Vesna Wallace
About:
The main methodological approach to my field of study will continue to consist of the following: philological and textual study, and philosophical, historical, critical, and comparative analyses of the Buddhist traditions of South Asia, Tibet,and Mongolia.
Articles:
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BOOKS
Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture, and Society. Edited by Vesna A. Wallace.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
The Kālacakratantra: The Chapter on Sādhana together with the Vimalaprabhā. Tanjur
Translation Initiative, Treasury of Buddhist Sciences Series. New York: American
Institute of Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, co-published with the Columbia University’s Center for Buddhist Studies and Tibet House. 2010. (Reviewed by Tadeusz Skorupski in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 75, Issue 03, October 2012: 590-592.)
The Kālacakratantra: The Chapter on the Individual together with the Vimalaprabhā.
Tanjur Translation Initiative, Treasury of Buddhist Sciences Series. New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies, co-published with the Columbia University’s Center for Buddhist Studies and Tibet House, 2004. (Annotated translation from Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Mongolian, together with a critical edition of the Mongolian text.)
The Inner Kālacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the Individual. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2001.
A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life. Bodhicāryāvatāra. Translated from Sanskrit and Tibetan by Vesna A. Wallace and B. Alan Wallace. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1997.
A Textbook for the First Year Intensive Serbo-Croatian. Co-author. Washington DC, State
Department, 1988.
BOOK CHAPTERS
“Linguistic Arguments and Exegesis in Indian Tantric Buddhism: Intention and Interpretation.”
In Buddhism and Linguistics: Theory and Philosophy. Edited by Manel Herat. Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017.
“Selections from a Manual of Buddhist Medicine.” In Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of
Premodern Sources: 363-370. Edited by C. Pierce Salguero. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017.
“Remarks on the Tibetan Language-based Manuscripts and Xylographs in Mongolia and on the
Technology of Their Production.” In Tibetan Manuscripts and Xylograph Traditions: The Written Word and Its Media within the Tibetan Cultural Sphere. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg, 2016.
“Contemporary Mongolian Buddhism.” Co-authored with Christine Murphy. In Oxford
Handbook on Contemporary Buddhism. Edited by Michael Jerryson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
“Homa Rituals in the Indian Kālacakra Tradition.” In Homa Variations: The Study of Ritual
Change across the Lounge Durée. Edited by Richard K. Payne and Michael Witzel. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
“Rendering Buddhism into Mongolian Language: Mongols’ Translation Methods of Buddhist
Texts.” In Festschrift to Robert A. F. Thurman in Honor of the Seventieth Birthday. Edited by Christian, K. Wedemeyer, John D. Dunne, and Thomas F. Yarnall. New York:
American Institute of Buddhist Studies and Columbia University Press, 2015.
“Competing Religious Conversions and Re-Conversions in Contemporary Mongolia.” In
Conversion in Late Antiquity: Christianity, Islam, and Beyond. Edited by Arietta Papaconstantinou, Neil McLynn, and Daniel Schwartz. Farnham: Ashgate, 2015.
“The Method-and-Wisdom Model in the Theoretical Syncretism of the Traditional Mongolian
Medicine.” In Ivette Vargas-O’Bryan, ed. Disease, Religion, and Healing in Asia: Collaborations and Collisions. London: Routledge, 2015. (Revised reprint of “The Method-and-Wisdom Model of the Medical Body in Traditional Mongolian Medicine,” previously published in the Arc—The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University).
“Introduction.” In Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture, and Society. Edited by Vesna A.
Wallace. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
“Envisioning a Mongolian Buddhist Identity Through Chinggis Khan.” In Buddhism in
Mongolian History, Culture, and Society. Edited by Vesna A. Wallace. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
“How Vajrapāṇi Became a Mongol.” In Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture, and Society.
Edited by Vesna A. Wallace. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
“What Do Protective Deities, Mongolian Heroes, and Fast Steeds Have in Common?” In
Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture, and Society. Edited by Vesna A. Wallace. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
“Buddhist Sacred Mountains, Auspicious Landscapes, and Their Agency.” In Buddhism in
Mongolian History, Culture, and Society. Edited by Vesna A. Wallace. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
“Buddhist Laws in Mongolia.” In Buddhism and Law: Introduction. Edited by Rebecca Redwood
French and Mark A. Nathan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
“Bakula Arhat’s Journeys to the North: The Life and Work of the Nineteenth Kushok Bakula in
Russia and Mongolia.” In Buddhists: Understanding Buddhism Through the Lives of Practitioners.” Edited by Todd Lewis. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2014.
“Buddhist Laws in Mongolia.” In Collective Wisdom: Preservation and Development of
Buddhism. Edited by B. M. Pande. New Delhi: Asoka Mission and Banarsidass Publishers, 2013. (A published lecture delivered at the International Buddhist Congress in New Delhi)
“Practical Applications of the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra and Madhyamaka in the Kālacakra
Tantric Tradition.” In Companion to Buddhist Philosophy. Edited by Steven Emmanuel. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2013.
