BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//208.94.116.123//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.26.9// CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-FROM-URL:https://www.noahgreenstein.com/wordpress X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20231105T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RDATE:20241103T020000 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20240310T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RDATE:20250309T020000 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:ai1ec-8146@www.noahgreenstein.com/wordpress DTSTAMP:20240329T063820Z CATEGORIES;LANGUAGE=en-US:Columbia U CONTACT:https://universityseminars.columbia.edu/seminars/comparative-philos ophy/ DESCRIPTION:How does the imagination change us? Why should picturing oursel ves a certain way have any real effect on what we are? These questions are central to debates in Buddhist tantric literature regarding the generatio n stage (utpattikrama)\, wherein practitioners visualize themselves as bud dhas ensconsed in magnificent mandala-palaces. For some\, this practice is what sets Buddhist tantra apart: through this “yoga of the imagination\,” as David Shulman puts it\, a practitioner can achieve buddhahood in a sin gle lifetime. And yet\, as the Buddhist tantric author Indrabhūti (8th cen tury) argues\, a pauper who imagines himself to be a king does not thereby become one—so\, in the same way\, practitioners who visualize themselves as buddhas will not thereby become buddhas. The mental imagery (ākāra) inv olved in this practice is just so much unreal fabrication. Why should it h ave real transformative effects? I’ll consider here how these debates play ed out in Sanskrit Buddhist tantric texts from the 10th–11th centuries. I’ ll focus on early authors in the Kālacakra tradition\, who upheld Indrabhū ti’s critique of the generation stage\, and authors like Ratnākaraśānti\, Vāgīśvarakīrti\, and Advayavajra (aka Maitrīpa)\, who each in their own wa y critiqued mental imagery yet defended the importance and effectiveness o f generation-stage practice. In the first part of the paper\, I’ll conside r arguments against mental imagery as these appear in generation-stage pra ctice texts and the early Kālacakra tradition. In the second part\, I’ll t urn to why we might think unreal mental imagery can nevertheless have real transformative effects\, paying special attention to the ways Buddhist ta ntric authors writing in Sanskrit take up ideas from the tradition of dram atic theory (nāṭyaśastra) and Sanskrit culture more broadly.\n\n\n\n\nWith responses from Thomas Yarnall (Columbia University)\n\n\n\n\nDATE: Februa ry 2nd\, 2024\nTIME: 5:30 pm EST\nLOCATION: Philosophy Hall\, Room 716\, C olumbia University\n1150 Amsterdam Ave\, New York\, NY 10027\nNOTE ON ENTR Y FOR NON-COLUMBIA GUESTS: The door to Philosophy Hall will only open with a Columbia University ID card. If you do not have this card please arrive early where someone will be standing outside until the meeting begins. If you arrive late\, you can ask someone walking nearby to let you in or con tact Cole at cf2798@columbia.edu. Please only contact Cole as a final reso urce so as not to interrupt the talk.\nNOTE REGARDING DONATIONS: Due to CO VID-19\, donations are only accepted through Columbia University’s secure online giving form\, Giving to Columbia.\nRSVP is required for dinner. Din ner will take place at a nearby restaurant. Please contact Cole at cf2798@ columbia.edu for further information.\nACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT: Columbia U niversity encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its progr ams and activities. The University Seminars’ participants with dis- abilit ies who anticipate needing accommodations or who have questions about phys ical access may contact the Office of Disability Services at 212.854.2388 or disability@columbia.edu. Disability accommodations\, including sign-lan guage interpreters\, are available on request. Requests for accommodations must be made two weeks in advance. On campus\, seminar participants with disabilities should alert a Public Safety Officer if they need assistance accessing campus.\nPLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://universityseminars.c olumbia.edu/seminars/comparative-philosophy/\n(Please do not reply to this announcement. You may contact the Co-Chairs using the link above.) \nComp arative Philosophy Seminar:\n\nJanuary 19 – Alex Watson (Ashoka University )\nFebruary 2 – Davey Tomlinson (Villanova University)\nApril 5 – Laura Sp ecker (Fordham University)\nMay 3 – Daniel Stephens (University at Buffalo ) DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240202T173000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240202T193000 GEO:+40.811099;-73.962729 LOCATION:Columbia Religion @ 80 Claremont Ave\, New York\, NY 10027\, USA SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Mental Imagery\, Tantric Practice\, and the Drama of the Imaginatio n. Davey K. Tomlinson (Villanova) URL:https://www.noahgreenstein.com/wordpress/event/mental-imagery-tantric-p ractice-and-the-drama-of-the-imagination-davey-k-tomlinson-villanova/ X-COST-TYPE:free X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:\\n\\n
