Earlier Start Time

The starting time for the Wednesday, September 20, conversation has been changed to accommodate a revision to the Dalai Lama's schedule. His Holiness will arrive at 8:30 am instead of 9:00 am. The program will now begin at 8:15 am. Pre-credentialed library attendees have registration from 7:30 - 8:00 and they are encouraged to arrive closer to 7:30 than 8:00. Simulcast attendees (both pre-registered and others) should arrive earlier than anticipated to ensure they are seated in rooms 102, 104, and 106 by 8:15 am. All registrations on Wednesday take place in the first floor lobby of the Law School.

Description

A two-day academic conference "Law, Buddhism, and Social Change" at the University at Buffalo will open with a conversation with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on the morning of Wednesday, September 20, in the Law Library in O'Brian Hall on the North Campus. This important conference represents the path-breaking efforts of the Law and Buddhism project at UB, the only such academic endeavor in the world. Although Law and Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism are established and well-endowed areas of study, the study of Law and Buddhism is new.

Renowned scholars from all over the world will join UB professors of law, philosophers, and local lawyers, to discuss a set of questions that the Dalai Lama has rarely, or never before, addressed. We expect that the conversation will be expansive with questions ranging from constitutions as a social order and government regulation of television, to the purpose of criminal punishment and the Karmic consequences of legal decisions.

The conference discussions and presentations will focus on three central themes: the Buddha as Lawgiver: Monastic and Secular Communities; Social Change and Buddhism: Buddhism's Effect on Different Legal Systems in Asia; and Social Change and Conscience, Self and Society. Each theme will be explored through participants’ own research as well as their reflections upon the remarks of the Dalai Lama.

The UB Law School and the interdisciplinary Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy at UB have organized this unique event. For commentary on this event, see UB Reporter here and the News Release here .

Conference Program

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Law Library, 2nd Floor, O’Brian Hall (closed venue, seating by prior arrangement only due to required security clearance)
Law School, rooms 102, 104, 106 O’Brian Hall (open venue, with simultaneous video broadcast)

7:30 – 8:00 am Registration for pre-cleared attendees in Law School Lobby
7:30 - 8:15 am Registration for all other attendees
8:10 am Seating of Law Library attendees completed
8:15 - 8:30 am Welcome by Law School Dean, Nils Olsen, and Baldy Center Director, Lynn Mather;
Introduction of participants by conference convenor, Rebecca French
*8:30–11:00 pm Conversation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and 15 invited participants, with video simulcast
Topics to be addressed:

Democracy and Attachment: The role of capitalism in Buddhist democracies
Economic Development and Poverty: What does Buddhism say about inequality?
Corruption, Conscience and Rule of Law: What is the Buddhist idea of how to stop corruption and influence peddling?
Limits of Legal Constraints and the example of television
Constitution as Social Order: Tensions between Buddhist ideas and constitutional ideals
Consensus in the Legal System: Does there have to be a winner/loser legal system?
Karmic Consequences of Legal Decisions: Does a judge acquire bad karma from punishing defendants?
Punishment and Rehabilitation: Buddhist views

*11:00 pm His Holiness the Dalai Lama departs
*11:15 - 4:00 pm Conversation continues with the 15 invited participants
*1:00 - 2:00 pm Lunch break
*2:00 - 3:00 pm Conversation continues
*3:00 pm Conversation adjourns for the day
* these times are approximate and depend upon HH Dalai Lama's schedule.

Thursday, September 21, 2006 Law Library, 2nd Floor, O’Brian Hall

8:30 - 9:00 am Coffee
9:00 am Opening Remarks
9:00 – 11:00 am Panel 1: The Buddha as Lawgiver: Monastic and Secular Communities
Little has been written about the actual role of the Buddha as a judicial decision maker. What can we say about both the form and content of his style of decision making? How is this played out in Buddhist monastic communities? What texts, commentaries, and sutras are pertinent? How has the Buddha’s style of interpretation affected secular Buddhist legal systems, if at all? Also, how have the monastic communities’ own legal decision-making styles affected secular Buddhist legal systems?

George Dreyfus, Facilitator, Religious Studies, Williams College

Rebecca French, UB Law

Andrew Huxley, (by remote telecast) Law, Centre of South East Asian Studies and Centre of Buddhism Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Frank Reynolds, History of Religions and Buddhist Studies, University of Chicago Divinity School

Vesna Wallace, Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

11:00 –11:15 am Break
11:15 -1:00 pm Panel 2: Social Change and Buddhism: Buddhism’s Effect on Different Legal Systems in Asia
Since the reign of King Asoka in the third century BCE, Buddhism has played an important role in the political and legal systems of nation states. The influence of Buddhism on legal systems ranges from strong examples in Tibet, Burma, and Thailand, to weaker examples in China and Korea. Throughout areas of Buddhist influence the populations of nation states have employed Buddhist-inspired ideas to legal subject matters and legal processes. How has this played out historically and currently? What kinds of strong or weak effects do we see in various legal systems?

David Engel, Facilitator, UB Law

Timothy Brook, History and Academic Director, Contemporary Tibetan Studies Program, Institute of Asian Research, St. John’s College, University of British Columbia

Leslie Gunawardana, University of Perideniya, Sri Lanka

Richard Whitecross, Socio-Legal Studies, University of Edinburgh

Fernanda Pirie, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford

1:00 – 2:00 pm Lunch break

2:00 –4:00 pm Panel 3: Social Change and Conscience, Self and Society
Returning to the conversation of the previous day, what does a Buddhist point-of-view add to current debates over the role of law in society? Should the government try to make society better through law – the interventionist approach – or take a minimalist approach? Given the locus of Buddhism in individual enlightenment, does this mean that larger social changes can only be achieved through changes in each individual? If so, should a government mandate or facilitate these individual changes through, for example, requiring meditation, Buddhist rituals, Buddhist inspired education? If not, will Buddhist values remain central to the political and legal process? Or, is the promotion of particular religious values even an appropriate role for government?

Kenneth Ehrenberg, Co-facilitator, UB Philosophy and Law

Winnifred Sullivan, Co-facilitator, UB Law; on leave for 2006-07 at the National Humanities Center

George Hezel, UB Law, Director of Affordable Housing Clinic

James Magavern, Law Practitioner and UB Law

Lobsang Shastri, Librarian of the Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, India; Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University

Kenneth Shockley, UB Philosophy

4:00 pm Closing

Registration

Registration for UB faculty, staff, and students is not required and seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. This conference is free and open to the public but advance registration is required. Please send details (see below) no later than Thursday, September 14, 2006.

Registration for Wednesday, September 20, is available only for the simultaneous broadcast of the conversation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. All seats for the Law Library, where the Dalai Lama will be participating, have been allocated in advance due to the security clearance required by the U.S. State Department.

To register, e-mail the following information to law-buddhism@buffalo.edu

Name
Institution
Address
E-mail address
Telephone number
Which days would you like to attend:
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 (simulcast venues only)
Thursday, September 21, 2006

Driving Directions & Parking

Driving directions to UB can be found here. Information about parking on UB's North Campus can be found here. Parking on the North (Amherst) campus is difficult so please park in the Center for Tomorrow lot and take the Green Shuttle to Flint Loop adjacent to O'Brian Hall. Shuttle buses come every 10 minutes.

Earlier Start Time

Description

Conference Program

Registration

Driving Directions & Parking

Sponsors