This talk examines evolving Buddhist views on plants across Asia, from an early Indian ambivalence regarding their status as sentient beings worthy of moral consideration to Mahāyana denials of their sentience, and Chinese debates over whether or not plants, though insentient, nevertheless have “Buddha Nature.” She will put these Buddhist perspectives into conversation with contemporary scientific research, noting striking parallels between ancient Buddhist and contemporary debates about plant intelligence, and how new understandings of plant learning and sociability are contributing to contemporary Eco-Buddhist thinking and practice.

Karin Meyers (University of Chicago PhD, 2010) is a Senior Professorial Lecturer in philosophy American University in DC. She previously taught and directed the the Masters Program in Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute’s Centre for Buddhist Studies in Nepal, and served as Academic Director of Mangalam Research Center in Berkeley, CA, where she co-directed the 2022 NEH Summer Institute, The Imagination and Imaginal Worlds in the Mirror of Buddhism. Her scholarly publications include articles on intention, free will, and contemplative practice in Buddhism, and as well as on method in comparative philosophy. She is currently editing a volume of essays on Buddhism and the Imagination. Karin has practiced meditation in Theravada, Tibetan, and Zen Buddhist traditions. She is a certified qi gong instructor and recently took precepts in the Zen Peacemaker Order (White Plum Asanga) with the ordination name Koshin (“heart-led”).