Monday, August 4, 2014

Mention in "Wild Geese: Buddhism in Canada" 2010 book published by McGill-Queen's Press

Sean Hillman is mentioned in the 2010 Gill-Queen's Press book Wild Geese: Buddhism in Canada,  edited by John S. Harding, Victor Sogen Hori and Alexander Soucy. Interestingly, a year after the book was published, Sean acted as a Teaching Assistant for the author of the chapter in which he appears, “Buddhism After the Seventies” by Prof. Henry Shiu. They soon realized they had a common academic link in Prof. Leonard Priestly, an erudite scholar of Indian Buddhism, Chinese religions and Sanskrit and Chinese languages. Prof. Priestly was Prof. Shiu's doctoral supervisor and also Sean's first professor in Asian Religious Studies at the University of Toronto (Introduction to Buddhism, Introduction to Taoism, Indian Buddhism) in the early 90s. In the chapter, Prof. Shiu refers to Sean's activities in caring for the dying as well as a talk on palliative care he gave in 2006 when he was still a fully ordained Buddhist monk.

From the publisher's page for the book:
"Sociology: Canadian. History: Canadian, Religious Studies.
The most comprehensive study of Buddhism in Canada to date. Buddhism has been practiced in Canada for more than a century and in recent years has grown dramatically. Immigrant communities construct temples in Canada's urban centres, the Dalai Lama is one of the world's most recognizable figures, and Buddhist ideas and practices such as meditation, vegetarianism, and non-violence are increasingly a part of mainstream culture. More native-born Canadians are turning to Buddhism now than ever before.  The most comprehensive study of Buddhism in Canada to date, Wild Geese offers a history of the religion's evolution in Canada, surveys the diverse communities and beliefs of Canadian Buddhists, and presents biographies of Buddhist leaders. The essays cover a broad range of topics, including Chinese, Tibetan, Lao, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese Buddhisms, critical reflections on Buddhism in the West, census data on the growth of the religion, and analysis of the global context for the growth of Buddhism in Canada. Presenting a sweeping portrait of a crucial part of the multicultural mosaic, Wild Geese is essential reading for anyone interested in religious life in Canada."





"Bhikshu Tenzin Sherab, born Sean Hillman, a Canadian Buddhist monk ordained in the Tibetan tradition, is also a nursing assistant involved in hospice service at a hospital in downtown Toronto (Shiu 2010: 99)."

"An educational conference on palliative care, entitled 'Caring for the Dying in a Multicultural Society:  Ethical, Religious, Social and Cultural Perspectives,' took place in Toronto in April 2006, with Tenzin Sherab addressing the audience from a Buddhist perspective (Shiu 2010: 109)."

Shiu, Henry C.H. “Buddhism After the Seventies.” Wild Geese: Buddhism in Canada. Ed. John S. Harding et al. McGill-Queen's Press, 2010: 84-110.