Photograph of Prof. Dr. Carmen Meinert

Prof. Dr. Carmen Meinert

Chair for Central Asian Religions

Professor for Central Asian Religions
Deputy Director of the Center for Religious Studies (CERES)
Principal Investigator of ERC research project BuddhistRoad
Former KHK Visiting Research Fellow 

Carmen Meinert holds the chair for Central Asian Religions at the Center for Religious Studies (CERES)a unique position in Religious Studies at German universities. Trained in Buddhist Studies, Tibetan Studies and Sinology, she aims to develop the field of Central Asian religions more systematicallyalso through international cooperationsand to integrate Central Asian and Tibetan Studies, so far niched in small disciplines and unrelated to other fields, into the larger framework of Comparative Religious Studies. Thereby in-depth philological, art historian or other case studies will become relevant to other fieldsalso connecting Central Asia to the geographically surrounding area studies in the East, West and South. The latest project to show that is the BuddhistRoad Project. By so doing, the academic discipline of Central Asian religions may mirror the pivotal role Central Asia has played throughout history.

Carmen Meinert has studied and conducted research at the Universities of Bonn, Hamburg, Peking University, Sichuan University in Chengdu, Vienna, and at the renowned Institute of Advanced Study in the Humanities, Essen. She had already been involved with Ruhr University Bochum before she became professor at CERES as a lecturer in the Department for East Asian Studies, a substitute professor for East Asian religions (twice), and a visiting research fellow at the prestigious Käte Hamburger Kolleg Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe.


Newest Editions

2023. Buddhism in Central Asia III—Impacts of Non-Buddhist Influences, Doctrines, edited by Lewis Doney, Carmen Meinert, Henrik H. Sørensen, and Yukiyo Kasai, Dynamics in the History of Religion, Vol. 14, Leiden: Brill, 481 pages.

2020. Buddhism in Central Asia I—Patronage, Legitimation, Sacred Space, and Pilgrimage, edited by Carmen Meinert and Henrik H. Sørensen, Dynamics in the History of Religion, Vol. 11, Leiden: Brill, 321 pages.

2018. Buddhist Encounters and Identities Across East Asia, edited by Carmen Meinert, Ann Heirman and Christoph Anderl, Dynamics in the History of Religion, Vol. 10, Leiden: Brill, 436 pages.

2016. Transfer of Buddhism Across Central Asian Networks (7th to 13th Centuries), edited by Carmen Meinert, Dynamics in the History of Religion, Vol. 8, Leiden: Brill, 333 pages.

Series Editor of “Climate and Culture” together with Claus Leggewie

2021. Middle East and North Africa Climate, Culture, and Conflicts, edited by Eckart Ehlers and Katajun Amirpur, Climate and Culture, Vol. 6, Leiden: Brill, 339 pages. 

2019. Environmental Change and African Societies, edited by Ingo Haltermann und Julia Tischler, Climate and Culture, Vol. 5, Leiden: Brill, 347 pages. [Open Access]

2018. Climate Change and Cultural Transition in Europe, edited by Claus Leggewie and Franz Mauelshagen, Climate and Culture, Vol. 4, Leiden: Brill, 314 pages.

2015. Cultural Dynamics of Climate Change and the Environment in Northern America, edited by Bernd Sommer, Climate and Culture, Vol. 3, Leiden: Brill, 426 pages. [Open Access]

2014. Environmental and Climate Change in South and Southeast Asia, edited by Barbara Schuler, Climate and Culture, Vol. 2, Leiden: Brill, 328 pages.

2013. Nature, Environment and Culture in East Asia, edited by Carmen Meinert, Climate and Culture, Vol. 1, Leiden: Brill, 443 pages.

