Rev. Danny Fisher

A few weeks back, I wrote a lengthy post in response to one at Barbara’s Buddhism Blog about the 106th Faculty Research Lecture at UCLA, which was delivered by Gregory Schopen, chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the university. In that lecture, Schopen presented on some of his findings from studying Indian Buddhist epigraphy which suggest that “the predominant ideology [in early monasteries] was not…particularly ascetic, and certainly not averse to the accumulation of wealth.” Barbara took issue with this, referring to Schopen’s findings as “mis-education” and possibly “the dumbest explanation of Buddhism [she has] ever seen.” In response, I pointed out that Schopen’s work is based on hard archaeological evidence, and also highlights certain inaccuracies and problematics in modern Buddhist Studies.

In reading Barbara’s post and responding to it, I was struck that it would have been helpful for both of us to have been able to actually hear Schopen’s lecture beforehand. (Barbara was reacting to an article about the lecture and not the lecture itself, and I was responding to her based on my knowledge of Schopen’s past research.) Well, UCTV has given us the opportunity to catch up by posting the full video version of Schopen’s lecture online at YouTube. Take a look at “The Buddha as a Businessman: Economics and Law in an Old Indian Religion” below.