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From Buddha-Nature
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The 14th Shamarpa, Mipham Chokyi Lodro, passed away aged 61 on 11th June 2014.<br>
'''February 15, 2020: Karmapas Work Together to Identify Reincarnated Lama: <br>[https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/karmapas-work-together/ Tricycle Magazine Reports]'''
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Mipham Chökyi Lodrö was born in Derge, Tibet. At the age of four he was recognized by the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpei Dorje as the 14th Shamarpa reincarnation. Upon the Karmapa's request the Tibetan Government withdrew its one hundred and fifty nine year old ban of the Shamarpas.
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Shamar Rimpoche remained with the 16th Karmapa until his death in 1981. He received the entire cycle of Kagyu teachings from the 16th Karmapa. Since the 16th Karmapa’s death in 1981, Shamar Rimpoche has devoted his efforts to the many projects initiated by the late 16th Karmapa. He has completed the reprinting of the “Tengyur” a body of two hundred and fourteen volumes in which prominent Indian and Tibetan masters elucidate the teachings given by the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. Shamar Rimpoche also supports and offers guidance to Rumtek Monastery, the seat of H. H. the sixteenth Karmapa. He co-founded and brought into being the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute, New Delhi, India. The Institute currently offers courses in Buddhist studies for both monastic and lay students.<br>
([https://shamarpa.org/history/mipham-chokyi-lodro/ Source Accessed Dec 19, 2019])
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The Shamarpa and the Karmapa are spiritually inseparable, and are fellow holders of the 900 year old Karma Kagyu lineage, a tradition that precedes the Dalai Lama’s lineage by over 200 years. ([https://www.karmapa.org/karmapa-thaye-dorje-find-reincarnation-of-shamarpa/ Source Accessed May 2, 2020]) +
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Aaron K. Koseki received his PhD in Buddhist Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1977 under the supervision of Minoru Kiyota. His dissertation is entitled "Chi-tsang's Ta-ch'eng-hsüan-lun: The Two Truths and the Buddha-Nature." Some of his articles include: "Prajñāpāramitā and the Buddhahood of the Non-Sentient World: The San-Lun Assimilation of Buddha-Nature and Middle Path Doctrine," ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies'' 3/1 (1980), "Later Mādhyamika in China: Some Current Perspectives on the History of Chinese Prajñāpāramitā Thought," ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies'' 5/2 (1982), "Chi-tsang's ''Sheng-man pao-k'u'': The True Dharma Doctrine and the Bodhisattva Ideal," ''Philosophy East and West'' 34, no. 1, (1984), "The concept of practice in San Lun thought: Chi-tsang and the 'concurrent insight' of the Two Truths," ''Philosophy East and West'' 31, no. 4, (1981), and a review of Minoru Kiyota's book ''Shingon Buddhism: Theory and Practice'', ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies'' 1/2 (1979). +
Masao Abe is a leading Buddhist thinker who has spent many years furthering the work begun by D. T. Suzuki. He received his Ph.D. from Kyoto University after postgraduate studies at Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary. Abe has been a visiting professor at several major universities in the United States and has traveled widely in Europe and Asia as well. Author of ''Zen and Western Thought'', he has also contributed to the Macmillan Library of Philosophy and Religion series. ([https://www.shambhala.com/authors/a-f/masao-abe.html Source Accessed Nov 22, 2019]) +
Adam S. Pearcey is the founder-director of Lotsāwa House, a virtual library of translations from Tibetan. His publications include (as co-translator) Mind in Comfort and Ease by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Wisdom Publications, 2007); Ga Rabjampa’s ''To Dispel the Misery of the World'' (Wisdom Publications, 2012), which he translated at the suggestion of the late Khenchen Appey Rinpoche; and ''Beyond the Ordinary Mind: Dzogchen Advice from Rimé Masters'' (Snow Lion, 2018). A partial list of the many translations he has published online can be found [https://adamspearcey.com/translations/ here].
Adam first encountered Tibetan Buddhism in 1994 when he taught English at two monasteries near Darjeeling in India. He went on to study at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London; the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, where he also taught Tibetan and served as an interpreter; the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala; Oxford University, where he earned a Master’s degree in Oriental Studies; and again at SOAS, where he completed his PhD with a thesis entitled ''A Greater Perfection? Scholasticism, Comparativism and Issues of Sectarian Identity in Early 20th Century Writings on rDzogs-chen''.
In 2018 he was a senior teaching fellow at SOAS, lecturing on Buddhist philosophy and critical approaches to Buddhist Studies. ([https://adamspearcey.com/ Source Accessed Feb 10, 2020]) +
Marc Agate holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech, Atlanta (GA) and graduated from the École des Mines de Nantes in Computer Sciences. After working for a web services company for five years in Atlanta, he returned to France and joined the Dashang Rimay Community where he learned Tibetan and started to develop several multilingual lexicographic projects.
With his wife, he published a practical guide on Tibetan Kunye Massage. He also translated several sutras from Tibetan to French, as well as the ''Uttaratantra'' and its commentary by Asanga, and books 2, 3 and 4 of the ''Treasury of Knowledge'' by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye. Marc has joined BDRC to offer his expertise, and help preserve and spread Buddhist teachings around the world. ([https://www.tbrc.org/#!footer/community/people Source Accessed Oct 4, 2019]) +
Zahiruddln Ahmad was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia. He is the author of several books on Tibetan history, including ''China and Tibet, 1708-1959'' (Oxford University Press, 1960); ''Tibet and Ladakh: A History'' (Chatto & Windus, 1963); ''Sino-Tibetan Relations in the 17th Century'' (Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1970); ''Life of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Vol. IV, Part I'' (International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 1999); ''An introduction to Buddhist Philosophy in India and Tibet'' (International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 2007); ''The Song of the Queen of Spring'' (International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 2008); and ''The Historical Status of China in Tibet'' (Aditya Prakashan, 2012). He is also the author of numerous articles on Tibetan history and related subjects. +
Prof. Akira Saito is a faculty member at the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies in Tokyo Japan. He holds an M.A. from the University of Tokyo (1979) and received his Ph.D. from Australian National University (1985). His primary area of specialization is the History of Indian Buddhist Philosophy and Madhyamaka Studies. His teaching activities at ICPBC include: Reading Buddhist Studies in Foreign Languages; Inner Asian Buddhist Philology; Ph.D. Tutorials; and Special topics in Buddhist Studies. ([http://www.icabs.ac.jp/en/research/faculty/saito Adapted from Source Aug 3, 2020]) +
Lama Tsultrim Allione is founder and resident lama of Tara Mandala. She is author of ''Women of Wisdom'', ''Feeding Your Demons'', and ''Wisdom Rising: Journey into the Mandala of the Empowered Feminine''. Born in New England to an academic/publishing family, she traveled to India in her late teens and was ordained as a Buddhist nun at the age of 22 by H.H. the 16th Karmapa. She was the first American to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun in the Karma Kagyu lineage. After living in the Himalayan region for several years she returned her vows and became the mother of three, while continuing to study and practice Buddhism, particularly focusing on the lineage of Machig Labdron and Dzogchen teachings. In 1993, Lama Tsultrim founded Tara Mandala, a 700-acre center in southwest Colorado where an extraordinary three-story temple in the form of a mandala, dedicated to the sacred feminine in Buddhism has been constructed and consecrated. In 2007 while traveling in Tibet she was recognized as an emanation of Machig Labdron at the historic seat of Machig Zangri Khangmar by the resident lama. This recognition was confirmed by several other lamas, and in 2012 she was given the Machig Labdron empowerment by HH the 17th Karmapa. ([https://taramandala.secure.retreat.guru/teacher/tsultrim-allione/ Source Accessed July 15, 2020]) +
Orna Almogi studied Tibetology (major) and Religious Studies and Psychology (minors) at the University of Hamburg (MA 1998). She received her PhD in Tibetology from the same University in 2006 (doctoral thesis: “Rong-zom-pa’s Discourses on Traditional Buddhology: A Study on the Development of the Concept of Buddhahood with Special Reference to the Controversy Surrounding the Existence of Gnosis (ye shes: jñāna) at the Stage of a Buddha”). From 1999 until 2004 she had been working for the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP) and the Nepalese-German Manuscript Cataloguing Project (NGMCP), where she had been responsible for the Tibetan materials. From 2008 to 2011 she has been a member of the Researcher Group “Manuscript Cultures in Asia and Africa” with the subproject “The Manuscript Collections of the Ancient Tantras (rNying ma rgyud ’bum): An Examination of Variance.” From 2011 to 2015 she has been working at the “Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures” as the leader of the subproject “Doxographical Organisational Schemes in Manuscripts and Xylographs of the Collection of the Ancient Tantras.”<br> Since 2015 she has been involved in the “Academic Research Program Initiative” (ARPI). Since 2016 she is leading the project “A Canon in the Making: The History of the Formation, Production, and Transmission of the ''bsTan 'gyur'', the Corpus of Treatises in Tibetan Translation.” Her research interests extend to a number of areas connected with the Tibetan religio-philosophical traditions and Tibetan Buddhist literature, particularly that of the rNying-ma school. The primary focus of her research the past years has been the concept of Buddhahood in traditional Buddhist sources, early subclassifications of Madhyamaka, the ''rNying ma rgyud ’bum'', and the ''bsTan ʼgyur''. Another interest of her is the culture of the book in Tibet in all its variety, specifically in connection with the compilation and transmission of Buddhist literary collections, both in manuscripts and xylographs forms. ([https://www.kc-tbts.uni-hamburg.de/en/people/almogi.html Source Accessed Jul 14, 2020])
Buddhist émigré ācarya who played a major role in the introduction and translation of seminal Buddhist texts belonging to the esoteric tradition or mijiao. His birthplace is uncertain, but many sources allude to his ties to Central Asia. Accompanying his teacher Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra arrived in the Chinese capital of Chang'an in 720–1 and spent most of his career in that cosmopolitan city. In 741, following the death of his mentor, Amoghavajra made an excursion to India and Sri Lanka with the permission of the Tang-dynasty emperor and returned in 746 with new Buddhist texts, many of them esoteric scriptures. Amoghavajra's influence on the Tang court reached its peak when he was summoned by the emperor to construct an abhiṣeka, or consecration, altar on his behalf. Amoghavajra's activities in Chang'an were interrupted by the An Lushan rebellion (655–763), but after the rebellion was quelled, he returned to his work at the capital and established an inner chapel for homa rituals and abhiṣeka in the imperial palace. He was later honored by the emperor with the purple robe, the highest honor for a Buddhist monk and the rank of third degree. Along with Xuanzang, Amoghavajra was one of the most prolific translators and writers in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Among the many texts he translated into Chinese, especially important are the ''Sarvatathāgatasaṃgraha'' and the ''Bhadracarīpraṇidhāna''. (Source: "Amoghavajra." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 36. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Anders holds a Bachelors degree from Naropa University and joined the Centre for Buddhist Studies in 2006. At CBS Anders graduated with a BA in Buddhist Studies in 2010 and afterwards joined the MA program.
His thesis supervisor was Dr. Karin Meyers and the external reader was Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes from the University of Vienna, Austria.
Anders also secured a Tsadra foundation scholarship for his MA studies and recently took ordination. ([http://ryi-student-blog.blogspot.com/2012/12/congratulations-anders-bjonback.html Source Accessed Aug 12, 2020]) +
Ari Goldfield is a Buddhist teacher. He had the unique experience of being continuously in the training and service of his own teacher, Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, for eleven years. From 1998-2009, Ari served as Khenpo Rinpoche’s translator and secretary, accompanying Rinpoche on seven round-the-world teaching tours. Ari received extensive instruction from Rinpoche in Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and teaching methods, and meditated under Rinpoche’s guidance in numerous retreats. In 2006, Khenpo Rinpoche sent Ari on his own tour to teach philosophy, meditation, and yogic exercise in Europe, North America, and Asia. In 2007, Ari moved with Rinpoche to Seattle, where he served and helped care for him until Rinpoche moved back to Nepal in 2009. Ari now teaches in Rinpoche’s Karma Kagyu lineage, with the blessings of the head of the lineage, H.H. the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, and of Khenpo Rinpoche.
Ari is also a published translator and author of books, articles, and numerous songs of realization and texts on Buddhist philosophy and meditation. These include Khenpo Rinpoche’s books ''Stars of Wisdom'', ''The Sun of Wisdom'', and Rinpoche’s ''Song of the Eight Flashing Lances'' teaching, which appeared in ''The Best Buddhist Writing'' 2007. He is a contributing author of ''Freeing the Body, Freeing the Mind: Writings on the Connections Between Yoga and Buddhism''.
Ari studied Buddhist texts in Tibetan and Sanskrit at Buddhist monasteries in Nepal and India, and at the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in India. In addition to translating for Khenpo Rinpoche, he has also served as translator for H.H. Karmapa, Tenga Rinpoche, and many other Tibetan teachers. From 2007–11, Ari served as president of the Marpa Foundation, a nonprofit organization initiated by Khenpo Rinpoche that supports Buddhist translation, nunneries in Bhutan and Nepal, and other Buddhist activities. Ari holds a BA from Harvard College and a JD from Harvard Law School, both with honors. ([https://insightla.org/teacher/ari-goldfield-2/ Source Accessed July 22, 2020])
Arne Schelling studied Western and Chinese medicine in Germany and China and now works as a physician in Berlin. From 1995 to 2001 he worked to develop the Kagyu Centers Theksum Tashi Chöling in Hamburg and Kamalashila-Institute in Langenfeld, Germany. He frequently translates (from English to German) for masters of all the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, in Germany and Switzerland. In 2001 Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche appointed Arne as president of Siddhartha’s Intent Europe, and he later became a country representative for Khyentse Foundation in Germany. Since 2002 he has directed the film project "Heart Advice," which aims to preserve the essence of the teachings of Tibetan masters. He also gives instruction at several Buddhist centers in Germany. +
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold is the abbot and resident teacher of Zen Mountain Monastery and abbot of the Zen Center of New York City. He received dharma transmission from John Daido Loori Roshi in 1997. ([https://www.lionsroar.com/mind-is-buddha/ Source Accessed Nov 18, 2019]) +
Dan Arnold is a scholar of Indian Buddhist philosophy, which he engages in a constructive and comparative way. Considering Indian Buddhist philosophy as integral to the broader tradition of Indian philosophy, he has particularly focused on topics at issue among Buddhist schools of thought (chiefly, those centering on the works of Nāgārjuna and of Dharmakīrti), often considering these in conversation with critics from the orthodox Brahmanical school of Pūrva Mīmāṃsā. His first book – ''Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief: Epistemology in South Asian Philosophy of Religion'' (Columbia University Press, 2005) – won an American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion. His second book – ''Brains, Buddhas, and Believing: The Problem of Intentionality in Classical Buddhist and Cognitive-Scientific Philosophy of Mind'' (Columbia University Press, 2012) – centers on the contemporary philosophical category of intentionality, taken as useful in thinking through central issues in classical Buddhist epistemology and philosophy of mind. This book received the Toshihide Numata Book Prize in Buddhism, awarded by the Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is presently working on an anthology of Madhyamaka texts in translation, to appear in the series "Historical Sourcebooks in Classical Indian Thought." His essays have appeared in such journals as ''Philosophy East and West'', the ''Journal of Indian Philosophy'', ''Asian Philosophy'', the ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies'', the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', and ''Revue Internationale de Philosophie''. ([https://salc.uchicago.edu/daniel-arnold Source Accessed Jul 13, 2020]) +
Gyurme Avertin began his study of the Tibetan language in 1997. He spent two years following the Tibetan program at Langues’O University in Paris. He then went to Nepal in 1999 to study at the [[Rangjung Yeshe Institute]], before making his way to Bir in northern India, where he studied at Dzongsar Shedra. He regularly interprets for teachers visiting Rigpa centres and at the Rigpa Shedra East. (2014 Translation & Transmission Conference Program) +
Dr. Aviv is interested in Buddhist philosophy and intellectual history. He studies topics of intersections between early Buddhist Philosophy, especially of the Abhidharma and the Yogacara traditions, and contemporary philosophy. His interest includes topics such as philosophy of mind, cognitive science, ethics and contemplative practices. His intellectual history research focuses on religion in the modern period, especially the Buddhist renaissance in modern China. In addition, he is also interested in the way the Yogacara school was received and developed in pre-modern China. His current book project explores the role of Indian Buddhist philosophy in the formation of modern Chinese Buddhist thought. ([https://religion.columbian.gwu.edu/eyal-aviv Source Accessed June 8, 2023]) +
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Prabodh Chandra Bagchi (18 November 1898 – 19 January 1956) was one of the most notable Sino-Indologists of the 20th century. He was the third Upacharya (Vice-Chancellor) of Visva-Bharati University. He published a large number of books in English, French, and Bengali. His best known work that is still acclaimed as a classical work even today is ''India and China'', which was first published in 1944. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabodh_Chandra_Bagchi Source Accessed Jun 4, 2019]) +
Sir Harold Walter Bailey, FBA (16 December 1899–11 January 1996), who published as H. W. Bailey, was an eminent English scholar of Khotanese, Sanskrit, and the comparative study of Iranian languages.
Bailey has been described as one of the greatest Orientalists of the twentieth century. He was said to read more than 50 languages.
In 1929 Bailey began his doctoral dissertation, a translation with notes of the ''Greater Bundahishn'', a compendium of Zoroastrian writings in Middle Persian recorded in the Pahlavi scripts. He became the world's leading expert in the Khotanese dialect of the Saka language, the mediaeval Iranian language of the Kingdom of Khotan (modern Xinjiang). His initial motivation for the study of Khotanese was an interest in the possible connection with the ''Bundahishn''. He later passed his material on that work to Kaj Barr.
He was known for his immensely erudite lectures, and once confessed: "I have talked for ten and a half hours on the problem of one word without approaching the further problem of its meaning."
Bailey was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1944, and subsequently a member of the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Academies. He received honorary degrees from four universities including Oxford; served as president of Philological Society, the Royal Asiatic Society, the Society for Afghan Studies, and the Society of Mithraic Studies; and chaired the Anglo-Iranian Society and Ancient India and Iran Trust. He was knighted for services to Oriental studies in 1960. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Walter_Bailey Source Accessed Dec 6, 2019])
See complete biography in [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bailey-harold-walter-1 Encyclopædia Iranica] +
Baizhang Huaihai (Chinese: 百丈懷海; pinyin: Bǎizhàng Huáihái; Wade-Giles: Pai-chang Huai-hai; Japanese: Hyakujō Ekai) (720–814) was a Zen master during the Tang Dynasty. A native of Fuzhou, he was a dharma heir of Mazu Daoyi (Wade-Giles: Ma-tsu Tao-i).[1] Baizhang's students included Huangbo, Linji and Puhua.
Hagiographic depictions of Baizhang depict him as a radical and iconoclastic figure, but these narratives derive from at least a century and a half after his death and were developed and elaborated during the Song dynasty.[2] As Mario Poceski writes, the earliest strata of sources (such as the ''Baizhang guanglu'' 百丈廣錄 ) about this figure provide a "divergent image of Baizhang as a sophisticated teacher of doctrine, who is at ease with both the philosophical and contemplative aspects of Buddhism."[3] Poceski summarizes this figure thus:
:The image of Baizhang conveyed by the Tang-era sources is that of a learned and sagacious monk who is well versed in both the theoretical and contemplative aspects of medieval Chinese Buddhism. Here we encounter Baizhang as a teacher of a particular Chan brand of Buddhist doctrine, formulated in a manner and idiom that are unique to him and to the Hongzhou school as a whole. Nonetheless, he also comes across as someone who is cognizant of major intellectual trends in Tang Buddhism, as well as deeply steeped in canonical texts and traditions. His discourses are filled with scriptural quotations and allusions. He also often resorts to technical Buddhist vocabulary, of the kind one usually finds in the texts of philosophically oriented schools of Chinese Buddhism such as Huayan, Faxiang, and Tiantai. Here the primary mode in which Baizhang communicates his teachings is the public Chan sermon, presented in the ritual framework of “ascending the [Dharma] hall [to preach]” (''shangtang'').[4]
Regarding his teachings, Poceski notes:
:A central idea that infuses most of Baizhang’s sermons is the ineffability or indescribability of reality. Ultimate reality cannot be predicated in terms of conventional conceptual categories, as it transcends the familiar realm of words and ideas. Nonetheless, it can be approached or realized—as it truly is, without any accretions or distortions—as it manifests at all times and in all places. That is done by means of intuitive knowledge, whose cultivation is one of the cornerstones of Chan soteriology. Since the essence of reality cannot be captured or conveyed via the mediums of words and letters, according to Baizhang it is pointless to get stuck in dogmatic assertions, or to attach to a particular doctrine or practice. Like everything else, the various Chan (or more broadly Buddhist) teachings are empty of self-nature. They simply constitute expedient tools in an ongoing process of cultivating detachment and transcendence that supposedly free the mind of mistaken views and distorted ways of perceiving reality; to put it differently, they belong to the well-known Buddhist category of “skillful means” (''fangbian'', or upāya in Sanskrit). Holding on rigidly or fetishizing a particular text, viewpoint, or method of practice—even the most profound and potent ones—can turn out to be counterproductive, as it becomes a source of attachment that impedes spiritual progress. The perfection of the Chan path of practice and realization, therefore, does not involve the attainment of some particular ability or knowledge. Rather, in Baizhang’s text it is depicted as a process of letting go of all views and attachment that interfere with the innate human ability to know reality and experience spiritual freedom.[5]
One of his doctrinal innovations is what are called the “three propositions” (sanju), which are three distinct stages of spiritual realization or progressive ways of knowing:[6]
*Thoroughgoing detachment from all things and affairs
*Nonabiding in the state of detachment
*Letting go of even the subtlest vestiges of self-referential awareness or knowledge of having transcended detachment.
