21th Biennial Meeting

The 21th IASBS Conference Program

General Theme: Pure Land Buddhism and the Great Earth

第21回学会大会

学会テーマ：浄土教と大地

August 06-08, 2026

2026年8月6日～8日

Location: UBC Vancouver Campus & Online

開催場所：UBCバンクーバーキャンパス＆オンライン

This event is sponsored and hosted by the International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies (IASBS), and The RHNHFF BCS Program.

About the Conference

Pure Land Buddhism and the Great Earth is a conference gathering of scholars selected and invited to present their approved papers. A Call for Papers has been conducted to select the abstracts and theme to be explored.

Lands, fields, grounds, and the “Great Earth” (J. daichi 大地) are key metaphors in Mahāyāna Buddhist literature, history, and practice. In Pure Land traditions, ideas of “land” and “field” are absolutely central to various cosmological and soteriological forms. Both historically and in the contemporary moment, too, the individuals, groups, discourse, and institutions of Pure Land Buddhism have always been in relationship with the climate and surrounding environment. And in our contemporary moment of political instability and ecological destruction, where dwelling on this great earth is imperiled, questions of how Pure Land Buddhist thinkers and communities have understood and idealized utopian lands, or have understood and critiqued polluted lands, come to the foreground.

All activities will take place at Walter Gage: UBC Point Grey Campus, Vancouver | 5961 Student Union Blvd, Vancouver, BC V6T 1K2
We acknowledge that the UBC Point Grey campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwmə0–kwəy’əm (Musqueam). The land it is situated on and has always been a place of learning for the Musqueam people, who for millennia have passed on their culture, history, and traditions from one generation to the next on this site.

If you’re not presenting and would like to attend, please send an email to bcs.program@ubc.ca by July 15. We have a limited seat capacity due to venues and logistics. The acceptance for in-person attendees will follow the submission order, until we reached capacity. Thank you for understanding.

Keynote Lecture

This keynote is open to the public, free and hybrid, and can be attended in person or online via Zoom.

Check more about the Keynote here

Simplified Schedule

Time zone for all activities: Pacific Time (Vancouver) | This section will be updated with further details soon

Thursday, August 06:
In-Person Activities

12:30 – 2:30 pm:
Presenters: Reception & Conference Check-in | Gage Suites
Venue: Walter Gage Hotel | Fort Camp Lounge | 5961 Student Union Blvd, Vancouver, BC V6T 1K2

2:30 – 4:00 pm:
Presenters and Attendees: In-person Panels
Venue: Walter Gage Hotel | Ruth Blair Room

7:00 – 9:00 pm: HYBRID KEYNOTE LECTURE – Open to the public
Venue: Walter Gage Hotel | Multimedia Room | 5961 Student Union Blvd, Vancouver, BC V6T 1K2
The Great Earth and Its Tiny Creatures: Buddhist Monastic Life, Insect Agencies, and the More-Than-Human Human
Lina Verchery 黎娜 (award-winning filmmaker, scholar of Buddhism, full member of the National Coalition of Independent Scholars)

Friday, August 07:
In-Person Activities (Walter Gage| Ruth Blair Room)