[Blog] A Report on the Buddhist Studies in Canada Round Table Discussion at the XVIIIth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies

By Crystal Beaudoin The Buddhist Studies in Canada round table discussion was one of many exciting evening events that took place at the XVIIIth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. It took place on Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017, at the University of Toronto's Bahen Centre for Information Technology. Invited participants travelled from all …

[Blog] The Slash Between: Going Home as an Insider/ Outsider

By Rutika Gandhi Introduction For my thesis, I am looking at the revival of Buddhism in India in the context of modernism and globalization. Specifically, I am interested in the role that India’s government plays in branding, supporting and promoting Buddhist tourist and pilgrimage sites for economic development. Since there are various significant places connected …

[Blog] A Reflection on Dr. Cuilan Liu’s Visit to McMaster’s Religious Studies Department on December 15, 2016

By Crystal Beaudoin On December 15th of 2016, Religious Studies faculty and students welcomed Dr. Cuilan Liu to our department as a guest lecturer. Dr. Liu is an Assistant Professor of Buddhist Studies at Emmanuel College of Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on relationships between Buddhism and the State during …

[Blog] A Reflection on Dr. Lewis Lancaster’s Visit to Fo Guang Shan Temple on October 9th, 2016

By Crystal Beaudoin Walking through the forest on an autumn day, we appreciate the lovely red, yellow and orange colours of the leaves. We smell them and hear them under our feet as we hike along. Yet our encounters with the forest are very much akin to virtual reality. Our experiences of the colourful, fragrant …

[Blog] Writing on the Wall: Manuscripts & Caves – A Talk by Professor Eugene Wang at Research Roundtable: East Asian Manuscript and Print as Harbingers of the Digital Future

By Shanshan Zhao The significance of manuscript and print culture in the historical transmission of religion, art, and literature in East Asia can be paralleled with today’s digital media. The transition from manuscript to print and the historical development of reading and printing techniques in pre-modern Asia may inform our understanding of the modern transition …

[Blog] A Reflection on Dr. Victor Hori’s Public Dharma Talk at Fo Guang Shan Temple

By Crystal Beaudoin An enthusiastic group of volunteers, community members and scholars gathered at Fo Guang Shan temple in Mississauga on Sunday, May 29th 2016 to learn about the past, present and future of Buddhism in Canada. Fo Guang Shan temple in Mississauga Dr. Victor Hori was the distinguished guest speaker. Dr. Hori is a …

Buddhism and Art of Japan: Sengai Gibon and Sesshu Toyo in Opposite Directions by Lee Jay Walker

Poster painting credits (from left to right, top to bottom): Ama-no-Hashidate (Sesshu Toyo), Landscape of the Four Seasons (Sesshu Toyo), Hotei waking up from a nap (Sengai Gibon), The Circle (Sengai Gibon), Frog in Zen Meditation (Sengai Gibon). Sesshu Toyo (1420-1506) and Sengai Gibon (1750-1837) are two famous individuals in Japanese history. However, despite belonging …

Buddhism and Violence: Roots of “Religious” Conflicts In Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Southern Thailand by Dennis Tan Chun Yee

The article is taken from Eastern Horizon Maganize, September 2015 which can be downloaded in full from here. Introduction On July 1, 2014, riots broke out in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, claiming the lives of two people as well as causing injuries to many others.1 The riot also led to the destruction of numerous …

Tantra and Transparency, or Cultural Contradiction and Today’s Tibetan Buddhist Wizard by Ben Joffe

Click here to see the original post. This is the first of a series of articles that I will be posting this month as a guest-contributor for Savage Minds. In each post I will be sharing some preliminary and open-ended reflections relating to my research on Tibetan diaspora, esotericism, and the globalization of Tibetan culture. This week, …

Field Notes on Drinking at a Buddhist Bar by Jolyon Baraka Thomas

We are pretty familiar with how Tokyo’s neighborhoods reward the adventurous, so when Three and I met up for drinks in Nakano on an autumn evening in 2012, we struck out for one of the small side streets near the station instead of walking down the larger shopping arcade directly across from the station exit. …