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Buddhism and Political Power: A Provisional Typology
Prof. Dr. Ian Harris
Fri 10 May 2013
16:15-17:45 h
Hamburg University
ESA O, Room 222
[Read more]
Buddhist Ethics as Moral Phenomenology
Prof. Dr. Jay Garfield
Tue 14 May 2013
18:15-19:45h
Hamburg University
ESA O, Room 221
[Read more]
Buddhist Women at the Grassroots: Scholars and Practitioners in Dialogue
Tue 4 June 2013
18.00-20.00h
Hamburg University
ESA W, Room 221
[read more]
The Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Hamburg, founded in 2007,
has a unique position in the academic world of continental Europe. It aims to strengthen the study of Buddhism, promote understanding of all aspects of Buddhism among the public, and serve as a forum for discussions and other events.
Please sign up for our mailing list! You will hear about upcoming events and other news from the Center for Buddhist Studies: mailing list
News from the Center for Buddhist Studies:
The Center for Buddhist Studies welcomes Prof. Dr. Mario Poceski in Hamburg. Poceski, an associate professor in the Department of Religion at the University of Florida (Gainesville, USA), was awarded the prestigious Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The fellowship will provide him with support for eighteen months of research at the Center for Buddhist Studies in Hamburg. He will divide his residency here into three periods starting in May 2013. His large-scale research project will explore the historical growth and transformation of Chan (Zen) Buddhist literature in late medieval China. Its main focus will be on the Chan School's creative adaptation of classical literary forms and experimentation with novel narrative styles, which led to the creation of several distinctive Chan genres that exerted notable influences on the subsequent development of Buddhism in China and the rest of East Asia. The research is expected to result in a new book, The Records of Mazu Daoyi and the Making of Classical Chan Literature. The new book will serve as a companion to Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism (Oxford University Press 2007), Poceski's ground-breaking study of the history and doctrines of the Hongzhou School of Chan in Tang China.
The Center for Buddhist Studies welcomes Prof. Dr. Steffen Döll as the new "Numata-Gastprofessor." For the summer term 2013, he will teach two courses for students in Buddhist studies. Steffen Döll was educated in Japanese studies, Chinese studies, and religious studies at the universities of Munich and Kyoto. He currently serves as assistant professor at Munich University's Japan Center and is a member of the Bavarian Academy of Humanities and Sciences' Young Academy. His research focuses on Japanese intellectual and literary history, Buddhist philosophy and history, and cultural transfer processes in East Asia. His PhD thesis East of the Ocean. Chinese Emigrant Monks and the Early Institutions of Japanese Zen Buddhism was published in German in 2010 and integrates these fields of interest.
From the winter term 2013/14 on the International Master Program in Buddhist Studies will have another track: Thai Buddhism. The track will allow students with solid language competence in Thai to specialize on Thai Buddhism. This is the fifth Buddhist Studies track which the Asien-Afrika-Institut of Hamburg University will introduce. Since 2011 already four other tracks have been offered: South Asia, Tibet, China, and Japan. The program runs for four semesters and comprises training in the analysis of sources in the languge of the particular region on the one hand and topics relevant for the understanding of Buddhism on the other. Successful graduation paves the way into PhD programs in Religious and Buddhist Studies. For details on the new track "Thai Buddhism," admission criteria, and the application process please see here.
During the summer semester, once again, Bhikkhu Analayo will offer an Elearning course on the topic Tranquility and Insight in Early Buddhist Discourse. The course will be held in English language each Thursday afternoon starting on May 2 through July 11, 2013. For more information and details on how to sign up for the course click hier.
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.
The first Maitreya Library for Buddhist Studies in Europe was cermonially opened on April 10, 2012 at the Asien-Afrika-Institut of Hamburg University. The library is a donation from the Institute of Maitreya Studies (Hong Kong). Prof. Andrew Wong, the Chairman of the Maitreya Culture and Education Foundation, delivered a lecture on contemporary Buddhism in China (see photo). Students and staff of Buddhist Studies at the Asien-Afrika-Institute are very grateful for this donation which is intended to grow over the time. It will foster the research on Chinese Buddhism in Europe and encourage students to study Buddhism and its history in China.
