Dr. Upali Sraman

Lecturer in Buddhist Languages and Cultures

Contact details

Address

Street

School of Divinity
New College
Mound Place

City
Edinburgh
Post code
EH1 2LX

Availability

  • Dr. Sraman is available to meet by appointment.

Biography

Background

Dr. Upali Sraman received his Ph.D. in Religion from Emory University. He was born in Bangladesh and has studied at several prestigious universities. He completed his undergraduate degree in Sanskrit at the University of Peradeniya, earned an MA in Buddhist Studies at the Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy, and an MDiv in Buddhist Ministry at Harvard. Dr. Sraman's research focuses on Buddhist narratives, ethics, and texts in Pali, Sanskrit, and Tibetan languages. He is also interested in how Buddhism is practiced and interpreted in modern times, as well as the ways in which different religions in South Asia share religious figures, pilgrimage sites, and devotional practices. Dr. Sraman is proficient in several South Asian languages, including Bengali, Hindi, and Sinhala.

CV

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Qualifications

PhD (Emory University, 2023)

MDiv (Harvard University, 2016)

MA (Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy, 2013)

BA (Hons) (University of Peradeniya, 2011)

Responsibilities & affiliations

Steering Committee Member,  Edinburgh Buddhist Studies.

Undergraduate teaching

Introducing Sanskrit 

Intermediate Sanskrit

Introducing Classical Tibetan

Buddhist Monasticism Across Time and Place

Tibetan Buddhism

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Research summary

Dr. Sraman's research interests encompass the following themes

  • Buddhist Narratives
  • Buddhist Monasticism
  • Buddhist Ethics
  • Devotional Practices in Buddhism
  • Theories and Practices of Ethical and Spiritual Self-formation
  • Contemporary Buddhism in South Asia
  • Religious Intersection in South Asia

Invited speaker

  • “Awareness as the First Step to Freedom,” talk at the Edinburgh Buddhist Society, September 25, 2025.
  • “Why do Monks Punch Each Other: Humor and Ethics in Buddhist Vinaya Texts.” South Asia Seminar. Emory University. October 7, 2022.
  • “How to Make Sense of the Non-Legal Aspects of Buddhist Monastic Law?” invited talk at the CSLR Colloquy. Center for the Study of Law and Religion. Emory University. 20th November, 2019.
  • “Buddhism and Youngsters”, Panel Discussion in Tibetan language at the Trans-Himalayan Seminar organized by the Himalayan Buddhist Library and Cultural Centre. Kathmandu. 30th April, 2019.
  • “Is Theravāda the Lower Vehicle?” Invited Talk at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, Kathmandu, 7th November, 2018.
  • “Buddhist Understanding of Human Personhood: Doctrine of non-self (anattā),” invited talk, "The Sacred and the Self in World Religions: Explorations in Comparative Theology” lecture series, March 10th, 2015, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  • “Bengalizing (Bengali reproductions of) Buddhist Narratives in Modern times”, World Religions Cafe Talk at the Centre for the Study of World Religions, Harvard. Spring 2014.
  • “Sangha (Community) as a Lived Experience”, World Religions Cafe Talk at the Centre for the Study of World Religions, Harvard. Fall 2014.

