Michael von Brück: Ästhetische Erfahrung in indischen Religionen.
02. Dezember 2025
15:15 - 17:00 Uhr
KU Linz: Hörsaal 1
Paradise – as a mythical-religious point of origin, an idealized living space, and an eternal object of longing – has long shaped conceptions of ideal space and the good life. Whether religiously motivated or secularly imagined, the idea of a better world finds expression in imagery and architectural visions that go far beyond purely functional or aesthetic concerns.
This lecture series “(Re)Constructing Paradise: Religious and Transcultural Perspectives on Ideal Spaces" focuses on spatial designs that understand architecture as an expression of social, religious, and political orders – as imagined worlds that create community, represent power, and materialize transcendent ideas of a better world.
Please note: This lecture starts at 15:15 and ends at 17:00!
Achtung: Dieser Vortrag beginnt um 15:15 Uhr und endet um 17:00 Uhr.
Difference in Perspective – The Architecture of Space-Time Patterns in Indian Religions (Bhagavad Gita)
Michael von Brück (Linz)
The Bhagavad Gita is one of the basic texts in Hinduism. It drew attention among European philosophers and artists especially in the 19th century, in Germany we need to mention F. Schlegel, W. v. Humboldt, Goethe and others. In reciprocity, this European interest made the text even more important to Indian intellectuals who fought for independence of the country and nation building.
The text mediates – in classical terms – between what we call immanence and transcendence. It is a kind of universal architecture or a value system that constructs societies in specific ways on a specific experience of space and time that differs from European views and ways of seeing reality.
The public lecture will introduce these concepts and images based on unique narratives. We ask what it means that an aesthetic experience in cosmic dimensions forms society in a most comprehensive way. It is going to be an intercultural experience of construction and deconstruction. Thus, architecture is much more than building buildings, it is a way of seeing, interpreting and constructing the world. This will be highlighted in cross-cultural perspective.
About the Speaker
Professor Dr Michael von Brück was Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Interfaculty Program in Religious Studies at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich until 2014. He is the rector of the Palliative-Spiritual Academy in Weyarn. And since 2014, he is honorary professor for Religious Studies at the Catholic University of Linz.
He studied Protestant Theology, Sanskrit, and Indian Philosophy in Rostock, Bangalore, and Madras, followed by five years as a lecturer in India. He received training as a Zen and Yoga teacher in India and Japan. He has held visiting professorships in countries including the United States, Thailand, Latvia, India, and Japan. He is a member of various academic committees worldwide.