Property:BnwShortPersonBio
From Buddha-Nature
This is a property of type Text.
P
Lotsāwa Senge Gyaltsen was a Tibetan translator who lived in the 10th-11th centuries. Among the works he is known to have translated are the ''Bcom ldan 'das ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i 'grel pa don gyi sgron ma'' (''Bhagavatīprajñāpāramitāhṛdayaṭīkā-arthapradīpa-nāma''); ''Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i don yongs su shes pa'' (''Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayārthaparijñāna'') and the ''Chos dang chos nyid rnam par 'byed pa'i tshig le'ur byas pa'' (''Dharmadharmatāvibhāga''). ([https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P4CZ15648 Source Accessed Aug 21, 2020]) +
Etienne Loyon is a translator and student of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamsto Rinpoche. He has completed a translation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' into French entitled ''Traité de la Continuité ultime du Grand Véhicule'', which is available online at http://www.khenpo.fr/continuite_ultime_accueil.html +
Dan Lusthaus is an American writer on Buddhism. He is a graduate of Temple University's Department of Religion, and is a specialist in Yogācāra. The author of several articles and books on the topic, Lusthaus has taught at UCLA, Florida State University, the University of Missouri, and in the Spring of 2005 he was a professor at Boston University.
Lusthaus also collaborated with Heng-ching Shih in the translation of Kuiji's (K'uei-chi) commentary on the Heart Sutra with the Numata translation project. Lusthaus is an editor for the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, in the area of Indian/East Asian Yogācāra/Tathāgatagarbha. He contributed the contents of his catalogue of the major Yogācāra translations of Xuanzang to the DDB, as well as a number of other terms related to the Cheng Weishi Lun and Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Lusthaus Source Accessed July 22, 2020]) +
Līlāvajra, also known as Vilāsavajra or Lalitavajra, was an 8th century Indian master, perhaps from Oddiyana, who wrote commentaries on ''Chanting the Names of Manjushri'' and the ''Guhyagarbha Tantra''. Among the students of Vilāsavajra, the most prominent were Buddhaguhya and Buddhajñanapada, who both studied the cycle of the Web of Magical Illusion. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Vilasavajra Rigpa Wiki]) +
Mahājana was a Kashmiri paṇḍita who was active around the 11th-12th centuries. According to Donald Lopez, one of his main contributions was his commentary on the ''Heart Sutra'', ''Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayārthaparijñāna'' (''Complete Understanding of the Meaning of the Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom''). According to Lopez, "Mahājana's commentary is the only work ascribed to him in the Tibetan canons; he is listed as the translator of nine works, suggesting that he visited Tibet, probably in the late eleventh or early twelfth century.[13] His commentary reflects an author of a decidedly Yogācāra persuasion . . ." (Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ''Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sūtra'' [New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1996], 16). Mahājana is also reported to have been one of several panditas who taught Atiśa the Perfection of Wisdom and secret mantra. (''Sources of Tibetan Tradition'', 2013, 178)<br><br>
===Notes===
13. The colophon of his commentary states that he collaborated in its translation with Seng ge rgyal mtshan, who was a student of Ngog bLo ldan shes rab (1059–1109). +
Known in Tibetan as the "Lord of Love" or the "Noble Loving One" འཕགས་པ་བྱམས་པ། (Pakpa Jampa), the "Loving Protector" བྱམས་པའི་མགོན་པོ་ (Jampay Gonpo), in Chinese as 弥勒佛 (Mi Le Fo), Japanese as Miroku, and commonly as Maitreya throughout Asia and beyond. Maitreya is the bodhisattva called the "future Buddha" who resides in Tushita heaven until coming to the human realm to take the role of the next Buddha after Śākyamuni Buddha. According to tradition, Asaṅga received teachings from Maitreya and recorded them in the Five Dharma Treatises of Maitreya, which form the basis for buddha-nature teachings and the larger Yogācāra teachings in general. +
