Dipartimento
Istituto Italiano di Studi Orientali - ISO

Nei giorni di mercoledì 15 e martedì 21 marzo 2023 il prof. Michael Zimmermann, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, Università di Amburgo, nel quadro del programma europeo Erasmus+, terrà due conferenze presso l’Istituto italiano di Studi Orientali, dal titolo complessivo di All living beings have Buddha-nature: the early history of universal Buddhahood, che mirano a chiarire la genesi dell’idea, centrale per il buddhismo Mahāyāna, di buddhità universale.

• mercoledì 15 marzo, h 13.00, aula 104, ed. Marco Polo, circ.ne Tiburtina 4, Roma

• martedì 21 marzo, h 15.00, aula C, ex Vetrerie Sciarra, via dei Volsci 122, Roma

Coordinamento scientifico e organizzazione:

Carmela Mastrangelo carmela.mastrangelo@uniroma1.it
Bruno Lo Turco bruno.loturco@uniroma1.it

These two lectures will focus on one particular strand of thought in the history of Indian Buddhism. Often neglected by scholars and even deemed to be non-Buddhist, the idea of universal buddhahood unfolded enormous influence throughout the history of Buddhism. The concept that all living beings have buddha-nature has its beginning in the early centuries of the common era in India and can be considered to be one of the essential pillars leading to the spread of Mahāyāna Buddhism.

Michael Zimmermann studied Classical Indology, Tibetology and Japanology at the University of Hamburg and earned his doctorate with a thesis on the origin of the teaching of buddha-nature in India. He spent several years at universities in Kyoto and Tokyo and later worked for the German Research Foundation in Hamburg and Kathmandu. After four years in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Stanford, in 2007 he became professor for Indian Buddhism at the Asien-Afrika-Institut of the University of Hamburg, one of Europe’s largest research institutions dealing with Asian languages and cultures.