UK Association for Buddhist Studies (UKABS)

UKABS Annual Conference 2009

Date: Friday 3rd July, 9.30am-6.30pm.

Venue: School of Oriental and African Studies,
Vernon Square Campus,
Room V111.
Vernon Square,
Penton Rise,
London
WC1X 9EW (near Kings Cross).

Registration: £10 for UKABS members; £20 for non-members. (Note that it will be possible to join/renew UKABS membership at the conference.)

Further Information: Please contact UKABS Secretary, Dr. Cathy Cantwell (catherine dot cantwell at orinst dot ox dot ac dot uk)

For booking and registration, please contact UKABS Treasurer, Dr. Naomi Appleton (naomi dot appleton at googlemail dot com)

Featuring lectures by:

• Dr Vesna Wallace, Numata Professor of Buddhist Studies, University of Oxford, Academic Director of Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, and author of The Kalacakratantra: The Chapter on Sadhana together with the Vimalaprabha.
• Dr Peter Harvey, Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Sunderland, and author of The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvana in Early Buddhism and Introduction to Buddhist Ethics.
• Dr Ian Harris, Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Cumbria, Senior Research Fellow at National University of Singapore, and author of Cambodian Buddhism: History and Practice and Buddhism Under Pol Pot.
• Dr Tse-fu Kuan, Assistant Professor at Yuan Ze University, Taiwan, and author of Mindfulness in Early Buddhism: New Approaches through Psychology and Textual Analysis of Pali, Chinese and Sanskrit Sources.

Timetable:

9.30am Registration
10.00-11.00am Tse-fu Kuan (Yuan Ze University, Taiwan): "A Debate between the Buddha and Saccaka: A Study Based on the Pali and Chinese Sources".
11.00-12.00am Peter Harvey (Sunderland): "Are the Four /Ariya-sacca/s 'Noble Truths' or 'Realities for the Noble One(s)'"?
12.00-12.15pm Coffee break
12.15-1.15pm Postgrad panel (chaired by Charles Manson, Oxford):
Ligeia Lugli (SOAS): "Meaning without Words: on the Relationship between Artha and Ruta in Indian Mahayana Sutras"; Ingmar Heise (Bristol): "The Buddhas' Happy Day: Buddhist Celebrations of the Ghost Festival in Southern China".
1.15-2.45pm Lunch
2.45-3.30pm AGM for UKABS members
3.30-4.30pm Vesna Wallace (Oxford): "Rendering Buddhism into Mongolian: A Historical Look into Mongolian Methods of Translating Buddhist Texts".
4.30-5.30pm Ian Harris (Cumbria): "Theravada Perspectives on Regime Change".
5.30-6.30pm University of Bristol Project on Buddhist Death Rituals: Introductory talk, film and discussion: "Caring for the Beyond: Two Lao Buddhist Festivals for the Deceased".

With thanks to the Circle of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies, SOAS.

UKABS ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2008

This year's event is to be held jointly with the British Association for the Study of Religion [BASR]. It will form a whole day's panel on Tuesday (2nd), within the longer BASR Annual Conference [1-3 September] and UKABS Members are naturally invited to consider staying for the entire period.

Programme of Speakers

• Hildegard Diemberger (Cambridge): When a woman becomes a religious dynasty: The Samding Dorje Phagmo of Tibet.
• Martin Seeger (Leeds): Authority, identity and pluralism in Theravāda: 'On the very idea of the Pali canon' in Thai Buddhism.
• John Strong (Bates College, USA): The Buddha as Wonder Worker: Reflections on the Mahāprātihārya and the Descent from Trayastrimsa.
• Ashley Thompson (Leeds): Capturing Death: Reflections on the Cambodian Buddha image as relic, from colonial revival of tradition to contemporary collecting.

Details of the Postgraduate Panel

• Jessamine Dana (Oxford): Women, Nuns, and Enlightened Beings: female Buddhist becoming in Nepal.
• Margaret Gouin (Bristol): When is an Ancestor not an Ancestor? Rebirth and Remembering in Buddhist Practice.
• Wu Juan (Cardiff): Tracing the Legend of King Ajātaśatru.

New Website

We are pleased to announce the new website now located here at www.ukabs.org.uk. Please update your bookmarks if necessary. During the forthcoming months we will be expanding the current sections of the site to include more information and later new resources for scholars and interested people alike. The Members area is only available to members who currently have subscribed to the Journal, and those of you should be emailed your log-in details very soon. Please use the 'contact UKABS' in the side menu if you are unsure if you have received your details. You can access the members area by the link in the very top right menu, next to 'Site Map'.