On stūpas, soldiers and interesting ideas

Here's an update of some recent scholarly and academic publications by Triratna Buddhist Order members.

First, Kulamitra David Zukas's new article, ‘Early Indian Buddhist Monasteries: Bhaja, Bedsa, and Karla from 200 BCE to 700 CE’, condenses his 2022 PhD thesis down into a very readable narrative, revealing the historical development of Buddhist monasticism in western India.

Second, Dharmacārin Siṃhanāda last year had an article published on ‘The Buddhist Soldier: A Madhyamaka Inquiry’, exploring in a complex dialectical way the various qualities of a Buddhist soldier – a unique contribution to Buddhist ethical enquiry, in our view.

Third, Dhivan Thomas Jones has had some articles published: one on ‘“This Being, That Becomes”: Reconsidering the Role of the imasmiṃ sati Formula in Early Buddhism’, on an aspect of the Buddha's teaching of dependent arising; another on ‘From Nothing to No-thing-ness to Emptiness: the Buddhist Recycling of an Old Jain Saying’, on a particular teaching of the Buddha in the Pāli canon; and a third on Madhayamaka philosophy, ‘Candrakīrti on the Use and Misuse of the Chariot Argument’.

Events for philosophers and scholars in 2023

Here is some information on events coming up this year at Adhisthana. There will be a Philosophy Symposium, 14–17 April, on the theme of ‘The Wisdom of the Earth: Philosophy and the Climate Crisis’, exploring philosophical views around Gaia, interconnectedness and apocalypse, in relation to the Dharma. And there will be a Scholars’ Retreat, 4–11 August, on the theme of ‘Getting Closer to Vimalakīrti’, going into themes from the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra, of which an English translation has now been published from complete Sanskrit text rediscovered in the Potala Palace.

Transcendental talks now online

The editors of WBR plus Ketumati all gave talks at a recent Philosophy Symposium at Adhiṣṭhāna retreat centre in the UK, on the theme of 'In Search of the "Transcendental"', exploring different ways towards the experience of the 'Transcendental', or towards the meaning of 'transcendence'. Recordings of the talks are now available on Free Buddhist Audio at https://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/series/details?num=X231, and Ketumati's talk is also available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/Kc42pNnkol4.