The Fundació Universitat Rovira i Virgili (FURV) and the Dharma-Gaia Foundation (FDG) have established an extensive collaboration agreement to promote the study of Buddhism in Spanish through a series of academic courses, the publication of books, conferences and other educational activities. Among these projects is the forthcoming publication of the collective work in two volumes entitled Buddhist Studies in Latin America and Spain, which will be published by Publications Universitat Rovira i Virgili and the Dharma-Gaia Foundation.
After the success of the first course entitled “Buddhism: from its doctrinal roots to lived experience”, the FURV and the FDG have launched a new, more extensive program of three independent courses entitled “Studies on the Traditions of Buddhism and Meditation”, which will be held between October 2022 and December 2023, with the intention of offering as complete and exhaustive an overview as possible of Buddhism and the traditions that compose it. Specifically, early Buddhism and the Theravada tradition, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, and modern Buddhism will be addressed.
After the extraordinary reception of the first course in this series entitled “Early Buddhism and the Theravāda Tradition: Teachings and Practices”, which has had more than 60 students and a very positive evaluation from the participants, FURV and the FDG announce this second course, which has been organized within the framework of the URV Foundation by the Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work of the URV, and is co-directed by Professor Jaume Vallverdú, doctor in Social and Cultural Anthropology and professor in the Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Professor of the Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work Social Work of the URV, and Dr. Daniel Millet, president and founder of the Dharma-Gaia Foundation. The third course in the series, which will be held from September to December 2023, will deal with modern Buddhism and, as in previous courses, will be taught by experts, leaders in the field.
Description:
“Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism: Teachings and Practices” is a virtual course promoted by the Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work of the URV, and organized within the framework of the collaboration between the Fundació Universitat Rovira i Virgili and the Dharma-Gaia Foundation.
This is a theoretical-experiential course designed with the purpose of providing a concise, yet complete and comprehensive view of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism and of the rich tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. After considering the development of Buddhism after the death of the Buddha, the course focuses on the history, philosophy and practices of Indian Mahāyāna. We will analyze the origins of this tradition; its body of scripture; its conception of the Buddha, of Buddhahood, and its ideal of the bodhisattva; the doctrines of śūnyatā and tathāgatagarbha; the philosophical reformulations of the Mādhyamaka and Yogācāra schools; its art; and devotional Buddhism and its manifestations. Next, we will analyze the irradiation of Mahāyāna in Central Asia and East Asia. We will consider the historical and cultural context of the reception of Buddhism in China and its sinicization. We will study the main schools of Chinese Buddhism—Tiantai, Huayan, and Pure Land—and their doctrines and teachers, and we will read excerpts from sutras and scriptures. We will pay special attention to the development of the chan school and will carry out meditation practices in the style of this tradition. Later, we will discuss Buddhism in Korea and Japan, with special emphasis on Korean Seon and Japanese Zen. Finally, we will explore Vajrayāna and Tibetan Buddhism, the spread of Indian Buddhism in Tibet, the lineages and doctrines of Tibetan schools, and the Bön school. Doctrinal explanations will alternate with the reading of sutras and excerpts from scriptures. The course has an experiential aspect with meditation practices in the context of Tibetan Buddhism.
For more information:
