AAR BUDDHISM SECTION NEWSLETTER

Issue #33, Fall 2001

This issue, published just before the Nov. 17-20, 2001 AAR annual meeting in Denver, lists those sessions sponsored by the Buddhism Section, as well as other sessions, presentations, and events related to the field of Buddhist Studies. We would like to invite all members attending to participate in the Buddhism Section's business meeting, to be held Monday, Nov. 19, at 11:00 in the Colorado Convention Center, Room C3-A209, just after the session on "Prophecies, Buddhist Monks, and Politics" (A179). The first item on the agenda will be the election of new section co-chairs, so please come and vote. Also, you are cordially invited to the BUDDHISM SECTION RECEPTION (see "special announcements" below).

Hope to see you in Denver!

Sincerely, Jackie Stone [jstone@princeton.edu]
John Strong [jstrong@bates.edu]

Buddhism Section co-chairs

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

BE SURE TO VOTE: As of this year's annual meeting, John Strong and Jackie Stone will have completed two three-years terms as co-chairs of the Buddhism section and will be stepping down. The election of new co-chairs will be held at the section's business meeting in Denver. A list of candidates will be sent out to you soon by e-mail; please print it out and bring it with you to the meeting (additional ballots will be available there if you forget). If you are unable to attend the business meeting, you will have an opportunity to cast an absentee ballot by e-mail ahead of time.

BUDDHISM SECTION RECEPTION: Webster University has graciously volunteered to host a reception for all members of the Buddhism Section. It will be held Monday, Nov., 19, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at Governor's Square 15 at the Adam's Mark Hotel. Please mark this time and place, as the reception is not listed in the annual meeting program but only in the supplemental announcements. Webster University sponsors a non-sectarian Buddhist Studies program abroad with a campus in Cha'am, Thailand. Professors Robert Goss and Chris Parr will be on hand to answer questions about the program.

ONGOING ANNOUNCEMENTS:

NEWSLETTER: The Buddhism Section's electronic Newsletter will be posted at the website of the AAR Buddhism section http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~buddhism/aar-bs/. Those of you who have submitted an e-mail address that is still up to date will be notified that the Newsletter has been posted to this site. If you wish to be added to the distribution list or to change your e-mail address, or if you have other questions about the Newsletter, please contact Jackie Stone [jstone@princeton.edu]. Because e-mail distribution is still largely limited to the constraints of the ASCII character set, diacritics have not been used in the Newsletter in giving the titles of presentations. We ask for your understanding in this regard.

PLEASE SIGN IN: At each session sponsored by the Buddhism section, a sign-in sheet will be handed round. Reporting accurate attendance figures for each session is essential to maintaining the Buddhism section's good standing in the AAR. Please help out by signing in for EACH session you attend.

BUDDHISM SECTION SESSIONS:

Saturday, Nov. 17, 1:00-3:30 p.m.

(A30) Buddhism on the Silk Road (ADM-Tower Court A)

Robert Buswell, University of California at Los Angeles, presiding

• Jason Neelis, Florida State University "Long-Distance Transmission of Buddhism from South Asia to the Silk Routes: New Evidence from Rock Drawings and Inscriptions in Northern Pakistan"
• Vadim N. Yagodin, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan "The Civilization of Ancient Chorasmia and Buddhism"
• Joseph Walser, Tufts University "Mahayana Textual Production on the Silk Route"
• Mariko Namba Walter, University of New England "Death, Burials, and the Afterlife in Buddhist Central Asia"
• Peter Zieme, Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften "Special Traits of Uighur Buddhism"

Respondent: Jan Nattier, Indiana University, Bloomington

Sat., Nov. 17, 4:00-6:30 p.m.