Baizhang's teachings and sayings have been translated by Thomas Cleary in ''Sayings and Doings of Pai-Chang''.[7] The Wild fox koan is attributed to Baizhang. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baizhang_Huaihai Source Accessed July 15, 2021])
Bardor Tulku Rinpoche was born in 1949 in Kham, East Tibet. At a very early age, he was recognized by His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa as the third incarnation of Terchen Barway Dorje.
When Rinpoche was a small child, with his family and his Dharma tutor he maintained a nomadic life style. Rinpoche was six when he left East Tibet in the company of his grandparents on a journey that took him first to Lhasa, then Tsurphu, and finally to Drikung where Rinpoche was to remain for a couple of years at the home of his grandparents.
After Rinpoche’s grandparents passed away, his parents and siblings joined him in Drikung. When the political and social conditions in Tibet worsened as a result of the Chinese Communist occupation, Rinpoche and his family—initially a party of thirteen—set out toward India over the Himalayas along with many other Tibetans who were also fleeing the fighting.
They traveled through Kongpo to Pema Ku. In Pema Ku, at the border of Tibet and India, as a result of the arduous journey, all Rinpoche’s family members died. When Rinpoche’s father—the last member of his family—died, Rinpoche left Pema Ku and continued on toward Assam with other refugees.
At the township known as Bomdila, where the borders of Tibet, Bhutan, and India meet, a bombing raid dispersed the group. Rinpoche and a young friend fled the attack and traveled westward, along the border of Bhutan and India, to Siliguri and eventually to Darjeeling. When they arrived in Darjeeling, His Holiness the 16th Karmapa was notified that Rinpoche had safely made his way out of Tibet. Filled with joy at the good news, His Holiness arranged for Rinpoche to be brought to Sikkim, and for Rinpoche’s friend to be taken care of.
Bardor Tulku Rinpoche was enthroned as a tulku at Rumtek Monastery when he was in his teens. It was also at Rumtek Monastery, under the tutelage of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, that Rinpoche’s formal training took place.
After completing many years of study and practice, Bardor Tulku Rinpoche accompanied the 16th Karmapa on his world tours in 1974 and 1976. In 1977, His Holiness asked Rinpoche to remain in Woodstock, New York, at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD). During his first two years at KTD, Rinpoche worked side-by-side with the staff to renovate and winterize the house and prepare for the last visit of His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa to the West. During that last visit, in 1980, His Holiness directed that his monastery and seat in North America be established at KTD, and he performed the formal investiture. After the groundbreaking ceremony in May of 1982, Bardor Rinpoche directed the construction activities and labored each day to build the monastery. When the construction of the shrine building was essentially completed in early 1990s, he assumed responsibilities as a teacher at KTD and its affiliate Karma Thegsum Chöling centers (KTCs).
In 2000, with a blessing from His Holiness the 17th Karmapa and His Eminence the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche, Bardor Tulku Rinpoche established Raktrul Foundation in order to help rebuild the Raktrul Monastery in Tibet and provide educational facilities for monks and the lay community. In 2003, Rinpoche established Kunzang Palchen Ling (KPL), a Tibetan Buddhist Center in Red Hook, New York. Based on nonsectarian principles, KPL offers Dharma teachings from all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and serves as a base for preserving and bringing to the West the terma teachings of Terchen Barway Dorje.
After working tirelessly for thirty-one years with the Venerable Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, the abbot of KTD, to firmly establish KTD and its affiliates in the United States, in October 2008, Bardor Tulku Rinpoche resigned from all his responsibilities at KTD. In August 2009, the KTD Board of Trustees issued an appreciation letter acknowledging Bardor Tulku Rinpoche’s role in the establishment KTD and its affiliates in North America.
Since he left KTD, Bardor Tulku Rinpoche has been directing the activities of Kunzang Palchen Ling, guiding Palchen Study Groups nationwide, overseeing translation projects of terma texts of Terchen Barway Dorje and the construction of the new facility at Kunzang Palchen Ling that is an implementation of his vision for KPL. Rinpoche also serves as an adviser for Dharma TV, an online Buddhist television project. [http://www.kunzang.org/biography/ Source Kunzang.org, Accessed January 27, 2022.]
David Landis Barnhill is the former Director of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. He is the translator of ''Basho's Journey: The Literary Prose of Matsuo Basho'' (2005), ''Basho's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Basho'' (2004), and the coeditor (with Roger S. Gottlieb) of ''Deep Ecology and World Religions: New Essays on Sacred Ground'' (2001), all published by SUNY Press. +
Richard Barron is a Canadian-born translator who specializes in the writings of Longchenpa. He has served as an interpreter for many lamas from all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including his first teacher, Kalu Rinpoche. He completed a traditional three-year retreat at Kagyu Ling in France and later became a close disciple of the late Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche. He was engaged in a long-term project to translate ''The Seven Treasuries'' of Longchenpa.
His other translations include ''Buddhahood Without Meditation'', ''The Autobiography of Jamgön Kongtrul: A Gem of Many Colors'', and ''A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage'' by Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche. ''The Autobiography of Jamgön Kongtrul'' was his first translation in the Tsadra Foundation Series published by Snow Lion Publications. +
Christian Bernert (MA) comes from Austria where he studied Tibetology at the University of Vienna until 2009. He embarked on the Buddhist path in 1999 under the guidance of Khenchen Amipa Rinpoche. Since 2001 he has been studying at IBA, where he currently works as language program coordinator and translator. Christian is a founding member of the Chödung Karmo Translation Group. ([https://conference.tsadra.org/past-event/the-2014-tt-conference/ Source Accessed Jul 20, 2020])
His dissertation was published as a book-length translation: ''Perfect or Perfected? Rongtön on Buddha-Nature: A Commentary on the Fourth Chapter of the Ratnagotravibhāga'' (v v.1.27-95[a]). Kathmandu: Vajra Books, 2018. +
Alexander Berzin (born 1944) grew up in New Jersey, USA. He began his study of Buddhism in 1962 at Rutgers and then Princeton Universities, and received his PhD in 1972 from Harvard University jointly between the Departments of Sanskrit and Indian Studies and Far Eastern Languages (Chinese). Inspired by the process through which Buddhism was transmitted from one Asian civilization to another and how it was translated and adopted, his focus has been, ever since, on bridging traditional Buddhist and modern Western cultures.
Dr. Berzin was resident in India for 29 years, first as a Fulbright Scholar and then with the Translation Bureau, which he helped to found, at the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives in Dharamsala. While in India, he furthered his studies with masters from all four Tibetan Buddhist traditions; however, his main teachers have been His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche, and Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey. Practicing under their supervision, he completed the major meditation retreats of the Gelug tradition.
For nine years, he was the principal interpreter for Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche, accompanying him on his foreign tours and training under him to be a Buddhist teacher in his own right. He has served as occasional interpreter for H.H. the Dalai Lama and has organized several international projects for him. These have included Tibetan medical aid for victims of the Chernobyl radiation disaster; preparation of basic Buddhist texts in colloquial Mongolian to help with the revival of Buddhism in Mongolia; and initiation of a Buddhist-Muslim dialogue in universities in the Islamic world.
Since 1980, Dr. Berzin has traveled the world, lecturing on Buddhism in universities and Buddhist centers in over 70 countries. He was one of the first to teach Buddhism in most of the communist world, throughout Latin America and large parts of Africa. Throughout his travels, he has consistently tried to demystify Buddhism and show the practical application of its teachings in daily life.
A prolific author and translator, Dr. Berzin has published 17 books, including Relating to a Spiritual Teacher, Taking the Kalachakra Initiation, Developing Balanced Sensitivity, and with H.H. the Dalai Lama, The Gelug-Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra.
At the end of 1998, Dr. Berzin returned to the West with about 30,000 pages of unpublished manuscripts of books, articles, and translations he had prepared, transcriptions of teachings of the great masters that he had translated, and notes from all the teachings he had received from these masters. Convinced of the benefit of this material for others and determined that it not be lost, he named it the “Berzin Archives” and settled in Berlin, Germany. There, with the encouragement of H. H. the Dalai Lama, he set out to make this vast material freely available to the world on the Internet, in as many languages as possible.
Thus, the Berzin Archives website went online in December 2001. It has expanded to include Dr. Berzin’s ongoing lectures and is now available in 21 languages. For many of them, especially the six Islamic world languages, it is the pioneering work in the field. The present version of the [https://studybuddhism.com/ website] is the next step in Dr. Berzin’s lifelong commitment to building a bridge between the traditional Buddhist and modern worlds. By guiding the teachings across the bridge and showing their relevance to modern life, his vision has been that they would help to bring emotional balance to the world.
([https://studybuddhism.com/en/dr-alexander-berzin Source Accessed Dec 4, 2019])
Click here for a list of Alexander Berzin's [https://studybuddhism.com/en/dr-alexander-berzin/published-works-of-dr-berzin publications]
Bhikkhu Anālayo was born in Germany in 1962 and ordained in Sri Lanka in 1995. In the year 2000 he completed a Ph.D. thesis on the ''Satipatthana-sutta'' at the University of Peradeniya (published by Windhorse in the UK). In the year 2007 he completed a habilitation research at the University of Marburg, in which he compared the ''Majjhima-nikaya'' discourses with their Chinese, Sanskrit, and Tibetan counterparts. At present, he is a member of the Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, University of Hamburg, as a professor, and works as a researcher at Dharma Drum Institue of Liberal Arts, Taiwan. Besides his academic activities, he regularly teaches meditation. ([https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/en/personen/analayo.html Source Accessed Nov 22, 2019])
* For a substantial list of Bhikkhu Anālayo's publications, visit his faculty page at the [https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/en/personen/analayo.html University of Hamburg] +
Associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University. He is a specialist on early Japanese Zen whose major work to date is Dōgen's Manuals of Zen Meditation, which was corecipient of the 1990 Hiromi Arisawa Memorial Award from the Association of American University Presses with the Japan Foundation. +
Helena Blankleder holds a degree in Modern Languages. She completed two three-year retreats at Chanteloube, France (1980-1985 and 1986-1989). She is a professional translator and a member of the Padmakara Translation Group, Dordogne, France. Helena has been a Tsadra Foundation Fellow since 2001. +
Mark Blum, Professor and Shinjo Ito Distinguished Chair in Japanese Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, received his M.A. in Japanese Literature from UCLA and his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies in 1990 from the University of California, Berkeley. He specializes in Pure Land Buddhism throughout East Asia, with a focus on the Japanese medieval period. He also works in the area of Japanese Buddhist reponses to modernism, Buddhist conceptions of death in China and Japan, historical consciousness in Buddhist thought, and the impact of the Nirvana Sutra (Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra) in East Asian Buddhism. He is the author of ''The Origins and Development of Pure Land Buddhism'' (2002), and co-editor of ''Rennyo and the Roots of Modern Japanese Buddhism'' (2005) and ''Cultivating Spirituality'' (2011), and his translation from Chinese of ''The Nirvana Sutra: Volume 1'' (2013). He is currently working on completing ''Think Buddha, Say Buddha: A History of Nenbutsu Thought, Practice, and Culture''. ([http://ealc.berkeley.edu/faculty/blum-mark Source Accessed May 31, 2019]) +
Born in Los Angeles, Jim grew up in Southern California. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of San Diego and continued to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he finished his MA and PhD under the direction of the Tibetan Buddhist scholar/practitioner Geshe Lhundub Sopa. His graduate studies focused on the work of the Indian teacher Śāntarakṣita.
Both in his career as Associate Professor in the School of History, Philosophy and Religion at Oregon State University and as Professor of Buddhist Studies at Maitripa College, Jim displayed the rare combination of deep commitment to teaching and rigorous engagement as a research scholar. Even more unusually, Jim was able to produce scholarly texts that were valued equally by the academy and by Buddhist communities. He published analytical and translation works on Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism based upon this research, including The Ornament of The Middle Way: A Study of the Madhyamaka Thought of Śāntarakṣita (2004) and Sixty Stanzas of Reasoning (2004). With Geshe Sopa, he completed a translation of the 4th Chapter of the ''Lamrim Chenmo'', and was pursuing the publication of a translation of Śāntarakṣita’s ''Madhyamakālaṃkāravṛtti''.
Jim was a strong advocate for institutions of higher education that strive to integrate the knowledge base of Buddhist philosophy with meditative practice and service to the community. In 2004, Jim invited Yangsi Rinpoche to Portland, Oregon to speak to interested persons. In 2005, Jim began working alongside Yangsi Rinpoche, Namdrol Adams, and Angie Garcia on the founding of Maitripa Institute, soon to become Maitripa College, which seeks to embody those ideals. . . .
His main teachers were His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Lhundub Sopa Rinpoche, Jangtse Choje Rinpoche, Choden Rinpoche, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Yangsi Rinpoche, and Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. ([https://maitripa.org/jim-blumenthal/ Source adapted from an obituary written by Namdrol Miranda Adams, Damcho Diana Finnegan, and Jim's wife, Tiffany)]
A renowned Indian translator and monk (to be distinguished from a subsequent Bodhiruci [s.v.] who was active in China two centuries later during the Tang dynasty). Bodhiruci left north India for Luoyang, the Northern Wei capital, in 508. He is said to have been well versed in the Tripiṭaka and talented at incantations. Bodhiruci stayed at the monastery of Yongningsi in Luoyang from 508 to 512 and with the help of Buddhaśānta (d.u.) and others translated over thirty Mahāyāna sūtras and treatises, most of which reflect the latest developments in Indian Mahāyāna, and especially Yogācāra. His translations include the ''Dharmasaṃgīti'', ''Shidijing lun'', ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'', ''Vajracchedikāprajñāpāramitāsūtra'', and the ''Wuliangshou jing youpotishe yuansheng ji'', attributed to Vasubandhu. Bodhiruci’s translation of the ''Shidijing lun'', otherwise known more simply as the ''Di lun'', fostered the formation of a group of Yogācāra specialists in China that later historians retroactively call the Di lun zong. According to a story in the ''Lidai fabao ji'', a jealous Bodhiruci, assisted by a monk from Shaolinsi on Songshan named Guangtong (also known as Huiguang, 468–537), is said to have attempted on numerous occasions to poison the founder of the Chan school, Bodhidharma, and eventually succeeded. Bodhiruci is also said to have played an instrumental role in converting the Chinese monk Tanluan from Daoist longevity practices to the pure land teachings of the ''Guan Wuliangshou jing''. (Source: "Bodhiruci." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 133. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
William M. Bodiford is a professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he teaches courses on religion in the cultures of Japan and East Asia, and Buddhist Studies. In addition to UCLA, he also has taught at Davidson College (Davidson, North Carolina), the University of Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa), Meiji Gakuin University (Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan), and ICU (International Christian University; Tokyo, Japan).
He received his Ph.D. from Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut) in the Department of Religious Studies, where he specialized in Buddhist Studies under the direction of Professor Stanley Weinstein. In addition to Yale, he also received graduate training at the Institute of Health and Sport Science (Taiiku Kagaku Kenkyuka), Tsukuba University (Tsukuba, Japan), where he studied the intellectual history of martial arts in Japan under the direction of Professor Watanabe Ichiro, and at the Graduate School of Buddhist Studies, Komazawa University (Tokyo, Japan), where he studied Asian Religions under the direction of Professors Kagamishima Genryu and Ishikawa Rikizan.
His research spans the medieval, early modern, and contemporary periods of Japanese history. Currently he is investigating religion during the Tokugawa period, especially those aspects of Japanese culture associated with manuscripts, printing, secrecy, education, and proselytizing. Although many of his publications focus on Zen Buddhism (especially Soto Zen), he also researches Tendai and Vinaya Buddhist traditions, Shinto, folklore and popular religions, as well as Japanese martial arts and traditional approaches to health and physical culture.
He is a member of the editorial boards of "Cursor Mundi: Viator Studies of the Medieval and Early Modern World" (UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies), "Studies in East Asian Buddhism" and "Classics in East Asian Buddhism" (Kuroda Institute). ([https://www.alc.ucla.edu/person/william-m-bodiford/ Source Accessed June 30, 2021])
(Chokle Namgyal) (1376-1451). The twenty-third abbot of Bo dong E monastery, founded in about 1049 by the Bka' gdams geshe (dge bshes) Mu dra pa chen po, and the founder of the Bo dong tradition. His collected works, said to number thirty-six titles, include his huge encyclopedic work ''De nyid 'dus pa'' ("Compendium of the Principles"); it alone runs to 137 volumes in the incomplete edition published by the Tibet House in Delhi. Phyogs las rnam rgyal (who is sometimes confused with Jo nang pa Phyogs las rnam rgyal who lived some fifty years earlier) was a teacher of Dge 'dun grub (retroactively named the first Dalai Lama) and Mkhas grub Dge legs dpal bzang, both students of Tsong kha pa. Among his disciples was the king of Gung thang, Lha dbang rgyal mtshan (1404–1463), whose daughter Chos kyi sgron me (1422–1455) became a nun after the death of her daughter and then the head of Bsam lding (Samding) monastery, which her father founded for her. The monastery is the only Tibetan monastery whose abbot is traditionally a woman; incarnations are said to be those of the goddess Vajravārāhī (T. Rdo rje phag mo), "Sow-Headed Goddess." (Source: "Bo dong Phyogs las rnam rgyal." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 139. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Tara Brach’s teachings blend Western psychology and Eastern spiritual practices, mindful attention to our inner life, and a full, compassionate engagement with our world. The result is a distinctive voice in Western Buddhism, one that offers a wise and caring approach to freeing ourselves and society from suffering.
As an undergraduate at Clark University, Tara pursued a double major in psychology and political science. During this time, while working as a grass roots organizer for tenants’ rights, she also began attending yoga classes and exploring Eastern approaches to inner transformation. After college, she lived for ten years in an ashram—a spiritual community—where she practiced and taught both yoga and concentrative meditation. When she left the ashram and attended her first Buddhist Insight Meditation retreat, led by Joseph Goldstein, she realized she was home. “I had found wisdom teachings and practices that train the heart and mind in unconditional and loving presence,” she explains. “I knew that this was a path of true freedom.”
Over the following years, Tara earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Fielding Institute, with a dissertation exploring meditation as a therapeutic modality in treating addiction. She went on to complete a five-year Buddhist teacher training program at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Working as both a psychotherapist and a meditation teacher, she found herself naturally blending these two powerful traditions—introducing meditation to her therapy clients and sharing western psychological insights with meditation students. This synthesis has evolved, in more recent years, into Tara’s groundbreaking work in training psychotherapists to integrate mindfulness strategies into their clinical work.
In 1998, Tara founded the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, DC (IMCW), which is now one of the largest and most dynamic non-residential meditation centers in the United States. She gives presentations, teaches classes, offers workshops, and leads silent meditation retreats at IMCW and at conferences and retreat centers in the United States and Europe. Tara’s podcast receives over 3 million downloads each month. Her themes reveal the possibility of emotional healing and spiritual awakening through mindful, loving awareness as well as the alleviation of suffering in the larger world by practicing compassion in action. She has fostered efforts to bring principles and practices of mindfulness to issues of racial injustice, equity and inclusivity; peace; environmental sustainability, as well as to prisons and schools.
She and Jack Kornfield lead the Awareness Training Institute (ATI) which offers online courses on mindfulness and compassion, as well as the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP).
In addition to numerous articles, videos, and hundreds of recorded talks, Tara is the author of the books ''Radical Acceptance'' (Bantam, 2003), ''True Refuge: Finding Peace & Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart'' (Bantam, 2013), ''Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of R.A.I.N.'' (Viking, 2019) and ''Trusting the Gold: Uncovering Your Natural Goodness'' (SoundsTrue, 6/2021). She has a son, Narayan, and lives in Great Falls, VA, with her husband, Jonathan Foust and their dog, kd. ([https://www.tarabrach.com/about/ Source Accessed Jan 19, 2022])
Filippo Brambilla is a PhD candidate at the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies of the University of Vienna. He is currently writing his dissertation on Tshogs gnyis rgya mtsho (1880–1940), a late Jo nang scholar whose philosophical works are characterized by a distinctive approach that reconciles typically rang stong positions with more orthodox Jo nang views. Filippo’s PhD thesis will include a complete edition and translation of Tshogs gnyis rgya mtsho’s Illuminating Light (''Rab gsal snang''). Recently, Filippo also started working as a researcher in the FWF funded project “Emptiness of Other (gZhan stong) in the Early Jo nang Tradition.” He holds a BA and an MA in Languages and Cultures of Eastern Asia, with specialization in Chinese language and culture, from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Filippo has also spent long periods of study and research in China and Eastern Tibet. (Source: [https://conference.tsadra.org/session/empty-of-true-existence-yet-full-of-qualities-tshogs-gnyis-rgya-mtsho-1880-1940-on-buddha-nature/ Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia]) +
David R. Brockman, Ph.D., is a nonresident scholar for the Baker Institute’s Religion and Public Policy Program. He is also an adjunct professor at both Texas Christian University and Southern Methodist University, where he teaches various courses in religion and religious studies.
From 2010 to 2012, Brockman served as the project director for the World Conference of Associations of Theological Institutions. He is the author several books, including “Dialectical Democracy through Christian Thought: Individualism, Relationalism, and American Politics” (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2013) and “No Longer the Same: Religious Others and the Liberation of Christian Theology” (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2011). His forthcoming publication, “Educating For Pluralism, or Against It? Lessons from Texas and Quebec on Teaching Religion in Public Schools,” will appear in Religion & Education.
Brockman holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Southern Methodist University. He received a Master of Theological Studies degree from the Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University and his bachelor’s degree in English and education from the University of Texas at Arlington. ([https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/david-r-brockman/ Source Accessed Nov 25, 2019]) +
Vicky Alvarez Bromley is an artist and illustrator based in the UK and Spain. She is inspired by her own inner world, connection with nature, glimpses of innocence and simplicity, human vulnerability and the mystical.
