Older Recordings 2008–2012

For some time, confusion about the nature of Buddhist thought and practice, to say nothing of its multifaceted religious life, has led to various characterizations of some aspects of Buddhist traditions as "a psychology," or even as "a psychotherapy." At the same time, secular psychotherapeutic strategies developed in the last two decades seem to approach closely meditation techniques apparently belonging to the family of Buddhist "mindfulness" practices. Controversies have begun to rage over the use of the words "meditation" and "mindfulness" to describe empirically-based psychotherapeutic practices and over the possibility of "mindfulness" practice independent of its putative Buddhist roots. This lecture outlines some of the preconditions that need to be met if the controversy is to be productive and not a conversation with participants speaking at cross-purposes. The many assumptions of the psychotherapeutic profession and the equally variegated presuppositions of the Buddhist meditation traditions will be examined with the intent of outlining what both sides still need to do if they want to either come closer to each other or draw lines of difference that can lead to constructive de-identification.

The audio recording of the lecture is available at youtube

Mindfulness - A Buddhist Practice for Today's Society  How do modern adaptations of mindfulness training in today's globalized world relate to the mindfulness practice rooted originally in Buddhism? An interdisciplinary conference dedicated to this question was held August 18-21, 2011. Over the course of three days, experts from various fields presented and discussed their insights and research results concerning the origin and development of the practice of mindfulness in Buddhism, as well as modern applications of mindfulness in the fields of medicine, psychology, the neurosciences, and the new research field interested in the application of mindfulness practice in education. The conference was open to the public. 

For more information and recorded lectures, please visit Lecture2go and the conference website.

[ 15.06.2010, 18.15 h ]
Buddhism and Ecoethics in China
Prof. Xue Yu
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

In Cooperation with the Tibetan Centre e.V., Hamburg

Jay Garfield is Doris Silbert-Professor in the Humanities and Professor for Philosophy at the Smith College, Northampton. His works include a translation of Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika (The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Tsong Khapa's Ocean of Reasoning) and „Empty Words: Buddhist Philosophy and Cross-Cultural Interpretation”. He teaches and carries on research in areas that include the philosophy of mind, cognitive science, logic, Buddhist Philosophy, intercultural hermaneutics, and theoretical and applied ethics.

The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

This project is concerned with the perceived other; that is, with the   Buddhist handling of death. The theme is broadly stretched   geographically. The series begins with an introduction into the theme   from a comparative view of the world religions and then leads us to   Vietnamese Buddhist death rituals in Switzerland and other traditions in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar/Burma, Laos, China, Tibet and Japan.   Besides ritual practices, we will be also tracing literary and canonical sources.

Talks and discussions by distinguished scholars in the fields of Buddhism, Neurobiology, Education, Confucianism, Psychology, Philosophy, Christian Religion, Sociobiology, and Law.

Buddhism, Neurobiology and the Social Sciences in Dialog

[ 14.04.2009 ]
Moralität im Buddhismus
Prof. em. Dr. Lambert Schmithausen, Asien-Afrika-Institut, Universität Hamburg
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Eine Neurobiologie der Moral? Fragen an ein aktuelles Projekt
Dr. sc. Markus Christen, UFSP Ethik, Universität Zürich
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Akzeptanz des/r Anderen. Ein zentraler Wert für das Zusammenleben von Menschen in modernen Gesellschaften
Prof. Dr. Wolfram Weiße, Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaft/Interdisziplinäres Zentrum Weltreligionen im Dialog, Universität Hamburg
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Discussion
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Confucianism, Buddhism, Psychology and Western Philosophy in Dialog

[ 19.04.2009 ]
Prof. Dr. Michael Pauen, Institut für Philosophie: Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Discussion
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Theology/Buddhism, Sociobiology and Law in Dialogdiscussion

[ 26.05.2009 ]
Morality and Sociobiology
Prof. Dr. Franz M. Wuketits, Institut für Philosophie: Forschungsbereich Wissenschaftstheorie/KLI Evolution und Kognitionswiss., Universität Wien
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Prof. Dr. Dr. Kristian Kühl, Juristische Fakultät, Universität Tübingen
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

In the summer term 2008, three meetings were held at which scholars and Buddhist practitioners discussed the relationship of Buddhism to quantum physics, stem cell research and neuro-science.

Buddhism and Quantum Physics

[ 20.05.2008 ]
Quantum Physics in Detail and as a Whole
JP Dr. Roman Schnabel, Institute for Gravitation Physics at the Leibniz University of Hannover and the Max-Planck-Institute for Gravitation Physics

Physics is an empirical science. The area of quantum physics deals with the characteristics of the smallest units of things, the so-called quanta. This usually involves observing quanta of the microcosm such as light particles or atoms.  This lecture presents particular observations made in quantum physics and introduces current ideas according to which even larger objects are said to display characteristics of quanta.

