Buddhism and East Asian Culture:
Practice in Context

Dr. Mark Unno, Associate Professor of Japanese Buddhism,
Religious Studies, University of Oregon

Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 6:30 PM
PSU Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 238
1825 SW Broadway, Portland
FREE & Open to the public.

Event photos

DESCRIPTION:
There is a stereotype in the West of Buddhism: the solitary mediator sitting on a cushion, peaceful, a seeker of enlightenment. Yet, only a small percentage of Buddhists in Asia actually practice seated meditation. Instead, Buddhism in Asia is more often been woven into the fabric of culture through a wide range of practices, rituals, art, and institutions. In this presentation, Dr. Mark Unno, Associate Professor of East Asian Buddhism in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Oregon, will discuss selected strands of East Asian Buddhist practice and culture, with a particular emphasis on Zen, Pure Land, and the fine arts, such as Buddhist iconography and the Tea Ceremony. The practices of these disciplines will be examined in cultural context with comparative observations involving Western religion and culture.
About the speaker: Mark Unno is Associate Professor of Japanese Buddhism, and served as Head of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Oregon (2011-14). He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University, and his research is in Classical Japanese Buddhism, in particular Zen, Shin Buddhism, and Shingon Buddhism. He also works in the areas of comparative religion, Buddhism and psychotherapy, and interrreligious dialogue. He is the author of Shingon Refractions: Myoe and the Mantra of Light (2004), editor of Buddhism and Psychotherapy Across Cultures (2006) as well as articles in Buddhist journals such as Tricycle and Buddhadharma.

Sponsored by PSU Institute for Asian Studies with financial support from the the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies at the University of Oregon.