The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies

14/02/2025

OCBS DIRI Lecture Series Hilary Term 2025

This term we will be presenting three lectures. These lectures are presented in conjunction with the Dhammachai International Research Institute, as part of our ongoing academic partnership.

The details are as follows:

26 February (4pm GMT / 5 March (4pm GMT) / 12 March (4pm GMT)

The lectures will be streamed on our YouTube page.

For a Zoom link to attend the lecture and ask questions (limited spaces), please contact [email protected]

26 Feb
Editing Jātakas in the 15th Century: Ariyavaṃsa’s Jātakavisodhana and Premodern Pali Philology
Dr. Aleix Ruiz Falqués

5 Mar
Gender and Buddhist Doctrine
Prof Alice Collett (University of St Andrews)

12 Mar
Anuruddha and Mahā-Kaccāna: Tracing the Contours of Two Early Buddhist Lineages
Dr. Alexander Wynne

For more information please visit

OCBS DIRI Lecture Series Hilary Term 2025 Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies Hilary Term DIRI Lecture Series 2025 This term we will be presenting three lectures. These lectures are presented in conjunction with the Dhammachai International Research Institute, as part of our ongoing academic partners...

17/04/2024

On 2 May we will be hosting William Dalrymple, who will be talking about his upcoming book 'The Golden Road'. This book looks at the ways Ancient India transformed the world.

The talk takes place at St. Antony's College at 5pm. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance. For more details and to book your ticket please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/william-dalrymple-the-golden-road-tickets-881320361927. This is an in-person event only.

19/10/2023

Michaelmas DIRI Lecture Series 2023

This term we will be presenting three lectures. These lectures are presented in conjunction with the Dhammachai International Research Institute, as part of our ongoing academic partnership.

The details are as follows:

24 October (5pm BST) / 31 October (5pm GMT) / 7 November (5pm GMT)

The lectures will be streamed on our YouTube page, and then held there for later viewing.

For a Zoom link to attend the lecture and ask questions visit the event page link below.

Su***de, Meditation and Anti-realism: Three Problems in the Study of Early Buddhism

Alexander Wynne

This lecture series will consider three apparently distinct problems in the study of early Buddhism: one ethical (su***de), one spiritual (meditation) and one metaphysical (anti-realism). By bringing out underlying connections and discontinuities between these subjects, the lectures will show how early Buddhism was decisively shaped by two forces: an ascetic spirituality based on the practice of mindfulness, and rooted in metaphysical anti-realism; and a heterodox Brahminic tradition of renunciation, stemming from the early Upaniṣads, and transmitting a tradition of calm meditation. Understanding early Buddhism in its historical context, and trying to draw out the implicit meaning of obscure canonical Suttas, these lectures will present the nascent Buddhist movement afresh as a creative fusion of two distinct streams of speculation.

For further details, please visit: https://ocbs.org/events/

28/06/2022

There are still spaces on our Pali Advanced Reading Course this August. Professor Gombrich and Dr. Alex Wynne will be running the course from 15 - 25 August. For full information visit

Advanced Pali Course The Advanced Pali Reading Course will run again in 2022. This will be held entirely online. The details are as follows: Dates: Monday 15 August – Thursday 25 August. Saturday 20 August will be a day without teaching, Time: 9.30am – 12.30pm, 2.30 – 4.30pm BST. There will be...

09/06/2021

This summer, Prof. Gombrich and Dr. Wynne will run another Advanced Pali reading course. This year we will be holding the course online. It will run for weekends only over a one month period in August. The course will consist of translating into English passages from the Dhammapada commentary (including the verses commented upon). Full details at

Advanced Pali Course This summer, Prof. Gombrich will run another Advanced Pali reading course. This year we will be holding the course online. Dates: 26 Aug to 4 Sep (excluding Sunday). Technical orientation on 25 Aug. Time: 9.30am – 1pm daily. BST (plus afternoon homework) Cost: £270 (50% disco...

02/06/2021

Our revisit to the OCBS lecture archives concludes with Dr. Alexander Wynne's 5-part series:

"Early Buddhist Meditation: A Philosophical Investigation"

In these bold and exhaustively researched lectures, Dr. Wynne returns to the Pali Canon and attempts a fresh look at what the earliest understandings of Buddhist practice and soteriology might have been.

He contrasts the Calm-Insight (samatha-vipassanā) approach represented by Sāriputta with that of the relatively obscure Kaccāna, who emphasized bodily awareness and the overcoming of ‘conceptual proliferation’ (papañca), and ‘latent tendencies’ towards view’ (diṭṭhānusaya).

After discussions of bare cognition (viññāṇa-matta) and the "jhāna" meditative states, Dr. Wynne brings the series to a close by reconstructing an original, radical Buddhist theory of mind and meditation.

Early Buddhist Meditation: A Philosophical Investigation Given for the OCBS by Dr. Alex Wynne. All talks and pdf material Copyright Alex Wynne 2018. After each week’s sound file you will find a pdf with the powerpoint for that lecture. Week 1 – Conceptual foundations: Sāriputta or Kaccāyana? ....

26/05/2021

Buddhism was a thriving religion in India between Ashoka and the Guptas before undergoing a dramatic decline.

How, then, did such a vibrant cultural phenomenon disappear so suddenly?

In contrast with Rhys David's theories a century ago and Johannes Bronkhorst's more recent work, Dr. Alex Wynne examines evidence from the Ambaṭṭha Sutta and builds on Giovanni Verardi's 'Hardships and Downfall of Buddhism in India' to explore a different approach to what lies behind such an intriguing historical phenomenon.

