander von Rospatt (University of California, Berkeley) | Gregory Sharkey (KU Centre for Buddhist Studies, RYI) | One or more Khenpos (Sangye Yeshe Monastic Shedra)
Special Guest: Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche
The symposium is free and open to the public. Saturday’s talks will be followed by a celebratory dinner for which tickets will be available for purchase.