Initiated by the Center for Buddhist Studies at Hamburg University the Department for South Asian and Tibetan Studies at the Asien-Afrika-Institut signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy in Pallekele, Kundasale (SIBA). The Memorandum will enhance cooperation in the field of research and student exchange. It offers students of the Asien-Afrika-Institut the opportunity to take classes and do research at our partner institute in Sri Lanka. The Memorandum has been signed by the Dean of the School of Humanities at Hamburg University and the President of SIBA.
Influenced by the study of Christian medieval saints, researchers label texts that narrate the life of a saint “hagiography”; and we assume that they generally form a narrative text type in which certain topoi of the life of a saint are included. The term “hagiography” has also been used frequently for pre-modern texts in t
he wider field of Asian studies and quite often such texts have been used as sources in historical research. However, we are still in need of a closer text-based definition of the term on the basis of examining a wider range of texts across cultures. Furthermore, the thorough analysis with the various methodological devices offered by narratology is only in its beginnings. The conference aims to be a step on the way to defining “hagiography” and its use as a cross-cultural category, focussing on uncovering narrative patterns and genre across texts and cultures. Eleven contributors coming from various disciplines will apply the varied tools from narratologies. The two-day conference is jointly hosted by the Center for Buddhist Studies, University of Hamburg, and Center for Transcultural Narratology (University of Bonn).
For more informations, see the event page.
and attends congress on Mindfulness - A Buddhist Practice for Today's Society
H.H. the Dalai Lama visited the Universität Hamburg on August 21, 2011, returning to the university the third time to talk about the Buddhist practice of mindfulness and what it means to lead a mindful life. The congress’ final speech of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader drew large numbers of people to the campus. The event was simultaneously broadcast on the web (see livestream lecture2go).
The university's Center for Buddhist Studies were honoured to be able to include His Holiness in a discussion with German economic and social decision makers and foundation representatives to discuss the Center’s plans for future collaborations and fundraising opportunities.
The International Master Program in Buddhist Studies brings together students from four different regional specializations: India, Tibet, China and Japan. From winter 2012 on we plan to extend the program to students specialized in the regions of Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
This Master Course runs for 4 semesters (ca. 2 years). The aim is to graduate with a Master of Arts in Buddhist Studies.
The Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship, which is embedded into the Department for Indian and Tibetan Studies of the Asien-Afrika-Institut, is devoted to scholarly investigation of Tibetan (primarily Buddhist) texts with the aim of gaining an ever more accurate understanding of (a) Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, (b) Tibet’s rich intellectual history, (c) Tibetan textual and book culture, and (d) formal methods and actual practices of translation into and from Tibetan. More...
14-15 April 2011: Indian Buddhist Thought in 6th-7th Century China International Workshop 2011 in Kooperation mit Prof. Chen-kuo Lin, Chengchi University, Taiwan
This year's Karl H. Ditze Prize for outstanding graduate work has been awarded to four young scholars, including one graduate from the Asia-Africa Institute who have been doing research in the field of Buddhist Studies: Dr. Carola Roloff. The ceremony will be held on 4 July 2011 from 5-7 p.m. in the Warburg Haus.
We would like to congratulate the alumni for her achievement.
Jinhua Chen (Ph.D., 1997, McMaster University) currently teaches at the University of British Columbia, where he is also appointed by the federal government as Canada Research Chair in East Asian Buddhism. His research covers both Chinese (mainly Sui and dynasties, 6th- 10th c.) and Japanese (Nara and early Heian periods, roughly from 8th to 10th c.) Buddhism. He has published on such topics as monastic biography and hagiography, state-church relationship, relic veneration, sacred lineages, kinship ties within the samgha. Through his Humboldt-funded project (2011-2013) that is based at the University of Hamburg, he aims at a broad and in-depth survey on the relic veneration in medieval China (from the 4th to the 14th century).
