Theory Meets Practice

Dec 5-7, 2008

Ubon Ratchathani University

Warin Chamrab Ubon Ratchathani Thailand 34190

Friday December 5, 2008

Saturday December 6, 2008

Sunday December 7, 2008

(Sessions are scheduled early to allow for the monks who will be attending to eat at proper times.)

Introduction:

The Buddhist Economics Research Platform is a joint initiative of the Business Ethics Center of the Corvinus University of Budapest and the East-West Research Institute of the Budapest Buddhist University. The Platform aims to connect people and institutes engaged in developing Buddhist economic theory and practice and to spread ideas and working models of Buddhist economics to the general public.

Ubon Ratchathani University is honored to host the second International Conference of the Buddhist Economic Research Platform. As Buddhism spreads from Asia into other parts of the world, the incorporation of Buddhist ideals and beliefs into everyday life takes new and varied forms. The challenges that Buddhist practitioners face in different parts of the world are daunting. This conference proposes to continue to build a platform or foundation that explores how to meld knowledge, research and practice to support Buddhists as they face the challenges of today’s complex economic landscape.

Timing:

This 3 day conference is tentatively planned for December 5-7, 2008.

Venue and size:

The Ubon Ratchathani University Campus will be the venue. The conference will host an audience of around 100 people, roughly 60% of them from Thailand including non-Thais already living in Thailand.

Purpose and Function:

The first conference of the Buddhist Economic Research Platform was held in Budapest, Hungary with approximately 50 participants. 95% of the participants were Buddhists living in western societies. The participants were enthusiastic to hold the second conference in a Buddhist culture where they could experience practices that were more a reflection of a Buddhist society.

This conference is therefore an attempt to bring together opposite ends of numerous spectrums: Buddhism in a primarily capitalist, Christian culture and Buddhism in a Buddhist culture that is increasingly capitalist; Western theoreticians working on ways to incorporate theory into culture and Eastern practitioners seeking to build theoretical frameworks from practice; and Eastern and Western religious leaders seeking the best methods to influence their followers.