Buddhist Self-Knowledge Practices: The Sheila and Wilbur Liebson Ethics Colloquium

In this presentation, viewing Buddhism from a self-knowledge standpoint, Professor of Philosophy Christopher W. Gowans (Fordham University) will examine a variety of Buddhist practices—ethical, philosophical, and meditative—as these practices have been understood in the traditional “path” approaches (Buddhist practice as a path from suffering to an enlightened life of tranquility and compassion) and the rather different “exploration” approach that emerges in Chan and Zen Buddhism (Buddhist practice as expressing and exploring what it means not to be a self). Among Gowan’s publications is Self-Cultivation Philosophies in Ancient India, Greece, and China (Oxford University Press, 2021).