Buddhist Ethics: Links to materials

Sean Hillman is a fourth year Ph.D. candidate in the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto, with a double-collaboration in Bioethics and South Asian Studies. His B.A. in East Asian Studies and M.A. in Buddhist Studies/Bioethics were also done at U of T. Sean has been a hospital caregiver since the mid-90s and for 13 years was a Buddhist monk, ordained novice and full by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. In his 5 years in India so far he has studied at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics and the International School for Jain Studies. Sean’s research straddles Religious Studies and Medical Anthropology, with a strong interest in the interaction between religious adherents and biomedical professionals in end-of-life decision making. His doctoral field-work will focus on the relation between vulnerability and voluntariness among particular Hindu, Jain and Tibetan Buddhist communities in contemporary India and Canada. He is also developing a project in collaboration with a Pacific Coastal Aboriginal community where he recently spent almost a half-year living with his wife Alex who was the Community Health Nurse on the remote reserve. He hopes to contribute to existing health ethics guidelines to improve healthcare delivery to minority patient populations such as South Asians in diaspora and Canadian Aboriginals.

Sean is available for public speaking, as well as research and media consultation. He frequently talks in hospitals, at conferences, on T.V. and at Buddhist centres on various topics, particularly on death and dying, caring for Buddhist patients and a Buddhist approach to caregiving.

This blog archives a collection of his published and unpublished academic papers related to Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, ethics/bioethics and death/dying, as well as the beginnings of translations-in-progress of various as-of-yet untranslated Tibetan Buddhist texts. Please feel free to discuss the subject matter, ask questions and offer constructive criticism on the material. Lively debate is encouraged but abusive or inflammatory material will be removed.

Communications can be sent to sean.hillman@utoronto.ca

Visit Sean's YouTube channel to see interviews and talks: http://www.youtube.com/user/seansherab