BOSTON RESEARCH CENTER BOOK LAUNCH RECEPTION
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 7:30 9:00 PM,
Sheraton Hotel Ballroom Republic A
The Boston Research Center for the 21st Century (BRC) cordially invites Buddhism scholars attending the AAR annual meeting to a reception featuring a brief introduction to, and complimentary copies of, our forthcoming publication, Buddhist Peacework: Creating Cultures of Peace. In addition to refreshments, the reception will include a short,
informative program with remarks on the new book by Donald Swearer and Samdech Maha Ghosananda, one of the Buddhist leaders contributing an essay to this book. Please RSVP by email to rsvp@brc21.org, or by phone, 800-359-2863.
The "Buddhist Peacework" authors providing "reports from the field" on grassroots Buddhist peace activities represent a wide range of communities, including Theravada, Mahayana, and Tibetan traditions from all the major Buddhist regions in Asia, (including the new Buddhism of India), and the independent growth of these traditions in the West. The essays respond to the 1994 UNESCO "Declaration on the Role of Religion in the Promotion of a Culture of Peace," an interreligious statement about the responsibilities of all religious traditions to foster peace. "The book itself is an act of peace-making," says religion professor David Chappell of the University of Hawaii who is editing the volume, "since it involves the collaboration of Buddhist leaders who have often been isolated from each other for cultural or sectarian reasons." The authors include: Robert Aitken, A.T. Ariyaratne, José Cabezón, the Dalai Lama, Maha Ghosananda, Bhante Gunaratana, Daisaku Ikeda, Jeon Chong-yoon, Stephanie Kaza, Kosan Sunim, Dharmachari Lokamitra, Thich Nhat Hanh, Sheng-yen, Shih Cheng-yen, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sulak Sivaraksa, and Karma Lekshe Tsomo.
Complimentary examination copies of Buddhist Peacework and the 1998 BRC book, Subverting Hatred: The Challenge of Nonviolence in Religious Traditions will also be available in the Boston Research Center's publisher's booth #420 in the Exhibit Hall of the Sheraton Hotel throughout the AAR annual meeting, November 20 23, 1999. In Subverting Hatred, religious scholars from eight major traditions explore the roots of war and peace within their religions, highlight heroes and heroines of nonviolence, and challenge their traditions to apply the scriptures and practices of peace to the real problems we face in modern times. Both books are useful resources in courses dealing with religion and peace, Buddhist practice and engaged Buddhism, and peace studies.
