TRADITION AND INNOVATION IN VAJRAYĀNA BUDDHISM

AMandalaof21stCenturyPerspectives

Conference in the Kingdom of Bhutan

July1–3,2016

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This international conference tobeheld in theKingdomofBhutanunder theauspicesof theCentralMonasticBodyandtheCentreforBhutanStudieswillfocusonissuesofcontinuityandchange within contemporary expressions of Vajrayāna Buddhism. As a textual tradition,Vajrayāna,or TantricBuddhismdeveloped in India from the8th centuryonwardas a creativeresponsetochangingsocio-culturalconditions,buildingonearliertraditionsofspiritualpractice.Vajrayāna subsequently shaped the art, culture, and consciousness of much of Asia, andespeciallytheHimalayanregionsofTibet,Nepal,Sikkim,andBhutan.

VajrayānaBuddhismisnowaglobalphenomenon.Thisconferencewillexplorethedynamismoftransmission as Vajrayāna engages the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.Panelists will range from Bhutanese and Tibetan lamas to neuroscientists, academics, andinternationalscholar-practitionerswhohaveadaptedTantricBuddhism’smethodsofindividualand collective transformation to the emerging technologies, priorities, and social concerns ofthecontemporaryworld.

The three-day series of talks and presentations will address Vajrayāna’s dialogue with 21st

centurymedicineandscienceaswellas itscurrentandhistorical interfacewiththevisualandperforming arts. Presentationswill emphasize Vajrayāna’s long history of creative adaptationwithin wider processes of continuity and change and the current globalization of HimalayanBuddhistculture.Theconferencewillspecificallyaddresstheroleofbody-mindyogicpracticeswithin Vajrayāna Buddhism and their applicability within an increasingly transcultural andtechnologicallydrivenworld.

A Conference with a Difference

Academic conferences typically provide opportunities for researchers to share their currentresearch with university colleagues. The inaugural ‘Tradition and Innovation in VajrayānaBuddhism’conferencediffersinthatitoffersachanceforleadingscholarsandpractitionerstodiscuss their perspectiveswith awider international audience and, specifically, to share theirknowledgewithrepresentativesofVajrayānacultureinthelastremainingHimalayanBuddhistKingdom.Theconferenceformatwillthuspromotean

engaging exchange of ideas towards a deeper appreciation ofVajrayāna’sevolvingrolein21stcenturyglobalsociety.

TheconferenceisstructuredontheinterconnectedcategoriesofView,Practice,andApplicationandexploresemergingmodelsofVajrayāna within traditional Bhutanese culture as well asinternationally in regard to Tantric Buddhism’s deep history ofcreativeadaptationtochangingsocialandculturalcontexts.

The conference will be open to the general public and willincludeinteractivediscussiongroups.

For more information on participating in any aspect of the‘Tradition and Innovation in Vajrayāna Buddhism’ conference,

pleasecontactconferencecoordinatorMs.ChhimiDematcdem@bhutanstudies.org.bt.

To register for the conference free of charge, please contact Ms. Chhimi Dem atcdem@bhutanstudies.org.bt.

Conference Highlights

(subjecttochange)

‘Himalayan Buddhism and Human Flourishing’; ‘Saraha’s Intent: The Tantric Tradition of theMahāsiddhas’; ‘What isVajrayāna,wheredid it come from,andwhere is it going?’; ‘Siddhas,Monks,Nuns,andDakinis:CreativityandConservatisminTantricBuddhism’;‘HiddenHistories:FemaleSiddhasand the Role of Women in Vajrayāna Buddhism’; ‘Liberating Narratives: Form and Function in Life-Stories(namthar) inHimalayanBuddhism’; ‘YoginisofFireandLight&TheNeuroscienceofTummo’;‘DigitalDharma:Vajrayāna inArtandFilm’; ‘ExpandingtheBoundariesofMindandBody:TheTantricBuddhistPathofMethods’; ‘TantraandMedicine’; ‘Activating theVajraBody:TheUnionofMedicineand Meditation in Tantric Buddhism’; ‘Embracing Enlightenment: Mind-Body Practices in TantricBuddhism’; ‘Endangered Heritage: Himalayan Trance Runners and Shifting Shrines’; ‘Embodying theNaturalState:SpiritualandScientificDimensionsofBuddhistYoga(TsalungTrulkhor)’;‘DreamYogaandtheLuminosityofSleep’;AwakeningtheDormantCapacitiesofMindandBody:ClinicalApplicationsofTummo, theYogaof InnerFire’; ‘YogasofBody,Breath,andMind:TsalungTrulkhor inPractice’; ‘TheNeurobiology of Awakening: Neuroscientific Perspectives on Meditation and Dzogchen’; ‘RadicalAwakening: The Union of Psychology and Spirituality in Tantra, Mahāmudrā, and Dzogchen’;‘Mountains, Mandalas, and Marathon Monks: Vajrayāna Buddhism in Japan’; ‘Young TulkusOrganization (YTO)&TheFutureofVajrayāna’; ‘SacredDanceandSacredSong inTantricBuddhism’;‘SeeingtheBuddha:Biochemistry,Vision,andtheTranscendenceofDeath’.