Presentations – Jinajik

2019-01-172019-01-17

Miksic (2019/1/29), What more can archaeology tell us about Singapore’s past?

John N. Miksic. 29 January 2019. ‘What More Can Archaeology Tell Us About Singapore’s Past?’ Lecture in the series ‘1819 and Before: Singapore’s Pasts’, commemorating Singapore’s bicentennial anniversary. ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. [official info]

John Miksic National Library Singapore — John Miksic speaking at the National Library, Singapore. November 2018.

Abstract
This month marks the 35th anniversary of Singapore’s first archaeological excavation and the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the British under Sir T.S. Raffles. Since then, over half a million artefacts have been recovered from Singapore. These cover two periods: the Temasek era (14th to 16th century) and the Singapore era (1819-present). The artefacts from these excavations have succeeded in proving that Singapore had a sophisticated multicultural society and complex economy before 1350. Continue reading “Miksic (2019/1/29), What more can archaeology tell us about Singapore’s past?”

2018-03-052018-03-06

AABS seminar series 1 (2018), Sydney

Australian Association of Buddhist Studies seminar series, Semester 1, 2018. Meditation, Mind, and Healing: From India to Tibet and Beyond. Lecture Theatre S325, John Woolley Building, University of Sydney.

1. Trauma and Time: Tibetan Medical Responses to Nepal’s 2015 Earthquakes
Sienna R. Craig
Dartmouth College, USA
Wednesday 7 March, 6:00-7:30pm

2. Meditation in Tibetan Buddhism: Mind, Mahāmudrā and the Rhetoric of Immediacy
Jim Rheingans
University of Sydney
Thursday 15 March, 6:00-7:30pm

3. Facts or Fakes? Reconsidering Śāntideva’s Names, Life, and Works
Akira Saito
International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies, Tokyo
Thursday 22 March, 6:00-7:30pm

Continue reading “AABS seminar series 1 (2018), Sydney”

2013-04-062013-04-14

Allon, ‘A Gāndhārī Śrāmaṇyaphala-sūtra’ (2013-04-05)

Mark Allon. ‘A Gāndhārī version of the Buddha’s Discourse on the Fruits of Living the Ascetic Life (Śrāmaṇyaphala-sūtra)’. Australasian Association of Buddhist Studies Victoria Seminar, 5th April 2013, Deakin Prime Campus, Melbourne.

Abstract

The Senior collection of Gandhāran Buddhist manuscripts includes a scroll which contains a Gāndhārī version of the introductory section of the Śrāmaṇyaphala-sūtra, the Buddha’s discourse to King Ajātaśatru on the benefits of living the ascetic or holy life. The appearance of a Gāndhārī version of this interesting and popular sūtra coincides with the appearance of a second Sanskrit witness of it, namely, that included in the new Dīrghāgama manuscript, which preliminary research indicates is similar to but not identical with the Sanskrit version found among the Gilgit manuscripts. We therefore now have Indic versions of the Śrāmaṇyaphala-sūtra in Gāndhārī (albeit incomplete), Pali, and Sanskrit, a Tibetan translation and four Chinese translations, which belong to a diversity of schools and originate from different times and places. Not surprisingly the Gāndhārī sūtra is not identical to any other version, but shows a complex relationship with them. In this paper I will discuss the Gāndhārī version of the sūtra and its relationship to the parallels in other languages, the possible reasons for its popularity, and the likely reasons for its inclusion in the Senior collection.

2011-06-102011-06-10

Bühnemann, ‘The Buddha’s Journey to Lumbinī’ (2011/06/11)

Gudrun Bühnemann. ‘The Buddha’s (Return) Journey to Lumbinī (lumbinīyātrā).’ Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens vol. 54 (in press; to appear in November 2011).

Prof. Bühnemann’s upcoming presentation of selected findings in Nepal was announced today on sanskritbuddhism:

Date: June 11, 2011
Time: 3 pm
Venue: Kholcha Pokhary, Manimarga, Chakupat 22 (NIEM Library Building), Lalitpur

According to Newar Buddhists, Śākyamuni Buddha visited his birthplace Lumbinī after his enlightenment. Depictions of this journey became popular in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Nepal. They show the Buddha riding standing up on a snake while being attended by Hindu deities in service to him. The scene, known as the lumbinīyātrā, is represented in numerous paintings and in wood and metal work, and is also described in texts. This strand of the Buddha legend is specific to Newar Buddhism and not attested in Indian biographic or hagiographic accounts of the Buddha’s life. In this paper I will trace the history of the lumbinīyātrā theme by examining descriptions in texts and artistic representations. I will then discuss elements of the yātrā which are also found independently in other contexts. In conclusion, I will offer some thoughts on the significance of the lumbinīyātrā theme.

Nrityamandalavihara-Lumbiniyatrapaubha — Gautamavajra Vajrācārya, Lumbinīyātrā *paubhā* (Nṛtyamaṇḍala-Mahāvihāra, Portland), NS 1125

2011-05-142011-05-14

Allen, ‘Girls as goddesses in secular Nepal’ (23/05/2011)

Presentation

Michael Allen. ‘The worship of young virgin girls as goddesses in the secular state of Nepal’. Guest lecture, 23 May 2011, 13:00-15:00, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (Copenhagen).

Abstract

In this lecture I intend to focus on some of the current debates in Nepal concerning the worship of young virgin girls as living forms of the goddess. At the heart of these debates is the issue of just what weight should be given to religious beliefs, practices and morals, in this case both Hindu and Buddhist, in what is now constitutionally a federal democratic republic formally committed to the propagation of predominantly secular ideals. Yet, prior to the success of the Maoist-led revolution in 2006, Nepal had been a Hindu monarchy of an orthodox kind in which the divine King and the virgin goddess were the twin pillars that together gave legitimacy to the state. My lecture concludes with some brief insights into just how both the goddess and the state survive today without their king – albeit somewhat precariously so.

Michael Allen is  Emeritus Professor at the Department of Anthropology, University of Sydney.

Venue

NIAS, Leifsgade 33, 3rd floor, 2300 Copenhagen S.