Naropa University will be hosting Paula Arai of Louisiana State University for a Slide Lecture on "Painting Enlightenment: The Art and Science of the Heart Sutra." The lecture explores the artwork of Iwasaki Tsuneo to capture the Heart Sutra in imagery. The lecture will take place on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at 7:00 pm at the Nalanda Event Center // 6287 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, CO
Painting Enlightenment: The Art and Science of the Heart Sutra
Japanese biologist and visionary artist Iwasaki Tsuneo (1917-2002) painted the resonances he discovered between scientific and Buddhist views of reality. Expressing the interdependent, impermanent, and empty nature of phenomena, he shaped the words of the Heart Sutra––a scripture prized for its concise expression of wisdom and compassion––into imagery drawn from ephemeral beauties of nature, Buddhist cultural life, and microscopic and telescopic wonders.
Paula Arai received her doctorate in Buddhist Studies from Harvard University in 1993. In subsequent years, she taught at Brown, Vanderbilt, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Carleton College. From 2010 to 2013, she served as the section head for LSU’s Philosophy and Religious Studies department. She is also a member of LSU faculties of Asian Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies.
Image courtesy of the Crow Collection of Asian Art.