Like many other religious traditions the Buddhist view of reality encompasses not just our own world, but myriad worlds with their own forms of life. Aside from the various realms of rebirth, there are other world systems, pure lands and magical lands hidden right here in our earthly landscape. Over the ages Buddhists have reported visions of these other worlds and developed soteriological strategies, rituals, meditations and art centered upon them.

While they have taken an interest in the resulting literary and artistic products, modern scholars of Buddhism have avoided theorizing about the nature of the experience and potential reality of these worlds. This talk will introduce theories drawn from contemporary work in the anthropology of religion, comparative religion, transpersonal psychology and Indian theories of the imagination to help lay a foundation for a more adequate theoretical approach to these worlds.

 About the speaker:

Dr. Karin Meyers received her Ph.D. in Buddhist philosophy from The University of Chicago Divinity School in 2010. She is Associate Professor and Director the Masters Program in Buddhist Studies at Kathmandu University’s Centre for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Nepal, and currently a Visiting Associate Professor at Princeton University. Her work focuses on bringing Buddhist perspectives to bear on the cross-cultural philosophical investigation of fundamental metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical problems, interdisciplinary inquiry into topics that occupy the borderlands between philosophy and religion, and comparative religion. Her publications include several articles on free will in Buddhism, Buddhist ethics and Buddhist contemplative practice.