Archives: conferences

Over One Hundred Pure Land Scholars Convene IBS Hosts 17th Biennial IASBS Meeting at the […]

The Harvard Divinity School’s Buddhist Ministry Initiative presented a conference on: Education and Buddhist Ministry: […]

Pure Land Buddhist traditions have been some of the largest and most influential in Buddhist history, and remain so to the present day. Moreover, the very idea of a purified, perfect land of a buddha echoes throughout Buddhist text and praxis. Most often, this buddha is “Immeasurable Light” or “Immeasurable Life,” who created a pure land far to the west of our own world. But there are many others. This conference aims to examine sectarian traditions of Pure Land Buddhism as well as the “pure land” within Buddhism generally. As this conference is jointly-sponsored by associations connected to Pure Land Buddhist traditions in two countries, it is a unique chance to approach pure land expansively, in terms of its long history, global reach, and diverse regional and trans-regional expressions–whether in or across what are today known as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Canada, and so on. The hope is to increase knowledge and scholarly exchange about the multifaceted development of pure land in Buddhist cultures. Papers are welcome on any aspect of pure land, type of Pure Land Buddhism, any region or historical period, and from any methodological or disciplinary perspective.

“We are not alone.” These four words greeted the more than seventy attendees to the First International Conference of Other-Centered Approaches. This historic gathering marked the initiation of a movement that has the potential to illuminate the human condition with the light of Buddhist psychology.

Homa Conference: Variations of Homa: from Vedic to Hindu and Buddhist

The Institute of Buddhist Studies, BDK America, and the Sanskrit Department at Harvard are jointly presenting a conference on home, October 2 – 3, 2010 in Cambridge, MA.

The Institute of Buddhist Studies is hosting some exciting events in the field of Buddhism and psychology.

This March, the Institute of Buddhist Studies hosted an international confernece titled “Buddhism without Borders: contemporary developments in Buddhism outside Asia.” The conference brought together more than two-dozen scholars to present new and innovative research, and nearly seventy participants from four continents were in attendance.

Registration is now open for the conference “Buddhism without Borders: Contemporary Buddhism in the West,” March 18-21, 2010 at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, CA. Conference schedule, details, and registration are available at the conference webpage here.

Some 100 scholars, priests, and students attended the 14th Biennial Conference of the International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies held on June 12-14 at the Ryukoku University Omiya Campus in Kyoto, Japan. With the theme “Shin Buddhism in the World of the Twenty-First Century: Challenges and Potential,” some 52 scholars, priests, and students from Japan, the United States, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hawaii, South America, and Europe presented papers on a wide variety of topics committed to Shin Buddhist Studies.

The Institute of Buddhist Studies and the BCA Center for Buddhist Education will co-host the Pacific Seminar the 21st Century: Shinran and His Teachings, from Friday, June 26 to Sunday, June 28, 2009 at the Jodo Shinshu Center in Berkeley.

This conference seeks to explore contemporary and historical developments of Buddhist thought and practice in American Buddhisms, Buddhisms in the West, or Buddhisms outside Asia. How has the Buddhist tradition been shaped by the transnational movement of peoples, diasporas, or immigration? How has the rise of global communication, tourism, and capitalism affected the way Buddhism is understood, taught, and practiced? How do we define “modern” Buddhism? The West? Or even “Buddhism” itself in an increasingly globalized world?

This past August, the Institute of Buddhist Studies and the Tri-State Denver Buddhist Temple hosted […]