(A55) Current Research on the Jishu (co-sponsored with the Japanese Religions Group, ADM-Tower Court A)

Presider to be announced

• Jonathan Todd Brown, University of Arizona "Flowers from the Sky: Auspicious Portents in Two Jishu Hagiographies"
• James Harlan Foard, Arizona State University "The Jishu Appropriation of Icons: The Case of the Burned-Cheek Amida"
• Sybil Anne Thornton, Arizona State University "The Yugyo Shonin, Izumi Shikibu, and the Rededication of the Seiganji in 1580"
• Diana E. Wright, Western Washington University "Concerns Both Sacred and Mundane: The Jishu Nuns of Mantokuji"

Respondent: Janet Goodwin, State University of California, Stanislaus

Sunday, Nov. 18, 9:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

(A92) Merit and Exchange in Chinese and Indian Buddhism (co-sponsored with the Chinese Religions Group)

(C3-Room A106)

Robert Sharf, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, presiding

• Charles B. Jones, Catholic University of America "The Paradox of Precepts in Chinese Pure Land Buddhism"
• Reiko Ohnuma, Dartmouth College "Gifts, Merit, and Reciprocity in Indian Buddhism"
• Michael J. Walsh, Vassar College "The Possibilities of Merit in Thirteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Monastic Arenas"
• Xue Yu, University of Iowa "Merit Making and Merit Transfer in Chinese Buddhism"

Respondent: Jamie Hubbard, Smith College

Sunday, Nov. 18, 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

(A141) Issues of Identity and Alterity in Buddhist Traditions (ADM-Vail)

Robert Thurman, Columbia University, presiding

• David Gray, Rice University "Eating the Heart of the Brahmin: Representations of Alterity and the Formation of Identity in Tantric Buddhist Discourse"
• John C. Maraldo, University of North Florida "Alterity and Nonduality in the Oxherding Pcitures of Chan/Zen"
• Ananda Abeysekara, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and state University "Contingent Conjunctures in the Postcolonial Study of Buddhism, Alterity, and Difference"
• Wendy Cadge, Princeton University "American Buddhists? The Religious Identities of Theravada Buddhist Practitioners in the United States"
• C. John Powers, Australian National University "Fighting with History: The Ideological Battle between the Tibetan Exile Government and the People's Republic of China"

Respondent: Joseph Walser, Tufts University

Mon., Nov. 19, 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

(A179) Prophecies, Buddhist Monks, and Politics (C3-Room A209)

Ronald Davidson, Fairfield University, presiding

• Karen Derris, Harvard University "Towards a Typology of Theravadin Predictions"
• Johan Elverskog, Southern Methodist University "Prophecy in Action: Shambhala and the Mongols"
• Mario Poceski, University of Florida " From the Province to the Capital: The Role of State Support in the Spread of the Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism"
• Roseanne Freese, Arlington, Virginia "The Monk Tanwuchan: Mentor of Men and Victim of Kings"

Mon., Nov. 19, 11:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Buddhism Section Business meeting (C3-Room A209)

John Strong, Bates College, and Jacqueline Stone, Princeton University, presiding PLEASE COME!!!

Mon., Nov. 19, 4:00-6:30 p.m.

(A227) Engaged Buddhist Ethics: The Dialectics of Buddhist Tradition and Contemporary Globalism (C3-Room A110)

Miriam Levering, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, presiding

• George D. Bond, Northwestern University "The Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement of Sri Lanka: Gandhian Discourse and Millenialist Visions in Response to Buddhist Nationalism"
• Christopher S. Queen, Harvard University "Gentle or Harsh? The Practice of Right Speech in Engaged Buddhism"
• John Marston, Colegio de México "Buddhist Values and Cambodian Human Rights NGOs"
• Sallie B. King, James Madison University "Justice for All? Engaged Buddhist Avoidance of Justice Language"

Respondent: Donald K. Swearer, Swarthmore College

Mon., Nov. 19, 7:00-8:30 p.m.

BUDDHISM SECTION RECEPTION! Sponsored by Webster University, represented by Robert Goss and Chris Parr. YOU ARE INVITED!!!
(ADM-Governor's Square 15)

Tues., Nov. 19, 9:00 a.m. -11:30 a.m.

