Call for Proposals

This Group seeks to sponsor tightly integrated paper sessions and discussion panels on the following topics:

• What is the meaning and purpose of Trikāya theory?
• Discussion of a text, especially of a seminal passage in a text like the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, Madhyântavibhāga, Ālambanaparīkṣā, etc.
• Defining “Yogācāra” — what is it, exactly?
• Bhāviveka’s take on Yogācāra
• Abhidharma, Yogācāra/Tathāgatagarbha, and Yogācāra
• The current relevance of Yogācāra — how it (potentially) informs other disciplines
• The soteriological goals of Yogācāra

Mission

The Yogācāra tradition within Buddhism provides the seminal basis for many forms of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Yogācāra was the preeminent Buddhist school for many centuries in India, East Asia, and Tibet. Even after its relative decline as a distinct tradition, its teachings continued to provide the basis for both the theory and practice of subsequent Buddhist Mahāyāna schools throughout Asia. Yogācāra’s influence includes important innovations in Buddhist psychology, meditation systematics, epistemology, causal theories, soteriological models, and the creation of Buddhist logic, and thus bears strong potential for constructive engagement with modern areas of science, including psychology, genetics, and evolutionary biology. Over the last century, Asian Buddhists in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Tibet, recognizing that potential, have engendered a Yogācāra revival that continues to grow today. Our mission is to provide a forum for the exploration of the various psychological and philosophical aspects of Yogācāra in its various historical and cultural settings, along with engaging these with their modern scientific correlates.

Anonymity of Review Process

Proposer names are visible to Chairs but anonymous to steering committee members.

Questions?

Dan Lusthaus
Harvard University
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C. John Powers
Australian National University
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Method of Submission