Famed Indian Mahāsiddha whose influence was felt in the Tibetan tradition via his student Marpa Chökyi Lodrö, and others. In terms of the ''Uttaratantra'' he is reported to have had visionary interactions with the Bodhisattva Maitreya that led him to discover instructions related to the treatise. However, there is no mention of this in his extant writings. Nevertheless, the lineage of the instructions that reportedly descend from him would form the basis for a meditative tradition of exegesis on this work that became widespread among followers of the Kagyu school. A tradition which feature a unique Mahāmudra approach to the ''Uttaratantra''. +
Tomoko Makidono received an MA in South Asian Area Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and an M. Litt. in Sanskrit Language and Literature from Kyoto University, Japan. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Hamburg under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dorji Wangchuk. The tentative title of her PhD thesis is “A Contribution to the Understanding of the Practice Lineage in Indo-Tibetan Madhyamaka.” Her main research interests lie in the practice lineages (''sgrub brgyud'') of what is known as Madhyamaka of Extrinsic Emptiness (''gzhan stong dbu ma''), particularly as found in the writings of Kaḥ-thog-dge-rtse Mahāpaṇḍita (1761–1829). She is also interested in devotional forms of Buddhism in general, including the Buddhist concepts of Pure Land across South and East Asia. From September 2008 to September 2009 she conducted field research in Nepal, and since then went several times back for shorter periods of field research. ([https://www.kc-tbts.uni-hamburg.de/people/makidono.html Source Accessed Feb 18, 2020.]) +
A renowned Tibetan translator and lay Buddhist master who played an important role in the later transmission (''phyi dar'') of Buddhism from India to Tibet. He is regarded as the Tibetan founder of the Bka’ brgyud sect of Tibetan Buddhism, which traces its lineage to India and the mahāsiddhas Tilopa and Nāropa. In his traditional biographies, Mar pa is generally regarded as a reincarnation of the Indian mahāsiddha Dombī Heruka. Mar pa was born to wealthy landowners in the southern Tibetan region of Lho brag and quickly proved to be a gifted child. As an adult, Mar pa was characterized as having a volatile temper, although ultimately compassionate. His parents sent their son to study Sanskrit and Indian vernacular languages with the translator ’Brog mi Shākya ye shes in western Tibet. Because resources for studying Buddhism in Tibet were limited as the so-called dark period between the earlier dissemination (''snga dar'') and later dissemination (''phyi dar'') came to an end, Mar pa decided to make the harrowing journey to India to seek instruction from Buddhist masters. He would make three journeys there over the course of his life. He first spent three years in Nepal, acclimating to the new environment and continuing his study of local languages. There he met two Nepalese teachers, Chitherpa and Paiṇḍapa, who offered many religious instructions but also encouraged Mar pa to seek out the master who would become his chief guru, the great siddha Nāropa. (Source: "Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 533. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
A contemporary and student of the illustrious Tibetan masters Rongzom and Marpa the translator, Marpa Dopa traveled south to Nepal and India where he studied under numerous prominent Indian scholars and yogis of the time. He is mostly remembered for his translations of tantric works and, in particular, for the lineages of Cakrasaṃvara and Vajrayoginī that he brought back to Tibet and spread among his students. +
Klaus-Dieter Mathes is a professor of Buddhist studies at the University of Hong Kong. His current research deals with exclusivism, inclusivism, and tolerance in Mahāyāna Buddhism. He obtained his Ph.D. from Marburg University in 1994 with a study of the Yogācāra text Dharmadharmatāvibhāga (published in 1996 in the series Indica et Tibetica). From 1993 to 2001 he served as the director of the Nepal Research Centre and the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project in Kathmandu. Before joining the University of Hong Kong in August 2023 he was the head of the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna, where with his team he hosted the 2014 conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. He has organized and given presentations at many other conferences and symposiums, and has served as the chairman of the board of trustees of the Numata Professional Chair for Buddhist Studies, University of Vienna.
