Faculty Research

Pacific World is an anonymous peer-reviewed journal that publishes English-language scholarship in Buddhist studies across all Buddhist traditions past and present, particularly Jōdo Shinshū, using a variety of academic methodologies (such as historical, textual, critical, and ethnographic approaches). Pacific World […]

CJ Dunford is a recent IBS alum and Jodo Shinshu minister. Back from a year in Japan, they share how they arrived at Buddhism, and their passion for practical Buddhist theology centering liberation for queer folk.  Gesshin: Where are you […]

I’m the Dean of Students and Faculty Affairs. This means I’m chiefly responsible for working with faculty and staff to design curriculum, decide which courses to offer, and support students through the program. I’m also responsible for licensing and accreditation, making […]

For the last year, IBS Dean Scott Mitchell has served as a guest editor for the journal Religions overseeing a special issue on Buddhism in the United States and Canada. From the journal: Over the last century, Buddhism has grown […]

A new anthology of Pure Land texts and commentaries, edited by Georgios T. Halkias and Richard K. Payne, has been published by the Univeristy of Hawai’i Press. This diverse anthology of original Buddhist texts in translation provides a historical and […]

From the AAR’s Reading Religions: Homa Variations: The Study of Ritual Change across the Longue Durée Richard K. Payne, Michael Witzel Oxford Ritual Studies, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, November 2015. Link to Publisher’s Website. Review This edited volume contains […]

The Harvard Divinity School’s Buddhist Ministry Initiative presented a conference on: Education and Buddhist Ministry: Whither and Why? on April 23-25, 2015, at the Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge. Details of the conference topics and presenters is given below. Included […]

On Friday, February 20, 2015, the IBS, with Wisdom Publications, hosted the symposium “Mindfulness: Three Buddhist Perspectives.” The purpose of the symposium was to compare and contrast mindfulness practices in three different traditions: Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan. The panelists provide […]

The Mindfulness and Compassion: The Art and Science of Contemplative Practice conference brings together internationally recognized researchers engaged in the scientific study of mindfulness and compassion meditation with seasoned Buddhist teachers and scholars to explore the frontiers of contemplative practice. […]

Wisdom Publications has released a new book by noted Shin Buddhist scholar Takamaro Shigaraki, Heart of the Shin Buddhist Path: A Life of Awakening.  Last last month, Prof. Shigaraki was in the San Francisco Bay Area, delivering a series of […]

The categorization of Buddhism along geo-political lines is perhaps the most common organizing principle today. It also tends to be accepted uncritically. Thus we find, without explanation, such expressions as “Indian Buddhism,” “Tibetan Buddhism,” “Chinese Buddhism,” “Burmese Buddhism,” and so on. These categories predominate not only in popular representations of Buddhism, such as the Buddhist magazines, but also in textbooks of both “world’s religions” and of Buddhism, in academic societies, and publishing, and perhaps the most durable entrenchment, in academic appointments.

A new book is being published by Wisdom Publications, titled The Arts of Contemplative Care, which explores the budding field of Buddhist contemplative care. Contemplative care, of course, is of particular importance to our community, our chaplaincy and ministerial students. […]

via vimeo.com

Routledge has published a new volume, edited by David L. McMahan, titled Buddhism in the Modern World.

In Buddhism in the Modern World, McMahan brings together sixteen scholars to discuss various aspects of modern Buddhism in contemporary Asia and the West. Scholars from Martin Baumann and Paul David Numrich to Damien Keown and Cristina Rocha explore how Buddhism is practiced from Southeast Asia to Europe, how it influences ethics and social engagement, culture and politics.

How Much is Enough? Buddhism, Consumerism, and the Human Environment

A new volume of essays edited by IBS Dean Richard K. Payne has recently been published by Wisdom Publications.

The Institute of Buddhist Studies, Graduate Seminary for Shin Buddhist Ministry and Buddhist Research, and the Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research both at Berkeley, announced the publication of the second of three volumes titled, “Path of No Path—Contemporary Studies in Pure Land Buddhism.”