Photos from the Gaden Shartse Monks Visit
10/03/2013: Ineffabilities and Conventional Truth in Jñānaśrimitra’s Buddhist Philosophy of Language
Amy Donahue, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Kennesaw State University will present a lecture on Thursday, October 3, 7:00 p.m. in Cowles Library Reading Room.
Buddhist “no self” teachings wend rather quickly in South Asia, first, into phenomenological nominalism and skepticism about language, and, second, into recognition that speech must, in at least some cases, be fruitful. Buddhist “apoha” theorists such as Jñānaśrimitra work to accommodate these competing drives, on the one hand, by reducing word meanings to practices of “exclusion of the other” (anyāpoha) and, on the other hand, by appealing to notions of “conventional truth” (samvṛtisatya). We’ll examine the meaningfulness of modern social identity expressions, such as “caste,” “gender,” and “conventional society” to consider how fruitful these efforts are.
A scholar in the fields of Indian philosophy, feminist and gender theory, and philosophy of language, Amy Donahue is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 2011. Her recent paper, “Suffering Free Markets: A ‘Classical’ Buddhist Critique of Capitalist Conceptions of ‘Value’” is forthcoming from Philosophy East and West (October, 2014). She is currently working on research projects that explore intersections of postcolonial theory and comparative philosophy.
Listen to audio of the lecture:
Download the powerpoint presentation of this lecture: Donahue_PPT
09/09-13/2013: Sacred Earth and Healing Arts of Tibet: A Visit from the Gaden Shartse Tibetan Buddhist Monks
The Buddhist Monks from Gaden Shartse Monastery will offer lectures, teachings and cultural performances from September 9-13.
Visitors may also view the ongoing construction of the sand mandala in the Cowles Library Reading Room between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Monday, September 9, 9:00 a.m., Collier Heritage Room, Cowles Library
Sand Mandala Opening ceremony
View a time lapse video of the mandala process from beginning to end:
Monday, September 9, 7:00 p.m., Collier Heritage Room, Cowles Library
Lecture: Path of the Bodhisattva
Listen to audio of the lecture:
Tuesday, September 10, 7:00 p.m., Sheslow Auditorium
An Evening of Sacred Music and Dance
View a video of the performance:
Wednesday,September 11, 7:00 p.m., Cowles Library Reading Room
Lecture: World Peace and the Unity of all Religions
Listen to audio of the lecture:
Thursday, September 12, 7:00 p.m., Cowles Library Reading Room
Buddhist Community Dialogue with representatives from the Tibetan monks, Des Moines Zen Center, Wat Lao Buddhavas of Des Moines and Tu Vein Hong Duc.
Listen to audio of the Dialogue:
Friday, September 13, 7:00 p.m., Cowles Library Reading Room
Sand Mandala Closing ceremony
View video of the Closing ceremony:
For information on the Gaden Shartse monks, visit www.gadenshartseculturalfoundation.org
Parking Information:
Parking for visitors to the Mandala building is located in the visitor pay parking lot at 28th/University or street parking in the surrounding neighborhoods.
For the performance in Sheslow on Tuesday evening, parking is closest in Lot #1 (Fine Arts Lot), which becomes a visitor lot after 4:30 p.m. This lot could also be used for parking for the other events.