Panel on “Buddhist Cosmology and Astral Science” to be held at the XVIII^th Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies (IABS)

University of Toronto

August 20-25, 2017

Dear Colleagues,

Cosmological concepts, from the structure and evolution of the universe to the notion of space and time, form an important backdrop to the contents of many Buddhist texts. However, within the pan-Indian cultural and religious milieu, similar but often subtly varied cosmological concepts are embedded within a vast body of literature belonging to the Brahmanical, Jaina, or other heterodox traditions. Even amongst the Buddhist sources, there is an array of differing cosmological concepts from Abhidharma to the Tantric tradition. In some cases, cosmological notions may bear features of a particular cultural group or substratum. In other cases, hybridized notions may result from the contact among different traditions and cultures. How do all these converging and diverging concepts relate to each other? To what degree, if any, have they influenced each other? This panel would like to invite scholars from different specializations to examine and compare various cosmological concepts found in Buddhist literature with similar ones observed in other Indian traditions. Topics based on texts from a variety of domains, including sacred literature, jyotiṣa, philosophy, science, sacred geography, history, architecture, and art history are welcome.

Abstracts of no more than 500 words and preferably in Word and PDF format should be sent to Dr. Bill M. Mak mak@zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp and Ruth Satinsky ruth.satinsky@unil.ch, the convenors of the panel on “Buddhist Cosmology and Astral Science.”

Please note: It is IABS policy that official Congress proceedings, including papers and presentations, be conducted in an English-language medium.

“In following with past congresses, the proceedings in Toronto will consist of both panel presentations and paper sections. Panels have been proposed by their respective convenor(s), and will consist of no more than six papers, each 20 minutes in length, each followed by a 10 minute discussion period. All told, panels will last half a day, including a coffee and tea break after the first three papers. The organizers will strive to ensure that papers in each panel begin and end in unison to allow participants to attend select papers from multiple panels.” 

 […]

“Panels, unlike sections, are organized by their respective convenor(s), who are responsible for their academic standard, thematic cohesion, and timely submission. Should you wish to contribute a paper towards the conference that in your eyes may fit one of the announced panels, you should contact the convenor(s) directly through the email addresses provided below, before submitting a paper proposal to one of the sections. All decisions regarding acceptance of paper proposals are made by the convenor(s). Once panels have been filled, their convenor(s) can close the panels and direct further submissions to paper sections instead.”

“Panel participants in their role as speakers, convenors, moderators, or discussants are allowed to contribute to the conference in no more than one of these roles and in any of those roles only once. In other words, a speaker on a panel cannot function as a speaker or as a convenor, moderator or a discussant in any other panel or event during the conference. The purpose of this restriction is to allow for the greatest possible diversity of conference contributors and to avoid putting additional scheduling constraints onto the programming process with the aim of prioritizing a content-oriented scheduling of events rather than one that takes into account individual availability.”

As all future communication will be distributed via email, those who wish to attend or stay abreast of Congress news should fill out the electronic “Mailing List” request form found at the IABS website: http://www.iabs2017-uoft.ca/contact/. Please write to Christoph Emmrich, directly, if you have any questions or concerns about future communication: christoph.emmrich@utoronto.ca .

“[The organizers] would like to remind everyone that they must be a fully paid member of IABS for the year 2017 in order to attend the event, deliver a paper, or sit on a panel in Toronto. To be a member of the association in 2017, those wishing to participate in the Congress will need to pay their IABS dues by December 31, 2016. All participants will also need to pay a Congress registration fee used to help cover the cost of hosting the event (cf. Second Circular). IABS membership can be secured through the online form at the IABS website: www.iabsinfo.net. Kindly keep in mind that on registration, to complete the process aspiring participants will be required to provide proof of payment of their IABS dues for 2017. Initial enquiries about eligibility should be sent to the association’s Secretary General, Dr. Ulrich Pagel (up1@soas.ac.uk).”