His major publications include A Direct Path to the Buddha Within: Gö Lotsāwa's Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga (Wisdom, 2008), A Fine Blend of Mahāmudrā and Madhyamaka: Maitrīpa's Collection of Texts on Non-conceptual Realization (Amanasikāra) (Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2015), and Maitrīpa: India's Yogi of Nondual Bliss (Shambhala, 2021). He is also a regular contributor to the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, and is the co-editor of the Vienna Series for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies. +
Yeshe Dorje (born fourteenth century) from Minyak in Kham was a student of the Karma Kamtsang master Mase Tönpa Rinchen Zangpo (1317–1383), the second Gangkar Lama. The latter is known as one of "the five learned ones from Minyak" and was a student of the Third and Fourth Karmapas, Dölpopa, Butön, and several Kadampa masters. (Adapted from ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'', p. 309) +
Khenpo Gangshar Wangpo (Tib. མཁན་པོ་གང་ཤར་དབང་པོ་, Wyl. mkhan po gang shar dbang po) (b. 1925) - a renowned master of the 'crazy wisdom' approach, who was connected with Shechen Monastery. He was the root teacher of both [[Chögyam Trungpa]] and [[Thrangu Rinpoche]], and also one of [[Dezhung Rinpoche]]'s teachers. For a while it was thought that he died in prison between 1958 and 196, but it has also been reported that he in fact survived 22 years of imprisonment, and passed away in 1980/1, before any of his former students could contact him. His writings include: ''A Song to Introduce the Unmistaken View of the Great Perfection'', ''Naturally Liberating Whatever You Meet: Instructions to Guide You on the Profound Path'', and ''Vomiting Gold''. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Khenpo_Gangshar Source Accessed July 28, 2020]) +
An Indian paṇḍita who was resident in Tibet during the late eighth and early ninth centuries. His name not only appears as the translator of the ''Lalitavistarasūtra'' but on other texts such as the ''Tathāgatācintyaguhyanirdeśasūtra'' (''The Teaching on the Unfathomable Secrets of the Tathāgatas'') and the ''Tathāgatajñānamudrāsamādhisūtra'' (''The Sūtra on the Samādhi That Is the Seal of the Gnosis of the Tathāgatas''). +
Nanyang Huizhong. (J. Nan'yō Echū; K. Namyang Hyech'ung 南陽慧忠) (675?—775). Chinese Chan master of the Tang dynasty; a native of Yuezhou in present-day Zhejiang province. He is said to have studied under the sixth patriarch (Liuzu) Huineng (638–713) as a youth and to have eventually become one of his dharma successors. After Huineng’s death, Nanyang led an itinerant life, traveling from one monastery to the next until he settled down on Mt. Baiya in Nanyang (present-day Henan province), whence he acquired his toponym. He is said to have remained in seclusion on the mountain for some forty years. In 761, he was invited to the palace by Emperor Suzong (r. 756–762), who honored Nanyang as his teacher. He took up residence at the monastery of Qianfusi, but later moved to Guangzhaisi at the request of Emperor Daizong (r. 762–779). Nanyang later established the monasteries of Yanchangsi and Changshousi and installed a copy of the Buddhist canon (Dazangjing) at each site. Juizong [''sic''] lived during a period of great efflorescence in the Chan school, but he was not closely identified with any one school. He is, however, said to have been critical of the teachings of the Chan master Mazu Daoyi (709–788) and other Hongzhou zong teachers in Sichuan in the south of China, who rejected the authority of the traditional Buddhist scriptures; he is also said to have criticized the Hongzhou interpretation of "mind is buddha" as being akin to the Śreṇika heresy, in which the body is simply an impermanent vessel for an eternal mind or soul. The notion that "inanimate objects can preach the dharma" (wujing shuofa) is also attributed to Nanyang. ("Nanyang Huizhong." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 572–73. Princeton University Press, 2014) +
Celebrated contemporary Sakya scholar who held the office of abbot of Dzongsar Monastery. A brief biography can be found in his obituary published [https://khyentsefoundation.org/project/part-x-khenpo-kunga-wangchuk/ here], and a short video tribute can be watched [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDLFFlEDIyY here]. +
