Overview for Buddhism and its Social Significance for the Asian World: Proceedings of the First International Conference of the Centre for Buddhist Studies, 2007
The work reflects the Buddhist scenario and philosophic guidelines that over a period of many centuries have marked the customs and practices of the Asian world along with its arts and sciences. The diversity of Buddhist Asian cultures expressed in various styles and languages is a rich palette with congruent and non-congruent layers, collectively presenting a picture of unchallenged beauty, similar to a peacok's feather which very charm is the variety in an ensemble of unity. In the course of time the holistic Buddhist framework of living based on the philosophical views and practical approaches of various gateways or vehicles (Yanas) developed models or ideals for enlightened mind and action. These syncretistic strategies have infiltrated Asian thought and culture in various ways. Buddhist Asian societies in the past and present reflect the plurality of a value system, which can help to pre-empt the negative, emotional, social and economic conditions of life. The book presents a selection of papers held at the occasion of the First International Conference of Buddhist Studies organized by the Department of Indo-Tibetan Studies, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan (September 2007) on the topic, focusing on the cultural changes of strategies based on source materials and case studies, art and archaeology, women studies and solution models in Asian societies in the mirror of Buddhist ideals.
Andrea Loseries (Editor)
Prof. Dr. Andrea Loseries, Head, Convener and Editor, Department of Indo-Tibetan Studies, Centre for Buddist Studies, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan. She is an Austrian national, and has studied in Paris, santiniketan and Vienna. History of Asian Art, Museology, Tibetology, Indology and Ethnology (1971-1983). She is an expert on Buddhist Art and Tibetan Iconography, sian Languages and Civilisations, Cultural History and Buddhist Studies and has performed field studies and research projects in Tibet, Mongolia, Japan, India and in the Austrain Alps. She has published several monographies and over hundred research papers, has produced several ethnographical films, curated five major art exhibitions, was convener of three international conference and director of the cultural program of Kalachakra Graz 2002, next to her teaching activities at the University of Graz and the Academy of Buddhist Education, Salzburg (Austria) In 2006 she joined the Department of Indo-Tibetan Studies as Professor and Head. Author of Tibetan Mahayoga Tantra: An Ethno- Historical Study of Skulls, Bones and Relics, New Delhi,2008.
Bagchee