She loves to paint and draw expressive characters that reflect our feelings and emotions and also likes to add a touch of humour to her artwork! ([https://vickyalvarez.com/about-1 Adapted from Source Jan 19, 2022]) +
Brian Edward Brown was an undergraduate and graduate student of Thomas Berry at Fordham University where he earned his doctorate in the History of Religions, specializing in Buddhist thought. He subsequently earned his doctorate in law from New York University. Currently he is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Iona College, New Rochelle, N.Y. He is the co-founder of The Thomas Berry Forum for Ecological Dialogue at Iona as well as being one of the founding faculty of the Integral Environmental Studies major at Iona, a joint venture of the departments of biology, political science and religious studies. He is the author of two principal texts: ''The Buddha Nature: A Study of the Tathāgatagarbha and Ālayavijñāna'' (Motilal Banarsidass,1991, reprinted 1994, 2003, 2010), and ''Religion, Law and the Land: Native Americans and the Judicial Determination of Sacred Land'' (Westport, Greenwood Press, 1999). He is co-editor of ''Augustine and World Religions'' (Lexington Books, 2008). Among his other publications are articles which have addressed the ecological implications of the Buddhist and Native American tribal traditions, as well as the Earth jurisprudence of Thomas Berry. ([http://thomasberry.org/life-and-thought/past-award-recipients Adapted from Source Jul 20, 2020]) +
Born in Germany, Karl Brunnhölzl, M.D. was trained as a physician in Germany. He studied Tibetology, Buddhology, and Sanskrit at [[Hamburg University]]. He received training in Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy and practice at the Marpa Institute for Translators, founded by [[Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamsto Rinpoche]].
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[[The Foliage of Superior Insight|Ashé Journal Article]]
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[http://www.nalandabodhi.org/teachers/western-teachers/karl-brunnholzl.aspx Nalandabodhi teacher page]
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'''Brief Biography:'''
Karl was originally trained, and worked, as a physician. He took Buddhist refuge vows in 1984 and, in 1990, completed a five-year training in higher Buddhist philosophy at Kamalashila Institute, Germany, receiving the traditional Kagyü title of "dharma tutor" (Tib. skyor dpon). Since 1988, he received his Buddhist and Tibetan language training mainly at Marpa Institute For Translators in Kathmandu, Nepal (director: Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche) and also studied Tibetology, Buddhology, and Sanskrit at Hamburg University, Germany. Since 1989, Karl served as a translator, interpreter, and Buddhist teacher mainly in Europe, India, and Nepal. Since 1999, he has acted as one of the main translators and teachers at Nitartha Institute (director: Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche) in the USA, Canada, and Germany. In addition, he regularly taught at Gampo Abbey's Vidyadhara Institute from 2000-2007. He is the author of several books on Buddhism, such as The Center of the Sunlit Sky, Straight from the Heart, In Praise of Dharmadhātu, and Luminous Heart (all Snow Lion Publications).
Karl met Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 1986 during Rinpoche's first teaching tour through Europe, receiving extensive teachings as well as pratimoksha vows from him during the following years in both Europe and Nepal, and later also in Canada and the USA. He served as Rinpoche's personal translator during his teachings tours in Europe (particularly at Nitartha Institute in Germany) from 1999-2005. In 2005, he was appointed as one of five Western Nalandabodhi teachers and given the title "mitra."
In 2006, he moved to Seattle and works as a full-time Tibetan translator for Tsadra Foundation. Since his arrival in Seattle, Karl was instrumental in creating the new introductory NB Buddhism 100 Series, leads NB Study Path classes, presents weekend courses and open house talks at Nalanda West, offers selected teachings to the Vajrasattva and Mahamudra practice communities, and provides personal guidance as a PI. He also teaches weekend seminars and Nitartha Institute courses in NB centers in the US, Canada, and Mexico as well as other locations.
Within the Mitra Council, Karl is the current Dean until 2010 and is mainly supervising and revising the NB Study Path (which includes revising the Hinayana and Mahayana study path and creating a Vajrayana study path). While enthusiastic about all facets of the dharma, his main interests are the teachings on Mahamudra, Yogacara and Buddha Nature, and to make the essential teachings by the Karmapas and other major Kagyu lineage figures available to contemporary Western audiences. [http://www.nalandabodhi.org/teachers/western-teachers/karl-brunnholzl.aspx Source]
Buddhabhadra (佛馱跋陀羅, 359–429) means enlightenment worthy. Born in northern India, he was a descendent of King Amṛtodana, who was the youngest of the three uncles of Śākyamuni Buddha (circa 563–483 BCE). He renounced family life at age seventeen and became a monk. Studying hard, he mastered meditation and the Vinaya.
In 408, the tenth year of the Hongshi (弘始) years of the Later Qin Dynasty (後秦 or 姚秦, 384–417), one of the Sixteen Kingdoms (304–439), he went to its capital, Chang-an. The illustrious translator Kumārajīva (鳩摩羅什, 344–413) had arrived there in 401. However, Buddhabhadra did not like Kumārajīva’s students. Together with his own forty-some students, he went to the Lu Mountain (廬山, in present-day Jiangxi Province) and stayed with Master Huiyuan (慧遠, 334–416), the first patriarch of the Pure Land School of China.
In 415, the eleventh year of the Yixi (義熙) years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (東晉, 317–420), Buddhabhadra went south to its capital, Jiankong (建康), present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. He stayed at the Daochang Temple (道場寺) and began his translation work. Altogether, he translated from Sanskrit into Chinese thirteen texts in 125 fascicles. For example, texts 376 and 1425 were translated jointly by him and Faxian (法顯, circa 337–422). Text 376 (T12n0376) in 6 fascicles is the earliest of the three Chinese versions of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra; text 1425 (T22n1425) in 40 fascicles is the Chinese version of the Mahāsaṅghika Vinaya. Texts 278 and 666 were translated by him alone probably between years 418 and 421. Text 278 (T09n0278) is the 60-fascicle Chinese version of the Mahāvaipulya Sūtra of Buddha Adornment (Buddhāvataṁsaka-mahāvaipulya-sūtra); text 666 (T16n0666) in one fascicle is the first of the two extant Chinese versions of the Mahāvaipulya Sūtra of the Tathāgata Store.
In 429, the sixth year of the Yuanjia (元嘉) years of the Liu Song Dynasty (劉宋, 420–79), Buddhabhadra died, at age seventy-one. People called him the Indian Meditation Master. He is one of the eighteen exalted ones of the Lu Mountain. ([http://www.sutrasmantras.info/translators.html#kumarajiva Source Accessed Aug 19, 2021])
Anne Burchardi took refuge with Ven. Kalu Rinpoche in 1976.
In 1978 she became a student of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche and started her education as a Tibetan translator with him.
1978–1980 she was the secretary of Center for Tibetan Buddhism, Karma Drub Djy Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark.
1978-1979 she was secretary at The Ethnographical Department of The National Museum, Copenhagen.
In 1980 she became a member of The Translating Board of Kagyu Tekchen Shedra, International Educational Institute of Higher Learning, Bruxelles, Belgium.
She lived in Kathmandu from 1984–1992 and in 1986 she became Teacher at Marpa Institute for Translation, Kathmandu, Nepal. 1988–1991 she was secretary and course coordinator at Marpa Institute for Translation. From 1986 to 2015 she was interpreter for various Tibetan Lamas of the Kagyu, Nyingma, and Gelukpa lineages teaching Buddhism mainly in Europe and Asia, and occasionally in the USA and Canada.
1997–2002 she was Teaching Assistant in Tibetan Language Studies, at The Asian Insitute, University of Copenhagen.
1999–2015 she was Associate Professor in Tibetology, Department of Asian Studies, Institute of Cross Cultural & Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen.
1999-2007 she was Research Librarian and Curator, Tibetan Section, Department of Orientalia & Judaica, The Royal Library of Denmark, Copenhagen.
2000 She was Consultant for Tibet, International Development Partners, DANIDA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Lhasa and Denmark.
2001-2015 she was Lecturer on Buddhism and Tibetan Culture at The Public University, Copenhagen & Aarhus.
2002–2010 she was Researcher and Consultant at The Twinning Library Project, between The National Library of Bhutan, Thimphu and The Royal Library of Denmark, Copenhagen.
2004–2005 she was Visiting Professor at Deparmnet of Religion, Naropa University, Boulder, CO.
2005–2015 she was Lecturer on Buddhism at Pende Ling, Center for Tibetan Buddhism, Copenhagen.
2007–2015 she was Lecturer on Buddhist Studies, The Buddhist University, Pende Ling, Copenhagen.
2010 She was for Consultant for Liason Office of Denmark, Thimphu, Bhutan, DANIDA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Copenhagen.
2011-2013 She was a Culture Guide in Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet for Cramon Travels and for Kipling Travels.
2012–2020 She was a translator for the 84000 project.
(Source: Anne Burchardi Email, Jan 18, 2021.)
Robert E. Buswell Jr., Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies in the UCLA Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, is the Irving and Jean Stone Chair in Humanities at UCLA, and the founding director of the university’s Center for Buddhist Studies and Center for Korean Studies. From 2009-2011, he served concurrently as founding director of the Dongguk Institute for Buddhist Studies Research (Pulgyo Haksurwon) at Dongguk University in Seoul, Korea.<br> He is widely considered to be the premier Western scholar on Korean Buddhism and one of the top specialists on the East Asian Zen tradition. Buswell also served as editor-in-chief of the two-volume Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Macmillan Reference, 2004), and coeditor (with Donald S. Lopez, Jr.) of the [now published] one-million word [Princeton] Dictionary of Buddhism. In 2009, Buswell was awarded the Manhae Prize from the Chogye Order in recognition of his pioneering contributions to Korean Buddhist Studies in the West. Buswell was elected president of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) for 2008-2009, the first time a Koreanist or Buddhologist has ever held the position, and served as past-president and past-past-president in subsequent years. ([https://www.alc.ucla.edu/person/robert-e-buswell/ Source Accessed Nov 25 2019]) +
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José Ignacio Cabezón is XIVth Dalai Lama Professor of Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies, and former chair of the Religious Studies Department at UC Santa Barbara. He has published a dozen books and numerous articles related to Tibetan and Buddhist Studies including several translations. His most recent books include [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/sera-monastery/ ''Sera Monastery''] (Wisdom 2019), [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/sexuality-classical-south-asian-buddhism/ ''Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism''] (Wisdom 2017), [https://www.shambhala.com/the-just-king-14972.html ''The Just King''] (Snow Lion 2017), [https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199958603.001.0001/acprof-9780199958603 ''The Buddhist Doctrine and the Nine Vehicles''] (Oxford 2012), and [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/tibetan-ritual-9780195392821?q=Tibetan%20Ritual&lang=en&cc=us ''Tibetan Ritual''] (Oxford 2010). +
Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin, stands as a beacon of pioneering spirit, being the first American woman and the first of African Japanese descent to attain full ordination as a Nichiren priest. She holds the esteemed position of bishop for the Nichiren Shu Buddhist Order of North America, the first woman and westerner to do so. Her guidance emanates from Houston, where she leads as the principal teacher of Myoken-ji Temple. She is among the few westerners, specifically one of three, to undertake and complete the rigorous Aragyo [ascetic practice] at Saijo Inari in Okayama, Japan.
Passionate about bringing Buddhism beyond temple walls, Myokei Shonin actively supports three prison sanghas within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system. Her interfaith endeavors have seen her as a Fellow with Interfaith America, championing dialogue between Buddhists and Muslims in incarceration. Her roles extend to being a board member of Lion’s Roar Magazine and Dharma Relief 2: Healing Racial Trauma.
She's actively engaged in programs such as Healing Warrior Hearts, Texas for Heroes, The Gathering, and the International Western Dharma Teachers Gathering. Beyond these, her contributions span across various socio-religious platforms, underlining her commitment to spreading compassionate teachings. As a writer, her voice echoes through publications in Lion’s Roar and Tricycle magazines, and she has made notable contributions to The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women. ([https://www.sfzc.org/teachers/myokei-caine-barrett Source Accessed April 25, 2024]) +
Elizabeth has been engaged in contemplative training and Tibetan Buddhist studies for more than 35 years. A Tsadra Fellow since 2002, she has engaged in both written translation and oral interpretation including working closely with Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso, as well as completing two three-year retreats at Kagyu Thubten Chöling, New York. Elizabeth specializes in translating texts related to mahāmudrā and esoteric tantric commentaries. Her most recent publication is Dakpo Tashi Namgyal’s ''Moonbeams of Mahāmudrā'' (''Phyag chen zla ba’i ‘od zer'') and the Ninth Karmapa’s ''Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance'' (''Ma rig mun sel''). Elizabeth is also the director of advanced study scholarships at Tsadra Foundation and is the executive director of [http://www.ktgrinpoche.org/marpa-network/marpa-foundation Marpa Foundation].
'''Current Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow:'''
*''The Treasury of Precious Instructions: Essential Teachings of the Eight Practice Lineages of the Tibetan Buddhism, Vol. 7 & 8'' – Marpa Kagyu Tradition, various authors collected by Jamgön Kongtrul.
'''Completed Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow:'''
*''The Treasury of Knowledge: Book VI, Part 3; Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy'', Jamgön Kongtrul
*''The Profound Inner Principles'', Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, with commentary by Jamgön Kongtrul
*''Moonbeams of Mahāmudrā'', Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, with ''Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance'' by Wangchuk Dorje, the Ninth Karmapa
'''Previously Published Translations:'''<br>
*''Mahamudra: Ocean of Definitive Meaning'', the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje [http://www.tsadra.org/translators/elizabeth-callahan/ Source: Tsadra.org] +
Radu Claudiu Canahai was born on January 21, 1971 in Salonta, Bihor County. He graduated from the Faculty of Geography at Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, class of 1997, with a bachelor's thesis on traditional occupations in Tei Beiusului. As an amateur, he is concerned with the theoretical and practical aspects of Eastern mystical traditions, Hellenistic astrology and its cultural metamorphoses, the history of the American West, the history of culture and civilization. He worked as a journalist for a local weekly. ([https://www.edituraherald.ro/autori/radu-claudiu-canahai Adapted from Source Dec 10, 2021]) +
John Canti is a Buddhist practitioner, translator, physician and the current Editorial Director of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. John first had contact with Buddhist teachers while studying medicine at Cambridge University in England, and started to practice under their guidance. In 1972, he met Dudjom Rinpoche, who became one of his three principal teachers. The others were Kangyur Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, both of whom he met soon afterwards.
In 1980 John undertook 2 consecutive three-year retreats retreats in the Dordogne, France, practicing under the guidance of Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Pema Wangyal Rinpoche, and Nyoshul Khenpo. Inspired by their teachers and with the aim of making some of the major works of Tibetan Buddhism available to Western readers, John and some of his fellow retreatants formed the Padmakara Translation Group, of which he is now president. He also had the honor of serving Dudjom Rinpoche as physician during his final years, and subsequently coordinated the medical care of other lamas and practitioners in India, Nepal, and Europe, as well as that of three-year retreatants in the Dordogne.
Still based in the Dordogne, he has continued his translation work with Padmakara, and for many years was also a Tsadra Foundation Fellow. In 2009, John was appointed Editorial Chair of the 84000 project by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. ([https://84000.co/public-talk-sunday-dec-15th-berlin/ Source Accessed Jan 15, 2020]) +
Patrick Carré holds a Masters and Ph.D. in Chinese (honorable mention), Paris VII. He completed a three-year retreat with Pema Wangyal Rinpoché from 1981–1983. He is a poet and author, the former director of the “Trésors du bouddhisme” collection at Éditions Fayard, and a member of Padmakara Translation Group. He has been a Tsadra Foundation Fellow since 2002.
'''Current Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow:'''
*''Le Trésor de précieuses qualitiés, Book II'', by Jigme Lingpa, commentary Kangyour Rinpoche
'''Completed Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow:'''
*''Une Lampe sur la chemin de la libération'', Dudjom Rinpoche
*''Soûtra de l’Entrée dans la dimension absolue, Gandavyuha sûtra''
*''Traité de la Continuité suprême du Grand Véhicule - Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, avec le commentaire de Jamgön Kongtrul Lodreu Thayé L'Incontestable Rugissement du lion''. Plazac: Éditions Padmakara, 2019
.
'''Previously Published Translations as a member of l’Association Padmakara, grantee of Tsadra Foundation:'''
*''Petites instructions essentielles'', Dudjom Rinpoche
*''Perles d’ambroisie'', (3 vols.), Kunzang Palden (with Christian Bruyat)
*''Bodhicaryavatara, La Marche vers l’Éveil'', Shantideva (with Christian Bruyat)
*''Les Stances fondamentales de la Voie médiane, Mûlamadhyamakakârikâ'', Nagarjuna
*''Le Trésor de précieuses qualités'', Jigmé Lingpa, commentary by Longchen Yéshé Dorjé Kangyour Rinpoche (with Gwénola le Serrec)
*''Le Lotus blanc, Explication détaillée de la Prière en Sept Vers de Gourou Rinpoche'', Mipham Namgyal (trans. Patrick Carré)
*''Les Cent conseils de Padampa Sangyé'', Dilgo Khyentse (trans. from English)
*''Mahasiddhas, La vie de 84 sages de l’Inde'', Abhayadatta (with Christian Bruyat)
*''Les Larmes du bodhisattva, Enseignements bouddhistes sur la consommation de chair animale'', Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol (from the English translation by Helena Blankleder and Wulstan Fletcher, trans. with Kim-Anh Lim and Vincent Horeau)
*''Au coeur de la compassion'', Gyalsé Thogmé Zangpo, commentary by Dilgo Khyentse (with Kim-Anh Lim
*Soûtra des Dix Terres: Dashabhûmika. Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 2004. ([http://www.tsadra.org/translators/patrick-carre/ Source Accessed Jan 29, 2020])
Sylvie Carteron is a translator of scholarly works into French. She has translated a number of books on the subjects of Buddhism and psychology and Tibetan Buddhism in particular. Her translations include ''Esprit Zen, Esprit Neuf'' by Shunryu Suzuki, ''Le Bouddhisme Tantrique du Tibet'', by John Blofeld, ''Transformation et guérison: Le Sutra des Quatre Établissements de l'attention'' by Thich Nhat Hanh, ''La médecine tibétaine bouddhique et sa psychiatrie'' by Terry Clifford, and ''Le Bouddha du Dolpo'' by Cyrus Stearns. +
An early supporter of Buddhism in America and the proponent of the "religion of science": a faith that claimed to be purified of all superstition and irrationality and that, in harmony with science, would bring about solutions to the world's problems. Carus was born in Ilsenberg in Harz, Germany. He immigrated to America in 1884, settling in LaSalle, Illinois, where he assumed the editorship of the Open Court Publishing Company. He attended the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 and became friends with several of the Buddhist delegates, including Dharmapāla and Shaku Sōen, who were among the first to promote his writing.Later, Shaku Sōen's student, Daisetz Teitaro Susuki, woudld spend eleven years working with and for Carus in LaSalle. In 1894, Carus published ''The Gospel of Buddha according to Old Records'', an anthology of passages from Buddhist texts drawn from contemporary translations in English, French, and German, making particular use of translations from the Pāli by Thomas W. Rhys Davids, as well as translations of the life of the Buddha from Chinese and Tibetan sources. Second only to Edwin Arnold's ''Light of Asia'' in intellectual influence at the time, ''The Gospel'' was arranged like the Bible, with numbered chapters and verses and a table at the end that listed parallel passages from the New Testament. ''The Gospel'' was intended to highlight the many agreements between Buddhism and Christianity, thereby bringing out "that nobler Christianity which aspires to the cosmic religion of universal truth." Carus was free in his manipulation of his sources, writing in the preface that he had rearranged, retranslated, and added emendations and elaborations in order to make them more accessible to a Western audience; for this reason, the translated sources are not always easy to trace back to the original literature. He also makes it clear in the preface that his ultimate goal is to lead his readers to the Religion of Science. He believed that both Buddhism and Christianity, when understood correctly, would point the way to the Religion of Science. Although remembered today for his ''Gospel'', Carus wrote some seventy books and more than a thousand articles. His books include studies of Goethe, Schiller, Kant, and Chinese thought. (Source: The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 2014, 168)
Honorary Professor, Department of Philosophy, Brock University, Canada +
Garma Chen-Chi Chang was Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at the Pennsylvania State University and a renowned Buddhist scholar. His books include ''The Buddhist Teaching of Totality'' and ''The Practice of Zen'', as well as his English translation of the Tibetan classic, ''The 100,000 Songs of Milarepa''. ([https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/0-271-00341-3.html Source Accessed May 20, 2021]) +
Christian Charrier holds a Masters degree in English and a diploma in psycholinguistics. He was a translator for Geshe Tengye in France, and he completed a three-year retreat under Lama Gendun Rinpoche in le Bost, France. He has been a translation consultant for Tsadra Foundation from 2002–2003 and has been a Tsadra Foundation Fellow since 2004.
'''Current Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow:'''<br>
*''Le Voyage et son but'', Jamgön Kongtrul
*''La pratique des tantras bouddhistes'', Jamgön Kongtrul
'''Completed Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow:'''<br>
*''Marpa, maître de Milarépa, sa vie, ses chants'', Tsang Nyeun Hérouka
*''Vie de Jamgœun Kongtrul, écrite par lui-même'', Jamgön Kongtrul
*''L’Ondée de sagesse, Chants de la lignée Kagyu'', Karmapa Mikyeu Dorje, Tènpai Nyinjé
*''Rayons de lune, Les étapes de la méditation du Mahamudra'', Dakpo Tashi Namgyal
*''Au Coeur du ciel Vol I and II'', Pawo Rinpoche, the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje (from the English translation by Karl Brunnhölzl – ''The Centre of the Sunlit Sky'')
*''Lumière de diamant'', de Dakpo Tashi Namgyal
*''Mémoires: La Vie et l’œuvre de Jamgön Kongtrul'', by Jamgön Kongtrul, new edition
*''Traité de la Continuité suprême du Grand Véhicule - Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, avec le commentaire de Jamgön Kongtrul Lodreu Thayé L'Incontestable Rugissement du lion''. Plazac: Éditions Padmakara, 2019.