Office Hours

on appointment

Areas of Research

Medieval Studies: Transfer of Buddhism in Central Asia, Tibet and China; Early Tantric and Esoteric Traditions in Tibet and China; Manuscript Studies (Dunhuang, Kharakhoto); Buddhism and Art; Buddhism and Violence; Contemporary Studies: Buddhism and Human Rights; Cultural Perspectives on Environmental and Climate Change

2023

Doney, Lewis, Carmen Meinert, Henrik Hjort Sørensen, and Yukiyo Kasai. 2023. ‘The Meeting of Religious Traditions and of Beliefs in Eastern Central Asia’. In Buddhism in Central Asia III, edited by Carmen Meinert, Henrik Hjort Sørensen, Lewis Doney, and Yukiyo Kasai, 14:1–10. Leiden/Boston: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004687288_002.
Meinert, Carmen. 2023. ‘People, Places, Texts, and Topics: Another Look at the Larger Context of the Spread of Chan Buddhism in Eastern Central Asia during the Tibetan Imperial and Post Imperial (7th 10th C.)’. In Buddhism in Central Asia III, edited by Carmen Meinert, Henrik Hjort Sørensen, Lewis Doney, and Yukiyo Kasai, 14:257–95. Leiden/Boston: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004687288_010.
Meinert, Carmen, Henrik Hjort Sørensen, Lewis Doney, and Yukiyo Kasai, eds. 2023. Buddhism in Central Asia III: Impacts of Non-Buddhist Influences, Doctrines (version Publisher’s Version). Dynamics in the History of Religions 14. Leiden/Boston: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004687288.

2022

Meinert, Carmen. 2022. ‘Beyond Spatial and Temporal Contingencies: Tantric Rituals in Eastern Central Asia under Tangut Rule, 11th–13th C. ’. In Buddhism in Central Asia II, edited by Henrik Hjort Sørensen and Yukiyo Kasai, 12:313–65. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004508446_012.

2021

Meinert, Carmen. 2021. ‘ Production of Tantric Buddhist Texts in the Tangut Empire (11th to 13th c.): Insights from Reading Karakhoto Manuscript ф 249 + ф 327 Jingang Haimu Xiuxi Yi [the Ritual of the Yogic Practice of Vajravārāhī] in Comparison with Other Tantric Ritual Texts’. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 44: 441–84. https://doi.org/10.2143/jiabs.44.0.3290299.

2020

Meinert, Carmen. 2020. ‘Creation of Tantric Sacred Spaces in Eastern Central Asia’. In Buddhism in Central Asia I, edited by Carmen Meinert and Henrik Hjort Sørensen, 11:244–71. Leiden, Boston: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004417731_012.
Meinert, Carmen, and Henrik Hjort Sørensen, eds. 2020a. Buddhism in Central Asia I: Patronage, Legitimation, Sacred Space, and Pilgrimage (version Publisher’s Version). Dynamics in the History of Religions 11. Leiden, Boston: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004417731.
———. 2020b. ‘Introduction - Piety, Power, and Place in Central and East Asian Buddhism’. In Buddhism in Central Asia I, edited by Carmen Meinert and Henrik Hjort Sørensen, 11:1–13. Leiden, Boston: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004417731_002.

2019

Meinert, Carmen. 2019. ‘Embodying the Divine in Tantric Ritual Practice: Examples from the Chinese Karakhoto Manuscripts from the Tangut Empire (ca. 1038-1227)’. Revue d’Études Tibétaines 2019 (50): 56–72. http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ret/pdf/ret_50_04.pdf.

2018

Heirman, Ann, Carmen Meinert, and Christoph Anderl, eds. 2018. Buddhist Encounters and Identities across East Asia (version Publisher’s Version). Dynamics in the History of Religions 10. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004366152.
Meinert, Carmen, Henrik Hjort Sørensen, Erika Forte, and Yukiyo Kasai. 2018. ‘Dynamics in Buddhist Transfer in Eastern Central Asia 6th-14th Centuries: A Project Report by BuddhistRoad Team’. Medieval Worlds 8 (November): 126–34. https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s126.

2016

Meinert, Carmen. 2016a. ‘Assimiliation and Transformation of Esoteric Buddhism in Tibet and China: A Case Study of the Adaptation Processes of Violence in a Ritual Context’. Zentralasiatische Studien 45: 341–60.
———. 2016b. ‘Introduction - Dynamics of Buddhist Transfer in Central Asia’. In Transfer of Buddhism Across Central Asian Networks (7th to 13th Centuries), edited by Carmen Meinert, 8:1–16. Leiden, Boston: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004307438_002.
———, ed. 2016c. Transfer of Buddhism Across Central Asian Networks (7th to 13th Centuries) (version Publisher’s Version). Dynamics in the History of Religions 8. Leiden, Boston: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004307438.

