Princeton Symposium on Buddhist Charity, May 3, 2014

H-Buddhism SYMPOSIUM> Discussing Dāna: Princeton Symposium on Buddhist Charity, May 3, 2014

Discussion published by Stephen F. Teiser on Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Discussing Dāna: A One-Day Symposium on Buddhist Charity

Saturday, May 3, 2014, 9 am to 6 pm

Lewis Library 138, Princeton University

Free and Open to the Public. Registration Required: http://csr.princeton.edu/buddhistcharity

Panelists and Discussants:

José Cabezón, UC Santa Barbara. Jonathan C. Gold, Princeton University. Charles Hallisey, Harvard Divinity School. Maria Heim, Amherst College. C. Julia Huang, National Tsing Hua University. Tao Jiang, Rutgers University. Mark Larrimore, The New School. Justin McDaniel, University of Pennsylvania. Reiko Ohnuma, Dartmouth College. Juliane Schober, Arizona State University. Jacqueline I. Stone, Princeton University. Stephen F. Teiser, Princeton University.

Charity (Sanskrit: dāna) is the most fundamental of all Buddhist virtues, and rituals of donation are important throughout Buddhism. In one of the most commonly performed rites in the Buddhist world, the memorializing of one’s ancestors, the devotee offers purified thoughts or makes a concrete donation to the Buddhist Order and assigns the benefit of the act to the deceased. Beyond ritual, giving goods and sacrificing oneself play a large role in Buddhist philosophy and mythology. Cultivating generosity is part of many articulations of the Buddhist path. Whether cast as a contradictory ideal unattainable even by exceptional beings like Buddhas-to-be or as an everyday form of training, dāna is central to many Buddhist cultures.

This day-long symposium is intended to help develop thinking aboutdāna from a variety of disciplines, including Buddhist studies, history, ethics, philosophy, ritual studies, and anthropology. Scholars will make short presentations (10 minutes) based on their previously published work and, through discussion throughout the day, consider a range of perspectives. The conference is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required.

Sponsored by the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation, Princeton University Buddhist Studies Workshop, and Princeton University Center for the Study of Religion.

Citation: Stephen F. Teiser. SYMPOSIUM> Discussing Dāna: Princeton Symposium on Buddhist Charity, May 3, 2014. H-Buddhism. 04-23-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/6060/discussions/24208/symposium-discussing-d%C4%81na-princeton-symposium-buddhist-charity-ma y Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 1 H-Buddhism