*''Les Systèmes Philosophiques Bouddhistes'', Éditions Padmakara, 2020.
'''Previously Published Translations:'''<br>
*''Kalachakra'', Dalai Lama
*''La Roue aux lames acérées'', Dharmarakshita, commentary by Geshé Tengyé
*''La Voie progressive vers l’éveil'', Jé Tsong Khapa ([http://tsadra-wp.tsadra.org/translators/christian-charrier/ Source: Tsadra.org]) +
Shinge-shitsu Roko Sherry Chayat (born 1943) is the current abbot of the Zen Studies Society, based at the International Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji monastery, outside Livingston Manor, NY, and at the New York Zendo Shobo-Ji on the upper east side of Manhattan. She is also the abbot of the Zen Center of Syracuse Hoen-ji. Chayat is an advocate for the use of meditation in medical settings, with Hoen-ji running the program ''Well/Being Contemplative Practices for Healing'' for healthcare professionals. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherry_Chayat Source Accessed Nov 15, 2019]) +
Shuman Chen’s primary research is Chinese Tiantai Buddhist philosophy. Her secondary research interests include Chan/Zen Buddhism, Buddhist art, and Daoist philosophy. With a hermeneutic approach, her dissertation explores the idea of the Buddha-nature of insentient beings in the Chinese and Japanese Buddhist traditions, with a focus on the philosophy of Jingxi Zhanran in the Tang dynasty. Her dissertation also covers East Asian art with a discussion on how plants are portrayed as sages and why pagodas and relics might be considered sentient. From an environmental perspective, she also examines how to appreciate the insentient world’s Buddha-nature, hoping to increase our awareness of the mutual relationship between human beings and nature. ([https://sites.northwestern.edu/asgc/graduate-students/ Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020]) +
Shu-hui Jennifer Chen completed her doctorate in Buddhist studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998. According to her dissertation, her major advisor was Professor Gudrun Biihnemann. She also worked closely with Professor Minoru Kiyota, who introduced her to the topic of tathāgatagarbha. In addition, she also worked with Professor Tsai-fa Cheng, Professor Geshe Sopa, and Professor Muhammad Memon. +
François Chenique is a French essayist and author of studies on esotericism. He was a professor of computer science at Sciences-Po Paris and participated in the creation of one of the first computer management services within the Society of Pont-à-Mousson. He is a specialist in classical and modern logic and has written several books on this subject.
Chenique also held a doctorate in Religious Sciences from the University of Strasbourg. He devoted himself mainly to the study of Christian esotericism in the traditionalist tradition initiated by René Guénon. ([https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Chenique Source Accessed Oct 18, 2019]) +
Mario Poceski received both his MA (1995, Chinese Language and Culture) and PhD (2000, Buddhist Studies) at UCLA. His main research areas include Chinese Buddhist history, literature, and philosophy, with a focus on the Tang period (618–907). He also has research and teaching interests in medieval Chinese history, Chan/Zen Buddhism, Korean and Japanese Buddhism, monastic culture and institutions, religious pluralism, and globalization of Buddhism. He has published extensively, including four books: ''Introducing Chinese Religions'' (2009), ''Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism'' (2007), ''Manifestation of the Tathāgata: Buddhahood According to the Avatamsaka Sūtra'' (1993), and ''Sun-Face Buddha: The Teachings of Ma-tsu and the Hung-chou School of Ch'an'' (1993, 2000) (the latter two of which are published under the name, Cheng Chien Bhikshu). Dr. Poceski is currently Associate Professor in the Religion Department of University of Florida. ([https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/MarioPoceski.html Source Accessed Nov 23, 2020]) +
Ching Keng 耿晴 is Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan. His field of research is Yogâcāra and Tathāgatagarbha thought in India and China during the medieval period. He has been part of various research projects studying Dharmapāla’s ''Commentary on the Viṃśikā of Vasubandhu'' and Dharmapāla’s ''Commentary on the Ālambanaparīkṣā of Dignāga'', Wŏnch’uk’s ''Commentary on the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra'', and the development of the Three-Nature theory (''trisvabhāva-nirdeśa'') in Yogâcāra. Among his publications are: his PhD dissertation, entitled “Yogâcāra Buddhism Transmitted or Transformed? Paramârtha (499-569 CE) and His Chinese Disciples” (2009); and journal articles such as "A Fundamental Difficulty Embedded in the Soteriology of Tathāgatagarbha Thought? – An Investigation Focusing on the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' (2013), and "The Dharma-body as the Disclosure of Thusness: On the Characterization of the Dharma-body in the ''Nengduan jin’gang banruo boluomi jing shi''." (2014) (both written in Chinese). (Source: [https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Books/A_Distant_Mirror ''A Distant Mirror''], 530–31) +
Eun-su Cho (趙恩秀) is a professor of Buddhist Philosophy at Seoul National University in Korea. She received her Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of California and was an assistant professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan before she joined SNU in 2004. Her research interests include Indian Abhidharma Buddhism, Korean Buddhist thought, and women in Buddhism. She has written articles and book chapters, including "Wŏnch’ŭk’s Place in the East Asian Buddhist Tradition," "From Buddha’s Speech to Buddha’s Essence: Philosophical Discussions of Buddha-vacana in India and China," "Re-thinking Late 19thCentury Chosŏn Buddhist Society," and "The Uses and Abuses of Wŏnhyo and the ‘T’ong Pulgyo’ Narrative." Recently her article titled “Repentance as a Bodhisattva Practice—Wŏnhyo on Guilt and Moral Responsibility” was published in ''Philosophy East & West'' (2013). She co-translated the Jikji simgyeong into English, and edited a volume ''Korean Buddhist Nuns and Laywomen – Hidden Histories and Enduring Vitality'' (SUNY Press, 2011). She was the founding director of the International Center for Korean Studies at SNU in 2007-2008, had served as the chair of the Editorial Subcommittee of the MOWCAP (Asia/Pacific Regional Committee for the Memory of the World Program) of UNESCO in 2007-2009, and was the elected president of the Korean Society for Buddhist Studies (Bulgyohak yŏn’guhoe) from 2012-2014. ([https://snu-kr.academia.edu/EunsuCho Source Accessed Nov 27, 2019]) +
Khenpo David Karma Choephel studied Buddhist philosophy at the Vajra Vidya Institute in Namo Buddha, Nepal, and Sarnath, India. He currently serves as Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche’s main English-language translator, and also translates for the Gyalwang Karmapa and the Kagyu Monlam.
His published translations include ''Ngondro for Our Current Day'' by the Gyalwang Karmapa, ''Heart of the Dharma'' by Khenchen Trangu Rinpoche, ''Jewels from the Treasury, Vasubandhu’s Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma'', with commentary by the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje, all published by KTD Publications; and ''Vivid Awareness: The Mind Instructions of Khenpo Gangshar'' by Thrangu Rinpoche, published by Shambhala Publications. His most recent translation, ''The Torch of True Meaning: Instructions and the Practice Text for the Mahamudra Preliminaries'' by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye and the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje, was taught by the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, ''A Collection of Commentaries on The Four-Session Guru Yoga'', Compiled by the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, both published by KTD Publications. ([http://www.ktdpublications.com/david-karma-choephel/ Source Accessed Feb 12, 2020]) +
Potprecha Cholvijarn, also known as Achan Jak, holds a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Bristol, in the UK. He is the author of '''Nibbana as Self or not-Self: Some Contemporary Thai Discussions''', ‘Meditation Manual of King Taksin of Thonburi’ and ‘Ayutthaya period meditation manual from Wat Pradusongtham’. He is currently a special lecturer at the Thai Studies Centre, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University. (Personal Communication, March 28, 2022.) +
Ann Chávez is a long-time student of Geshe Lhundub Sopa. She helped translate ''The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems'' by Nyima Chökyi Thuken, an extensive survey of Buddhist and non-Buddhist philosophical system found in Asia. ([https://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/mandala-for-2013/january/like-a-waking-dream/ann-chavez/ Source Accessed June 19, 2020]) +
Khenmo Trinlay Chödron is a senior student of Khenchen Rinpoche. She teaches at the Tibetan Meditation Center in Fredrick, Maryland, as well as at affiliated centers in the United States and Sweden. ([https://www.shambhala.com/authors/a-f/khenmo-trinlay-chodron.html Source Accessed Sept 4 2020]) +
Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche is a world-renowned teacher and meditation master in the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in Tibet in 1951 as the oldest son of his mother Kunsang Dechen, a devoted Buddhist practitioner, and his father Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, an accomplished master of Buddhist meditation. As a young child, Chokyi Nyima—"Sun of the Dharma"—was recognized as the 7th incarnation of the Tibetan meditation master Gar Drubchen.
In 1959, following the Chinese occupation of Tibet, Rinpoche's family fled to India where Rinpoche spent his youth studying under some of Tibetan Buddhism’s most illustrious masters, such as His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, and his father, Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche.
In 1974, Rinpoche left India to join his parents in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he assisted them in establishing Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery. Upon its completion in 1976, H.H. the Karmapa enthroned Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche as the monastery's abbot. To this day, Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling remains the heart of Rinpoche’s ever-growing mandala of activity. (Source: [https://shedrub.org/about-us/ Shedrub.org]) +
Thomas Cleary passed away on June 20, 2021. https://www.shambhala.com/remembering-thomas-cleary
:Of his passing, renowned Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman wrote on Facebook:
::“There is no doubt in my mind that Thomas Cleary is the greatest translator of Buddhist texts from Chinese or Japanese into English of our generation, and that he will be so known by grateful Buddhist practitioners and scholars in future centuries. Single-handedly he has gone a long way toward building the beginnings of a Buddhist canon in English.”
Cleary became interested in Buddhism when he was a teenager; his researches into Buddhist thought began with a desire to learn during this time of his life. When he began translating, he chose either untranslated works or—as in the case of Sun Tzu's ''The Art of War''—books whose extant translations were "too limited".
Cleary earned a Ph.D in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University and a JD from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. Since completing his doctoral studies, Cleary has had little involvement with the academic world. In a rare interview, Cleary stated: "There is too much oppression in a university setting . . . I want to stay independent and reach those who want to learn directly through my books."
Cleary's brother Jonathon also completed his doctoral work in EALC at Harvard. The two brothers worked together to translate the koan collection ''The Blue Cliff Record''; Shambhala published the translation in 1977.
Thomas Cleary's most widely disseminated translation has been of Sun Tzu's ''The Art of War'' (''Sunzi Bingfa'').
He also translated the monumental ''Avatamsaka Sutra'' (also called ''Huayan Jing'', or the ''Flower Ornament Scripture'').
Another major translation was of the commentaries of the 18th century Taoist sage Liu Yiming, who explains the metaphoric coding of the main Taoist texts dealing with the transformation of consciousness, and the fusion of the human mind with the mind of Tao.
In 2000, Cleary's various translations of Taoist texts were collected into four volumes by Shambhala Publications as ''The Taoist Classics''. Following the success of these publications, a five-volume collection of Buddhist translations was collected as ''Classics of Buddhism and Zen''. Another translation from the Muslim wisdom tradition is ''Living and Dying with Grace''. In 1993 Cleary published a translation of Miyamoto Musashi's ''Book of Five Rings''. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cleary Source Accessed Sept 18, 2020])
Alan Cole is the author of a number of books in the field of Religious/Buddhist Studies, including ''Mothers and Sons in Chinese Buddhism'' (Stanford University Press 1998), ''Text as Father: Paternal Seductions in Early Mahayana Buddhist Literature'' (University of California Press 2005), ''Fathering Your Father: The Zen of Fabrication in Tang Buddhism'' (University of California Press 2009), ''Fetishizing Tradition: Desire and Reinvention in Buddhist and Christian Narratives'' (SUNY Press, 2015), and, most recently, ''Patriarchs on Paper: A Critical History of Medieval Chan Literature'' (University of California Press, 2016). He was Professor of Religious Studies at Lewis & Clark College from 2006–2012 and Visiting Professor of Philosophy at National University of Singapore from 2013–2014. ([https://independent.academia.edu/ColeAlan/CurriculumVitae Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020]) +
Dr. James William Coleman was born in Los Angeles and raised in the San Fernando Valley. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cal State Northridge (then called San Fernando Valley State College) and his master's and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His areas of specialization were criminology and the sociology of religion. . . .
His dissertation was an attempt to explain the process by which heroin addicts were able to give up drugs and change their lives, but his interest in criminology soon shifted to white collar crime. He first published ''The Criminal Elite: The Sociology of White Collar Crime'' in 1985, and it eventually went to six editions. His textbook, ''Social Problems'', which he originally co-authored with his dissertation advisor, Donald R. Cressey, and later with Harold R. Kerbo, Professor Emeritus, first came out in 1980 and had a total of 10 editions.
Later in his career, Coleman's interest turned back to the sociology of religion, and more specifically, to the amazing growth of Buddhism in the west. He published ''The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition'' in 1991, and continues to be involved with Buddhist theory and practice. He edited the talks of Reb Anderson Roshi into a booked entitled ''The Third Turning of the Wheel: The Wisdom of the Samdhnirmocana Sutra'', which was published in 2012. His latest book, ''The Buddha’s Dream of Liberation: Freedom, Emptiness and Awakened Nature'' came out in June 2017. ([https://socialsciences.calpoly.edu/newsletter-2017/coleman-retires Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020]) +
Steven Collins (1951-2018) was Chester D. Tripp Professor in the Humanities in the University of Chicago’s Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, and in the Divinity School’s History of Religions program. A world-renowned scholar of the Pali Buddhist traditions of south and southeast Asia, he contributed greatly to the University of Chicago’s unusual strength in Buddhist studies. ([https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/articles/memory-steven-collins Source Accessed Jan 17, 2020]) +
Paul Condon is an associate professor of psychology at Southern Oregon University. He has also served as a visiting lecturer for the Centre for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, and is a fellow of the Mind & Life Institute. His research examines the relational basis for empathy, compassion, wellbeing, and prosocial action, and the influence of compassion and mindfulness training on those capacities. His writing and teaching also explore the use of diverse scientific theories in dialogue with contemplative traditions to inform meditation practices of compassion, mindfulness, and wisdom. Paul teaches meditation practices adapted from the Tibetan Nyingma and Kagyu traditions for multi-faith and secular application. ([https://paulcondon.org/ Source Accessed April 25, 2024]) +
Edward Conze (1904-1979) was born in London and educated in Germany. He gained his Ph.D from Cologne University in 1928, and then studied Indian and European comparative philosophy at the Universities of Bonn and Hamburg. From 1933 until 1960 he lectured in psychology, philosophy and comparative religion at London and Oxford Universities. Between 1963 and 1973 he held a number of academic appointments in England, Germany and the USA, and was also a Visiting Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Lancaster, as well as Vice-President of the Buddhist Society. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Edward_Conze Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020]) +
Francis Dojun Cook was born and raised in a very small town in upstate New York in 1930. He was lucky to be an ordinary kid with ordinary parents. By means of true grit and luck, he managed to acquire several academic degrees and learn something about Buddhism. More luck in the form of a Fulbright Fellowship enabled him to study in Kyoto, Japan, for a year and a half, where he would have learned more had he not spent so much time admiring temple gardens. He now teaches Buddhism at the University of California, Riverside, and is director of translations at the Institute for Transcultural Studies in Los Angeles. He remains ordinary, but to his credit it can be said that he raised four good kids, has a great love for animals, and cooks pretty well. A sign that at last he is becoming more intelligent is that he became a student of Maezumi Roshi several years ago, the best thing he ever did. He is also the author of ''Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra'', and of various articles on Buddhism in scholarly journals. ([https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/francis-dojun-cook/ Source Accessed Mar 18, 2021]) +
Philippe Cornu (b. 1957) began studying Tibetan at the age of 18 and became a Buddhist in 1978. He was one of the first Rigpa students in France and has studied and practised Tibetan Buddhism with Dudjom Rinpoche, Sogyal Rinpoche, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, and other teachers of the Nyingma tradition.
Philippe is an author and translator from Tibetan into French of several books on the Nyingma school and Dzogchen. He has also devoted a large part of his career to teaching and transmitting Buddhist philosophy in French speaking universities such as the French National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO), and at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain), as well as in different Buddhist centres. He joined Rigpa's new Vision Board in 2019. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Philippe_Cornu Source Accessed June 10, 2021]) +
Jamie is a graduate student in Tibetan Studies at the Institute of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna, where he is currently completing his MA thesis on the life of Gö Lotsawa Shönu Pal. Jamie provides administrative support for the Translation Teams and is our source text researcher and catalogue curator.
Jamie’s research focuses mainly on the philosophical literature of Tibetan Buddhism, in particular the different Tibetan Madhyamaka interpretations, Tibetan biography writing, the Kadam teachings on mind training (blo sbyong), and experiential songs (mgur). He has also contributed to several translation projects, such as Study Buddhism (Berzin Archives) and 84000.
Jamie currently lives in Vienna, where he has found the ideal environment to spend his free time pursuing his interest in classical music and playing the double bass. ([https://www.khyentsevision.org/team/jamie-creek/ Source Accessed Sep 7, 2021]) +
Cuong Tu Nguyen received his PhD from Harvard University (specializing in Indian Buddhism). His works on Vietnamese Buddhism include "Rethinking Vietnamese Buddhist History: Is the ''Then Uyen Tap Anh'' a 'Transmission of the Lamp Text'?" "Tran Thai Tong and Khoa Hu Lue: A Study of Syncretic Ch'an in 13th Century Vietnam," and ''Zen in Medieval Vietnam: A Study and Translation of the Thien Uyen Tap Anh.'' With A. Charles Muller he co-edited ''Wonhyo's Philosophy of Mind'', Volume II, (University of Hawai'i Press). He is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at George Mason University. +
D
Daehaeng Kun Sunim (대행, 大行; 1927–2012) was a Korean Buddhist nun and Seon (禪) master. She taught monks as well as nuns, and helped to increase the participation of young people and men in Korean Buddhism. She made laypeople a particular focus of her efforts, and broke out of traditional models of spiritual practice, teaching so that anyone could practice, regardless of monastic status or gender. She was also a major force for the advancement of Bhikkunis (nuns), heavily supporting traditional nuns’ colleges as well as the modern Bhikkuni Council of Korea. The temple she founded, Hanmaum Seon Center, grew to have 15 branches in Korea, with another 10 branches in other countries. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daehaeng Source Accessed Nov 24, 2020]) +
Cortland J. Dahl received a Ph.D. in Mind, Brain and Contemplative Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and also completed an MA degree in Buddhist Studies and Tibetan language at Naropa University. He has worked as an instructor at Kathmandu University's Center for Buddhist Studies, located in Kathmandu, as well as an interpreter for various lamas, including Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. He currently serves as president of Tergar International and as a senior instructor in the Tergar Meditation Community. He lives with his wife and son in Madison, Wisconsin. +
Born in 1974, he joined the main Sakya Monastery in North India as a young boy and learned prayers and rituals. He also received empowerments, teachings, and training in the sūtra and tantric teachings in the Sakya tradition. In 1991, he joined Sakya College in Dehradun and pursued higher education in Buddhist Studies, after which he taught in the same college for some years. In 2002, according to the wishes of H.H. Sakya Trichen Rinpoche, he was appointed as the Sakya lecturer in the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies. He has served there as a lecturer for over 22 years and was conferred the Khenpo title by H.H. Sakya Trichen and his sons. He has regularly participated in conferences and seminars and has written articles on the wheel of Dharma, Sakya meditation practice, store consciousness, the luminous nature of the mind, the two truths, the view and Middle Way theory in the Sakya tradition, lower and higher abhidharma, bodhicitta, the twelve links of dependent origination, the four tenet systems, etc. +
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. He is the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born on 6 July 1935, to a farming family, in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo, northeastern Tibet. At the age of two, the child, then named Lhamo Dhondup, was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.
The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are realized beings inspired by a wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, who have vowed to be reborn in the world to help humanity. ([https://www.dalailama.com/the-dalai-lama/biography-and-daily-life/brief-biography Read more here . . .]) +
Born in Gasa in northern Bhutan, he became a monk at the age of 10 in a local Drukpa Kagyu monastery and learned prayers and rituals in the Drukpa Kagyu tradition. At 15, he joined Lekshey Jungney College in Punakha, and studied language, grammar, poetics, Middle Way, Perfection Studies, etc. under Dralop Lekshey Gyatso and others. In 2010, he entered Tago Buddhist University and finished years of higher Buddhist studies and went to India for further study. He spent five years in Sera Je Khenyen Monastery undertaking rigorous study and returned to Bhutan to continue his study for five more years at Tago Buddhist University. In 2021, he finished his studies and he currently serves as a lecturer at Tago Dorden Buddhist University. +
Dan Smyer Yü is Kuige Professor of Ethnology, School of Ethnology and Sociology and the National Centre for Borderlands Ethnic Studies in Southwest China at Yunnan University. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California at Davis in 2006. Prior to his current faculty appointment, he was the Founding Director of the Center for Trans-Himalayan Studies at Yunnan Minzu University, a Senior Researcher/Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, a core member of the Transregional Research Network (CETREN) at University of Göttingen, and a New Millennium Scholar at Minzu University of China, Beijing. He is the author of ''The Spread of Tibetan Buddhism in China: Charisma, Money, Enlightenment'' (Routledge 2011) and ''Mindscaping the Landscape of Tibet: Place, Memorability, Eco-aesthetics'' (De Gruyter 2015), and the co-editor of ''Religion and Ecological Sustainability in China'' (Routledge 2014) and ''Trans-Himalayan Borderlands: Livelihoods, Territorialities, Modernities'' (Amsterdam University Press 2017). His research interests are religion and ecology, environmental humanities, trans-Himalayan studies, sacred landscapes, climate change and mass migration, modern Tibetan studies, and comparative studies of Eurasian secularisms. His externally funded projects are "Trans-Himalayan Environmental Humanities" (ICIMOD), "India-China Corridor Project" (the Swedish Research Council), "Cultural and Ecological Diversity of the Trans-Himalayas in the Context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative" (National Social Sciences Foundation of China), and "Sustainable Lives in Scarred Landscapes: Heritage, Environment, and Violence in the China-Myanmar Jade Trade" (The British Academy Sustainable Development Program). ([https://www.issrnc.org/2020/06/04/meet-issrnc-board-member-dan-smyer-yu/ Source Accessed Aug 10, 2020]) +
Daosheng (Chinese: 道生; pinyin: Dàoshēng; Wade–Giles: Tao Sheng), or Zhu Daosheng (Chinese: 竺道生; Wade–Giles: Chu Tao-sheng), was an eminent Six Dynasties era Chinese Buddhist scholar. He is known for advocating the concepts of sudden enlightenment and the universality of the Buddha nature.