(A255) Cults, Transformations, and Transnationalism in Buddhism ADM-Vail

• Kyoko Tokuno, University of Washington, presiding
• Abraham Zablocki, Cornell University " The Maitreya Project: A Case Study in Transnational Tibetan Buddhism"
• Zhi-Ru Ng, Pomona College "The Saha Triad as a New Buddhist Pattern of Cultic Devotion: Image Worship and Restructuring Religious Consciousness in Modern Taiwan"
• David Quinter, Stanford University " The Shingon Ritsu School and the Hannyaji Monju Cult: Image, Economy, and Magic"
• Bryan Phillips, University of Virginia "The Mani-yana: A Medieval Tibetan Unification Discourse from Guru Chos-kyi dbang-phyug"
• Cristina Rocha, University of Western Sydney "Zazen or Not Zazen? The Predicament of Sotoshu's Missionaries in Brazil"

OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST (partial listing)

Fri., Nov. 16, 9:00-11:30 a.m.

(AM9) Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies ADM-Governor's Square 9

Fri., Nov. 16, 1:00-3:30 p.m.

(AM16) Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies ADM-Governor's Square 17

Sat., Nov. 17, 9:00-11:30 a.m.

(AM80) Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies C-3 Room C106

Sat., Nov. 17, 1:00-3:30 p.m.

(A34) Philosophy of Religion Section Sara McClintock, Carleton College "Faith in Karma: The Justification of Moral Action in Santaraksita and Kamalasila"

(C3-Room A103)

(A43) Japanese Religions Group: Sacred Space, Haunted Place ADM-Vail

(A47) Religion and Ethics in Healthcare Group: Kathleen Garces-Foley, University of California, Santa Barbara

"Buddhism, Hospice, and the American Way of Dying" (C3-Room C110)

Sat., Nov. 17, 4:00-6:30 p.m.

(A56) Comparative Studies in Religion Section: Locating Sacrifice Charles Orzech, University of North Carolina, Greensboro "Metaphors of Sacrifice: Language and Ideology in the Interpretation of Buddhist 'Sacrifice'" (C3-Room C210)

(A68) Korean Religions Group: Korean Transformations of Buddhism or Buddhist Transformation of Korea? (C3-Room A209)

(A70) New Religious Movements Group Margo Smith, University of South Florida "Christian Science and Buddhism: Healing Modalities for the New Millenium?"

(C3-Room A110)

Sat., Nov. 17, 6:30-8:00 p.m.

SPECIAL RECEPTION Religion and Ecology Reception hosted by the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century, to celebrate "The Emerging Alliance of Religion and Ecology"

—Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, FORE Co-coordinators, "The Forum on Religion and Ecology (FORE)"

—Bron Taylor, Director, Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, "The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature"

—Tom Collins, Director, "The Forum on Religion and Ecology's Secondary School Project "

Hyatt Regency Denver Hotel Room, H-Mount Evans B

Sun., Nov. 19, 1:00-3:30 p.m.

(A130) Tibetan and Himalayan Religions Group: Medicine and Buddhism in Indo-Tibetan Tradition (C3-Room A206)

(A133) Studies in Yogācāra Buddhism Seminar: Yogācāra Buddhism in East Asia (ADM-Governor's Square 15)

(A134) Tokugawa Religion Seminar: "Playing at Buddhism: Double Sixes on the Road to Paradise" (ADM-Governor's Square 14)

Sun., Nov. 19, 4:00-6:30 p.m.

(A138) Special Topics Forum: Religion and Society after the Aum Affair (C3-Room A210)

(A159) Religion, Ethics, and Society in Contemporary East Asia Consultation: Asian Religions and Globalization: Responses to Western/Christian Perspectives (C3-Room C103)

Mon., Nov. 20, 1:00-3:30 p.m.

(A203) Comparative Studies in Religion: Dream Rituals Serinity Young, American Museum of Natural History, "Constraint and Spontaneity in Tibetan Buddhist Dream Rituals and Interpretation"
(C3-Room A204)

(A211) Asian North American Religion, Culture and Society Group: Buddhism in Asian America (C3-Room 208)

(A212) Chinese Religions Group: Neidan (Internal Alchemy) in the Song and Yuan: Praxis, Ritual Application, and the Problem of Syncretism (C3-Room C102)

(A216) Korean Religions Group: On the Korean Transformation of Buddhism (C3-Room 103)

(A223) Tibetan and Himalayan Religions Group: Pilgrims and Pixels: Tibetan Buddhism in Traditional and Contemporary Academic Practice (ADM-Beverly)

Mon., Nov. 20, 4:00-6:30 p.m.