\\nHow does the imagination change us ? Why should picturing ourselves a certain way have any real effect on wha t we are? These questions are central to debates in Buddhist tantric liter ature regarding the generation stage (utpattikrama)\, wherein pract itioners visualize themselves as buddhas ensconsed in magnificent mandala- palaces. For some\, this practice is what sets Buddhist tantra apart: thro ugh this “yoga of the imagination\,” as David Shulman puts it\, a practiti oner can achieve buddhahood in a single lifetime. And yet\, as the Buddhis t tantric author Indrabhūti (8th century) argues\, a pauper who imagines h imself to be a king does not thereby become one—so\, in the same way\, pra ctitioners who visualize themselves as buddhas will not thereby become bud dhas. The mental imagery (ākāra) involved in this practice is just so much unreal fabrication. Why should it have real transformative effects ? I’ll consider here how these debates played out in Sanskrit Buddhist tan tric texts from the 10th–11th centuries. I’ll focus on early authors in th e Kālacakra tradition\, who upheld Indrabhūti’s critique of the generation stage\, and authors like Ratnākaraśānti\, Vāgīśvarakīrti\, and Advayavajr a (aka Maitrīpa)\, who each in their own way critiqued mental imagery yet defended the importance and effectiveness of generation-stage practice. In the first part of the paper\, I’ll consider arguments against mental imag ery as these appear in generation-stage practice texts and the early Kālac akra tradition. In the second part\, I’ll turn to why we might think unrea l mental imagery can nevertheless have real transformative effects\, payin g special attention to the ways Buddhist tantric authors writing in Sanskr it take up ideas from the tradition of dramatic theory (nāṭyaśastra ) and Sanskrit culture more broadly.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWith responses from Thoma s Yarnall (Columbia University)
\nDATE: February 2nd\, 2024
\nTIME: 5:30 pm EST
\nLOCATION: Philosophy Hall\, Room 716\, Columbia Univer sity
\n1150 Amsterdam Ave\, New York\, NY 10027
\nNOTE ON E NTRY FOR NON-COLUMBIA GUESTS: The door to Philosophy Hall will only op en with a Columbia University ID card. If you do not have this card please arrive early where someone will be standing outside until the meeting beg ins. If you arrive late\, you can ask someone walking nearby to let you in or contact Cole at cf2798@columbia.edu. Please only contact Cole as a final resource so as not to interrupt the talk.
\nNOTE REGARDING DONAT IONS: Due to COVID-19\, donations are only accepted through Columbia U niversity’s secure online giving form\, Giving to Columbia.
\nRSV P is required for dinner. Dinner will take place at a nearby restauran t. Please contact Cole at cf2798@columbia.edu for further information.
\nACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT: Columbia University encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. The Unive rsity Seminars’ participants with dis- abilities who anticipate needing ac commodations or who have questions about physical access may contact the O ffice of Disability Services at 212.854.2388 or disability@columbia.edu. Disability accommodations\, including sign-language interpreters\, are av ailable on request. Requests for accommodations must be made two weeks in advance. On campus\, seminar participants with disabilities should alert a Public Safety Officer if they need assistance accessing campus.
\nPLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: h ttps://universityseminars.columbia.edu/seminars/comparative-philosophy/
\n(Please do not reply to this announcement. You may contact th e Co-Chairs using the link above.)
\nComparative Philosophy Sem inar:
\n\n
\n X-TAGS;LANGUAGE=en-US:Buddhism\,comparative\,imagination END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR- January 19 – Alex Watson (Ashoka University)
\nFebruary 2 – Davey Tomlinson (Villanova University)\n - April 5 – Laura Specker (Fordham University)
\n- May 3 – Daniel Stephens (Univ ersity at Buffalo)
\n