Buddhist Studies

Buddhist Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of Buddhism about their new books.

Pankaj Jain and Jeffery D. Long, "Indian and Western Philosophical Concepts in Religion" (Rowman and Littlefield, 2023)

March 14, 2024

Indian and Western Philosophical Concepts in Religion

Pankaj Jain and Jeffery D. Long
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Philosophical concepts are influential in the theories and methods to study the world religions. Even though the disciplines of anthropology and relig…

Charles B. Jones, "Chinese Pure Land Buddhism: Understanding a Tradition of Practice" (U Hawaii Press, 2019)

February 26, 2024

Chinese Pure Land Buddhism

Charles B. Jones
Hosted by Lina Verchery

Today’s guest is Charles B. Jones, Associate Professor and Director of the Religion and Culture graduate program in the School of Theology and Religio…

Buddhist Medicine in Contemporary Times (with Pierce Salguero)

February 9, 2024

Buddhist Medicine in Contemporary Times

Pierce Salguero
Hosted by Pierce Salguero

Dr Pierce Salguero is interviewed by James Bae on the Buddhist Medicine & Yoga Podcast. In this extensive and in-depth conversation, we talk about dif…

Jeffery D. Long, "Discovering Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to Hindu, Jain and Buddhist Thought" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

February 8, 2024

Discovering Indian Philosophy

Jeffery D. Long
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Jeffery D. Long's Indian Philosophy: An Introduction (Bloomsbury, 2023) helps readers discover how the many and varied schools of Indian thought can a…

Daniel Capper, "Roaming Free Like a Deer: Buddhism and the Natural World" (Cornell UP, 2022)

February 5, 2024

Roaming Free Like a Deer

Daniel Capper

Daniel Capper's book Roaming Free Like a Deer: Buddhism and the Natural World (Cornell UP, 2022) delves into ecological experiences in seven Buddhist …

Stephen Harris, "Buddhist Ethics and the Bodhisattva Path: Santideva on Virtue and Well-Being" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

January 26, 2024

Buddhist Ethics and the Bodhisattva Path

Stephen Harris

Santideva's 8th-century Mahayana Buddhist classic, "The Guide to the Practices of Awakening" (Bodhicaryavatara), has been a source of philosophical in…

Jan Westerhoff, "Candrakirti's Introduction to the Middle Way: A Guide" (Oxford UP, 2023)

January 20, 2024

Candrakirti's Introduction to the Middle Way

Jan Westerhoff
Hosted by Malcolm Keating

A proponent of the Madhyamaka tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Candrakīrti wrote several works, one of which, the Madhamakāvatāra, strongly influenced …

Douglas S. Duckworth, "Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature" (Oxford UP, 2019)

January 17, 2024

Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature

Douglas S. Duckworth

Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature (Oxford UP, 2019) offers an engaging philosophical overview of Tibetan Buddhist thought. Integrating co…

Tara Brach, "Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha" (Random House, 2004)

January 17, 2024

Radical Acceptance

Tara Brach

It can be so easy to feel like we’re not enough or that we’re somehow insufficient. According to meditation teacher Tara Brach, this feeling of unwort…

Christian Coseru on Perceiving Reality

January 8, 2024

Perceiving Reality

Christian Coseru

What does it mean to perceive and just how capable are we of perceiving reality? This is a core question in the work of Christian Coseru, who is today…

Women and the Body in Buddhism (with Amy Langenberg)

January 7, 2024

Women and the Body in Buddhism

Amy Langenberg
Hosted by Pierce Salguero

Dr Pierce Salguero sits down with Amy Langenberg, a scholar of South Asian Buddhism, gender, sexuality, and the body. We focus on Amy’s work on misogy…

M. Sheehy and K-D Mathes, "The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet" (SUNY Press, 2019)

January 5, 2024

The Other Emptiness

Michael R. Sheehy  and Klaus-Dieter Mathes

Michael R. Sheehy and Klaus-Dieter Mathes's edited collection The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet (SUNY Press, 2…

Vanessa R. Sasson, "The Gathering: A Story of the First Buddhist Women" (Equinox, 2023)

December 30, 2023

The Gathering

Vanessa R. Sasson

After the Buddha’s enlightenment, his aunt and adoptive mother, Mahapajapati Gotami, asks him to ordain women and welcome them into his new monastic c…

Ralph H. Craig, "Dancing in My Dreams: A Spiritual Biography of Tina Turner" (Eerdmans, 2023)

December 29, 2023

Dancing in My Dreams

Ralph H. Craig
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

When Tina Turner reclaimed her throne as the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll in the 1980s, she attributed her comeback to one thing: the wisdom and power she f…

Alice Collett, "Lives of Early Buddhist Nuns: Biographies as History" (Oxford UP, 2016)

December 26, 2023

Lives of Early Buddhist Nuns

Alice Collett
Hosted by Alex Carroll

Dr. Alice Collett’s monograph Lives of Early Buddhist Nuns: Biographies as History (Oxford University Press, 2016) delves into the lives of six of the…

Reading the Stars: When Divination Meets Politics in Thailand

December 22, 2023

Reading the Stars

Edoardo Siani
Hosted by Petra Alderman

What does astrology, palm-reading and fortune telling have to do with politics in Thailand, and how can we make sense of these divination practices an…

Tyler Dalton McNabb and Erik Baldwin, "Classical Theism and Buddhism: Connecting Metaphysical and Ethical Systems" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

December 20, 2023

Classical Theism and Buddhism

Tyler Dalton McNabb and Erik Baldwin
Hosted by Malcolm Keating

In addition to denying the existence of a substantial, enduring self, Buddhists are usually understood to deny the existence of a God or gods. However…

Oren Jay Sofer, "Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love" (Shambhala, 2023)

December 10, 2023

Your Heart Was Made for This

Oren Jay Sofer

What is the role of contemplative practice in times of crisis? And how can meditation actually support us in meeting the greatest challenges of our ti…

David McMahan on Rethinking Meditation

December 4, 2023

David McMahan on Rethinking Meditation

David L. McMahan

If anything, the Imperfect Buddha Podcast has been a rallying cry for the disruption of the myths that abound in the world of Buddhism and meditation.…

Shuchen Xiang, "Chinese Cosmopolitanism: The History and Philosophy of an Idea" (Princeton UP, 2023)

November 29, 2023

Chinese Cosmopolitanism

Shuchen Xiang
Hosted by Jessica Zu

A provocative defense of a forgotten Chinese approach to identity and difference. Historically, the Western encounter with difference has been catastr…