For more information see Events.
We are pleased to announce the upcoming workshop Meditation in Early Buddhism II (10 - 14 Oktober 2011, 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.-5 p.m). Please visit our event page for more informations regarding the application. More
Mindfulness - A Buddhist Practice for Today's Society
Conference held August 18-21, 2011.
For more information please visit the conference website (www.achtsamkeitskongress.de), which is the responsibility of our co-partner and organizer, the Tibetan Centre e.V. Hamburg.
Readings in the Madhyama-āgama
An e-learning online course with PD Dr. Bhikkhu Anālayo held on Thursdays every summer semester, 18:15 to 19:45 CESTOnline registration for 2012 starts on 1 March 2012 on our webpage. More
Prof. Dr. Gérard Fussman lectures at the Center for Buddhist Studies
Thuesday, 7 December 2010, 6:15 Uhr p.m, Rm. 221 ESA 1 East
(Asien-Afrika-Institut) more
Prof. Fussman has been teaching and researching at the highly distinguished Collège de France, Paris, which is linked to names as Pierre Bourdieu, Claude Lévi-Strauss, und other influential scholars. Gérard Fussman belongs to those researchers, who share a sharp skepticism about alleged literary evidence for writing in pre-Ashokan India, and are inclined to interpret the situation empirically. His archaeological research in Buddhism in Afghanistan is outstanding.
Prof. Dr. Lothar Ledderose lectures at the Center for Buddhist Studies
Tuesday, 16. November 2010, 6:15 Uhr p.m., Rm. 221 ESA 1 East
(Asien-Afrika-Institut) more
Prof. Dr. Lothar Ledderose has been teaching and researching at the Institute of East Asian Art History at the Ruperto Carola University of Heidelberg since 1976. Since 2005, he has been leading the project “Buddhistische Steinschriften in China” at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He is also coordinator of the research project "Aspects of Authenticity" at the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context”. He is holder of the highly distinguished Balzan-Prize.
28 November 2010, 9:30 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Buddhism in the West: A Dialogue between the Religious Tradition and the Academic,
Organiser: Academy of World Religions, University of Hamburg, in cooperation with the Tibetisches Zentrum e.V. Hamburg, and the Center for Buddhist Studies of the University
26 October, 2010
The Center for Buddhist Studies has started a new book series Hamburg Buddhist Studies. The first volume has just been published. It is available in book form and online, published by Hamburg University Press. The new series will contribute to the community of scholars and the wider public.
The first volume: The Genesis of the Bodhisattva Ideal by Anālayo
The prize in recognition of distinction in the field of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies for the year 2010 has been awarded to the student Dimitri Pauls. The ceremonial conferment is held on 8 July by the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asien-Africa-Institute, in presence of the Khyentse Foundation. We would like to congratulate the student for his achievements.
On 15 June 2010 we will welcome Prof. Xue Yu (Direktor des Center for the Study of Humanistic Buddhism, Hong Kong) as our guest. more
We are pleased to announce a brand new publication:
Plants in Early Buddhism and the Far Eastern Idea of the Buddha-Nature of Grasses and Trees by Lambert Schmithausen (Contents)
ISBN 978-9937-217163 USD 30,00
Publisher: Lumbini International Research Institute, POBox 39, Bhairahawa, Rupandehi, NEPAL, Email: liri@mos.com.np
Lambert Schmithausen is Professor Emeritus in the field of Buddhist Studies. He is a leading expert in the field of eco-ethics, an area he pioneered at the University of Hamburg in the 1980s.
During the summer term 2010 the Asien-Afrika-Institut is delighted to host Prof. Dr. Imre Hamar, eminent scholar of Chinese Buddhism, Institute of East Asian Studies, Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest) as Numata Professor for Buddhist Studies. more
This Memorandum of Understanding (signed on 19 February 2010) constitutes an Agreement between Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University, Thailand and the Asien-Afrika-Institut of Hamburg University to engage in a programme of co-operation in the field of Buddhist Studies including research and training.