Born in Pengcheng, Daosheng left home to become a monk at eleven. He studied in Jiankang under Zhu Fatai, and later at Lushan (Mount Lu) monastery with Huiyuan, and from 405 or 406 under Kumārajīva in Chang'an, where he stayed for some two years perfecting his education. He became one of the foremost scholars of his time, counted among the "fifteen great disciples" of Kumārajīva.
Sengzhao reports that Daosheng assisted Kumārajīva in his translation of the ''Lotus Sutra'', Daosheng wrote commentaries on the ''Lotus Sutra'', the ''Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra'' and the ''Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra'' (the last of which has been lost). In 408, he returned to Lushan, and in 409 back to Jiankang, where he remained for some twenty years, staying at the Qingyuan Monastery (青园寺) from 419.
Daosheng controversially ascribed Buddha-nature to the icchantikas, based on his reading on a short version of the ''Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'', which in that short form appears to deny the Buddha-nature to icchantikas; the long version of the ''Nirvāṇa Sūtra'', however (not yet known to Daosheng), explicitly includes the icchantikas in the universality of the Buddha-nature. Daosheng's bold doctrine of including icchantikas within the purview of the Buddha-nature, even before that explicit teaching had actually been found in the long ''Nirvāṇa Sūtra'', led to the expulsion of Daosheng from the Buddhist community in 428 or 429, and he retreated to Lushan in 430.
With the availability of the long ''Nirvāṇa Sūtra'' after 430, through the translation of Dharmakshema, Daosheng was vindicated and praised for his insight. He remained in Lushan, composing his commentary on the ''Lotus Sūtra'' in 432, until his death in 434.
Daosheng's exegesis of the ''Nirvāṇa Sūtra'' had an enormous influence on interpretations of the Buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism that prepared the ground for the Chán school emerging in the 6th century.<br>([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daosheng Source Accessed Sept. 2 2020])
''Dates from The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton University Press, 2014)''
The late Geshe Lobsang Dargyay was trained at Drepung Monastery in Tibet. He got his doctorate in Buddhist and Tibetan Studies from the Ludwig Maximilians Universität and held teaching and research positions in Vienna, Hamburg, and Calgary. Geshe-la was the first Tibetan to receive a doctorate from a Western university. He passed away in 1994. ([https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/geshe-lobsang-dargyay/ Source Accessed Sept 23, 2020])
For a more complete biography, see [https://books.google.com/books?id=Xzc6AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT11&lpg=PT11&dq=Freedom+From+Extremes/In+Memoriam:+Geshe+Lobsang+Dargyay+(1935-94)by+Eva+Neumaier&source=bl&ots=a2vMqwcDeb&sig=ACfU3U1uAhLezrS11HGmbnKtWcEX30VAsQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi4m_PKy4jnAhUJGc0KHXxeDagQ6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Freedom%20From%20Extremes%2FIn%20Memoriam%3A%20Geshe%20Lobsang%20Dargyay%20(1935-94)by%20Eva%20Neumaier&f=false "In Memoriam: Geshe Lobsang Dargyay (1935–94)"] by Eva Neumaier, in ''Freedom from Extremes: Gorampa's "Distinguishing the Views" and the Polemics of Emptiness'' (Wisdom Publications, 2007), xi–xiv. +
Bret W. Davis is Professor and Thomas J. Higgins, S.J. Chair in Philosophy at Loyola University Maryland, where he teaches courses on Western, Asian, and cross-cultural philosophy. His research focuses on Japanese philosophy (esp. the Kyoto School and Zen Buddhism), on Continental philosophy (esp. Heidegger, phenomenology, and hermeneutics), and on issues in cross-cultural philosophy and comparative philosophy of religion.
Along with earning a Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University, he has studied and taught for more than a year in Germany and for more than a dozen years in Japan. In Japan, he studied Buddhist thought at Otani University, completed the coursework for a second Ph.D. in Japanese philosophy at Kyoto University, taught philosophy and related courses in Japanese at various universities, and practiced Zen Buddhism at Shōkokuji, one of the main Rinzai Zen training monasteries in Kyoto.
In addition to authoring more than 75 articles in English and Japanese, as well as translating many articles from Japanese and German, he is author of Heidegger and the Will: On the Way to Gelassenheit (Northwestern University Press, 2007); translator of Martin Heidegger’s Country Path Conversations (Indiana University Press, 2010, paperback edition 2016); editor of The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2020) and of Martin Heidegger: Key Concepts (Acumen, 2010, Routledge, 2014); coeditor with Fujita Masakatsu of Sekai no naka no Nihon no tetsugaku (Japanese Philosophy in the World) (Shōwadō, 2005); and coeditor with Brian Schroeder and Jason Wirth of Japanese and Continental Philosophy: Conversations with the Kyoto School (Indiana University Press, 2011) and of Engaging Dōgen’s Zen: The Philosophy of Practice as Awakening (Wisdom Publishing, 2017).
His current projects include a book manuscript on Zen Buddhism and another on the Kyoto School and interpersonal as well as intercultural dialogue. He was the Director of the 2017 Collegium Phaenomenologicum, is Associate Officer of The Comparative and Continental Philosophy Circle, serves on the board of directors of the Nishida Philosophy Association (Nishida tetsugakkai) as well as on the editorial boards of several journals and book series, and is coeditor of Indiana University Press’s series in World Philosophies. ([https://loyola.academia.edu/BretDavis Source Accessed Nov 25, 2019])
Khenpo Dawa Tsering was born in 1987 in Tichurong Drigung Gonpa in the Dolpo region of Nepal. At 11, he started learning Tibetan and in 2000 he met H.H. Senge Tenzin and joined Drigung Monastery in India. He received his novice ordination from H.H. Drigung Kyapgon Thinley Lhundrup and undertook monastic education. In 2005, he joined Kagyu Buddhist University and finished his education in common sciences and Buddhist Studies in general and Kagyu systems, including the Single Intent, Five Verse Mahāmudra, etc., in particular under Khenchen Koncho Gyaltsen, Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen, and H.H. Nubri Rinpoche. Since grade seven, he also taught language and grammar, and in 2014 he finished his education and taught at Samtenling Nunnery for eight years. In 2019, he was conferred the Khenpo title. He currently serves as the disciplinarian at Drigung Jangchubling Monastery. +
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff) is an American Buddhist monk of the Kammatthana (Thai Forest) Tradition. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1971 with a degree in European Intellectual History, he traveled to Thailand, where he studied meditation under Ajaan Fuang Jotiko, himself a student of the late Ajaan Lee. He ordained in 1976 and lived at Wat Dhammasathit, where he remained following his teacher's death in 1986. In 1991 he traveled to the hills of San Diego County, USA, where he helped Ajaan Suwat Suvaco establish Metta Forest Monastery (Wat Mettavanaram). He was made abbot of the Monastery in 1993. ([https://www.dhammatalks.org/index.html Source Accessed Aug 7, 2020]) +
Yasuo Deguchi is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at Kyoto University in Japan. His research interests include: Philosophy of Mathematical Sciences that include Probability Theory and Statistics, Scientific Realism, Philosophy of Computer Simulation and Chaos Studies, Kant’s Philosophy of Mathematics, Skolem’s Philosophy, and Analytic Asian Philosophy. ([http://www.philosophy.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/staff/deguchi/ Source Accessed Dec 2, 2019]) +
Paul Demiéville (13 September 1894 – 23 March 1979) was a Swiss-French sinologist and Orientalist known for his studies of the Dunhuang manuscripts and Buddhism and his translations of Chinese poetry, as well as for his 30-year tenure as co-editor of ''T'oung Pao''.
Demiéville was one of the foremost sinologists of the first half of the 20th century, and was known for his wide-ranging contributions to Chinese and Buddhist scholarship. His influence on Chinese scholarship in France was particularly profound, as he was the only major French sinologist to survive World War II.
Demiéville was one of the first sinologists to learn Japanese to augment their study of China: prior to the early 20th century, most scholars of China learned Manchu as their second scholarly language, but Demiéville's study of Japanese instead was soon followed by nearly every major sinologist since his day. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Demi%C3%A9ville Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020]) +
Mark Dennis is Associate Professor of Religion at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth Texas. He earned his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2006, focusing on early Japanese Buddhism. Before joining the Religion Department at TCU in 2007, he taught for four years at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. He has lived in Japan and India for eight years where he studied Buddhism and Hinduism, and has traveled widely in Asia. His research focuses on the reception history of Japanese Buddhist texts, looking particularly at notions of authorship, textuality, and canon. He has published a translation of the ''Shomangyo-gisho'', a Japanese Buddhist text written in classical Chinese and attributed to Japan’s Prince Shotoku (574–622 CE). He has also written articles looking at the reception of this text in various periods of Japanese history. One of these articles examines the different ways in which four medieval Japanese monks understood and used the text, while another considers modern representations of it in Japanese manga, or comic books. He has also coedited a volume of essays on Shusaku Endo's novel ''Silence'' that was published in 2014 by Bloomsbury-Continuum. ([https://www.rug.nl/research/centre-for-religious-studies/centre-religion-culture-asia/about/associate-fellows/textual Source Accessed Jun 6, 2019]) +
Dharmakṣema. (C. Tanwuchen; J. Donmusen; K. Tammuch'am 曇無讖 (385-433 CE). Indian Buddhist monk who was an early translator of Buddhist materials into Chinese. A scion of a brāhmaṇa family from India, Dharmakṣema became at the age of six a disciple of Dharmayaśas (C. Damoyeshe; J. Donmayasha) (d.u.), an Abhidharma specialist who later traveled to China c. 397–401 and translated the ''Śāriputrābhidharmaśāstra''. Possessed of both eloquence and intelligence, Dharmakṣema was broadly learned in both monastic and secular affairs and was well versed in mainstream Buddhist texts. After he met a meditation monk named "White Head" and had a fiery debate with him, Dharmakṣema recognized his superior expertise and ended up studying with him. The monk transmitted to him a text of the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'' written on bark, which prompted Dharmakṣema to embrace the Mahāyāna. Once he reached the age of twenty, Dharmakṣema was able to recite over two million words of Buddhist texts. He was also so skilled in casting spells that he earned the sobriquet "Great Divine Spell Master" (C. Dashenzhou shi). Carrying with him the first part of the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'' that he received from "White Head," he left India and arrived in the Kucha kingdom in Central Asia. As the people of Kucha mostly studied Hīnayāna and did not accept the Mahāyāna teachings, Dharmakṣema then moved to China and lived in the western outpost of Dunhuang for several years. Juqu Mengxun, the non-Chinese ruler of the Northern Liang dynasty (397–439 CE), eventually brought Dharmakṣema to his capital. After studying the Chinese language for three years and learning how to translate Sanskrit texts orally into Chinese, Dharmakṣema engaged there in a series of translation projects under Juqu Mengxun's patronage. With the assistance of Chinese monks, such as Daolang and Huigao, Dharmakṣema produced a number of influential Chinese translations, including the ''Dabanniepan jing'' (S. ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra''; in forty rolls), the longest recension of the sūtra extant in any language; the ''Jinguangming jing'' ("Sūtra of Golden Light"; S. ''Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra''; in four rolls); and the ''Pusa dichi jing'' (S. ''Bodhisattvabhūmisūtra''; in ten rolls). He is also said to have made the first Chinese translation of the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'' (C. ''Ru Lengqie jing'', but his rendering had dropped out of circulation at least by 730 CE, when the Tang Buddhist cataloguer Zhisheng (700–786 CE) compiled the Kaiyuan Shijiao Lu. The Northern Wei ruler Tuoba Tao, a rival of Juqu Mengxun's, admired Dharmakṣema's esoteric expertise and requested that the Northern Liang ruler send the Indian monk to his country. Fearing that his rival might seek to employ Dharmakṣema's esoteric expertise against him, Juqu Mengxun had the monk assassinated at the age of forty-nine. Dharmakṣema's translation of Indian Buddhist texts into Chinese had a significant impact on Chinese Buddhism; in particular, the doctrine that all beings have the buddha-nature (''foxing''), a teaching appearing in Dharmakṣema's translation of the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'', exerted tremendous influence on the development of Chinese Buddhist thought. (Source: "Dharmakṣema." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 247–48. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Dharmamitra ［曇摩蜜多・曇無蜜多］ (356–442) (Skt; Jpn Dommamitta or Dommumitta): A monk from Kashmir in ancient India who translated Buddhist sutras into Chinese. He entered the Buddhist Order while young and traveled through various kingdoms to pursue study of the sutras. He dedicated himself to the practice of meditation and, passing through Kucha and Tun-huang, went to China in 424, where he exhorted people to practice meditation. In 433 he went to Chien-k’ang, the capital of the Liu Sung dynasty, and in 435 founded Ting-lin-shang-ssu temple, where he lived. He converted the empress and crown prince of the Liu Sung dynasty. His works include ''The Secret Essentials of Meditation'' and Chinese translations of the ''Universal Worthy Sutra'' and the ''Meditation on Bodhisattva Space Treasury Sutra''. ([https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/D/55 Source Accessed July 15, 2021]) +
Bhikshu Dharmamitra (ordination name "Heng Shou" - 釋恆授) is a Chinese-tradition translator-monk and one of the earliest American disciples (since 1968) of the late Guiyang Ch'an patriarch, Dharma teacher, and pioneer of Buddhism in the West, the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua (宣化上人). He has a total of 34 years in robes during two periods as a monastic (1969‒1975 & 1991 to the present). Dharmamitra's principal educational foundations as a translator of Sino-Buddhist Classical Chinese lie in four years of intensive monastic training and Chinese-language study of classic Mahāyāna texts in a small-group setting under Master Hsuan Hua (1968-1972), undergraduate Chinese language study at Portland State University, a year of intensive one-on-one Classical Chinese study at the Fu Jen University Language Center near Taipei, two years of course work at the University of Washington's Department of Asian Languages and Literature (1988-90), and an additional three years of auditing graduate courses and seminars in Classical Chinese readings, again at UW's Department of Asian Languages and Literature. Since taking robes again under Master Hua in 1991, Dharmamitra has devoted his energies primarily to study and translation of classic Mahāyāna texts with a special interest in works by rya Nāgārjuna and related authors. To date, he has translated more than fifteen important texts comprising approximately 150 fascicles, including most recently the 80-fascicle Avataṃsaka Sūtra (the "Flower Adornment Sutra"), Nāgārjuna's 17-fascicle Daśabhūmika Vibhāṣā ("Treatise on the Ten Grounds"), and the Daśabhūmika Sūtra (the "Ten Grounds Sutra") . . . ([https://www.alibris.com/search/books/author/Bhikshu-Dharmamitra# Source Accessed July 15, 2021]) +
Vorenkamp, a member of the Lawrence religious studies department since 1997, specializes in Asian religions, especially Buddhism. His teaching was recognized with the Lawrence Freshman Studies Teaching Award in 2000 and his scholarly research has been published in the Encyclopedia of Monasticism, the Journal of Asian Studies and the Journal of Chinese Philosophy, among others. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ([https://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/tag/dirck-vorenkamp Source Accessed April 15, 2020]) +
Divākara (地婆訶羅, 613–87), or Rizhao (日照) in Chinese, was born in central India in the Brahmin Caste.
He became a Monk when he was just a child, and he spent many years at the Mahābodhi Temple and the Nālandā Monastery. He was an accomplished Tripiṭaka master, excelled in the five studies and especially in Mantra practices.
Already in his sixties, Divākara went to Chang-an (長安), China, in 676, the first year of the Yifeng (儀鳳) years of the Tang Dynasty (618–907).
Emperor Gaozong (唐高宗) treated him as respectfully as he had treated the illustrious Tripiṭaka master Xuanzang.
In 680, the first year of the Yonglong (永隆) years, the emperor commanded ten learned Monks to assist Divākara in translating sūtras from Sanskrit into Chinese.
In six years Divākara translated eighteen sūtras, including the ''Sūtra of the Buddha-Crown Superb Victory Dhāraṇī'' (T19n0970), the ''Sūtra of the Great Cundī Dhāraṇī'' (T20n1077), and the ''Mahāyāna Sūtra of Consciousness Revealed'' (T12n0347).
Longing to see his mother again, he petitioned for permission to go home.
Unfortunately, although permission was granted, he fell ill and died in the twelfth month of 687, the third year of the Chuigong (垂拱) years, at the age of seventy-five.
Empress Wu (武后則天) had him buried properly at the Xiangshan Monastery (香山寺) in Luoyang (洛陽).
([http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=Div%C4%81kara Source Accessed Aug 18, 2020]) +
Prof. Lucia Dolce is Numata Professor of Japanese Buddhism in the Department of Religions and Philosophies, School of History, Religions and Philosophies at SOAS, University of London. She is the Chair of the Centre of Buddhist Studies and the Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions.
Lucia Dolce specialises in Japanese religions and thought, with a particular research interest in the religiosity of the medieval period, including millenarian ideas and prophetic writings, the esotericisation of religious practice, and kami-Buddhas associations. She is also interested in Chinese Buddhist thought and in popular religion in contemporary Japan. ([https://ceres.rub.de/en/people/lucia-dolce/ Source Accessed Sep 21, 2021]) +
For six months each year, Don Handrick serves as the resident teacher at Thubten Norbu Ling, in Santa Fe, NM, a center affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). During that time, he also teaches at Ksitigarbha Tibetan Buddhist Center in Taos, NM, and volunteers for the Liberation Prison Project, teaching Buddhism once a month at a local prison. Since 2012 he has been an active member of the Interfaith Leadership Alliance of Santa Fe.<br><br>
Don spends the other half of each year as a touring teacher for the FPMT, visiting centers around the world. In 2015, Don had the honor of being selected to lead the renowned November Course, a one month teaching and meditation retreat held annually at Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal.<br><br>
Don's study of Buddhism began in 1993 after reading The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. Over the next two years he practiced with Sogyal Rinpoche's organization, until he began attending classes in 1996 with Venerable Robina Courtin at Tse Chen Ling in San Francisco.<br><br>
Don left the Bay Area in 1998 to attend the FPMT's Masters Program of Buddhist Studies in Sutra and Tantra, a seven-year residential study program conducted at Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Tuscany, Italy, taught by the scholar and kind Spiritual Friend, Geshe Jampa Gyatso. He successfully completed all five subjects of this program in 2004, receiving an FPMT final certificate with high honors. Don then moved to Santa Fe, serving as the Spiritual Program Coordinator for Thubten Norbu Ling before being appointed resident teacher in 2006.<br><br>
Don has received teachings from many esteemed lamas in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Ribur Rinpoche, Choden Rinpoche, and Khensur Jampa Tegchok. ([https://www.donhandrick.com/about Source Accessed Nov 12, 2020]) +
Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche was born in the Dhoshul region of Kham in eastern Tibet on June 10, 1950. On that summer day in the family tent, Rinpoche’s birth caused his mother no pain. The next day, his mother, Pema Lhadze, moved the bed where she had given birth. Beneath it she found growing a beautiful and fragrant flower which she plucked and offered to Chenrezig on the family altar.
Soon after his birth three head lamas from Jadchag monastery came to his home and recognized him as the reincarnation of Khenpo Sherab Khyentse. Khenpo Sherab Khyentse, who had been the former head abbot lama at Gochen Monastery, was a renowned scholar and practitioner who lived much of his life in retreat.
Rinpoche’s first dharma teacher was his father, Lama Chimed Namgyal Rinpoche. Beginning his schooling at the age of five, he entered Gochen Monastery. His studies were interrupted by the Chinese invasion and his family's escape to India. In India his father and brother continued his education until he entered the Nyingmapa Monastic School of Northern India, where he studied until 1967.
He then entered the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, which was then a part of Sanskrit University in Varanasi, where he received his B.A. degree in 1975. He also attended Nyingmapa University in West Bengal, where he received another B.A. and an M.A. in 1977.
In 1978 Rinpoche was enthroned as the abbot of the Wish-fulfilling Nyingmapa Institute in Boudanath, Nepal by [[H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche]], and later became the abbot of the Department of Dharma Studies, where he taught poetry, grammar, philosophy and psychology. In 1981, H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche appointed Rinpoche as the abbot of the Dorje Nyingpo Center in Paris, France. In 1982 he was asked to work with H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche at the Yeshe Nyingpo Center in New York. During the 1980s, until H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche’s mahaparinirvana in 1987, Rinpoche continued working closely with him, often traveling as his translator and attendant.
In 1988, Rinpoche and his brother founded the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center. Since that time he has served as a spiritual director at the various Padmasambhava centers throughout the world. He maintains an active traveling and teaching schedule with his brother, Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche.
