Sacred Sites and Traditional Ecological Knowledge Around the World

Panel Title

Tibetan Sacred Geography

Presenter Name

Tatjana Kochtekova PhD, O.P. Jindal Global University

Presenter Bio

Assistant Professor at Jindal Global Law School, India

Tatjana Kochtekova, Assistant Professor at Jindal Global University, India. She grew up in Kiev, Ukraine and conducted doctoral research on at Kiev National University on Self in the Speech Acts Theory. She joined the Center for Russian Studies at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands as a junior researcher and completed her second doctoral thesis dedicated to the dynamics of human condition. She conducted research on environmental philosophy and ethical implications of biotechnology at Utrecht University for Humanistic. She has been appointed as Assistant Professor in Applied Ethics and Philosophy of Technology at the University of Twente (Netherlands). She is the author of several books and a series of articles on environmental philosophy and philosophy of man and technology. In 2018 she published, together with Rico Sneller and Nelleke Canters, a book The Plurality of the Arts of Living (Garant, Belgium). Her research embraces environmental philosophy, philosophical anthropology, and Asian philosophies of Nature.

Presentation Description

This presentation will explore Tibetan Sacred Geography and what can we learn from it. Specifically, it looks at the message of Tibetan sacred geography for environmental protection and ecological consciousness. It focuses on Vajrayana Buddhist tradition of sacred natural sites, also called sacred geography, in its relation to Vajrayana cosmology, anthropology and pilgrimage tradition. It explores Vajrayana theology of sacred places, and their role in ecological conservation, as well as their cultural meaning. Finally, we look at the implications of Tibetan sacred geography for the ongoing transformation of ecological consciousness.

Affiliated Organizations or Universities

Jindal Global Law School, India

Link to Website(s)

Dr. Kochetkova of O. P. Jindal Global University, Law School

Presenter Photo