The photo exhibition presented in winter 2009 is now online. See more on our events page
We are pleased to announce a new publication, an outcome 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. more
As of November 4, 2009, the Asia-Africa Institute (AAI) of the University of
Hamburg, represented by the Center of Buddhist Studies, has a new
collaborative partner. In a recent ceremony, the Director of the Center for
Buddhist Studies, acting on behalf of the Speaker of the AAI, and a
representative of Dharma Drum Buddhist College in Taipei County, Taiwan, signed
a memorandum of understanding. According to the terms of the accord, both
parties agree to cooperate with one another in the areas of teaching and
research. A mutual project, guided by Dr. habil. Bhikkhu Analayo already exists.
Both parties look forward to establishing a student exchange program in the future.
Dharma Drum Buddhist College is Taiwan's first accredited single-religion study
institute dedicated to the academic and spiritual education of Buddhists. It
offers B.A. and M.A. courses in various fields of Buddhist research
We are very pleased to welcome Dr Dorji Wangchuk as the new professor for Tibetan Studies, Department for Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa-Institute of the University and look forward to his participation in our activities.
This project is concerned with the perceived other; that is, with the
Buddhist handling of death. The theme is broadly stretched
geographically and presented in lectures, film and photos. more
TIDE TV Hamburg visited the Center on October 16, 2009 to conduct interviews on the topic "What is happiness from a Buddhist view?" Link
On October 12, 2009, Korea-based Buddhist Television Network (
BTN) visited the Center for Buddhist Studies. An interest in European Buddhism took the BTN filmmakers not only to France, Italy, Denmark and London, but also to the University of Hamburg. At the end of December 2009 a documentary film about Buddhism in Europe will be broadcast in Korea.
Our new Address: Alsterterrasse 1, 20354 Hamburg
The Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling-Prize 2009 for outstanding academic
achievements in the field of Non-European Cultures – without Classical
Studies has been awarded by the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Bavarian Academy of Science) to Prof. em. Dr. Lambert Schmithausen, an eminent scholar in the field of Buddhist Studies at the Asia-Africa-Institute, Dept. of Indian and Tibetan Studies. The ceremonial conferment is held on 27 June 2009 at the Bavarian Academy of Science. The Prize carries a purse of EUR 25.000.
We would like to congratulate!
We are pleased to announce the proceeding of the symposion "Buddhismus im Westen: Ein Dialog zwischen Religion und Wissenschaft", held at the University of Hamburg in 2010. More...
[Translate to English:] 10. - 14. Oktober 2011, 10:00-13:00 und 14:00-17:00
Anmeldung vom 01.06. - 31.07.2011
This year's Karl H. Ditze Prize for outstanding graduate work has been awarded to four young scholars, including two graduates from the Asia-Africa Institute who have been doing research in the field of Buddhist Studies: Michaela Mross for her M.A. thesis and Dorji Wangchuk for his Ph.D. thesis. Michaela Mross is a graduate in Japanese and Chinese studies. In her M.A. thesis she worked on the Rakan Koshiki, a basic liturgical text of the Japanese school of Soto Zen. Currently she is working on her doctoral thesis under a DAAD scholarship at the renowned Komazawa University in Tokyo. Dorji Wangchuk, who also received his M.A. at the Asia-Africa-Institute, specialized in the Indo-Tibetan traditions of Buddhism. His doctoral dissertation focuses on bodhicitta, a soteriological concept of fundamental importance within Mahayana Buddhism. This work reaches out in new directions, both text-historically and methodologically. The Karl H. Ditze Prize carries a purse of EUR 3,000 for doctoral work, and EUR 2,000 for master's level. We would like to congratulate these fine alumni for their achievements.
The Center for Buddhist Studies offers four fellowships for up to a maximum of twenty-four months to support MA and doctoral students doing research in Buddhist studies and other fields related to Buddhism.
From the winter term of 1996/7 to the winter term of 2005/6, the University of Hamburg conducted a non-curricular study program titled “Buddhism in Past and Present.” More