142255 UE Buddha-Nature in the Indian Mahayana (2026S)
5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 14 - Orientalistik, Afrikawissenschaften, Südasien-, Tibet- und Buddhismusk
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from Su 01.02.2026 00:00 to Fr 27.02.2026 08:00
- Deregistration possible until Tu 31.03.2026 08:00
Details
max. 25 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
Classes will not take place every week, but rather (generally) alternating weeks, likely beginning on March 4th or 5th, with some classes online. More information will be forthcoming soon. Student availability will be taken into account.
- Wednesday 04.03. 13:00 - 16:00 Seminarraum 3 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-14
- Wednesday 18.03. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital
- Wednesday 15.04. 13:00 - 16:00 Seminarraum 3 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-14
- Wednesday 29.04. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital
- Wednesday 06.05. 13:00 - 16:00 Seminarraum 3 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-14
- Wednesday 20.05. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital
- Wednesday 03.06. 13:00 - 16:00 Seminarraum 3 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-14
- N Wednesday 17.06. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Assessment and permitted materials
Assessment will take into account the following:
Attendance and participation in class, with weekly preparation (Sanskrit/Tibetan translation; reading prescribed secondary literature): 50%
Written exercise/s (details TBC): 50%
Attendance and participation in class, with weekly preparation (Sanskrit/Tibetan translation; reading prescribed secondary literature): 50%
Written exercise/s (details TBC): 50%
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
Knowledge of Tibetan OR Classical Chinese is required; knowledge of Sanskrit is valuable. Weekly preparation will require translation from one of these languages. This can be discussed in greater detail during the first class.
Examination topics
Texts and ideas discussed in class.
Reading list
The following are works that will be referred to or which will be valuable for different weeks of the course. Any readings specific to certain weeks will be discussed as the semester progresses. None of these need to be read prior to the course beginning.* Blum, Mark, trans. 2013. The Nirvana Sutra (Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra). Volume I. BDK English Tripiṭaka Series. Berkeley: Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai America, Inc.
* Habata Hiromi 幅田裕美, 2019. Aufbau und Umstrukturierung des Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra: Untersuchungen zum Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra unter Berücksichtigung der Sanskrit Fragmente, Bremen: Hempen Verlag.
* Hubbard, Jamie and Paul L. Swanson, eds., 1997. Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism, Honolulu: University of Hawai‵i Press.
* Jones, Christopher V., 2021. The Buddhist Self: On Tathāgatagarbha and Ātman. Honolulu: University of Hawai‵i Press [relevant chapters].
* Kano Kazuo 加納和雄, 2016. Buddha-Nature and Emptiness: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet, Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 91, Wien: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien.
* King, Richard, 1995. "Is 'Buddha-nature' Buddhist? Doctrinal Tensions in the Śrīmālāsūtra – An Early Tathāgatagarbha Text," Numen 42, 1-20.
* Klaus-Dieter Mathes and Casey Kemp, eds., 2022. Buddha Nature across Asia, Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 103. Wien: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien. [especially the chapter by Jones, therein]
* Paul, Diana, trans., 2004. The Sūtra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion's Roar. BDK English Tripiṭaka 20-I, 26-I. Berkeley: BDK America, Inc.
* Radich, Michael, 2015. The Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra and the Emergence of Tathāgatagarbha Doctrine, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 5, Hamburg: Hamburg University Press.
* Radich, Michael, 2015. “Tathāgatagarbha Sūtras,” in Jonathan Silk, Oskar von Hinüber, and Vincent Eltschinger, eds., Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Volume One: Literature and Languages, Leiden: Brill. 261–273.
* Ruegg, David Seyfort, 1989. Buddha-nature, Mind and the Problem of Gradualism in a Comparative Perspective: On the Transmission and Reception of Buddhism in India and Tibet, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Jordan Lectures in Comparative Religion XIII, London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
* Saitō Akira 斎藤明, ed., 2020. Acta Asiatica 188 (What is Tathāgatagarbha: Buddha-Nature, or Buddha Within?).
* Shimoda Masahiro 下田正弘, 2015. "Mahāparinirvāṇamahāsūtra," in Jonathan Silk, Oskar von Hinüber, and Vincent Eltschinger, eds., Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Volume One: Literature and Languages, Leiden: Brill, 158-170.