2013

Meinert, Carmen. 2013a. ‘Assimilation and Transformation of Esoteric Buddhism in Tibet and China: Case Study of the Adaptation Processes of Violence in a Ritual Context’. In Tibet after Empire, edited by Robert Mayer, Christoph Cüppers, and Michael Walter, 4:295–312. Lumbini: Lumbini International Research Inst.
———. 2013b. ‘Buddhist Traces in Song Daoism: A Case from Thunder-Rite (Leifa) Daoism’. The E-Journal of East and Central Asian Religions 1: 39–52. https://doi.org/10.2218/ejecar.2013.1.735.
———. 2013c. ‘Introduction - Climate and Culture in East-Asia’. In Nature, Environment and Culture in East Asia, edited by Carmen Meinert, 1:1–20. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004253049_002.
———, ed. 2013d. Nature, Environment and Culture in East Asia: The Challenge of Climate Change (version Publisher’s Version). Climate and Culture 1. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004253049.
Meinert, Carmen, and Christian Gudehus. 2013. ‘“From Worse to Better”: Anti-Desertification Policies on the Tibetan Plateau in the Past Decades’. In Nature, Environment and Culture in East Asia, edited by Carmen Meinert, 1:231–58. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004253049_011.

2011

Meinert, Carmen, ed. 2011a. Buddha in der Jurte: Buddhistische Kunst aus der Mongolei (version Publisher’s Version). Dt.-Mongol. Ed. München: Hirmer.
———, ed. 2011b. Buddha in the Yurt: Buddhist Art from Mongolia (version Publisher’s Version). Engl. Russ. ed. München: Hirmer.
———. 2011c. ‘Einleitung’. In Buddha in der Jurte, edited by Carmen Meinert, Dt.-Mongol. Ed, 6–30. München: Hirmer.
———. 2011d. ‘Introduction’. In Buddha in the Yurt, edited by Carmen Meinert, Engl. Russ. ed., 6–30. München: Hirmer.

2010

Meinert, Carmen. 2010a. ‘“Glatte Worte und schmeichelnde Mienen …”: Humanistischer Anspruch und (in)humane Wirklichkeit in China’. In Kultur der Verantwortung - Verantwortung der Kultur, edited by Christoph auf der Horst, 121–37. Düsseldorf: Dup.
———. 2010b. ‘Introduction: In Search of Humaneness in China’. In Traces of Humanism in China, edited by Carmen Meinert, 6:9–18. Bielefeld: Transcript. https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839413517.
———. 2010c. ‘Lun _Chanding muju_ de jiegou: _Sheng ru wu fenbie zongchi jing “si zhengxing” yu _Chanding muju_ sige zhuyao zhangjie zhi bijiao’. In 贤者新宴, edited by Weirong Shen, 149–64. Beijing: Zhongguo Zang xue chu ban she.
———, ed. 2010d. Traces of Humanism in China: Tradition and Modernity (version Publisher’s Version). Der Mensch Im Netz Der Kulturen 6. Bielefeld: Transcript. https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839413517.
Meinert, Carmen, and Hans-Bernd Zöllner, eds. 2010a. Buddhist Approaches to Human Rights: Dissonances and Resonances (version Publisher’s Version). 1. Auflage. Der Mensch Im Netz Der Kulturen 3. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag. https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839412633.
———. 2010b. ‘Introduction’. In Buddhist Approaches to Human Rights, edited by Carmen Meinert and Hans-Bernd Zöllner, 1. Auflage, 3:9–20. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag. https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839412633.

2009

Meinert, Carmen. 2009. ‘Gangkar Rinpoché between Tibet and China: A Tibetan Lama among Ethnic Chinese in the 1930s to 1950s’. In Buddhism between Tibet and China, edited by Matthew Kapstein, 215–38. Boston, Mass. [u.a.]: Wisdom.
Schroeder, Ulrich von, and Heidi von Schroeder. 2009. Tibetan Art of the Alain Bordier Foundation (version Publisher’s Version). Translated by Carmen Meinert. 1st ed. Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Pub.

2008

Meinert, Carmen. 2008. ‘Gestückelte Schriften: Überlieferungsgeschichten der dem Meditationsmeister Wolun zugeschriebenen Dunhuang-Manuskripte’. Oriens Extremus 47: 215–45. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24048053.

