Sumeru News — Buddhist Studies

Here's my latest article for Buddhistdoor Global. It's about book culture, and Buddhist publishing specifically: https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/weve-turned-another-page/

Jewels, Jewelry, and Other Shiny Things in the Buddhist Imaginary Edited by Vanessa R. Sasson University of Hawai’I Press 2021Hardback: $72.00 / ISBN-13: 9780824887858Paperback: $32.00 / ISBN-13: 9780824889555 12 Chapters, bibliography, contributors, index, colour plates, 380 pages Chapters include: The Emerald Buddha as a Map Jewels of Recognition and Paternity in Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu Traditions Taking Refuge in Jewels Jeweled Renunciation: Reading the Buddha’s Hagiography Are We All Merchants? Buddhists, Merchants, and Mercantilism in Early India “I Don’t Want a Wife without Ear Cuffs”: Jewels, Gender, and the Market among the Newars of Nepal Ornaments of This World: Materiality and Poetics...

Introduction to Buddhist Counselling (on-line) Instructed by Linda Hochstetler, MSW, RSW / TA Charles Chiarelli, OCT, BA, BEd 13 Saturdays, September 18 – December 11, 2021, EST 4-6 pm (7 classes) & 4-5 pm (6 tutorials) - 20 hours This module is designed to provide basic Buddhist counselling skills to individuals with little or no clinical experience or training. It is intended to prepare participants to volunteer with Sangha members, friends, and family. No previous training is required. Students will learn the following skills: attending, rapport building, use of silence, paraphrasing, reflecting, showing empathy, focusing the conversation, clarifying, appropriate questioning,...

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY: Future Jazz, That 13th Century Buddhist Monk, and the Invention of Cultures. An anthropological memoir of the author’s experiences in Japan and other places to explore ideas of uncertainty and undifferentiation as they relate to ethics and culture. The book threads a discussion of jazz improvisation as metaphor for the human experience and the ongoing process of change that is the world. The Zen monk in the subtitle is Dōgen, who figures prominently in the book. John Traphagan is a professor of Religious Studies and Anthropology at the University of Texas Austin. The book is illustrated by Amane...

Videos of the presentations from the New Paths in Teaching Buddhist Studies conference hosted by the Ho Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Toronto will be available in the not-too-distant future. Meanwhile, I was asked by the Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies to write up a brief report on the panel, "Complicating Meditation in the Classroom," in which I was one of the presenters. Here it is: https://cjbuddhist.wordpress.com/2020/03/12/blog-new-paths-in-teaching-buddhist-studies-conference-report/