The Dharma-Ending Age: The Climate Crisis through the Lens of Buddhist Eschatology, Past and Present

C. K. Choi Building for the Institute of Asian Research 1855 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The unprecedented number of global crises is casting a shadow on the future of humanity, all of which seem to augur that the dharma-ending age (mofa 末法) described in Buddhist classics is now silently approaching us. At this crossroad, the climate crisis may wield the most immediate impacts for the world. Buddhism may prove to […]

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The Dharma-Ending Age: The Climate Crisis through the Lens of Buddhist Eschatology, Past and Present

C. K. Choi Building for the Institute of Asian Research 1855 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The unprecedented number of global crises is casting a shadow on the future of humanity, all of which seem to augur that the dharma-ending age (mofa 末法) described in Buddhist classics is now silently approaching us. At this crossroad, the climate crisis may wield the most immediate impacts for the world. Buddhism may prove to […]

Free

What do East Asian Buddhists call their books and why?

C. K. Choi Building for the Institute of Asian Research 1855 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Almost all scholars of East Asian Buddhism refer to Buddhists’ books as either the “Three Baskets” or the “canon”. But either term denotes a collection of thousands of individual books, whether in manuscript or printed form. Many premodern Japanese Buddhist temple librarians used another term, shōgyō 聖教 (shengjiao), possibly meaning the noble teachings. This presentation will explore […]

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Jātaka, Purgatory, and Supernatural Stories (zhiguai)—On the Classicization of Buddhist Stories from the Perspective of Fa Yuan Zhu Lin

Asian Centre 1871 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

This presentation focuses on the collection Fa Yuan Zhu Lin compiled by the Tang Dynasty’s Buddhist scholar Daoshi, and explores the role of Fa Yuan Zhu Lin in the canonization of Buddhist stories, focusing on the Jātaka (Buddha’s past life stories), purgatory, and supernatural stories. The Jātaka stories can be divided into types such as treasure hunting in the […]

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