Transformations of the classical models of meditation praxis in Chinese Buddhism
23 October 2019
Transformations of the classical models of meditation praxis
in Chinese Buddhism
Prof. Dr. Mario Poceski
Mittwoch, 23.10.2019, 16:15 – 17:45
Universität Hamburg, Asien-Afrika-Institut, Raum 120 ESA Ost
The lecture explores major changes in the dominant models of meditation that came to characterize the practice of Chinese Buddhism during the first millennium of its growth and transformation, which to this day continue to shape contemplative praxis throughout East Asian Buddhism. The main line of argument centers on key transformations of the classical model of Buddhist meditation, which postulates two main approaches to contemplative practice: calmness and insight. The main paradigm shifts examined in the lecture include the pairing of the two approaches in the writing of Zhiyi (538–597) and his Tiantai School, and the conceptual and soteriological reconfigurations that unfolded within the flourishing Chan movement during the Tang era (618–907). That is followed by an analysis of the development of a completely new model of Chan meditation during the N. Song period (960-1127), which marked the virtual disappearance of calmness and insight from the everyday vocabulary of Chinese Buddhism.
Mario Poceski is a professor of Buddhist studies and Chinese religions at the University of Florida. He received a PhD in East Asian Languages and Cultures (specialization in Buddhist studies) from the University of California, Los Angeles (2000), and has spent extended periods as a visiting professor or fellow at Komazawa University (Japan), Stanford University, National University of Singapore, University of Hamburg (Germany), Fudan University (China), and University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany). He is a recipient of several prestigious fellowships, including Alexander von Humboldt and Fulbright-Hays.
Prof. Poceski’s numerous publications include Communities of Memory and Interpretation: Reimagining and Reinventing the Past in East Asian Buddhism (Hamburg 2018, ed.), The Records of Mazu and the Making of Classical Chan Literature (Oxford 2015), The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism (Blackwell 2014, ed.), Introducing Chinese Religions (Routledge 2009), and Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism (Oxford 2007).
A flyer of the event may be downloaded here.
An audio file of the lecture may be downloaded here.