Dear colleagues,

The University of Toronto/McMaster University Yehan Numata Buddhist Studies Program is pleased to announce an international conference on the lives of ordained Buddhist nuns in India from the time of the Buddha until the eventual disappearance of the bhikṣuṇī saṅgha from Indian soil.

Buddhist Nuns in India

April 16-17, 2011, University of Toronto

Trinity College, Combination Room. 6 Hoskin Avenue, Toronto

Sponsored by the University of Toronto/McMaster University Yehan Numata Buddhist Studies Program

Friday, April 15 (5 pm): Public lecture

Gregory Schopen (UCLA): "The Limited Reach of Religious Doctrine: Debt, Slavery, and Who could Become a Buddhist Nun (or Monk) in Early India."

Muzzo Family Alumni Hall 100, University of St. Michael's College, 121 St. Joseph Street, Toronto

Saturday, April 16

Session One (9:30–10:45)

Oskar von Hinüber (Universität Freiburg)

"Pious and Useful: Women Who did Not Become Nuns in Early Buddhism"

Hiraoka Satoshi (Kyōto Bunkyō University)

"Did Yaśodharā become a Nun? On the Indebtedness of the Lotus Sūtra to the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya"

Session Two (11:00–12:00)

Shayne Clarke (McMaster University)

"Guṇaprabha, Yijing, Bu sTon and the Lack of a Coherent System of Rules for Nuns in the Tibetan Tradition of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya"

Yonezawa Yoshiyasu (Taishō University)

"Re-editing the Bhikṣuṇī-vibhaṅga Section of the Vinayasūtra"

Session Three (1:30–2:30)

Petra Kieffer-Pülz (Martin-Luther-Universität, Halle-Wittenberg)

"Buddhist Nuns in South India as Reflected in the Andhakaṭṭhakathā and the Anugaṇṭhipada"

Jinah Kim (Vanderbilt University)

"At the Feet of the Buddha: Representations of Buddhist Nuns and Monastic Women in Medieval South Asia"

Session Four (2:45–3:45)

Jason Neelis (Wilfrid Laurier University)

"Female Ownership of Buddhist Monasteries? A Closer Look at Vihārasvāminīs and Feminine Patronage in South Asian Sources"

Gregory Schopen (University of California, Los Angeles)

"The Buddhist Nun as an Urban Landlord and a 'Legal Person' in Early India"

Discussion (4:00–5:00)

Shimoda Masahiro (Tokyo University), Paul Groner (University of Virginia), Andrew Skilton (University of London)

Sunday, April 17

Session One (9:30–10:30)

Jampa Tsedroen (Universität Hamburg)

"The Foundation of the Order of Buddhist Nuns According to the Tibetan Translation of the Kṣudrakavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya"

Yao Fumi (Tokyo University)

"The Story of Dharmadinnā: Ordination by Messenger in the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya"

Session Two (10:45–11:45)

Sasaki Shizuka (Hanazono University)

"An Analytical Study of the Bhikṣuṇī Pārājika rules in the Vinayas"

Kishino Ryōji (University of California, Los Angeles)

"On Possible Misunderstandings of the Brahmacaryopasthānasaṃvṛti Requirement for Female Ordination in the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya"

Session Three (1:15–2:45)

Ann Heirman (University of Gent)

"Beyond Gender: Bodily Care in Indian Buddhist Monasticism"

Mari Jyvasjarvi (Harvard University)      

"Buddhist and Jain Nuns in Early Medieval India"

Christoph Emmrich (University of Toronto, Mississauga)

"And Then There Were None? Mrs. Shakya and the Sketchy History of the Nepalese Bhikṣuṇīs"

Concluding remarks and discussion (3:00–4:00)

Shimoda Masahiro (Tokyo University), Paul Groner (University of Virginia), Andrew Skilton (University of London)

All sessions in Trinity College, Combination Room. 6 Hoskin Avenue, Toronto.

Sincerely,

Shayne Clarke

Shayne Clarke

Department of Religious Studies

McMaster University

University Hall, Room 104

1280 Main Street West

Hamilton, Ontario

L8S 4K1

CANADA

Phone: 905 525 9140, ext. 23389

Fax: 905 525 8161

clarsha[at]mcmaster.ca