Special Lecture on State of Pali and Buddhist Studies Today and its Future Possibilities

Event Details

We are pleased to announce a special lecture on “State of Pali and Buddhist Studies Today and its Future Possibilities” on Saturday, 19th August 2023 at 2pm. The lecture will be delivered by Prof. Asanga Tilakaratne.

About the Speaker

Professor Asanga Tilakaratne, PhD is emeritus Professor and founder head of the department of Buddhist Studies, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.  He is visiting Scholar, at Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune (March-September, 2013)

He joined as a visiting professor in the School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy and Comparative Religion, Nalanda University, in January, 2020. He served as the visiting professor at Sitagu International Buddhist Academy, Myanmar , Yonsei University, South Korea, Otago University, New Zealand, and Savitribai Phule Pune University, India.

His doctoral Research was in Comparative Philosophy from University of Hawaii, USA (1986-1992). His topic of research was ‘Transcendence, Ineffability and Nirvana: An Analysis of the Relation between Religious Experience and Language According to Early Buddhism’. 

He is the author of 20 Books, 94 research papers in English, presented in 149 seminars/conferences. He has supervised 20 doctoral students so far.

Abstract

In this discussion, with a view toward its future, Prof. Tilakaratne will try to identify some key areas of academic Buddhist studies today in the traditionally Buddhist countries as well as in the west. He will begin by distinguishing modern Buddhist studies from the traditional study of Buddhism. Then he will move on to identify some of the assumptions behind modern academic study of Buddhism, and examine their validity in today’s world. The discussion will be concluded with an overview of different fields of Buddhist studies, such as textual, religious, conceptual, philosophical, sociological, comparative and practical.

The lecture is open to all. Please register here to confirm your participation. 

For any queries, please write to dharmastudies@somaiya.edu

Date and Time: 2 pm. to 3.30pm Saturday, 19th August 2023

Venue: K. J. Somaiya Institute of Dharma Studies

Room no. 303, 3rd floor, KJSIM building,

Somaiya Vidyavihar University