2007

Meinert, Carmen. 2007a. ‘A Pliable Life: Facts and Fiction about the Figure of the Chinese Meditation Master Wolun’. Oriens Extremus 46: 184–210. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24047669.
———. 2007b. ‘The Conjunction of Chinese Chan and Tibetan RDzogs Chen Thought: Reflections on the Tibetan Dunhuang Manuscripts IOL Tib J 689-1 and PT 699’. In Contributions to the Cultural History of Early Tibet, edited by Matthew T. Kapstein and Brandon Dotson, 14:239–301. Leiden [u.a.]: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004160644.i-310.43.

2006

Meinert, Carmen. 2006a. ‘Between the Profane and the Sacred?: On the Context of the Rite of “Liberation“ (Sgrol Ba)’. In Buddhism and Violence, edited by Michael Zimmermann, 2:99–130. Lumbini: Lumbini International Research Inst.
———. 2006b. ‘Plötzliches oder allmähliches Erwachen: konträre Positionen im chinesischen Meditationsbuddhismus’. In Gewalt und Gewaltlosigkeit im Buddhismus, edited by Lambert Schmithausen, 10:17–37. Hamburg: Universität Hamburg. https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/4-publikationen/buddhismus-in-geschichte-und-gegenwart/bd9-k02meinert.pdf.
———. 2006c. ‘The Legend of Cig Car Ba Criticism in Tibet: A List of Six Cig Car Ba Titles in the Chos ’byung Me Tog Snying Po of Nyang Nyi Ma ’od Zer (12th Century)’. In Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Praxis, edited by Ronald M. Davidson and Christian K. Wedemeyer, 10, 4:31–54. Leiden [u.a.]: Brill.

2004

Meinert, Carmen. 2004. ‘Chinesische Chan- und tibetische rDzogs chen-Lehre: eine komparatistische Untersuchung im Lichte des philosophischen Heilskonzeptes “Nicht-Vorstellen” anhand der Dunhuang-Dokumente des chinesischen Chan-Meister Wolun und des Werkes bSam gtan mig sgron des tibetischen Gelehrten gNubs chen Sangs rgyas ye shes’. Bonn: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Bonn.

2003

Meinert, Carmen. 2003. ‘Structural Analysis of the BSam Gtan Mig Sgron: A Comparison of the Fourfold Correct Practice in the Āryāvikalpapraveśanāmadhāraņī and the Contents of the Four Main Chapters of the BSam Gtan Mig Sgron’. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 26 (1): 175–95.

2002

Meinert, Carmen. 2002. ‘Chinese Chan and Tibetan Rdzogs Chen: Preliminary Remarks on Two Tibetan Dunhuang Manuscripts’. In Religion and Secular Culture in Tibet, edited by Henk Blezer, 9,2:289–307. Leiden: Brill.

1996

Rhie, Marylin M., Robert A. F. Thurman, and Britta Lanzerath, eds. 1996. Weisheit und Liebe: 1000 Jahre Kunst des tibetischen Buddhismus ; [anlässlich der Ausstellung Weisheit und Liebe - 1000 Jahre Kunst des Tibetischen Buddhismus, die vom 10. Mai bis 25. August 1996 in der Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, stattfindet ; Stationen der Ausstellung Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 17. April - 18. August 1991 ... Chiba City Museum of Art, Chiba, August - September 1997] (version Publisher’s Version). Translated by Carmen Meinert. Expanded ed. Köln: DuMont.

Vice Director of Center for Religious Studies and CERES Directorate

Principal Investigator of CRC 1475 „Metaphors of Religion“

Professor of Central Asian History of Religions , Center for Religious Studies and CERES Teaching

Project Leader of Subproject A03

Member of Research Department of CERES RESEARCH DEPARTMENT

Former Projects and Affiliations

Principal Investigator of BuddhistRoad

Project Leader of An Enquiry into the Development of the Dzogchen Tradition in the Commentaries of the Tibetan Scholar Nubchen Sangye Yeshe (10th Century) and Nyang ral's Codification of rNying ma Literature and Ritual

Individual Researcher of Politics and Religion Between the 8th and 11th Century in Central Asia, Tibet and Song China

Fellow of Käte Hamburger Kolleg

Colleague of Käte Hamburger Kolleg

Member of Study Advisory Board