prof. Helmut Tauscher (Univ. Vienna)

Schedule:
7.4. – 9.4. 2015 27.4-30.4. 2015
Tue 15:50 – 19:00 (C428) Tue 15:50 – 19:00 (C428)
Wed 17:30–19:00 (C427) Wed 17:30–19:00 (C427)
Thu 17:30–19:00 (C427) Thu 17:30–19:00 (C427)

• This lecture aims at giving a general survey of an important corpus of Tibetan Buddhist
  religious literature, called „Kanjur“ (bka‘ ’gyur), its origin, development, content and
  structure.
  Literally, the term means „Words [of the Buddha] in translation“, and in a very
  general sense, this broader meaning is, of course, always implied. Nowadays, however, it is –
  not only within western academia and Buddhist communities, but also by the Tibetan
  tradition – primarily taken as a technical term denoting a particular body of literature, which,
  structured and edited in a specific way, contains, at least in theory, all the texts considered
  as words of the Buddha (buddhavacana), translated into Tibetan primarily from Sanskrit, but
  also from Chinese and, occasionally, from Central Asian languages. According to the
  Mahāyāna concept of the Buddha, however, the term and concept buddhavacana does not
  imply that these words were necessarily spoken by the historic nirmānakāya Buddha
  Śākyamuni. They can also be revealed by the Buddha in his sambhogakāya or dharmakāya
  aspects.
  For Tibetan Buddhists, a Kanjur is certainly „a set of sacred texts“. Its value exceeds
  that of a mere literary corpus by far, regardless of how precious this corpus might be. It is
  considered as representing the Buddha in his aspect of speech, and as such it is – in
  particular for lay people – an object of veneration and a source of blessing rather than
  literature to be read. Of course, reciting its words or having them recited by monks, adds to
  the blessing; understanding their meaning is not required. But also merely touching a
  volume of a Kanjur or turning its leaves is considered as meritorious.
  In recent decades, the study of this particular literary corpus has developed into an
  independent field of research within Tibetan studies. Taking account of this development,
  this lecture will also touch upon the objectives, methods, and state of art of Kanjur research,
  and it will include reports on the latest research activities of Vienna University.
  The following topics will be touched upon:
• Historical survey of the reception of Buddhism in Tibet,
• Collection and translation of Buddhist text during the Imperial period (8.-9.cent.),
• Collection and translation of Buddhist text during the period of the Western Tibetan
  empire (10.-12.cent.),
• Collection and translation of Buddhist text during the Mongol period (13.-14.cent.),
• The proto-Kanjurs,
• The „Old Narthang Manuscript Kanjur“,
• Various lines of transmission,
• „Local“ or „independent“ Kanjurs,
• Ladakhi manuscript Kanjurs,
• Manuscript evidence of earlier collections of canonical texts in Ladakh.