INCISE will hold a forum and workshop on the 27th of January 2018 (10am-5pm) in collaboration with Fo Guang Shan London:

Focusing on Humanity (人間)

Buddhist living in/and/for Contemporary Society

Venue:
Canterbury Christ Church University
North Holmes Road campus
Lg26 Laud building, (lower) ground floor room 26

Time: 
10am to 5pm

Book your free place here.

Programme 

10am        Opening with Fo Guang Shan Dignitaries and Deputy-Vice Chancellor, Prof. David Shepherd (CCCU)

10:30am   Dr Fiona Kumari Campbell (Dundee)

Sensing Disability in Buddhism: Reading Sri Lankan Buddhism Against the Grain

This presentation discusses Buddhist understandings of ‘disability’ through an interpretative process called ‘reading against the grain’, which whilst drawing upon the Pali scriptural canon, reads the meaning of texts in an alternative way. This approach can provide an opportunity to recognise the possibility of Buddhism’s unique contribution to social justice for disabled people and dispel myths that Buddhist beliefs harm the social inclusion of disabled people. The presentation will cover Ableism (Abledment & Disability), Buddhist views of Bodies/Humankind by discussing the Four Sightings & Samvega, Four Noble Truths (Suffering), Paṭiccasamuppāda (Dependent Arising). I ask: How does Kamma relate to disability? How is the Buddha’s Body represented and finally I introduce Lakuntaka Bhaddiya, a disabled Buddhist hero.

Question & Answers, short break

11:30am Dr Cathy Cantwell (INCISE Visiting Senior Research Fellow)

Buddhist traditions of healing in Tibet

Historically, there have been many traditions of healing in ethnically Tibetan areas. Over time, two main specialisms have developed their own institutions, professional practitioners, and bodies of literature: traditional medicine, known as, the knowledge of healing (gso ba rig pa); and tantric Buddhist practices. Here, both are introduced, but the talk focuses on the Buddhist tantric traditions. Taking the case study of tantric longevity rituals, the techniques are examined, considering both theory and practice: how they are envisaged as working, and the contexts in which they are performed. The mental visualisation practices are one dimension, combined with embodied performance which includes communal enactment and the production and consumption of longevity pills. The natural potencies and medicinal qualities of the pills’ ingredients is an important aspect, while these are considered to be enhanced by the consecrations during the rituals.

Question & Answers, short break

12:30pm   Professor Richard King (Kent)

Mindfulness: traditional Buddhist meditation and secular therapies

This presentation examines the role of ethics and prajna (‘wisdom) in classical South Asian accounts of vipassana (‘insight’ [meditation]) and explores the way in which way mindfulness is understood in secular and engaged Buddhist contexts.

Question & Answers

1:30pm Lunch (vegetarian, provided – please write to incise@canterbury.ac.uk in case of allergies)

Afternoon

2:45pm-4:45pm

Workshop with senior Fo Guang Shan nuns and volunteers:

• Humanistic Buddhism
• Art and Chanting
• FGS Movie

Speaker’s Bios

Dr Fiona Kumari Campbell, is an interdisciplinary researcher in the School of Education & Social Work, University of Dundee as well as an Adjunct Professor in Disability Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Her research focuses on studies in ableism, disability philosophy, Buddhism and disability as well as Sri Lankan approaches to peripheral populations and intersectionality.

Dr Cathy Cantwell is the President of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies. She specialises in Tibetan and Himalayan tantric rituals of all periods from the 10th century CE, and especially the ritual texts and practices deriving from the “Early Transmissions” (snga ‘gyur rnying ma). Before becoming an INCISE Senior Visiting Fellow she was based at the Oriental Institute, University of Oxford (2002-2015), and is currently involved in a major research project on a twelfth century Tibetan manuscript collection, at the University of Bochum, Germany.

Dr Richard King is Professor of Asian Buddhist Studies and Head of Department of Religious Studies at the University of Kent. His scholarship focuses on classical Indian (Hindu and Buddhist) philosophy and its ongoing representation through the category of ‘religion’ in the modern period. His current research interests include ‘mindfulness meditation’ from its ancient roots as a Buddhist monastic practice to its current deployment as a modern ‘secularised’ therapy in healthcare, corporate and military contexts.