Join us on Wednesday, August 26th for “A conversation on Madhyamaka” by Dr. David Higgins and Prof. Jan Westerhoff
Dr. David Higgins
"Intrinsic Emptiness and Extrinsic Emptiness: Three Strains of Compatibilism in the Tibetan Emptiness Debates"
David Higgins received his doctorate from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland in 2012. He subsequently held a position as a Post-doc Research Fellow in the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna where he explored the relationship between Mahāmudrā and Madhyamaka philosophies in Bka’ brgyud scholasticism during the post-classical period (15th to 16th centuries). His research interests include Indo-Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and epistemology with a particular focus on Bka’ brgyud Mahāmudrā and Rnying ma Rdzogs chen doctrines and practices. His PhD thesis was published under the title Philosophical Foundations of Classical Rdzogs chen in Tibet: Investigating the Distinction Between Dualistic Mind (sems) and Primordial Knowing (ye shes) (Vienna, WSTB no. 78, 2013). His recent publications include Mahāmudrā and the Middle Way: Post-classical Kagyü Discourses on Mind, Emptiness and Buddha Nature (Vienna, WSTB no. 90, 2016, 2 vols.) and Buddha Nature Reconsidered: The Eighth Karma pa’s Middle Path (Vienna, WSTB, 2019, 2 vols.), both of which were co-authored with Martina Drazczyk. David began a translation project with a grant from Tsadra Foundation in 2021.
Prof. Jan Westerhoff
"The Middle Way Interpretation of the Middle Way"
Jan Westerhoff is Professor of Buddhist Philosophy at Oxford University. His research focuses on the philosophical aspects of the religious traditions of ancient India, particularly the Madhyamaka school of Buddhism, and also on contemporary analytic philosophy. His books such as Nagarjuna’s Madhyamaka (Oxford University Press, 2009), The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2018), and notably The Non-Existence of the Real World (Oxford University Press, 2020) challenge widespread assumptions in Western metaphysics about substance, intrinsic nature, and the foundations of reality.
𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐄:
Wednesday 26th August
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM NPT
(On-Campus & Online)
Classroom 103
𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐃:
Zoom ID: 431 318 1117
Passcode: 108108
-----------------------------------------
Full details available here: https://ryi.org/news/pl-a-conversation-on-madhyamaka
#RYI #rangjungyesheinstitute #PublicLecture