“Can Buddhism and Science be Reconciled?” In The Maitreya Era: Perspectives on Social
Development. First International, Academic Conference. Ulaanbaatar: Maidar San, 2013.
“Mongolian Livestock Rituals and Their Appropriations, Adaptations, and Permutations. In
Understanding Religious Rituals: Theoretical Approaches and Innovations. Edited by John Hoffmann. London: Routledge, 2011.
“The Six-phased Yoga of the Abbreviated Wheel of Time Tantra (Laghukālacakratantra)
According to Vajrapāṇi.” In Yoga in Practice. Edited by David Gordon White. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011.
“The Legalized Violence:” Punitive Measures of Buddhist Khans in Mongolia.” In Buddhist
Warfare. Edited by Mark Juergensmeyer and Michael Jerryson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
“Texts as Deities: Mongols’ Rituals of Worshipping Sūtras and Rituals of Accomplishing
Various Goals by Means of Sūtras.” In Ritual in Tibetan Buddhism. Edited by José I. Cabezón. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
“The Body as a Text and the Text as the Body: A View from the Kālacakratantra’s
Perspective.” In As Long as Space Endures: Essays on the Kālacakra Tantra in Honor of H. H. The Dalai Lama. Edited by Edward A. Arnold. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2009.
“Medicine and Astrology in the Healing Arts of the Kālacakratantra.” In As Long as Space
Endures: Essays on the Kālacakra Tantra in Honor of H. H. The Dalai Lama. Edited by Edward A. Arnold. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2009.
“Diverse Aspects of the Mongolian Buddhist Manuscript Culture and Realms of Its Influence.”
In Buddhist Manuscript Culture: Knowledge, Ritual, and Art. Edited by Steven Berkwitz, Juliane Schober, and Claudia Brown. London: Routledge, 2008.
“A Convergence of Medical and Astro-Sciences in Indian Tantric Buddhism: A Case of the
Kālacakratantra.” In Astro-Medicine: Astrology and Medicine, East and West. Micrologus’ Library, 25. Edited by Anna Akasoy, Charles Burnett and Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim. Florence, Italy: Sismel Edzioni del Galluzzo, 2008.
“A Generation of Power Through Ritual Protection and Transformation of Identity in Indian
Tantric Buddhism.” In Asian Ritual Systems: Syncretisms and Ruptures. Edited by Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathen. Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 2007. (The paper was previously published in the Journal of Ritual Studies)
“The Methodological Relevance of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship to the Study of
Buddhism.” In Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections of Contemporary Buddhist Scholars. Edited by John Makransky and Roger Jackson. London: Curzon Press, 1999.
“Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Perspective on the Treatment of Mentally Retarded Children in Latin
America.” In Ethics and World Religions: Cross-cultural Case Studies, ed. by Regina, Wentzel, Wolfe and Christine E. Gudorf. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999.
JOURNAL AND ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES
“Buddhist Medicine in India.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/970199340378.013.616: February, 2018:1-30.
“The Interface of Mongolian Nomadic Culture, Law and Monastic Sexual Morality.” Buddhism, Law, and Society, Vol. 2 (2018): 57-75
“Quantitative Historical Analyses Uncover a Single Dimension of Complexity that Structures Global Variation in Human Social Organization.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (www.pnas.org/cg/doi/10.1073/pnas.1708800115). Co-authored with a group of scholars from social sciences and humanities.
“Buddhism and Legislative Measures on Theft in Mongolia (The 18th Century-the Early 20th
(Century).” Religions (2017), 8, 240: doi:10.3390/rel8110240 (www.mdpi/journal/religions). Basel, Switzerland, 2017.
“Thoughts on Originality, Reuse, and Intertextuality in Buddhist Literature Derived from the
Contributions to the Volume.” 2016. Buddhist Studies Review. Journal of the U.K Association of Buddhist Studies, Vol. 33.1-2 (2016): 233-239. London: Equinox Publishing, Ltd.
“Mongolian Adaptations of Utopian Alternatives in the Legends of Śambhala and Their
Eschatological Narratives. Journal of Tibetology. Center for Tibetan Studies of Sichuan University, Chendgu, China, 2016.
“Local Literatures: Mongolia.” In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Edited by Jonathan Silk.
Leiden: Brill, 2015.
“The Method-and-Wisdom Model of the Medical Body in Traditional Mongolian Medicine.”
Arc—The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University, Vol. 40 (2012): 1-22.
“Living Texts and Open Canons in the Mahāyāna Buddhism.” 2012. Thai International Journal
of Buddhist Studies, Vol. 3 (2012): 77-89.
“A Brief Exploration of Late Indian Buddhist Exegeses of the ‘Mantrayāna and Mantranaya.”
Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Third Series, No. 13, SpecialSection: Recent Research on Esoteric Buddhism, Fall 2011: 95-111.
