With generous support from the Unno family and in honor of the Seventh Cycle Memorial for Rev. Dr. Taitetsu Unno (1929-2014), the Institute of Buddhist Studies is pleased to announced the Taitetsu Unno Memorial Lecture, to be held on Friday March 31, from 4-6pm, both in person at the Jodo Shinshu center and virtually.
A prolific author and scholar, Rev. Dr. Unno was a graduate of the Univeristy of California, Berkeley, and Tokyo Univeristy. For forty years he taught in the field of Buddhist studies, first at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, then at Smith College, where he served as Department Chair and as the Jill Ker Conway Professor of World Religions. He was the author, translator, and editor of numerous academic volumes and articles, but he is perhaps best known for his two works introducing Shin Buddhism to English-language audiences, River of Fire, River of Water: An Introduction to the Pure Land Tradition of Shin Buddhism and Shin Buddhism: Bits of Rubble Turned into Gold, as well as his translation Tannisho: A Shin Buddhist Classic. In addition to his prolific scholarly career, Rev. Dr. Unno was also an ordained Shin Buddhist minister in Nishi Honganji tradition, and he devoted his career to working in Shin Buddhist communities across North America.
In celebration of his life and accomplishments, IBS will honor Rev. Dr. Unno at this special event. Following the delivery of the Unno Memorial Lecture, a scholarship award will be made to a IBS student for outstanding work in a master’s level thesis.
Dr Ruben Habito will deliver a talk entitled “Beyond Transcendence Back to Earth: A Challenge to Religions in our Time of Global Crisis.”
Register for IN PERSON attendance.
Register for ZOOM attendance.
About Dr. Rubin Habito:
Ruben L. F. Habito is Professor of World Religions and Spirituality, and Director of Spiritual Formation at Perkins School of Theology. Before coming to Perkins in 1989, he was a member of the Society of Jesus for twenty-five years, and taught at the Jesuit-administered Sophia University in Japan. A member of the American Theological Society and of the American Academy of Religion, he has also served as President and Board member of the Society for Buddhist Christian Studies, and of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. He is the author of numerous books and articles in English and Japanese, including Be Still and Know: Zen and the Bible (2017), Zen and the Spiritual Exercises (2013), Healing Breath: Zen for Christians and Buddhists in a Wounded World (2006); Experiencing Buddhism: Ways of Wisdom and Compassion (2006) among others. He serves as Guiding Teacher of the Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas, Texas, where he resides with his spouse Maria Reis Habito. Together they have two adult sons, Florian and Benjamin.