Papers delivered

  • “Pranks in Vinaya Texts,” Buddhism and Humor Workshop, Edinburgh Buddhist Studies Centre, December 1, 2025
  • “guru-bād and Sangharāja Appointment in Bangladeshi Bhikkhu Mahasabha,” Monastic Lineages and Succession, AAR Annual Conference, Boston, November 25, 2025.
  • “Affective Pedagogies in the Vinaya: Humour, Shock, and Ethical Formation,” South Asia Conference, University of Wisconsin Madison, October 22-25, 2025.
  • “So close, yet so far: The Poetics of Accessibility and Transcendence in Ramachandra Bharati’s Bhaktiśataka,” International Association of Buddhist studies Conference, Leipzig, August 11, 2025.
  • “An Integrative Vision of Monastic Education in Vinaya Manuals”, Vinaya Workshop, Afternoon Session, March 21,  2025.
  • “What is Wrong with Monks Swimming in the River?”, Vinaya Workshop, Morning Session, March 21, 2025.
  • Panellist, Classical Languages Pedagogy Workshop, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, October 28, 2024.
  • Panellist in the roundtable discussion on “Vernacular Landscapes and Global Dialogues: Understanding Buddhist Monasticism Seminar,” AAR Annual Conference, 22 November, 2024.
  • “What Do Bangladeshi Buddhists Think of Ambedkar?”, South Asia Seminar Series, University of Edinburgh, November 19, 2024.
  • Panellist, Religion and the Body, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, January 16, 2025.
  • “Humor and Ethics in Buddhist Vinaya Texts”, Keynote Address, UKABS Annual Conference, June28 2024.
  • “A Taster Lecture on Buddhist Monasticism,” June 12 2024. University of Edinburgh.
  • “Vinaya Metaphors,” Panel Discussion on “Buddhism and Metaphor,” March 5 2024, University of Edinburgh.
  • “Towards a Buddhist Hermeneutics of Devotion: A Close Reading of Rāmacandrabhārati’s Bhaktiśataka,” Edinburgh Buddhist Studies, Work In Progress Workshop, 23 February 2024.
  • “Rival Monastic Groups and the Messiness of Ethical Practice in Buddhist Vinaya Texts”, Monasticism in South Asia Panel, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, 22 November 2022.
  • “Why Do Monks Punch Each Other? Humor and Ethics in Buddhist Vinaya Texts”, South Asia Seminar, Emory University, 7 October 2022.
  • “Examine with Clear Eyes: Filtering Water as an Ethical Practice in Buddhist Monastic Training”, Conference on the Study of Religions of India, Colby College, Maine, 23–26 June 2022.
  • “The Transnational Character of Buddhism in Bangladesh (1864–Present)”, Buddhism in Motion Panel, Asia in Motion Conference, Association of Asian Studies, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, 22–24 June 2015.
  • “Healing through Spiritual Care: Arts and Ethics of Chaplaincy as Gleaned from Some Buddhist Narratives”, Buddhism and Wellbeing Conference, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 28–30 May 2015.
  • “Buddhist Understanding of Human Personhood: Doctrine of Non-Self (Anattā)”, Invited Talk, The Sacred and the Self in World Religions Lecture Series, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, 10 March 2015.

Book Manuscripts in Preparation:

  • Embodied Discipline: Narrative, Ethics, and Emotion in Buddhist Monastic Texts

Articles in Peer-reviewed Journals

 

Book Chapters

  • “Vinaya as Literature.” In The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Literature, edited by Vanessa Sasson and Natasha Heller. New York: Oxford University Press. (In preparation)
  • “Reflections on my Experience of Reading Vinaya Texts with Prof. Charlie Hallisey,” in Journal of Buddhist Ethics: Special Issue in Honor of Charles Hallisey, Volume 31, 2024: 177-185.
  • “Cognitive Distortions (vipallāsa) in Theravāda Texts”, in: Understanding Mind, Consciousness and Person. Ed. by Ramala Sharma. New Delhi: Rawat Prakashan. 2021: 115-134.
  • “Understanding Buddhist, Sikh, and Hindu Students on Campus”, co-authored with Rahuldeep Singh Gill and Varun Soni, in Educating About Religious Diversity and Interfaith Engagement - A Handbook for Student Affairs. Ed. Kathleen M. Goodman et al., Bloomfield: Stylus Publishing. 2019: 275-290.
  • “Abhisār – Rabindranath Tagore’s Poetic Adaptation of an Episode from Upagupta Legend: An Example of Buddhist Narratives in the Time of Bengal Renaissance”, Journal of Rabindranath Tagore Society of Sri Lanka, Ed. Leel Gunasekera, Colombo, 2011: 36-41.

 

Book Review

Newspaper Articles, Public Facing Blog-posts, Long Conference Abstracts,

 

Articles written in Bengali Language

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