The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Dependent Genesis and Void:  A Buddhist idea of relevance today?
PD Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes, Asien-Afrika-Institut, Uni Hamburg

For Nagarjuna the central Buddhist theorem of dependent genesis can only be upheld together with the belief in the void of all factors pertaining to the existence of an individual being, for something can only be dependent on something else if it has not come to existence by itself. This void was then explained in the Yogacara to mean that nothing exists independently of the observer. This lecture will offer short introductions to these models of reality and examine whether they are suitable as a philosophical explanation for the pioneering discoveries of quantum physics.

The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Discussion
JP Dr. Roman Schnabel; PD Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Buddhism and the Stem Cell Research Debate

[ 03.06.2008 ]
Grundlagen, Ziele und aktuelle Kontroversen der Stammzellbiologie
Prof. Dr. Andreas Faissner, Dept. of Cell Morphology and Molecular Neurobiology, Universität Bochum

Embryonale Stammzellen (ES-Zellen) besitzen das Potential, eine große Zahl – wenn nicht alle – bekannten Zellen des menschlichen Körpers zu bilden. Deshalb dienen sie als Modell entwicklungsbiologischer Forschung. Darüber hinaus wird ihnen die Eigenschaft zugesprochen, Zellverluste im menschlichen Körper ausgleichen zu können. Daran knüpfen sich Hoffnungen auf die Entwicklung neuartiger Therapieverfahren sowie auf die Entstehung neuer Industrien, mit den damit verbundenen Arbeitsplätzen und wirtschaftlichen Vorteilen. Demgegenüber bestehen erhebliche ethische Bedenken, da die ES-Zellen aus frühen Embryonen abgeleitet werden. Daran hat sich eine Debatte entzündet, die mittlerweile weite Bereiche der Gesellschaft ergriffen hat.

The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

How We Create Ourselves: Buddhism and stem-cell research
Franz-Johannes Litsch, Buddhistische Akademie, Berlin

This presentation offers possible responses to contemporary developments in human biomedicine with the help of the statements of three scholars in historical Buddhism.  First, there are undoubtedly traditional and popular ideas of the physical and spiritual reproduction of the human being and of the ethical consequences of these processes. The teachings of the Abhidhamma, moreover, contain differentiated descriptions of the prenatal process of human creation and of the resulting practical possibilities and ethical consequences of this process. Lately, the fundamental Buddhist belief in self-observation (Vipassana) and the core dogma of limited dependent creation (Praticca Samuppada) definitely suggest a critical philosophical stance regarding the subject of Western research on and technology for the human race.

The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Discussion
Prof. Dr. Andreas Faissner; Franz-Johannes Litsch
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Buddhism and Neuroscience

[ 20.05.2008 ]
Neural Correlate of Self-awareness
Prof. Dr. Dr. Kai Vogeley, Clinical Centre, University of Cologne

In the philosophic tradition human self-awareness features different epistemic authorities. In the transcendental philosophic conception of Kant, for example, self –awareness is mainly a transcendental category that is to be thought firstly and is seen as a necessary precondition of all matters of awareness, not even accessible by experience. These strong concepts face fictional abstracts in which the experience of self-awareness is seen as fiction or illusion. The “Humesche Bündetheorie” of self-awareness that decomposes self-awareness into basic attributes (perspectivity, the process of forming opinions, unity) that can then be operationalized and analysed empirically, seems most useful from a neuroscientific point of view. Thereby it is seen that a circumscribed number of regions – such as the medial frontal and temporoparietal cortical regions – play a basic role in self-referential cognitive processes.

The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Mind and Brain from a Buddhist’s Point of View
Oliver Petersen, Tibetan Center Hamburg

Rapid developments in brain research are currently taking place. Which findings validate meditation practice and the philosophy of Buddhism? Which theories could be considered premature by a Buddhist?Oliver Petersen, born in 1961, works for the Tibetan Centre in Hamburg which exists under the auspices of the Dalai Lama. He was ordained as a Buddhist monk and pupil of Geshe Thubten Ngawang between 1983-1999. Today he gives seminars on meditation and studying classes. He works as a referee and translator and is engaged in interfaith dialogues. Oliver Petersen has a Master’s degree in Tibetology, Religious Studies, and Philosophy. He is also a trained gestalt therapist.

The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go

Discussion
Prof. Dr. Dr. Kai Vogeley; Oliver Petersen
The audio recording of the lecture is available at Lecture2go