“During his stay here [U Dhammaloka] has held a conference of the principal Buddhists and discussed matters with them and a capital photograph of the group was taken. A more cosmopolitan assemblage it would be hard to find and it shows how widespread is the cult of the Gautama.” (Straits Times, 17 Feb 1903).
The Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-funded project “Buddhism across boundaries: subaltern, plebeian and peripheral networks in colonial Southeast Asia” (2013 – 15) enabled us to carry out research on Buddhist networks in present-day Burma, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.
The Irish Research Council-funded project “Early western Buddhists in Asia: transnational lives, hidden histories, colonial encounters” (2012-13) enabled Dr Mihirini Sirisena to carry out research on Dhammaloka’s time in what was then Ceylon and India, and Ms Rachel Pisani to carry out research on the US hobo context of the man who became Dhammaloka.
The Dhammakaya Foundation-funded project “Continuities and transitions in early modern Thai Buddhism” (2011-12) enabled Dr Phibul Choompolpaisal to carry out research on U Dhammaloka’s time in Bangkok.
Prior to these York University Toronto funded “U Dhammaloka: rethinking the history of western Buddhist monastics” (2010) and the Dept of Sociology, NUI Maynooth funded “The history of Buddhism in Ireland” (2008), enabling Ms Maria Griffin to research the early history of Irish Buddhism.
More generally we would like to acknowledge ongoing research support from UCC’s College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences and our respective departments.
Contact:
Prof. Brian Bocking (Dept of the Study of Religions, University College Cork), b.bocking [AT] ucc.ie
Dr Laurence Cox (Dept of Sociology, National University of Ireland Maynooth), laurence.cox [AT] mu.ie
Prof. Alicia Turner (Dept of Humanities, York University Toronto), turnera [AT] yorku.ca
The Dhammaloka project 