* Silk, Jonathan A., 2015. Buddhist Cosmic Unity: An Edition, Translation and Study of the Anūnātvāpūrṇātvānirdeśaparivarta, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 4. Hamburg: Hamburg University Press.
* Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, trans., 1932. The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra: A Mahāyāna Text. Reprint 1999. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
* Takasaki Jikidō 高崎直道, 1966a. A Study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra), Being a Treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Rome: Serie Orientale Roma.
* Zimmermann, Michael, 2002. A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbha¬sūtra, the Earliest Expo¬si¬tion of the Buddha-Nature Teaching in India. Tokyo: The International Re¬search Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University.
* Habata Hiromi 幅田裕美, 2019. Aufbau und Umstrukturierung des Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra: Untersuchungen zum Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra unter Berücksichtigung der Sanskrit Fragmente, Bremen: Hempen Verlag.
* Hubbard, Jamie and Paul L. Swanson, eds., 1997. Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism, Honolulu: University of Hawai‵i Press.
* Jones, Christopher V., 2021. The Buddhist Self: On Tathāgatagarbha and Ātman. Honolulu: University of Hawai‵i Press [relevant chapters].
* Kano Kazuo 加納和雄, 2016. Buddha-Nature and Emptiness: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet, Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 91, Wien: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien.
* King, Richard, 1995. "Is 'Buddha-nature' Buddhist? Doctrinal Tensions in the Śrīmālāsūtra – An Early Tathāgatagarbha Text," Numen 42, 1-20.
* Klaus-Dieter Mathes and Casey Kemp, eds., 2022. Buddha Nature across Asia, Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 103. Wien: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien. [especially the chapter by Jones, therein]
* Paul, Diana, trans., 2004. The Sūtra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion's Roar. BDK English Tripiṭaka 20-I, 26-I. Berkeley: BDK America, Inc.
* Radich, Michael, 2015. The Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra and the Emergence of Tathāgatagarbha Doctrine, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 5, Hamburg: Hamburg University Press.
* Radich, Michael, 2015. “Tathāgatagarbha Sūtras,” in Jonathan Silk, Oskar von Hinüber, and Vincent Eltschinger, eds., Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Volume One: Literature and Languages, Leiden: Brill. 261–273.
* Ruegg, David Seyfort, 1989. Buddha-nature, Mind and the Problem of Gradualism in a Comparative Perspective: On the Transmission and Reception of Buddhism in India and Tibet, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Jordan Lectures in Comparative Religion XIII, London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
* Saitō Akira 斎藤明, ed., 2020. Acta Asiatica 188 (What is Tathāgatagarbha: Buddha-Nature, or Buddha Within?).
* Shimoda Masahiro 下田正弘, 2015. "Mahāparinirvāṇamahāsūtra," in Jonathan Silk, Oskar von Hinüber, and Vincent Eltschinger, eds., Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Volume One: Literature and Languages, Leiden: Brill, 158-170.
* Silk, Jonathan A., 2015. Buddhist Cosmic Unity: An Edition, Translation and Study of the Anūnātvāpūrṇātvānirdeśaparivarta, Hamburg Buddhist Studies 4. Hamburg: Hamburg University Press.
* Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, trans., 1932. The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra: A Mahāyāna Text. Reprint 1999. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
* Takasaki Jikidō 高崎直道, 1966a. A Study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra), Being a Treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Rome: Serie Orientale Roma.
* Zimmermann, Michael, 2002. A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbha¬sūtra, the Earliest Expo¬si¬tion of the Buddha-Nature Teaching in India. Tokyo: The International Re¬search Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University.
Association in the course directory
MATB2 UE b
Last modified: Tu 03.03.2026 09:26
Along the way, we will discuss the methodologies required for studying Mahāyāna Buddhist discourses (sūtras) in their surviving versions, and will look at passages of text in relevant works extant in Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese. Regarding their content, our sources will invite us to reflect on the creativity of Buddhist authors of the early Common Era, as well as continuities and discontinuities in Mahāyāna Buddhist teaching.