Second International Pali Studies Week

 
 Programme
 Programme en pdf
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Papers and manuscript reading sessions

The Parisian International Pali Studies Week is devoted to research on the rich field of Pali studies. The week will focus on the ‘Pali literature of Siam’ and its manuscript and liturgical traditions. Participants will present papers on little known Pali texts preserved in the Thai tradition, including a protective text, the Pali Uṇhissavijaya.
Peter SKILLING, Santi PAKDEEKHAM, and Arthid SHERAVANICHKUL will introduce the manuscript traditions of Thailand along with their calligraphy and illustrations. Santi PAKDEEKHAM will lead four Pali readings in the Khom script from paper leporello manuscripts from Petchburi province. The texts will include the abbreviated Abhidhamma and the Pali Uṇhissavijaya.
 
One of the most popular Buddhist texts has been the Uṣṇīṣāvijaya Dhāraṇī – a narrative, a spell and a recitation, a complex of rituals, a deity – that swept much of Asia from the seventh century on and was incorporated especially into rites for health and long-life. Three scholars will speak on the Pali incarnation, the Uṇhissavijaya, and its Southeast Asian vernacular versions: Claudio CICUZZA on a Pali version from Thailand, Gregory KOURILSKY on the versions that circulate in Laos, and Arthid SHERAVANICHKUL on a nineteenth century Thai verse version. Trent WALKER will discuss the status of the text in Cambodia in the context of liturgical practices.
 
The Thai tradition is certainly not the only Pali manuscript tradition, and this year Alexey KIRICHENKO will give an overview of his research on Pali manuscripts in Burma. The Pali tradition did not develop in a vacuum but, rather, within the broad spectrum of Asian thought and religion. Pali literature was transmitted and developed by one of several Buddhist orders or schools, the Theravāda. The metaphysics of the Theravādin order, the Abhidhamma, developed in conversation with the Abhidharmas of other schools in the diverse field of Indian philosophy. Prof. Francesco SFERRA ((Università di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’) will present the results to date of his research on an unpublished work of the Sāṃmitīya school, dubbed by its opponents as a ‘Pudgalavāda’, Saṃghatrāta’s Abhidharmasamucccayakārikā. Peter SKILLING will discuss the current state of Sāṃmitīya studies.
 
The Pali texts discussed in this year’s forum are connected with protection – narratives and formulas that evoke the power of the Buddha and his speech to protect, bless, and grant security and peace of mind. Javier SCHNAKE will reflect on the Pali text that he is currently editing and translating, the Vajirasāratthasaṅgaha, a fascinating and multi-purpose text that links up with protection in several ways. Georges-Jean PINAULT will present the protective literature of pre-modern and Buddhist Central Asia. Oskar VON HINÜBER will focus on Gilgit, and Nalini BALBIR will discuss protection in Jainism.

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Programme

Monday 20 June

9.30–10.00
Peter Skilling (EFEO) and Nalini Balbir (EPHE / Mondes iranien et indien)
Introduction to the Second International Pali Studies Week
 
10.00–10.30
Peter Skilling & Santi Pakdeekham
Manuscripts in central and south Thailand: general introduction
 
BREAK
 
11.00-12.00
Santi Pakdeekham & Arthid Sheravanichkul
Illustrations in Thai paper manuscripts
 
LUNCH BREAK
 
14.00–17.00
Reading Pali manuscripts in Khom script, conducted by Santi Pakdeekham (session 1)

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Tuesday 21 June

9.30–12.00
Reading Pali manuscripts in Khom script (session 2)
 
LUNCH BREAK
 
14.00–15.00
Francesco Sferra (Università di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’)
Saṃghatrāta’s Abhidharmasamuccayakārikā: a Sanskrit work of the Sāṃmatīyas
 
BREAK
 
15.30-16.15
Peter Skilling
Sāṃmitīyas and Pudgalavādins: New perspectives
 
16.15-17.00
Alexey Kirichenko (Moscow)
Pali Manuscripts in Burma

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Wednesday 22 June

9.30–10.15
Claudio Cicuzza (Rome-Bangkok)
Paramatthamaṅgala and Pali Uṇhissavijaya
 
10.15-11.00
Arthid Sheravanichkul (Bangkok),
Unahit Kham Lilit: A 19th century Thai poem based on the Pali Uṇhissavijayasūtra
 
BREAK
 
11.30-12.15
Grégory Kourilsky (Vientiane)
The Lao Uṇhissavijaya
 
12.15-12.45
Trent Walker (University of California, Berkeley)
The Uṇhissavijaya in Khmer Buddhism
 
LUNCH BREAK
 
14.30-17.00
Reading Pali manuscripts in Khom script (session 3)

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Thursday 23 June

9.30-10.15
Javier Schnake (Ho Foundation / EPHE, UMR 7528)
Protective aspects in the Vajirasāratthasaṅgaha
 
10.15–11.00
Georges-Jean Pinault (EPHE, UMR 7528)
Protection literature in Central Asia
 
BREAK
 
11.30-12.00
Oskar von Hinüber (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres)
Magic Protection in the Palola Ṣāhi Kingdom : Rakṣā Texts and Dhāraṇīs from 7th Century Gilgit
 
12.00-12.30
Nalini Balbir (EPHE, UMR 7528)
On protection and its means among the Jains
 
14.30-17.00
Reading Pali manuscripts in Khom script (session 4)

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