buddhica

Ernest B. Brewster has been working at the IKGA since August 2024, doing research on the transmission of Madhyamaka Buddhist thought in China in affiliation with the project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) on Chinese Buddhist philosophy (ChinBuddhPhil). He has taught at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Iona University, and Rutgers University. He holds a BA from Princeton University in History and East Asian Studies; an MA in Religious Studies from National Chengchi University; and a PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations (Religion/Philosophy) from Harvard University. His research interests include combining philology with a philosophical and doctrinal-historical approach to key ideological developments in early medieval Chinese Buddhism. His current research investigates the philosophical contributions of Sinitic Madhyamaka Buddhist thinkers to the explanation of the nature of truth.

Publications:

“What Dies? Xuanzang (602?–664) on the Temporality of Physical and Mental Functionality.”
International Journal of Buddhist Thought and Culture (December 2023) 33.2: 20–58.

“Beyond Conventional Existence and Fundamental Emptiness: Kuiji’s Logical Analysis of Bhāviveka’s Two Inferences for the Omnipresent Emptiness of All Dharmas.” Journal of the Oxford Center for Buddhist Studies (November 2023) 23: 90–117.

“Saṅghabhadra’s Arguments for the Existence of an Intermediate State (Antarābhava) between Biological Death and Rebirth as Translated by Xuanzang (602?–664 C.E.).” Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion (May 2023) 60.1: 1-16.

“Different Yet No Different: Chuandeng (1554–1627) on the Two Aspects of Thusness (Tathatā).” In
Chinese Transformation of Buddhism and Crossborder Transmission of Buddhism: Pan-Asian Spread
of Tiantai/Ch'ŏnt'ae/Tendai Texts, Ideas and Practices and Its Position in East Asian Society,
Chen, Jinhua and Song, Wang, eds., pp. 233-268 (Singapore: World Scholastic, 2022).

“The Non-Duality of Goodness and Badness: Chuandeng (1554–1628) on the Badness Inherent in
Reality.” Foguang Journal of Buddhist Studies佛光學報8.2 (2022): 1-66.

“Why Change Is the Only Constant: The Teachings on Momentariness Found in Xuanzang’s
Translation of the Abhidharma Treatises of Saṅghabhadra.” Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies 66
(2021): 1–49.

“Survivability: Vasubandhu and Saṅghabhadra on the Continuity of the Life of a Sentient Being as
Translated by Xuanzang.” Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies 3.1 (September 2020):
167–224.

“Shengming yanxu: Xuanzang dui Shiqin he Zhongxian youguan shengming yanxu de
wenxian de fanyi” 生命延續：玄奘對世親和眾賢有關生命延續的文獻的翻譯. Translated by Ni
Sheng 倪勝. In Cong Chang’an dao Nalantuo: Xuanzang (602?-664) de shengping yu yichan
從長安到那爛陀：玄奘的生平與遺產, edited by Chen Jinhua 陳金華, et al., 691–699 (Singapore:
World Scholastic, 2020).

“What is Our Shared Sensory World? Ming-Dynasty Debates on the Huayan versus Yogācāra
Doctrines.” Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies 31 (July 2018): 117–170.