The Agora Speaker Series is hosted by the School of Liberal Arts. Lectures presented as part of the series are free of charge and are open to members of the School of Liberal Arts, the University and the general public.
Agora Speaker Series 2023 - Dr Elizabeth McDougal
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Wollongong Campus
Building 20, room 4
The Words and World of Gebchak Nunnery: Tibetan Buddhist Meditation in Context
This discussion shares an ethnography of how a Tibetan contemplative nunnery reads, writes and practices the words of its own corpus, thereby demonstrating the orientation of Buddhist learning towards mind-body union. The aim of the discussion is to contrast modernity's ways of knowing (its tendency to index reality in language of fixed meanings) with the more tacit, embodied knowledge of Buddhist contemplative cultures - where orality and literacy, knowledge and creative vision, and theory and method are often less distinct. The discussion's further aim is to consider the practical implications of this contrast for methodology in Buddhist Studies, and for adapting contemplative pedagogy in modern education for mental and environmental health.