Buddhist India A talk given by Dr. Alex Wynne for the OCBS on 20th November 2017. A pdf to accompany the talk is provided below. All original material copyright Alex Wynne 2017. [pdf-embedder url=”https://ocbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/BuddhistIndiaOIOxford20.11.17.pdf”]     by admin Audi...

19/05/2021

The next talk in our revisit to the OCBS lecture archives is:

"Chronicle and epic, or the introductions to the Mahāvamsa and to the Mahābhārata: selected comparisons"

In it, Dr. Nick Allen presents a series of episodes from these two great classics of world religious literature, tracing their similarities in both content and form, and exploring the relative mutability of language and oral traditions. These stories feature kings and ascetics... nāgas, Garuḍa and gods... dhamma and domestic quarrels... and many, many snakes.

Chronicle and epic, or the introductions to the Mahāvamsa and to the Mahābhārata: selected comparisons A talk given by Dr. Nick Allen for the OCBS on 6 November 2017 Lecture and pdf: Copyright Nick Allen 2017. A pdf to accompany the talk is available below.     [pdf-embedder url=”https://ocbs...

12/05/2021

This week's talk covers the era of mature Esoteric Buddhism in India -- from the 7th or 8th Century to the 13th -- and is entitled "Ta***ic Buddhist Gurus in Mediaeval Indian Royal Courts."

This period saw the rise of teachers who gained popularity with promises of swift enlightenment using methods which not only broke away from austerity (embracing sense fulfillment) but sometimes became transgressive of moral norms.

To an outside observer, this appeared as a total abandonment of monastic discipline and ethics.

What were these forbidden practices? What supernatural powers did they promise their practitioners? And how did these teachers deal with the scrutiny of secular institutions and more traditional religious groups?

Dr Péter-Dániel Szántó, through a comprehensive review of the extant literature, gives us an insider's view, walking us through the debates between these controversial teachers.

Ta***ic Buddhist Gurus in Mediaeval Indian Royal Courts Given for the OCBS by Dr Péter-Dániel Szántó on 5 June 2017. Copyright Dr Péter-Dániel Szántó 2017.   by admin Audio Recordings Previous Article New Discoveries about the Origins of the Buddhist Order of Nuns Next Article Lectures MT20...

05/05/2021

"There is much doubt that the academic study of Buddhism will produce anything new, or be interesting to anyone beyond a small circle of academics."

In this week's talk, Prof. Richard Gombrich takes it upon himself to upend these concerns by walking us through the discoveries of Bhikkhu Anālayo regarding the origins of the Buddhist order of nuns (bhikkhunī).

These are not only new and interesting, but change our understanding of world history and will surely make a great difference to many people's lives.

Here is but one example: the order of bhikkhunīs in Theravadin traditions has effectively gone extinct. It is considered that new nuns can only be ordained by a congregation of nuns and monks. If, however, there is no existing congregation of nuns, then new nuns cannot be ordained.

But Anālayo's discoveries call the scriptural basis of this, and many other contemporary policies, into question -- as Prof. Gombrich lays out in his typically forthright, erudite, and engaging manner.

New Discoveries about the Origins of the Buddhist Order of Nuns A talk given by Richard Gombrich for the OCBS on 24 April 2017 Copyright Richard Gombrich April 2017 by admin Audio Recordings Previous Article Lectures TT2017 – OCBS and Lingyin Next Article Ta***ic Buddhist Gurus in Mediaeval Indian...

28/04/2021

This week's talk covers a fascinating little mystery.

There is a population of over 16,000 Sri Lankan immigrants in the Sultanate of Oman, on the southeastern end of the Arabian peninsula.

How does this community of Theravadins practice in a traditionally conservative Muslim country?

Mr. Alex Wrona, PhD candidate at King's College, London, spells out the ways in which they have thrived and integrated in their adopted country, tracing their evolving, transnational sense of identity, the role of Omani governmental policies, and the surprising interactions with the local form of Ibadi Islam.

Links to the Soundcloud audio recording of the talk, as well as the accompanying powerpoint presentation, can be found here on the OCBS page:

An Arabic Dhamma? – On Sri Lankan Theravadins in the Sultanate of Oman A talk given by Mr Alex Wrona for the OCBS on 19 May 2016. Mr Wrona has kindly provided his PowerPoint presentation, if you wish to follow along with the talk: Presentation (Please note that copyright for both the PowerPoint pr...

21/04/2021

If you are interested in technical and detailed arguments for the existence or non-existence of God, then this week's talk by Dr. Marie-Hélène Gorisse is the one for you!

It examines the first half of "Refutation of Arguments Establishing Īśvara" (Īśvara-sādhana-dūṣaṇa), by the 11th Century philosopher Ratnakīrti.

This text has the advantage of displaying different layers of the history of the debate in a neat sequence. Its focus is a formal refutation of the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika thesis according to which Īśvara (God) is the arranger of the world. That is to say: He arranges the different categories of being (e.g. earth, air), and is responsible for the motions of the atoms. But he does not create these substances -- they are eternal.

The devil, as they say, is in the details -- even when looking for God. Thus, this week's talk goes into all of them: the valid means of inference, the difference between invisibility and non-existence, the relevant analogies -- grass, smoke, fire... -- and, of course, the inevitable exceptions.

Who can infer the existence of God from the concept of ‘product’? Genealogy of a Buddhist refutation. A talk given by Dr. Marie-Hélène Gorisse for the OCBS on 2 May 2016 Copyright Dr. Marie-Hélène Gorisse 2016 by admin Audio Recordings Previous Article “The Possibility of Buddhism for the ...