Khenpo Tsewang Rinpoche has authored two books of poetry on the life of Guru Rinpoche, including ''Praise to the Lotus Born: A Verse Garland of Waves of Devotion'', and a unique two-volume cultural and religious history of Tibet entitled ''The Six Sublime Pillars of the Nyingma School'', which details the historical bases of the dharma in Tibet from the sixth through ninth centuries. At present, this is one of the only books written that conveys the dharma activities of this historical period in such depth. Khenpo Rinpoche has also co-authored a number of books in English on dharma subjects with his brother Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, including ''Ceaseless Echoes of the Great Silence: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra''; ''Prajnaparamita: The Six Perfections''; ''Door to Inconceivable Wisdom and Compassion''; ''Lion's Gaze: A Commentary on the Tsig Sum Nedek''; and ''Opening Our Primordial Nature''. ([http://www.padmasambhava.org/teach/longkhenpo.html Source Accessed Jan 29, 2015])
Gary Donnelly is an academic advisor at the University of Manchester, and lectures in Indic Religious Traditions at Liverpool Hope University. He holds a PhD in Indian Philosophy, specializing in Theravada, Madhyamaka, Yogacara, and Vedanta traditions. ([https://www.lionsroar.com/author/gary-donnelly/ Source Accessed April 25, 2024]) +
His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorje is the head of the 900-year-old Karma Kagyu Lineage and guide to millions of Buddhists around the world. Orgyen Trinley Dorje is a Tibetan practitioner and scholar, a painter, poet, songwriter and playwright, an environmental and social justice activist, and world spiritual leader who uses modern technology, such as Facebook and other digital platforms, to teach Buddhism and bring the Karma Kagyu lineage’s activities fully into the 21st century. You can see some of the projects he has initiated on Adarsha or Dharma Treasures: [https://digital-toolbox.dharma-treasure.org/ Digital Toolbox] & [https://dharmaebooks.org/ Dharma Books]
[https://kagyuoffice.org/news/ News and links to teachings from His Holiness]
*[https://kagyuoffice.org/joint-long-life-prayer-for-kunzig-shamar-rinpoches-reincarnation/ Long Life Prayer for Shamar Rinpoche with HH Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje]
*[https://www.facebook.com/karmapa/ Facebook - Live Teachings and News]
*[http://www.kagyuoffice.org/karmapa.html Karmapa Biography from kagyuoffice.org]
*[https://kagyu.org/gyalwang-karmapa-ogyen-trinley-dorje/ Karmapa Biography from kagyu.org]
[[Category:Karmapas]] +
Gyurme Dorje (1950 – 5 February 2020) was a Scottish Tibetologist and writer. He was born in Edinburgh, where he studied classics (Latin and Greek) at George Watson's College and developed an early interest in Buddhist philosophy. He held a PhD in Tibetan Literature (SOAS) and an MA in Sanskrit with Oriental Studies (Edinburgh). In the 1970s he spent a decade living in Tibetan communities in India and Nepal where he received extensive teachings from Kangyur Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche, Chatral Rinpoche, and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. In 1971 Dudjom Rinpoche encouraged him to begin translating his recently completed ''History of the Nyingma Schoo''l (རྙིང་མའི་སྟན་པའི་ཆོས་འབྱུང་) and in 1980 his ''Fundamentals of the Nyingma School'' (བསྟན་པའི་རྣམ་གཞག) - together this was an undertaking that was to take twenty years, only reaching completion in 1991. In the 1980s Gyurme returned to the UK and in 1987 completed his 3 volume doctoral dissertation on the ''Guhyagarbhatantra'' and Longchenpa's commentary on this text at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.
From 1991 to 1996 Gyurme held research fellowships at London University, where he worked with Alak Zenkar Rinpoche on translating (with corrections) the content of the Great Sanskrit Tibetan Chinese Dictionary to create the three volume ''Encyclopaedic Tibetan-English Dictionary''. From 2007 until his death he worked on many translation projects, primarily as a Tsadra Foundation grantee. He has written, edited, translated and contributed to numerous important books on Tibetan religion and culture including ''The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History'' (2 vols.) (Wisdom, 1991), ''Tibetan Medical Paintings'' ( 2 vols.) (Serindia, 1992), ''The Tibet Handbook'' (Footprint, 1996), the first complete translation of the ''Tibetan Book of the Dead'', and ''A Handbook of Tibetan Culture'' (Shambhala, 1994). ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyurme_Dorje Source Accessed Jul 14, 2020])
Drakar Lobzang Palden Tendzin Nyendrak (Brag dkar blo bzang dpal ldan bstan 'dzin snyan grags 1866–1928) of Trehor Kardzé wrote a refutation of Mipam Rinpoche's commentary on the ninth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''. He was also a disciple of the Longchen Nyingtik master Ragang Chöpa, and a teacher of Amdo Geshe Jampal Rolwé Lodrö. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Drakkar_Lobzang_Palden Adapted from Source Oct 4, 2022]) +
Martina Draszczyk holds a PhD in Buddhist Studies and Tibetology. Her doctoral thesis at the Department for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies of the University of Vienna dealt with the integration of the notion of buddha-nature in meditation practice. She trained in Buddhist philosophy and meditation with both Tibetan Buddhist and Theravāda teachers and acted as an interpreter for Tibetan masters for many years. In her research projects she focuses on Tibetan Madhyamaka, Mahāmudrā, and buddha-nature theories mainly in the context of the Bka’ brgyud tradition. She also teaches in Buddhist centers in Europe as well as in the field of secular mindfulness. ([https://conference.tsadra.org/past-event/2019-vienna-symposium/ Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020]) +
The Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang, Konchog Tenzin Kunsang Thrinle Lhundrup, was born on the 4th day of the 6th Tibetan month of the Fire-Dog-Year 1946 into the aristocratic family of Tsarong in Lhasa. This auspicious day marks the anniversary of the Buddha’s first turning of the Wheel of Dharma. Many prodigious signs and visions accompanied his birth. His grandfather, Dasang Damdul Tsarong (1888-1959), has been the favorite of the 13th Dalai Lama (1876-1933), Commander General of the Tibetan army and one of the most influential political figures in the early 20th century in Tibet. Chetsangs father, Dundul Namgyal Tsarong (b. 1920), held a high office in the Tibetan Government and he was still active in important positions for the Exile Government in Dharamsala after the escape of the Dalai Lama and the cabinet ministers. His mother, Yangchen Dolkar, is from the noble house of Ragashar, which descended from the ancient royal dynasty.
(Continue reading at [http://www.drikung.org/their-holiness/hh-kyabgoen-chetsang Drikung.org]) +
Lama Palden was one of the first Western women to be authorized as a lama in 1986, by her primary teacher, Kalu Rinpoche, following her completion of the traditional Tibetan three year, three month retreat. She has been a student and practitioner of Buddhism and of Comparative Mysticism for over 40 years. She is the founding teacher of Sukhasiddhi Foundation http://www.sukhasiddhi.org in the SF Bay Area, a Tibetan Buddhist center in the Shangpa and Kagyu lineages. Lama Palden has a deep interest in helping to make the teachings and practices of Vajrayana Buddhism accessible and practical for Westerners in order to help students actualize our innate wisdom, love and joy. As a teacher, she is committed to each student's unique unfolding and blossoming.
In 1993 Lama Palden completed a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley. After licensing as a psychotherapist, she engaged in facilitating clients psycho-spiritual integration and development, through bringing together understandings and methods from Buddhism and Psychology, as well as from the Diamond Heart work, that she engaged with and trained in for many years. ([https://www.amazon.com/Lama-Palden-Drolma/e/B07NLJ87GM%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share Source Accessed August 13, 2020]) +
Drolungpa Lodrö Jungne was a disciple of rNgog lo tsā ba Blo ldan shes rab. Among his important works include a biography (''rnam thar'') of Blo ldan shes rab as well as the ''Great Stages of the Doctrine'' (''Bstan rim chen mo''), which served as a model for Tsongkhapa's Lam rim texts. +
Rnying ma scholar and practitioner. According to Erik Padma Kunsang, 'bru 'jam dbyangs chos kyi grags pa was a close disciple of 'jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i dbang po and a holder of the teaching lineage of the lam rim ye shes snying po;
see http://www.rangjung.com/gl/Lamrim_Yeshe_Nyingpo_intro.htm. He should not be confused with padma 'phrin las snying po whose one volume gsung 'bum has recently been found in tibet. (Source:[https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P9709 TBRC]) +
Douglas Duckworth, Ph.D. (Virginia, 2005) is Professor at Temple University and the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Religion. His papers have appeared in numerous journals and books, including the ''Blackwell Companion to Buddhist Philosophy'', ''Sophia'', ''Philosophy East & West'', the ''Journal for the American Academy of Religion'', ''Asian Philosophy'', and the ''Journal of Contemporary Buddhism''. Duckworth is the author of ''Mipam on Buddha-Nature: The Ground of the Nyingma Tradition'' (SUNY 2008) and ''Jamgön Mipam: His Life and Teachings'' (Shambhala 2011). He also introduced and translated ''Distinguishing the Views and Philosophies: Illuminating Emptiness in a Twentieth-Century Tibetan Buddhist Classic'' by Bötrül (SUNY 2011). He is a co-author of ''Dignāga’s Investigation of the Percept: A Philosophical Legacy in India and Tibet'' (Oxford 2016) and co-editor of ''Buddhist Responses to Religious Diversity: Theravāda and Tibetan Perspectives'' (Equinox 2020). He also is the co-editor, with Jonathan Gold, of ''Readings of Śāntideva’s Guide to Bodhisattva Practice (Bodhicaryāvatāra)'' (CUP 2019). His latest works include ''Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature'' (OUP 2019) and a translation of an overview of the Wisdom Chapter of the ''Way of the Bodhisattva'' by Künzang Sönam, entitled ''The Profound Reality of Interdependence'' (OUP 2019). Doctor Duckworth received the first '''Distinguished Research Grant in Tibetan Buddhist Studies''' from Tsadra Foundation for 2020-2023. (Source: Duckworth, January 28, 2021) +
Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche or Dudjom Jikdral Yeshe Dorje (Tib. བདུད་འཇོམས་འཇིགས་བྲལ་ཡེ་ཤེས་རྡོ་རྗེ་, Wyl. bdud 'joms 'jigs bral ye shes rdo rje) (1904-1987) — one of Tibet’s foremost yogins, scholars, and meditation masters. He was recognized as the incarnation of Dudjom Lingpa (1835-1904), whose previous incarnations included the greatest masters, yogins and panditas such as Shariputra, Saraha and Khye'u Chung Lotsawa. Considered to be the living representative of Padmasambhava, he was a great revealer of the ‘treasures’ (terma) concealed by Padmasambhava. A prolific author and meticulous scholar, Dudjom Rinpoche wrote more than forty volumes, one of the best known of which is his monumental ''The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History''. Over the last decade of his life he spent much time teaching in the West, where he helped to establish the Nyingma tradition, founding major centres in France and the United States. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dudjom_Rinpoche Source Accessed Feb 20, 2020]) +
Lama Tony is a very well-known practitioner, scholar, and translator who has spent over forty years of his life fully dedicated to studying, practising, teaching, and translating the Buddhist teachings. He has been a full-time Buddhist practitioner-scholar since 1973. He was a member of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's Nalanda Translator Committee in which he retains honorary status. He was Tsoknyi Rinpoche's personal translator during the 1990's and has translated orally and in writing for many other great teachers during the years. He has been a member of several translation committees and has published or been involved in the publication of many Tibetan Buddhist texts.
Based on his long experience with Kagyu teachings, he has prepared many books on the Kagyu view, called "Other Emptiness", and on Mahamudra and the Kagyu teaching of it.
Tony has spent decades with the Nyingma teachings. In particular, he spent long periods in Tibet, receiving and practising the highest Dzogchen teachings in retreat. He has made a point of translating the key texts of the system for others who need accurate, reliable, and in-depth information about the practices of Dzogchen. His translation of the ultimate text of Longchen Nyingthig, known in Tibetan as "triyig yeshe lama" or "Guidebook to Highest Wisdom", has been highly praised by Tibetan teachers. <br>([https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Tony-Duff/e/B004O56VFK?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1599063446&sr=8-1 Source Accessed Sep 2, 2020]) +
The 7th Dzogchen Ponlop (Karma Sungrap Ngedön Tenpa Gyaltsen, born 1965) is an abbot of Dzogchen Monastery, founder and spiritual director of Nalandabodhi, founder of Nītārtha Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies, a leading Tibetan Buddhist scholar, and a meditation master. He is one of the highest tülkus in the Nyingma lineage and an accomplished Karma Kagyu lineage holder.
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche was born in 1965 at Rumtek Monastery (Dharma Chakra Center) in Sikkim, India. His birth was prophesied by the supreme head of the Kagyu lineage, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa, to Ponlop Rinpoche's parents, Dhamchö Yongdu, the General Secretary of the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa, and his wife, Lekshey Drolma. Upon his birth, he was recognized by the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa as the seventh in the line of Dzogchen Ponlop incarnations and was formally enthroned as the Seventh Dzogchen Ponlop at Rumtek Monastery in 1968.[1]
After receiving Buddhist refuge and bodhisattva vows from the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, Dzogchen Ponlop was ordained as a novice monk in 1974. He subsequently received full ordination and became a bhikṣu, although he later returned his vows and is now a lay teacher.
Rinpoche received teachings and empowerments from the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, Dilgo Khyentse, Kalu Rinpoche, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche (chief Abbot of the Kagyu lineage), Alak Zenkar Rinpoche, and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, his root guru.
Ponlop Rinpoche began studying Buddhist philosophy at the primary school in Rumtek at age 12. In 1979 (when Rinpoche was fourteen), the 16th Karmapa proclaimed Ponlop Rinpoche to be a heart son of the Gyalwang Karmapa and a holder of his Karma Kagyu lineage. In 1980 on his first trip to the West, he accompanied the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa to Europe, United States, Canada, and Southeast Asia. While serving as the Karmapa's attendant, he also gave dharma teachings and assisted in ceremonial roles during these travels.[2]
In 1981, he entered the monastic college at Rumtek, Karma Shri Nalanda Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies where he studied the fields of Buddhist philosophy, psychology, logic, and debate. During his time at Rumtek, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche worked for the Students' Welfare Union, served as head librarian, and was the chief-editor of the Nalandakirti Journal, an annual publication which brings together Eastern and Western views on Buddhism. Rinpoche graduated in 1990 as Ka-rabjampa from Karma Shri Nalanda Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies in Rumtek Monastery. (Ka-rabjampa means "one with unobstructed knowledge of scriptures", the Kagyu equivalent of the Sakya and Gelug's geshe degree.) He simultaneously earned the degree of Acharya, or Master of Buddhist Philosophy, from Sampurnanant Sanskrit University. Dzogchen Ponlop has also completed studies in English and comparative religion at Columbia University in New York City. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzogchen_Ponlop_Rinpoche Source Accessed Nov 19, 2019])
For further information about Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, visit his [https://dpr.info/ Official Website]
Dānapāla. (C. Shihu; J. Sego; K. Siho 施護) (d.u.; fl. c. 980 CE). In Sanskrit, lit. "Protector of Giving"; one of the last great Indian translators of Buddhist texts into Chinese. A native of Oḍḍiyāna in the Gandhāra region of India, he was active in China during the Northern Song dynasty. At the order of the Song Emperor Taizhong (r. 960–997), he was installed in a translation bureau to the west of the imperial monastery of Taiping Xingguosi (in Yuanzhou, present-day Jiangxi province), where he and his team are said to have produced some 111 translations in over 230 rolls. His translations include texts from the prajñāpāramitā, Madhyamaka, and tantric traditions, including the ''Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā'', ''Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra'', ''Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha'', ''Hevajratantra'', Nāgārjuna's ''Yuktiṣaṣtikā'' and ''Dharmadhātustava'', and Kamalaśīla's ''Bhāvanākrama'', as well as several dhāraṇī texts. (Source: "Dānapāla." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 212. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師; 19 January 1200– 22 September 1253), also known as Dōgen Kigen (道元希玄), Eihei Dōgen (永平道元), Kōso Jōyō Daishi (高祖承陽大師), or Busshō Dentō Kokushi (仏性伝東国師), was a Japanese Buddhist priest, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan.
Originally ordained as a monk in the Tendai School in Kyoto, he was ultimately dissatisfied with its teaching and traveled to China to seek out what he believed to be a more authentic Buddhism. He remained there for five years, finally training under Tiantong Rujing, an eminent teacher of the Chinese Caodong lineage. Upon his return to Japan, he began promoting the practice of zazen (sitting meditation) through literary works such as ''Fukan zazengi'' and ''Bendōwa''.
He eventually broke relations completely with the powerful Tendai School, and, after several years of likely friction between himself and the establishment, left Kyoto for the mountainous countryside where he founded the monastery Eihei-ji, which remains the head temple of the Sōtō school today.
Dōgen is known for his extensive writing including his most famous work, the collection of 95 essays called the ''[[Shōbōgenzō]]'', but also ''Eihei Kōroku'', a collection of his talks, poetry, and commentaries, and ''Eihei Shingi'', the first Zen monastic code written in Japan, among others. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%8Dgen Source Accessed Jan 9, 2020]) +
E
Franz-Karl Ehrhard is a German Tibetologist. He teaches at the University of Munich, where he is a professor at the Institute of Tibetology and Buddhist Studies. His research focuses on religious and literary traditions in Tibet and the Himalayas (Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan). ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz-Karl_Ehrhard&prev=search Source Accessed Jun 7, 2019]) +
Elio was born in Varese, Italy, on 5 August 1954 and grew up in Como. He studied art and received a Master of Arts before traveling to India to study Buddhism. On his return from India he moved to Switzerland, where for ten years he learned Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy under one of the Dalai Lama’s philosophical advisors. Elio joined the Dzogchen community in 1986, when he received teachings from Chögyal Namkhai Norbu for the first time.
Invited by the late Kalu Rinpoche, Elio spent almost twenty years in India working on the large encyclopedia on Indo-Tibetan knowledge known as Shes bya kun khyab (Myriad Worlds,Buddhist Ethics, Systems of Buddhist Tantra, The Elements of Tantric Practice) authored by Kongtrul the Great, published in separate volumes by Snow Lion Publications. During this time Elio continued to actively collaborate with the Dzogchen Community and especially with the Shang Shung Institute in Italy, of which he is a founding member.
Elio has worked on various translations for the Shang Shung Institute in Italy, including several books by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu relating to Tibetan medicine. He has completed several levels of the Santi Maha Sangha training, and became an authorized teacher of the base, first, and second level. Since 2003, Elio has been one of the three principal translators for the Ka-ter project of the Shang Shung Institute of Austria. Aside from serving as instructor for the Training for Translators from Tibetan program, he also works for the Dzogchen Tantra Translation Project. ([http://skyjewel.org/ Source Accessed March 26, 2020]) +
Artemus B. Engle began studying the Tibetan language in Howell, New Jersey in early 1971 at Labsum Shedrup Ling, the precursor of the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center. In 1972 he became a student of Sera Mey Khensur Lobsang Tharchin Rinpoche, a relationship that spanned more than thirty years. In 1975 he enrolled in the Buddhist Studies program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and received a PhD in 1983. Since the mid-1980s he taught Tibetan language and Buddhist doctrine at the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center in Howell, New Jersey. In 2005 he became a Tsadra Foundation Translation Fellow and has worked primarily on the ''Pañcaskandhaprakarana'' and the ''Bodhisattvabhūmi''. +
Erik Pema Kunsang is one of the most highly regarded Tibetan translators and interpreters today. Erik has been the assistant and translator for [[Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche]] and his sons since the late 1970s. He has translated and edited over fifty volumes of Tibetan texts and oral teachings, and was one of the founding directors of [[Rangjung Yeshe Publications]]. ([http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Erik_Pema_Kunsang Source Accessed Jul 24, 2020]) +
French Orientalist and seminal figure in the development of Buddhist Studies as an academic discipline. He was born in Paris on April 8, 1801, the son of the distinguished classicist Jean-Louis Burnouf (1773–1844). He received instruction in Greek and Latin from his father and studied at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. He entered the École des Chartes in 1822, receiving degrees in both letters and law in 1824. He then turned to the study of Sanskrit, both with his father and with Antoine Léonard de Chézy (1773–1832). In 1826, Burnouf published, in collaboration with the young Norwegian-German scholar Christian Lassen (1800–1876), ''Essai sur le pâli'' (“Essay on Pāli”). After the death of Chézy, Burnouf was appointed to succeed his teacher in the chair of Sanskrit at the Collège de France. His students included some of the greatest scholars of the day; those who would contribute to Buddhist studies included Philippe Edouard Foucaux (1811–1894) and Friedrich Max Müller. Shortly after his appointment to the chair of Sanskrit, the Société Asiatique, of which Burnouf was secretary, received a communication from Brian Houghton Hodgson, British resident at the court of Nepal, offering to send Sanskrit manuscripts of Buddhist texts to Paris. The receipt of these texts changed the direction of Burnouf's scholarship for the remainder his life. After perusing the ''Aṣtasāhasrikāprajñāpãramitā'' and the ''Lalitavistara'', he decided to translate the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra''. Having completed the translation, he decided to precede its publication with a series of studies. He completed only the first of these, published in 1844 as ''Introduction à l’histoire du Buddhisme indien''. This massive work is regarded as the foundational text for the academic study of Buddhism in the West. (Source: "Burnouf, Eugène." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 158. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Lama Tsering Everest was one of the main students of Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, who recognized her as an emanation of Tara and a holder of the Red Tara lineage.
