The Center for Buddhist Studies is glad to present Khyentse Foundation Lecture Series in 2020, The event is free and open to the public.
Speaker: Prof. JOSÉ I. CABEZÓN
Religious Studies University of California, Santa Barbara
Title: THE BUDDHIST HERITAGE OF PAKISTAN
Time: Tuesday, February 18, 2020 ►5:00 PM
Location: UA Poetry Center, Dorothy Rubel Room (1508 E Helen Street, Tucson, AZ)
Suggested Parking: Highland Garage
Abstract: When one hears “South Asian Buddhism,” the mind immediately thinks of India, but until 1947, the year of partition, there was no division between India and its neighbor, Pakistan. For centuries, Buddhism also flourished in what is today Pakistan, from Gilgit-Baltistan in the far north to Sindh in the south. The vast area in the northwest known as Gandhara, with its capitals at Pushkalavati (present-day Charsada) and Purushapura (Peshawar), was filled with monks and monasteries, as were the adjacent areas of Swat and Taxila. The art produced in Gandhara is among the best in the Buddhist world. This talk takes you on a tour of Buddhism in Pakistan, discussing its art, institutions, monastic culture, and texts, including the so-called Gilgit manuscripts, which have caused scholars to rethink the history of South Asian Buddhism.
Bio: José Ignacio Cabezón is Dalai Lama Professor of Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies, former chair of the Religious Studies Department at UC Santa Barbara, and President of the American Academy of Religion. He has published a dozen books and numerous articles on Buddhism and on topics related to the academic study of religion. His most recent books include Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism (2017), and Sera Monastery (2019).