“A Response to Geoffrey Samuel’s Origins of Yoga and Tantra: Hints from the Mahāyāna
Tradition.” International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 15, No. 3, December, 2011: 333-337.
“Mongolia.” In Encyclopedia of Global Religion. Vol. 2. Edited by W. Clark Roof and Mark
Juergensmeyer. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Reference, 2011: 819.
“Mongol Empire.” In Encyclopedia of Global Religion. Vol. 2. Edited by W. Clark Roof and
Mark Juergensmeyer. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Reference, 2011: 819-20.
“Why is the Bodiless (anaṅga) Gnostic Body (jñāna-kāya) Considered a Body?” Journal of
Indian Philosophy, Vol. 37, No. 1, February 2009: 45-60.
“Mediating the Power of Dharma: The Mongols’ Approaches to Reviving Buddhism in
Mongolia.” The Silk Road Journal, No. 6/1, (2008): 36-45, 2008.
“The Provocative Character of the ‘Mystical’ Discourses on the Absolute Body in Indian Tantric,
Buddhism. Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Third Series, Number 6, Fall 2004, issued in 2006: 245-57.
“A Generation of Power Through Ritual Protection and Transformation of Identity in
Indian Tantric Buddhism.” Journal of Ritual Studies, Special Issue on “Ritual and the
Ritual Expression of Identity in Asia,” Vol. 19, Number 1, 2005: 115-28.
“Kālacakra.” In Encyclopedia of Religion, Second Edition, Vol. 8. New York: Macmillan
Reference, 2005: 5056-5059.
“The Buddhist Tantric Medicine in the Kālacakratantra.” The Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, New Series, Nos. 11-12 (1995): 155-74,1995.
BOOK REVIEWS
“Georgios T. Halkias. Luminous Bliss: A Religious History of Pure Land Literature in Tibet.
335 pp. Pure Land Buddhist Studies Series. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2013.” The International Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 12, Issue 02 (January, 2015): 113-115. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2015.
“Religious Bodies Politics: Rituals of Sovereignty in Buryat Buddhism.” By Anya Bernstein.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2013. xvii, 258 pp.” The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 73, Issue 04, (November 2014): 1130-1131.
“Caroline Humphrey and Hürelbaatar Ujeed. Monastery in Time: The Making of Mongolian
Buddhism. 426 pp. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2013.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 77-2, (2014): 398-399. Published by Cambridge University Press.
“Review of the Dictionary of Sonom Gara’s Erdeni-yin Sang: A Middle Mongol Version of the
Tibetan Sa skya Legs bshad. Mongol – English – Tibetan. Edited by Görgy Kara with the assistance of Marta Kiripolská. Brill’s Inner Asian Library, vol. 23. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2009. Pp. xxix-337. University. Religious Studies Review, Vol. 37, Issue 4, December 2011: 304.
“Brian Bauman. Divine Knowledge: Buddhist Mathematics According to the Anonymous Manual
of Mongolian Astrology and Divination. Leiden: Brill, 2008.” In Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 69, Issue 01, Feb., 2010: 244-245.
“Eva Jane Neumann Friedman, Sacred Geography: Shamanism Among the Buddhist Peoples of
Russia. Bibliotheca Shamanistica, vol. 12. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2004.” In Religion, Vol. 36, Issue 1, 2006.
“Walther Heissig and Klaus Sagaster, eds. Gedanke und Wirkung. Festschrift für Nikolaus Poppe zum 90. Geburtstag Asiatische Forschungen: Monographienreihe Zur Geschichte, Kultur und Sprache der Völker Ost-und Zentralasiens, Band 108.” Wiesbadden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1989. In Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 50(1), 1992, Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan
Instructional and Documentary Films:
- “Revival of Buddhism in Mongolia: Part 1& Part 2.” Santa Barbara: Erdene Productions, 2004 (Executive Producer, Researcher, and Narrative Writer)
- “Shaman in the City: Ulaanbaatar, Outer Mongolia.” Santa Barbara: Erdene Productions, 2003 (Executive Producer, Researcher, and Narrative Writer)
- “Revival of the Traditional Mongolian Culture.” Santa Barbara: Erdene Productions, 2004 (Executive Producer, Researcher, and Narrative Writer)
Courses Taught:
- RS 4: Introduction to Buddhism
- RS 111B: Religions of Mongolia
- RS 161C: Buddhist Tantric Traditions
- RS 162A: Indian Philosophy
- RS 164A: Buddhist Traditions in South Asia
- RS 164C: Buddhist Ethics
- RS 193B: Religion and Healing in Global Perspective
- RS 202A: Buddhist Literature in Pali
- RS 206F: Seminar in South Asian Philosophical Traditions
- RS 207F: Philosophical Literature
- RS RS 207H: Sanskrit Buddhist Literature
- RS RS 207I: Jaina Literature in Sanskrit
- RS RS 216B: Seminar in Theravada Buddhism
- RS RS 256: Seminar in Jain Studies
