Publications

Publication on Mindfulness

Following the International Conference on Mindfulness in the summer of 2011 a volume has now been published in German language. The volume is titled "Achtsamkeit: Ein buddhistisches Konzept erobert die Wissenschaft" and documents the conference's most important contributions. It comprises writings on mindfulness as it is found in the diverse Buddhist traditions and how the concept of mindfulness today inspires scholars in different fields. The volume brings together articles written by neuroscientists, psychologists, scholars of medical science and pedagogics and scholars of Buddhism. Representatives of the Buddhist traditions explain their understanding of mindfulness. The volume also contains the final discussion with HH Dalai Lama.
For more information please check here.

New Book Series started by the Center for Buddhist Studies:
Hamburg Buddhist Studies

With the publication series Hamburg Buddhist Studies (ISSN Print 2190-6769), the Center aims to honor the long-standing commitment to research and share the results of this tradition with the community of scholars and the wider public.

The new series of Hamburg Buddhist Studies will also contribute to opening up Buddhist Studies to those who are not necessarily trained in the classical languages of the Buddhist traditions but want to approach the field with their own disciplinary interests in mind.

The volume will be available in book form and online, published by Hamburg University Press
Volume of the series:

Vol 1: Anālayo: The Genesis of the Bodhisattva Ideal

The Genesis of the Bodhisattva Ideal von Anālayo download

179 pp., ISBN 978-3-937816-62-3
Hamburg Buddhist Studies 1, Hamburg University Press

In this book, Bhikkhu Anālayo investigates the genesis of the bodhisattva ideal, one of the most important concepts in the history of Buddhist thought. He brings together material from the corpus of the early discourses preserved mainly in Pāli and Chinese that appear to have influenced the arising of the bodhisattva ideal. Anālayo convincingly shows that the early sources do not present compassionate concern for others as a motivating force for the Buddha’s quest for awakening. He further offers an analysis of the only reference to Maitreya in the Pāli canon, showing that this reference is most likely a later addition. In sum, Bhikkhu Anālayo is able to delineate a gradual genesis of central aspects of the bodhisattva ideal by documenting (1) an evolution in the bodhisattva concept reflected in the early discourses, (2) the emergence of the notion of a vow to pursue the path to buddhahood, and (3) the possible background for the idea of a prediction an aspirant to buddhahood receives from a former buddha. Review

Plants in Early Buddhism and the Far Eastern Idea of the Buddha-Nature of Grasses and Trees

A brand new publication has come out:

Plants in Early Buddhism and the Far Eastern Idea of the Buddha-Nature of Grasses and Trees von Lambert Schmithausen

ISBN 978-9937-217163 USD 30,00

The author should like to correct a mistake on p. 334 (Abbreviations: MPSDh): It is not Dharmaksema's but Fa-hsien's translation that was produced in collaboration with Buddhabhadra (Habata 2007: xl, referring to T 55.2145: 60b2-11).

Dignity and Discipline

We are pleased to announce the proceeding of the "First International Congress on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha", held at the University of Hamburg in 2007, featuring a great number of speakers including the 14th Dalai Lama:

"Dignity and Discipline: Reviving Full Ordination for Buddhist Nuns", Wisdom Books Link
Review

Buddhist Approaches to Human Rights

We are pleased to announce the proceeding of a symposium held in 2008 by the Center for Buddhist Studies in cooperation with the Institute of Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI), Essen:

Buddhist Approaches to Human Rights: Dissonances and Resonances Eds. Carmen Meinert und Hans-Bernd Zöllner, transcript Publishers (Serie Globaler Humanismus). Available in January 2010, 248 pp., 29,80 EUR, ISBN 978-3-8376-1263-9 more

Extract

Red mda‘ ba. Buddhist Yogi-Scholar of the Fourteenth Century

We are pleased to announce the PhD thesis of a member of the Center:

Red mda‘ ba. Buddhist Yogi-Scholar of the Fourteenth Century -
The Forgotten Reviver of Madhyamaka Philosophy in Tibet by Carola Roloff, Reichert Publishers (Contributions to Tibetan Studies, Vol. 7). publisher´s website