Institute of Buddhist Studies Podcast
Category Archive: Video Episodes
Episode posted: 19 May 2010
Speaker & format: Video
Tagged as: graduation
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The Institute of Buddhist Studies’ 2010 Graduation Ceremony was held in Berkeley on May 14, 2010. Graduates included: G. Kenji Akahoshi of San Jose, David Kazuyoshi Fujimoto of Hawaii, Jon Brett Turner of Orange County, and Mutsumi Fujiwara Wondra of Orange County. Ms. Wondra is currently studying at Ryukoku University, Kyoto. Her husband, Mr. Alan Wondra, accepted the degree on her behalf.
Mr. George T. Aratani, a long time supporter of Institute of Buddhist Studies, was presented an Honorary Doctorate. Upon the conferring of the honorary doctorate to Mr. Aratani, Rev. Dr. David Matsumoto stated that Mr. Aratani could not be present to receive the award, but was truly appreciative. Rev. Dr. Seigen Yamaoka received the degree on behalf of Mr. Aratani.
The commencement address was presented by Dr. Paul Harrison, co-chair of the Ho Center Buddhist Studies at Stanford University, who spoke on the expanding interest in Buddhist Studies, which is based on the discovery of new documents in ancient languages closer to the Buddha’s time.
Copies of this footage are available on DVD for students, friends, and family. Please contact contact Scott Mitchell for more information.
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Episode posted: 10 May 2010
Speaker & format: Jacob Dalton, Video
Tagged as: Numata lecture, tantra
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The 2010 Spring Numata Lecture was delivered by Jacob Dalton on April 30, 2010. The following episode is the audio-only version of Prof. Dalton’s talk.
The Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang include a large number of copied dhāraṇīs, both sūtras and stand-alone spells. In this talk I will examine the content, the colophons, and the formats of these manuscripts and attempt to draw some broader conclusions about how dhāraṇīs were used by early Tibetan Buddhists living around Dunhuang. I will then turn to the dhāraṇī collections (dhāraṇī-saṃgraha). The contents of these collections could vary according to the interests of the manuscripts’ owners, yet certain shared patterns may be discerned. The significance of these formal patterns becomes clear when we see how the same template was used by later Tibetans to structure the dhāraṇī (gzungs ‘dus) section of their Tibetan canon (bka’ ‘gyur). Finally, I will step back to consider the historical development of dhāraṇī ritual practice and textual codification in light of the emergence of the tantras around the seventh century.
Originally recorded April 30, 2010 at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in the Jodo Shinshu Center, Berkeley, Ca.
Copyright © 2010 Jacob Dalton
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Episode posted: 20 October 2009
Speaker & format: Daniel Veidlinger, Video
Tagged as: ritual, text, Theravada
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Daniel Veidlinger of the University of California, Chico, presents an engaging talk on the developing importance of the written word in early Buddhist history. Buddhism arose in an oral world where monks were charged with memorizing the words of the Buddha in order to preserve them. Writing is not mentioned in the Pali canon, and there is little emphasis on the idea of honoring or even using books in authoritative Theravada literature until the end of the first millennium CE. On the other hand, key Mahayana texts have from the beginning reserved their highest praise for the Dharma-bearing written word, and archeological and iconographic evidence as well as accounts of Chinese travelers suggest that stupas were made to enshrine texts and that books were the subject of votive cults. In predominantly Theravada regions such as Burma, Sri Lanka and central Thailand, a positive change of attitude towards books and writing coincided with the height of Mahayana influence in those areas, which led to the ritual veneration of books and manuscripts in these parts of the Theravada world as well.
Originally recording October 2, 2009
© 2009 Daniel Veidlinger
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Episode posted: 03 June 2009
Speaker & format: Richard Payne, Video
Tagged as: chaplaincy, open house
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On May 23, 2009, the Institute hosted an informative open house that showcased our new chaplaincy and MDiv programs. The event was also an opportunity to learn more about what the IBS has to offer, and featured discussions by Dean Richard Payne, Rev. Daijaku Judith Kinst, and others.
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Episode posted: 27 May 2009
Speaker & format: Steve Jenkins, Video
Tagged as: ethics, tantra
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Prof. Steve Jenkins of Humboldt State University delivered a lecture at the IBS titled
Compassionate Violence, Torture and Warfare in the Bodhisattva Ideal
This is part three of a three-part series.
Buddhist allowances for compassionate torture, killing, and warfare are dissonant with with the established perception of Buddhist pacifism. While academic studies of Buddhism have accepted that Mahayana and Tantric though allows for such actions, it has been argued that these allowances are rare and narrow allegorical or magical references, not general ethical guidelines. Prof. Steve Jenkins argues that Buddhist allowances for violence are broad and authoritatively attested to in both Yogacara and Madhyamaka treatises of Mahayana sources. Building on previous work, a survey of tantric sadhanas for killing, and references to Buddhist art and folklore, this lecture argues that the exaggeration of Mahayana pacifism has created a false negative space for the evaluation of trantrism.
Originally recorded April 17, 2009
© 2009 Steven Jenkins
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