Born in the U.S.A., Lama Tsering has served Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche as his translator for more than 11 years. After completing a three year retreat in 1995, she was ordained as a lama and recognized by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche as a holder of the Red Tara lineage, authorized to give teachings and empowerments. In the same year she was invited to teach in Brazil where she moved to shortly after.
She teaches and conducts retreats in many cities across Brazil, Chile, New Zealand and Australia as well as returning each year to fulfill the requests of her students in North America.
Lama Tsering is the resident lama and director of Chagdud Gonpa Odsal Ling in São Paulo and is currently coordinating the construction of Odsal Ling's temple in Cotia, Brasil, along with her husband Lama Padma Norbu. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Lama_Tsering_Everest Rigpa Wiki]) +
F
A monk and translator of the Western Jin apparently of unknown origin active between 290–306. A collaborator of Dharmarakṣa, who appears in the colophon of Dharmarakṣa's translation of the ''Lalitavistara'' and the ''Daśabhūmikasūtra''. (Source: Zürcher, ''The Buddhist Conquest of China'', 2007) Twenty-four texts are attributed to him in the Taisho canon. (See [http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/indexes/index-authors-editors-translators.html ''The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue'']) +
Bernard Faure, Kao Professor in Japanese Religion, received his Ph.D. (Doctorat d’Etat) from Paris University (1984). He is interested in various aspects of East Asian Buddhism, with an emphasis on Chan/Zen and Tantric or esoteric Buddhism. His work, influenced by anthropological history and cultural theory, has focused on topics such as the construction of orthodoxy and heterodoxy, the Buddhist cult of relics, iconography, sexuality and gender. His current research deals with the mythico-ritual system of esoteric Buddhism and its relationships with medieval Japanese religion. He has published a number of books in French and English. His English publications include: ''The Rhetoric of Immediacy: A Cultural Critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism'' (Princeton 1991), ''Chan Insights and Oversights: An Epistemological Critique of the Chan Tradition'' (Princeton 1993), ''Visions of Power: Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism'' (Princeton 1996), ''The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality'' (Princeton 1998), ''The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender'' (Princeton 2003), and ''Double Exposure'' (Stanford 2004). ([https://religion.columbia.edu/content/bernard-r-faure Source Accessed Jun 10, 2019]).
He recently completed a two-volume work on Japanese Gods and Demons: ''The Fluid Pantheon: Medieval Japanese Gods, Volume I'' and ''Protectors and Predators: Medieval Japanese Gods, Volume 2'' (Both volumes by University of Hawai'i Press, 2015). +
Fazang is Zhiyan’s most accomplished and influential student, and became the third patriarch of Huayan. He is responsible for systematizing and extending Zhiyan’s teaching, and for securing the prominence of Huayan-style Buddhism at the imperial court. He is known especially for his definitive commentaries on the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'' and ''Awakening of Faith in Mahayana'', and for making Huayan doctrines accessible to laity with familiar technologies such as mirror halls and wood-block printing. These contributions support the traditional regard for Fazang as the third patriarch of the Huayan School.
Fazang’s ancestors came from Sogdiana (a center for trade along the Silk Road, located in what is now parts of Uzbekistan and Tajikestan), but he was born in the Tang dynasty capital of Chang’an (now Xi’an), where his family had become culturally Chinese. Fazang was a fervently religious adolescent. Following a then-popular custom that took self-immolation as a sign of religious devotion, Fazang burned his fingers before a stupa at the age of 16. After becoming a monk, he assisted Xuanzang—famous for his pilgrimage to India—in translating Buddhist works from Sanskrit into Chinese. Fazang had doctrinal differences with Xuanzang, though, so he later became a disciple of Zhiyan, probably around 663 CE.
Zhiyan’s access to the imperial court gave Fazang access to Empress Wu, with whom he quickly gained favor. He undertook a variety of public services, such as performing rain-prayer rituals and collaborating in various translation projects. He traveled throughout northern China, teaching the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'' and debating Daoists. He intervened in a 697 military confrontation with the Khitans, gaining further favor when Empress Wu ascribed to his ritual services an instrumental role in suppressing the rebellion. In addition, Fazang provided information to undermine plots by some of the empress’ advisors to secure power after her death. This secured Fazang’s status—and the prominence of Huayan teachings—with subsequent rulers. ([https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/buddhism-huayan/#Faza643712 Source Accessed Jan 28, 2020])
Zoketsu Norman Fischer is an American poet, writer, and Soto Zen priest, teaching and practicing in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Dharma heir of Sojun Mel Weitsman, from whom he received Dharma transmission in 1988. Fischer served as co-abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center from 1995–2000, after which he founded the Everyday Zen Foundation in 2000, a network of Buddhist practice group and related projects in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Fischer has published more than twenty-five books of poetry and non-fiction, as well as numerous poems, essays and articles in Buddhist magazines and poetry journals. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoketsu_Norman_Fischer Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020]) +
Wulstan Fletcher holds degrees in Modern Languages and Theology (Oxford and Rome) and is a teacher of modern languages. He completed a three-year retreat at Chanteloube France from 1986–1989. He is a member of the Padmakara Translation Group and has been a Tsadra Foundation Fellow since 2001.
'''Current Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow (with Helena Blankleder):'''
* ''Lion Speech, The Life of Jamgön Mipham'', Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
'''Completed Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow (with Helena Blankleder):'''
* ''Treasury of Precious Qualities'' (Sutra Section), Jigme Lingpa, commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche
* ''Counsels from My Heart'', Dudjom Rinpoche
* ''Introduction to the Middle Way'', Chandrakirti, commentary by Jamgön Mipham
* ''The Adornment of the Middle Way'', Shantarakshita, commentary by Jamgön Mipham
* ''Food of Bodhisattvas: Buddhist Teachings on Abstaining from Meat'', Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol
* ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', Shantideva (rev. ed.)
* ''The Nectar of Manjushri’s Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva’s "Way of the Bodhisattva,"'' Kunzang Pelden
* ''The Root Stanzas on the Middle Way'', Nagarjuna
* ''White Lotus: An Explanation of the Seven-line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava'', Jamgön Mipham
* ''Treasury of Precious Qualities'' (Tantra Section), Jigme Lingpa, commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche
* ''The Purifying Jewel and Light of the Day Star'' by Mipham Rinpoche
* ''Trilogy of Resting at Ease'', Longchenpa
(Source: [http://www.tsadra.org/translators/wulstan-fletcher/ Tsadra.org]) +
Floring Giripescu Sutton was Assistant Professor of Oriental Philosophy at Rutgers University. +
Dr. Gregory Forgues is Director of Research at Tsadra Foundation. Before joining the foundation, Gregory was part of the Open Philology research project with Professor Jonathan Silk at the University of Leiden. He also worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Heidelberg and a Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Bochum. Gregory has published on a wide variety of topics including Mahāyāna sūtra translations, Tibetan tantric rituals, Dzogchen teachings, and digital humanities methods. His PhD dissertation on Jamgon Mipham’s interpretation of the two truths under Professor Klaus-Dieter Mathes' supervision was reviewed by Professor Birgit Kellner and Professor Matthew Kapstein, receiving a distinction from the University of Vienna. +
T. Griffith Foulk trained in Zen monasteries in Japan. He is active in Buddhist studies, with research interests in philosophical, literary, social, and historical aspects of East Asian Buddhism, especially the Ch’an/Zen tradition. He is co-editor in chief of the Soto Zen Text Project (Tokyo). He is a member of the American Academy of Religion Buddhism Section steering committee (1987–1994, 2003–) and a board member for the Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values. ([https://www.sarahlawrence.edu/faculty/foulk-t.-griffith.html Source Accessed Jun 11, 2019]) +
Eli Franco (born June 19, 1953 in Tel Aviv ) is an Israeli Indologist. He received his BA in Philosophy and Jewish Philosophy from the University of Tel Aviv in 1976, the Diplôme de l' Ecole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in 1978, Paris, and the Doctorat 3e cycle from the Université de Paris X and L'Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in 1980. Since 2004 he has held the chair for Indology at the Institute for Indology and Central Asian Studies at the University of Leipzig, Germany. Among his writings include: ''Perception, Knowledge and Disbelief: A Study of Jayarāśi's Skepticism'' (Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden, 1987), ''Dharmakīrti on Compassion and Rebirth'' (Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien, 1997), ''The Spitzer Manuscript: The Oldest Philosophical Manuscript in Sanskrit'' (Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2004), and (with Miyako Notake) ''Dharmakīrti on the Duality of the Object: Pramāṇavārttika III, 1 - 63'' (Lit Verlag, 2014). ([https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Franco Adapted from Source July 20, 2019]) +
Koun Franz is a Soto Zen priest. He leads practice at Thousand Harbours Zen in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he also works as editor of Buddhadharma. His writing and teachings on Zen can be found at nyoho.com and on the Thousand Harbours Zen podcast. ([https://www.lionsroar.com/author/koun-franz/ Source: Lion's Roar]) +
Erich Frauwallner studied classical philology and Sanskrit philology in Vienna. He taught Indology from 1928-29 at the University of Vienna. His primary interest was Buddhist logic and epistemology, and later Indian Brahmanic philosophy, with close attention to primary source texts.
In 1938 Frauwallner joined the Department of Indian and Iranian philosophy at the Oriental Institute after its Jewish director, Bernhard Geiger, was forced out. Frauwallner became director in 1942. He was called up for military service in 1943 but did not serve, continuing to teach until 1945 when he lost his position due to his Nazi Party membership (dating to 1932). In 1951, after a review, he was reinstated. In 1955 the Institute for Indology founded, which he chaired, becoming a full professor in 1960.
Donald S. Lopez, Jr., professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan, called Frauwallner "one of the great Buddhist scholars of this [the twentieth] century." ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Frauwallner Source Accessed Jun 11, 2019]) +
Dr. Frederick Shih-Chung Chen holds a DPhil degree in Oriental Studies from the University of Oxford and two MA degrees, in Oriental and African Religions and in the History and Culture of Medicine, respectively, from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. In 2004-2005, he was a research fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies, University of Tokyo, sponsored by the Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai fellowship. After completing his DPhil degree, he was awarded Post-doctoral fellowships by the National Science Council of Taiwan R.O.C. and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation of European Region during 2010-2012, to conduct his research project, The Early Formation of the Buddhist Otherworld Bureaucracy in Early Medieval China, at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. He has published articles on related topics, which will eventually be collected in a planned book. Before arriving at IKGF, he was a researcher on the project, Buddhist Stone Inscriptions in China, at the Heidelberg Academy of Science and Humanities and a research associate at the Faculty of Archaeology, University of Oxford.<br> Dr. Chen specializes in East Asian Buddhism and Chinese religions. He is also interested in the history of Chinese medicine and the history of knowledge transmission. His current research focuses on transcultural exchange between Buddhism and Chinese religions in the border areas of China during the early medieval and medieval periods. ([http://www.ikgf.uni-erlangen.de/people/index.shtml/frederick-chen.shtml Source Accessed May 26, 2020]) +
Rosemarie Fuchs (1950-2010) studied and practiced with eminent lamas of the Karma Kagyu tradition and spent much of her life translating Tibetan texts to German and interpreting for Tibetan Lamas in Germany. She is a member of the Marpa Translation Committee and has been a devoted student of the Venerable Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche since 1978. Fuchs translated the ''Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra'' upon Khenpo Rinpoche’s advice. ([https://www.penguinrandomhouseretail.com/author/?authorid=167711 Adapted from Source Jul 22, 2020]) +
Funayama Toru, born in 1961, is currently a professor of Buddhist studies at Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. His research mainly covers two different areas in the history of Buddhism. One is Chinese Buddhism from the fifth–seventh centuries, a period from the late Six Dynasties period up to early Tang; his focuses are on the formation of Chinese Buddhist translation and apocrypha, spread of the notion of Mahayana precepts, the exegetical tradition on the ''Nirvana Sutra'', and so on. The other is philological and philosophical issues in Buddhist epistemology and logic in India from the fifth–tenth centuries, particularly Kamalaśīla's (the late eighth century) theory of perception. In both areas, he is interested in the concept of saintliness as firmly related with the system of practice. ([https://www.iias.asia/profile/toru-funayama Source Accessed June 16, 2020]) +
G
Alexander Gardner is the Director and Chief Editor of the Treasury of Lives, an online biographical encyclopedia of Tibet and the Himalayan Region. He completed his PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan in 2007. From 2007 to 2016 he worked at the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, serving as their Executive Director from 2013 to 2016. His research interests are in Tibetan life writing and the cultural history of Kham in the nineteenth century. He is the author of ''The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great'', published by Shambhala in 2019. Alex served as the writer-in-residence for Tsadra Foundation's Buddha-Nature Project from 2017-2019. +
Jay L. Garfield chairs the Philosophy department and directs Smith’s logic and Buddhist studies programs and the Five College Tibetan Studies in India program. He is also visiting professor of Buddhist philosophy at Harvard Divinity School, professor of philosophy at Melbourne University and adjunct professor of philosophy at the Central University of Tibetan Studies.
Garfield’s research addresses topics in the foundations of cognitive science and the philosophy of mind; the history of Indian philosophy during the colonial period; topics in ethics, epistemology and the philosophy of logic; methodology in cross-cultural interpretation; and topics in Buddhist philosophy, particularly Indo-Tibetan Madhyamaka and Yogācāra.
Garfield’s most recent books are ''Getting Over Ourselves: How to be a Person Without a Self'' (2022), ''Knowing Illusion: Bringing a Tibetan Debate into Contemporary Discourse'' (with the Yakherds 2021, Buddhist Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration (2021), ̛What Can’t Be Said: Paradox and Contradiction in East Asian Thought (with Yasuo Deguchi, Graham Priest, and Robert Sharf 2021), The Concealed Influence of Custom: Hume’s Treatise From the Inside Out (OUP 2019), ''Minds Without Fear: Philosophy in the Indian Renaissance'' (with Nalini Bhushan, 2017), ''Dignāga’s Investigation of the Percept: A Philosophical Legacy in India and Tibet'' (with Douglas Duckworth, David Eckel, John Powers, Yeshes Thabkhas and Sonam Thakchöe, 2016) ''Engaging Buddhism: Why it Matters to Philosophy'' (2015), ''Moonpaths: Ethics and Emptiness'' (with the Cowherds, 2015) and (edited, with Jan Westerhoff), ''Madhyamaka and Yogācāra: Allies or Rivals?'' (2015). ([https://jaygarfield.org/cv/ Source Accessed on January 19, 2024])
:Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Philosophy
:Department of Philosophy Smith College Northampton, MA 01063 USA +
Khenpo Gawang Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual director of Pema Karpo Meditation Center in Memphis, Tennessee. He holds a khenpo degree after nine years of study at Namdroling Monastery in South India. In April 2006, Khenpo Gawang Rinpoche was formally enthroned as a khenpo by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and assigned to teach in the West. He came to the United States in 2004 at the invitation of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and Shambhala International, and became an American citizen in 2012. He has lived in Memphis, Tennessee since 2007. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Khenpo_Gawang_Rinpoche Source Accessed Sept 9, 2020]) +
Holly Gayley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research focuses on the revitalization of Buddhism in Tibetan areas of the PRC in the post-Maoist period. Dr. Gayley became interested in the academic study of Buddhism through her travels among Tibetan communities in India, Nepal, and China. She completed her Masters in Buddhist Studies at Naropa University in 2000 and Ph.D. at Harvard University in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies in 2009. Dr. Gayley's first book titled ''Love Letters from Golok: A Tantric Couple in Modern Tibet'' came out in November 2016 with Columbia University Press. The book charts the lives and love letters of a contemporary Buddhist tantric couple, Khandro Tāre Lhamo and Namtrul Jigme Phuntsok, who played a significant role in revitalizing Buddhism in eastern Tibet since the 1980s. Examining Buddhist conceptions of gender, agency and healing, this book recovers Tibetan voices in representing their own modern history under Chinese rule and contributes to burgeoning scholarly literature on Buddhist women, minorities in China, and studies of collective trauma.
Dr. Gayley's second project explores the emergence of Buddhist modernism on the Tibetan plateau and a new ethical reform movement spawned by cleric-scholars at Larung Buddhist Academy in Serta. Her recent publications on the topic include "Controversy over Buddhist Ethical Reform: A Secular Critique of Clerical Authority in the Tibetan Blogosphere" (''Himalaya Journal'', 2016), "Non-Violence as a Shifting Signifier on the Tibetan Plateau" (''Contemporary Buddhism'', 2016 with Padma 'tsho), "Reimagining Buddhist Ethics on the Tibetan Plateau (''Journal of Buddhist Ethics'', 2013), and "The Ethics of Cultural Survival: A Buddhist Vision of Progress in Mkhan po 'Jigs phun's Advice to Tibetans of the 21st Century" in ''Mapping the Modern in Tibet'' (International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2011). ([https://www.colorado.edu/rlst/holly-gayley Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020])
Japanese Tendaishū monk, scholar, and artist, popularly known as Eshin Sōzu (Head Monk of Eshin) because he spent much of his life at the monastery of Eshin at Yokawa on Hieizan. Genshin was born in Yamoto province (present-day Nara prefecture), but after losing his father at a young age, he was put in the care of the Tendai center on Mt. Hiei. It is believed that during his teens he formally joined the institution and became a student of the Tendai reformer Ryōgen (912–985). Genshin first gained a name for himself in 974 due to his sterling performance in an important debate at Mt. Hiei. Eventually, Genshin retired to the secluded monastery of Shuryōgon'in in Yokawa, where he devoted the rest of his life primarily to scholarship. Genshin wrote on a wide array of Buddhist topics related to both Tendai and Pure Land practices and is also regarded as the founder of the Eshin school of Tendai, which espoused the notion that everyone in inherently awakened (J. ''hongaku''). (Source: "Genshin." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 318. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Geoffrey Samuel’s research extends over a number of interrelated areas within religious studies, social anthropology, comparative sociology, and cognate disciplines. Theoretically, his interests centre around an understanding of cultural processes and their effects on human behaviour, in terms which recognise the embodied character of human existence and which give proper weight to both human consciousness and biology. He is particularly interested in religion (including ‘shamanism’) in relation to healing, gender and ecology, including the ways in which these issues manifest in contemporary societies.
His main ethnographic focus has been on religion in Tibetan societies. His work on Tibetan religion has also extended into the social history of Indic religions more generally. Other research topics include Tibetan medicine and health practices, the anthropology of music, research on Buddhism and other new religious movements (paganism, shamanism, esotericism) in the UK and Australia, and research into Islam in the UK and Bangladesh. He has carried out extensive field research over many years in India, Nepal, Tibet, and other Asian and Western societies.
His recent research, organised through the Research Group on the Body, Health and Religion (BAHAR), focusses on the understanding of healing processes in a variety of contexts: folk healing practices in Asian societies, ‘traditional’ Asian medical and yogic practices aimed at healing, and Western adaptations and developments of such practices within the field of complementary and alternative medicine. This research has included two major externally-funded projects under his direction, an AHRC-funded project on Tibetan longevity practices (with Cathy Cantwell and Rob Mayer) and a Leverhulme Trust-funded project on Tibetan medicine in the Bon tradition (with Colin Millard). Currently he is involved in a Templeton Foundation-funded project on meditation-derived compassion training for nurses and other health staff in Sydney, NSW.
