Bernard Faure

Kao Professor of Japanese Religion

Office: 614 Kent
Office Hours: On leave for the 2020-2021 AY
Phone: (212) 854-8926
Email: bf2159@columbia.edu

Educational Background

PhD: University of Paris (’84)

Classes Taught

RELI GU4513 Buddhism and Neuroscience
EARL GR6500 Topics in East Asian Buddhism
EARL GR9935 Graduate Seminar in Japanese Religion

Research Interests

Gods in Medieval Japan, The Life of the Buddha, Buddhism and Neuroscience

Bernard Faure’s research treats various aspects of East Asian Buddhism, with an emphasis on Chan/Zen and Tantric or esoteric Buddhism. His work, influenced by anthropological history and cultural theory, has focused on topics such as the construction of orthodoxy and heterodoxy, the Buddhist cult of relics, iconography, sexuality and gender. His current research deals with the mythico-ritual system of esoteric Buddhism and its relationships with medieval Japanese religion. He has published a number of books in French and English, and is presently working on a book on Japanese Gods and Demons.

Selected Publications

The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender (Princeton, 2003)

Visions of Power: Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism (Princeton, 1996)

The Rhetoric of Immediacy: A Cultural Critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism (Princeton, 1991)