Tsoknyi Gyatso [was] a scholar of the Jonang tradition who was considered an incarnation of one of Dolpopa’s major disciples, Nyawon Kunga Pal (1285-1364) . . . Tsoknyi Gyatso’s writings are not only intriguing and perplexing because they present a specific species of zhentong, but they are important because they disclose to us the intentional workings of a major Jonang scholar during a fascinating period in far eastern Tibetan history. As a disciple of the great Jonang master from Dzamthang, Bamda Thubten Gelek Gyatso (1844-1904), Tsoknyi Gyatso was undoubtedly exposed to a rich nexus of views. Having lived at the crossroads of intellectual exchange during the height of the Rimé eclectic movement in Kham, Bamda Gelek studied with masters including Jamgon Kongtrul (1813-1899), Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820-1892), Dza Patrul (1808-1887) and his Geluk teacher Akon. With these mentors close to his own teacher’s heart, it is safe to infer that Tsoknyi Gyatso was not only versed in the mainstream zhentong works of his own tradition from authors such as Dolpopa and Taranatha, but that he most likely inherited ways of thinking through alternative presentations of emptiness. ([https://jonangfoundation.org/blog/tsoknyi-gyatso-zhentong Source Accessed October 23, 2019]) +
Nāgārjuna was the c. 2nd century founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy. He is eulogized in the Tibetan tradition as one of the group of great Indian scholars known as the Six Ornaments, though he is equally renown in the Chinese and other East Asian Buddhist traditions. He was the first major Mahāyāna philosopher and his ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' became the standard exposition for the Mahāyāna view of emptiness (''śūnyatā'') as presented in the ''Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras''. +
An Indian scholar and tantric master who holds an important place in the lineages of tantric Buddhism in Tibet. According to his traditional biography, Nāropa was a brāhmana born in Bengal, who traveled to Kashmir as a child. He was forced to marry at the age of seventeen, but the marriage ended by mutual consent after eight years. According to some sources, Nāropa’s wife (or sister according to other sources) was Niguma, who became a famous tantric yoginī. Nāropa was ordained as a Buddhist monk, entering Nālandā monastery in 1049. His talents as a scholar eventually led him to be selected to serve as abbot and as a senior instructor known by the name Abhayakīrti. In 1057, while at the monastery, he encountered an old hag (in reality a ḍākinī), who told him that he had understood the words of the texts he had studied but not their inner meaning. She urged him to go in search of her brother Tilopa. As a result of this encounter, Nāropa left the monastery to find Tilopa and become his disciple. Over the course of his journey, he encountered Tilopa in various forms but was unable to recognize him. Tilopa eventually revealed himself to Nāropa, subjecting him to a famous series of twelve greater and twelve lesser trials, involving serious physical injury and mental anguish. Tilopa eventually transferred his realization to Nāropa by striking him on the head with his shoe. Nāropa later compiled Tilopa’s instructions and transmitted them to his own disciples. (Source: "Nāropa." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 576. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Along with Trisong Detsen and Shantarakshita, Padmasambhava is considered one of the principal early teachers to bring Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century, Padmasambhava has numerous forms representing outer, inner and secret aspects of his spiritual being. He is also known by many different names which generally follow chronologically his life story. Aside from Trisong Detsen and Shantarakshita, the most important figures to interact with Padmasambhava were his principle Tibetan consort Yeshe Tsogyal and the principal Twenty-five Disciples. There are various Padmasambhava Number Sets which help to organize the important topics and essential subjects of his life and chronological sequence of important events, along with grouping the various sub-sets of important disciples. An 18th century curiosity is the inclusion of Padmasambhava as one of the pre-incarnations in the line of Panchen Lamas.
Concerning the life story of Padmasambhava there are at least four different versions of his birth and early childhood. Within the Oral (Kama) Tradition of the Nyingma School, Padmasambhava was born in Northern India as the son of a king, or minister. In the Revealed Treasure (Terma) Tradition he was born on a lotus in Dhanakosha lake, in the country of Oddiyana, as an emanation of Lokeshvara and the Buddha Amitabha. The Treasure King, Dorje Lingpa, revealed a number of Buddhist and Bon treasure texts where the Bon explain a completely different narrative of the life story and have Padmasambhava born in Tibet. There is also some evidence to suggest that Padmasambhava came from South India and that he was the brother-in-law of the Indian Abbott Shantarakshita, founder of Samye, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet. ([https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=100 Source Accessed Jan 21, 2020]) +