In 2008-11, he also took part in an ESRC-funded project on young Bangladeshis, marriage and the family in Bangladesh and the UK directed by Dr Santi Rozario.<br> ([https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/702489-samuel-geoffrey Source Accessed Aug 7, 2020])
George Nicolas de Roerich was a prominent 20th century Tibetologist. His name at birth was Yuri Nikolaevich Rerikh. George's work encompassed many areas of Tibetan studies, but in particular he is known for his contributions to Tibetan dialectology, his monumental translation of the ''Blue Annals'', and his 11-volume Tibetan-Russian-English dictionary (published posthumously). George was the son of the painter and explorer Nicholas Roerich and Helena Roerich. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_de_Roerich Source Accessed March 4, 2020]) +
David Germano is the Executive Director of the Contemplative Sciences Center. He has taught and researched Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia since 1992. In this context, he works extensively with each of the eleven schools at UVA to explore learning, research, and engagement initiatives regarding contemplation in their own disciplinary and professional areas. He is currently focused on the exploration of contemplative ideas, values, and practices involving humanistic and scientific methodologies, as well as new applications in diverse fields; he also holds a faculty appointment in the School of Nursing. He is one of the co-leaders of the Student Flourishing Initiative, a three-way partnership with UVA, the University of Wisconsin, and Penn State University, as well as the lead organizer of an international research community of scholars and translators specializing in the Great Perfection (Dzokchen) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. ([http://uvacontemplation.org/content/david-germano Source Accessed June 11, 2019]) +
Born in 1977 in Ngayul in the Amdo region, he became a monk at Jonang Se Monastery when he was young and learned reading, writing, and rituals under Khar Lama Sherab Chophel. Having finished the training, he followed the tradition of the monastery and entered into three year retreat under Lama Kunga Thukje Pal in order to take up the practice of the six yogas of Kālacakra. In 1998, he arrived in India and joined Gomang College in Drepung Monastery and completed the full study of the five treatises. He sat for Grand Geluk Examination and also successfully passed the defense for the Lharam Geshe degree. Following this, he attended the Gyuto College for Tantric Studies and passed the exams. He is currently lecturer at Jonang Monastery in Parping, Nepal. +
Born in 1980 in Tibet, he moved to India in 1995 and joined Gomang College in Drepung Monastery. He studied Buddhist texts, including the five great treatises, under many qualified teachers. Having completed his higher education in 2008, he sat in the Grand Geluk Examinations from 2009 and successfully finished the Karam, Lopen, and Lharam Geshe Examinations in six years. In 2015, he joined Gyume Tantric College to undertake tantric studies and successfully completed the program after three years in 2018. He currently serves as lecturer/teacher at Gomang College. +
Born in the Tsang region of Tibet in 1923, Geshe Lhundub Sopa was both a spiritual master and a respected academic. He rose from a humble background to complete his geshe studies at Sera Je Monastic University in Lhasa with highest honors and was privileged to serve as a debate opponent for the Dalai Lama’s own geshe examination in 1959. He moved to New Jersey in the United States in 1963 and in 1967 began teaching in the Buddhist Studies Program at University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he professor emeritus. In 1975, he founded the Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, Wisconsin, site of the Dalai Lama’s first Kalachakra initiation granted in the West. He is the author of several books in English, including the five-volume comprehensive teaching, ''Steps on the Path to Enlightenment''. ([https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/geshe-lhundub-sopa/ Source Accessed April 10, 2020]) +
Born in 1979 in Sogshod in Kham, as a young boy he went to a local school and learned reading, writing, and arithmetic. After joining Sog Tsenden Monastery and learning prayers and rituals, he moved to India in 1997 and joined Sera Je Monastery to undertake the program of Buddhist Studies, including the five great treatises, for 18 years. Throughout his education, he ranked at the top in his cohort during the examinations, including those for the certificates of the Middle Way and Perfection Studies. He also learned grammar and poetry and published various writings in magazines and newspapers and taught grammar to many students. In the course of his study, he was also selected for the special occasion of prestigious debates called Rigchung Tshoklang, Tshenphud Damcha, Rigchen Tsoklang, and Kartro Tsoglang. In 2009, he sat for his examinations on the Middle Way in the presence of H.H. the Dalai Lama, and between 2015 and 2020, he sat for the Grand Geluk Examinations and attained first position among the Lharam Geshes during the exams. In 2021, he undertook tantric studies at Gyume Tantric College and passed his exams in first position. He received numerous teachings from various lamas, including H.H. the Dalai Lama, and participated in many learned conferences and seminars. Since 2009, he has been serving as a lecturer at Sera Je Monastery. +
Born in Gayul in Kham in 1974, he joined Labda Ganden Monastery in 1988 and learned prayers and rituals. In 1994, he arrived in India and joined Sera Je Monastery and started his study of Buddhist literature, including the five great treatises. In 1998, he received full monastic ordination from H.H. the Dalai Lama and finished training in the Middle Way and Perfection Studies in 2002 and 2006 respectively. In 2012, 2014, and 2016, he sat for the Grand Geluk Examinations and received the certificates of Karam, Lopen, and Lharam Geshe respectively. Following this, in 2017, he undertook tantric studies at Gyume College and was awarded first place. He presented a paper at the conference on Abhidharma among Buddhist and Bön and organized the conference on the Middle Way view at Sera Monastery and the conference on reality in Pramāṇa literature at Ganden Monastery. Since 2006, he has also been teaching Buddhism and Tibetan language to youth and regularly writes and speaks in newspapers, radio, online forums on Tibetan religion and culture, and gives classes and lectures. Currently, he is about to complete his research on the Middle Way views of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and is undertaking an in-depth study of Middle Way literature while also teaching at Sera Je. +
Born in 1979 in Khyungpo Tengchen, he became a monk at the age of eight under Lamrim Lama Pema Dorje and joined Dilgo Samtenling Monastery, where he studied reading, writing, prayers, and rituals. In 1996, he arrived in India and joined Ganden Shartse College. He finished his study of the five great treatises and in 2012 sat for the series of Grand Geluk Examinations. In 2018, he finished the course with the final defense for Lharam Geshe at the Grand Prayer Festival. After this, he undertook tantric studies at Gyuto Monastery and in 2019 he served on the Academic Council of Ganden Shartse. He currently teaches at Ganden Shartse and is also undertaking research on the Middle Way under the International Geluk Commission. +
Geshe Tenzin Zopa holds a doctorate in Buddhist Philosophy from Sera Jey Monastic University in South India and is a master in Tibetan Buddhist rituals. He is currently the Resident Teacher at Losang Dragpa Buddhist Society, Malaysia and was for a long time the Director of the Tsum Valley Project (in the Himalayan region), which provides Buddhist study and practice facilities and accommodation for the community in the Valley. Geshe Tenzin
Zopa is the principal and focal point of the award winning film titled "Unmistaken Child" which chronicles the search for the reincarnation of his great master. Geshe Tenzin Zopa has a contemporary style of teaching which he combines with the ancient wisdom derived from his years of philosophical studies and debate, thereby benefitting everyone who has met or heard him teach. Geshe Tenzin Zopa is the face of a dynamic and socially engaged Buddhism in the 21st century. ([http://www.tenzinzopa.com/Ebooks/Cttb_Book_Final_Complete.pdf Source Accessed Jan 14, 2021]) +
Stephen Gethin studied veterinary medicine at Cambridge University, where he was also awarded a choral exhibition. After a number of years in professional practice, he spent much of the 1980s undertaking two three-year retreats in France, where he now lives and, as a founding member of the Padmakara Translation Group, continues to translate. He became a Tsadra Foundation Translation Fellow in 2005. His published translations include Nagarjuna’s ''Letter to a Friend'', ''Zurchungpa’s Testament'', Dudjom Rinpoche’s ''A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom'', and Jamgön Mipham’s commentaries on Padmasambhava’s ''Garland of Views'' and the ''Mahāyāna-sūtrālaṃkāra''. He is currently working on a detailed preliminary practice commentary by Shechen Gyaltsap and on a volume of Jamgön Kongtrul’s ''Treasury of Precious Instructions''. ([https://www.colorado.edu/event/lotsawa/presenters/stephen-gethin Source Accessed Sept 18, 2020]) +
The first of the Katok Getse (kaH thog dge rtse) incarnations, Gyurme Tsewang Chokdrup, Katok Getse Mahapandita (1761-1829) was an important Nyingma scholar from Katok Monastery who famously wrote a catalogue to the Nyingma Gyübum.
He was born in the Iron Snake year of the thirteenth calendrical cycle (1761) and recognized as an incarnation of Tsewang Trinlé, the nephew of Longsal Nyingpo (1625-1692). His teachers included Dodrupchen Kunzang Shenpen, Ngor Khenchen Palden Chökyong, Changkya Rolpé Dorje and Dzogchenpa Ati Tenpé Gyaltsen. Through his connection with the Derge royal family, he arranged for the printing of the ''Collection of Nyingma Tantras'' (''Nyingma Gyübum'') and the writings of Longchenpa and Jikmé Lingpa, and took responsibility for proofreading. Among his students were the Third Dzogchen Rinpoche and the Third Shechen Rabjam, Rigdzin Paljor Gyatso (1770-1809). ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Gyurme_Tsewang_Chokdrup Source Accessed Feb 18, 2022])
See also:<br>
*[[Deity, Mantra and Wisdom]]: Development Stage Meditation in Tibetan Buddhist Tantra, translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee, Snow Lion, 2007.
**Ronis, Jann M. “Celibacy, Revelations, and Reincarnated Lamas: Contestation and Synthesis in the Growth of Monasticism at Katok Monastery from the 17th through 19th Centuries”. Available from [https://libraetd.lib.virginia.edu/downloads/hq37vp052?filename=1_Ronis_Jann_2009_PHD.pdf the University of Virginia, here].
*Tomoko Makidono, "Kah thog Dge rtse Mahāpaṇḍita’s Doxographical Position: The Great Madhyamaka of Other-Emptiness (gzhan stong dbu ma chen po)" in Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies (IIJBS) vol. 12 (2011), pp. 77-119
*Tomoko Makidono, "The Turning of the Wheel of Mantrayāna Teachings in the Rnying ma rgyud ’bum dkar chag lha’i rnga bo che by Kaḥ thog Dge rtse Mahāpaṇḍita ’Gyur med tshe dbang mchog grub (149-186)" in IIJBS vol. 13 (2012), pp. 149-186 +
Rolf W. Giebel was born in Hawera, New Zealand, in 1954. He came to Japan in 1972 and took a B.A. in Japanese at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in 1977 and an M.A. in Indian Philosophy at the University of Tokyo in 1980. After spending three years on the editorial staff of a publishing company in Tokyo, he returned to the University of Tokyo in 1984 and at present continues his studies while working as a translator. Other of his translations include ''Tibetan Buddhist Art'' (Tokyo: Hakusuisha, 1984), ''An Introduction to the Buddhist Canon'' (Tokyo: Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, 1984), ''The Alps'' (Tokyo: Gyosei, 1986), and a Japanese translation of ''The Theory and Practice of the Mandala'' by the late Giuseppe Tucci (Tokyo: Hirakawa Shuppansha, 1984). ([https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/en/files/2018/06/Takasaki-Jikido_An-Introduction-to-Buddhism.pdf Source Accessed July 2, 2020]) +
Peter Gilks completed his PhD in Asian Studies at The Australian National University in 2011. He is now an assistant professor in the Department of Entertainment Management at I-Shou University, Taiwan. His research interests include popular culture, music marketing, language testing and Buddhism. Current research projects in the area of celebrity studies include the role that English-speaking ability plays in shaping the image of Taiwanese celebrities and the impact of the celebrification of Buddhist leaders. ([https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19392397.2015.1088393 Source Accessed July 21, 2020]) +
Robert Gimello is a historian of Buddhism with special interests also in the Theology of Religions and in Comparative Mysticism.
In the field of Buddhist Studies he concentrates especially on Buddhism in East Asia (China, Korea, & Japan), most particularly on the Buddhism of medieval and early modern China. The traditions of Buddhist thought and practice on which he especially focuses are Huáyán/Hwaŏm/Kegon 華嚴 (The “Flower-Ornament” Tradition), Chán 禪 (Zen), and Mijiao/Milgyo/Mikkyō 密教 (Esoteric/Tantric Buddhism), in the study of which he is particularly concerned with the relationships between Buddhist thought or doctrine and Buddhist contemplative and liturgical practice.
In the area of Theology of Religions, against the background of contemporary debates about the theological implications of religious pluralism, and in critical response to major trends in the ongoing Buddhist-Christian dialogue, he is concerned chiefly with the question of what Catholic Christian theology can, should, or must make of Buddhism.
In the field of the study of mysticism, he joins regularly in the debates, chiefly among philosophers of religion, about the differences and similarities among various mystical traditions and about the relationship between mystical experience and the practices and beliefs that comprise religious traditions. ([https://theology.nd.edu/people/robert-m-gimello/ Source Accessed June 12, 2019]) +
Giuseppe Tucci (5 June 1894 – 5 April 1984), was an Italian scholar of oriental cultures, specialising in Tibet and history of Buddhism. He was fluent in several European languages, Sanskrit, Bengali, Pali, Prakrit, Chinese and Tibetan and he taught at the University of Rome La Sapienza until his death. He is considered one of the founders of the field of Buddhist Studies.
Tucci was born to a middle-class family in Macerata, Marche, and thrived academically. He taught himself Hebrew, Chinese and Sanskrit before even going to university and in 1911, aged only 18, he published a collection of Latin epigraphs in the prestigious Review of the Germanic Archaeological Institute. He completed his studies at the University of Rome in 1919, where his studies were repeatedly interrupted as a result of World War I.
After graduating, he traveled to India and settled down at the Visva-Bharati University, founded by the Bengali poet and Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore. There he studied Buddhism, Tibetan and Bengali, and also taught Italian and Chinese. He also studied and taught at Dhaka University, the University of Benares and Calcutta University. He remained in India until 1931, when he returned to Italy. ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Tucci Source Accessed April 14, 2020]) +
Dwight Goddard was a Christian missionary to China when he first came in contact with Buddhism. In 1928, he spent a year living at a Zen monastery in Japan. In 1934, he founded "The Followers of Buddha, an American Brotherhood," with the goal of applying the traditional monastic structure of Buddhism more strictly than Senzaki and Sokei-an. The group was largely unsuccessful: no Americans were recruited to join as monks and attempts failed to attract a Chinese Chan (Zen) master to come to the United States. However, Goddard's efforts as an author and publisher bore considerable fruit. In 1930, he began publishing ZEN: A Buddhist Magazine. In 1932, he collaborated with D. T. Suzuki on a translation of the ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra''. That same year, he published the first edition of ''A Buddhist Bible'', an anthology of Buddhist scriptures focusing on those used in Chinese and Japanese Zen. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_the_United_States#Dwight_Goddard Source Accessed Dec 3, 2019])
For an interesting article on Goddard's life, see Robert Aitken's article [https://tricycle.org/magazine/still-speaking/ "Still Speaking"] in the Spring 1994 issue of ''Tricycle: The Buddhist Review''. +
Zuisei is a writer and lay Zen teacher based in Playa del Carmen in the south of Mexico. Zuisei lived and trained full time at Zen Mountain Monastery from 1995 to 2018, and was a monk for fourteen of those years. In 2018 she received ''shiho'' or dharma transmission (empowerment to teach) from Geoffrey Shugen Arnold Roshi, and after a short stint in New York City, moved back to Mexico, where she is originally from, and began teaching virtually.
She has served as the Teachings Editor at the Buddhist journal ''Tricycle'', and her dharma writing has been featured there as well as in ''Lion's Roar'', ''Buddhadharma'', and ''Parabola''. Her books include ''Still Running: The Art of Meditation in Motion'' and the children's book ''Weather Any Storm''.
As Ocean Mind Sangha's Guiding Teacher, Zuisei continues to welcome students for group and private teaching. ([https://www.oceanmindsangha.org/zuisei-goddard Source Accessed April 25, 2024]) +
Dr. V. V. Gokhale was a professor of Buddhist studies in India. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Heidelberg and taught at Fergusson College from 1932 to 1959. He was appointed Reader in the Department of Buddhist studies at the University of Delhi and then later became Professor and Head of the department.
Dr. Gokhale maintained an interest in the ''Pratītyasamutpāda-sūtra'' and Madhyamaka philosophy throughout his career. Among his numerous articles, he wrote several on Bhāvaviveka's ''Tarkajvālā'' commentary on Nāgārjuna's ''Madhyamakaśāstra'', and he published the ''Abhidharmakoṣa-kārikās'' of Vasubandhu. (Source: ''Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute'' 74, no. 1/4 (1993), 349–51) +
Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight and lovingkindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where he is one of the organization’s guiding teachers. In 1989, together with several other teachers and students of insight meditation, he helped establish the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.
Joseph first became interested in Buddhism as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand in 1965. Since 1967 he has studied and practiced different forms of Buddhist meditation under eminent teachers from India, Burma and Tibet. He is the author of ''Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening'', ''A Heart Full of Peace'', ''One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism'', ''Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom'', ''The Experience of Insight'', and co-author of ''Seeking the Heart of Wisdom'' and ''Insight Meditation: A Correspondence Course''. (Source: [https://www.dharma.org/teacher/joseph-goldstein/ Insight Meditation Society]) +
Dr. S. C. Goswami was a Professor of Chemistry at Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi, India. He is the author of "The Monistic Absolute of the Uttaratantra and Modern Science" and "Complementarity of Opposites: The Undercurrent of Upaniṣadic Thought," both of which are published in the volume ''Philosophy, Grammar, and Indology: Essays in Honour of Prof. Gustav Roth'' (Sri Satguru Publications, 1992). +
Qalvy Grainzvolt, LMHC, is an ordained Shinnyo-en priest, a uniformed police chaplain, a licensed mental health clinician, and a Buddhist chaplain and member of mindfulness faculty for New York University. ([https://www.lionsroar.com/author/qalvy-grainzvolt/ Source Accessed April 25, 2024]) +
David Gray received his B.A. in Religious Studies from Wesleyan University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in the History of Religion from Columbia University. His research explores the development of tantric Buddhist traditions in South Asia, and their dissemination in Tibet and East Asia, with a focus on the Yogin?tantras, a genre of Buddhist tantric literature that focused on female deities and yogic practices involving the subtle body. He focuses particularly on the Cakrasamvara Tantra, an esoteric Indian Buddhist scripture that serves as the basis for a number of important Nepali and Tibetan Buddhist practice traditions. ([https://www.scu.edu/cas/religious-studies/faculty--staff/david-gray/ Source Accessed Dec 3, 2019])
[https://www.scu.edu/media/college-of-arts-and-sciences/religious-studies/cvs/GrayCV1.pdf Curriculum Vitae] +
Gray Tuttle studies the history of twentieth century Sino-Tibetan relations as well as Tibet’s relations with the China-based Manchu Qing Empire. The role of Tibetan Buddhism in these historical relations is central to all his research. In his Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China (Columbia UP, 2005), he examines the failure of nationalism and race-based ideology to maintain the Tibetan territory of the former Qing empire as integral to the Chinese nation-state. Instead, he argues, a new sense of pan-Asian Buddhism was critical to Chinese efforts to hold onto Tibetan regions (one quarter of China’s current territory). His current research project, “Amdo Tibet, Middle Ground between Lhasa and Beijing (1578-1865),” is a historical analysis of the economic and cultural relations between China and Tibet in the early modern periods (16th – 19th centuries) when the intellectual and economic centers of Tibet shifted to the east, to Amdo — a Tibetan cultural region the size of France in northwestern China. Deploying Richard White’s concept of the “Middle Ground” in the context of two mature civilizations — Tibetan and Chinese — encountering one another, this book will examine how this contact led to three dramatic areas of growth that defined early modern Tibet: 1) the advent of mass monastic education, 20 the bureaucratization of reincarnate lamas’ charisma and 3) the development of modern conceptions of geography that reshaped the way Tibet was imagined. ([http://ealac.columbia.edu/gray-tuttle/ Source Accessed March 30, 2020]) +
Eric Greene is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies. He received his B.A. in Mathematics from Berkeley in 1998, followed by his M.A. (Asian Studies) and Ph.D. (Buddhist Studies) in 2012. He specializes in the history of medieval Chinese Buddhism, particularly the emergence of Chinese forms of Buddhism from the interaction between Indian Buddhism and indigenous Chinese culture. Much of his recent research has focused on Buddhist meditation practices, including the history of the transmission on Indian meditation practices to China, the development of distinctly Chinese forms of Buddhist meditation, and Buddhist rituals of confession and atonement. He is currently writing a book on the uses of meditative visionary experience as evidence of sanctity within early Chinese Buddhism. In addition to these topics, he has published articles on the early history of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, Buddhist paintings from the Silk Roads, and the influence of modern psychological terminology on the Western interpretation of Buddhism. He is also presently working on a new project concerning the practice of translation - from Indian languages to Chinese - in early Chinese Buddhism. He teaches undergraduate classes on Buddhism in East Asia, Zen Buddhism, ritual in East Asian Buddhism, and mysticism and meditation in Buddhism and East Asia, and graduate seminars on Chinese Buddhist studies and Chinese Buddhist texts.<br> After completing his Ph.D. in 2012, Eric took a position at the University of Bristol (UK), where he taught East Asian Religions until coming to Yale in 2015. ([https://religiousstudies.yale.edu/people/eric-greene Source Accessed July 21, 2020]) +
Peter N. Gregory taught at Smith College from 1999 until 2014. After receiving his doctorate in East Asian languages and civilizations from Harvard University in 1981, he taught in the Program for the Study of Religion at the University of Illinois for 15 years. He has also served as the president and executive director of the Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values since 1984, and in that capacity he has directed two publication series with the University of Hawaii Press: "Studies in East Asian Buddhism" and "Classics in East Asian Buddhism."
Gregory's research has focused on medieval Chinese Buddhism, especially the Chan and Huayan traditions during the Tang and Song dynasties, on which he has written or edited seven books, including ''Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism'' (1991). He is currently completing a translation of a ninth-century Chinese Buddhist text on the historical and doctrinal origins of the Chan tradition.
After coming to Smith, Gregory's research and teaching became increasingly concerned with Buddhism in America, on which he produced a film, ''The Gate of Sweet Nectar: Feeding Hungry Spirits in an American Zen Community'' (2004), and co-edited a book, ''Women Practicing Buddhism: American Experiences'' (Wisdom Publications, 2007). ([https://www.smith.edu/academics/faculty/peter-gregory Source Accessed June 13, 2019]) +
Gregory Schopen's work focuses on Indian Buddhist monastic life and early Mahāyāna movements. By looking beyond the Pali Canon in favor of less commonly used sources such as the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya and Indian Buddhist inscriptions, his numerous scholarly works have shifted the field away from Buddhism as portrayed through its own doctrines toward a more realistic picture of the actual lives of Buddhists, both monastic and lay. In this sense, he has seriously challenged many assumptions and myths about Buddhism that had been long perpetuated in earlier Western scholarship. In 1985 he received the MacArthur Fellowship for his work in the field of History of Religion. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015. Four volumes of his collected articles have been published by the University of Hawai'i Press: Buddhist Nuns, Monks, and Other Worldly Matters (2014), Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India (2005), Buddhist Monks and Business Matters (2004), and Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks (1999). ([https://www.international.ucla.edu/cisa/person/276 Source Accessed October 21, 2019]) +
Griffiths was born in London, England, on 12 November 1955. Griffiths has held appointments at the University of Notre Dame, University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Chicago. A scholar of Augustine of Hippo, Griffiths's main interests and pursuits are philosophical theology and the philosophy of religion – particularly Christianity and Buddhism. He received a doctorate in Buddhist studies in 1983 from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and his early works established him as one of the most incisive interpreters of Yogācāra Buddhist philosophy. His works on Buddhism include ''On Being Mindless'' (Lasalle, IL: Open Court, 1991) and ''On Being Buddha'' (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994). After converting from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism and accepting the Schmitt Chair of Catholic Studies at UIC, he has largely given up his work in Buddhist studies. His recent books include: ''Problems of Religious Diversity'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001); ''Philosophy of Religion: A Reader'' (co-edited with Charles Taliaferro) (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003); and ''Lying: An Augustinian Theology of Duplicity'' (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2004). His latest book deals with curiositas and the nature of intellectual appetite; its title is: ''Intellectual Appetite: A Theological Grammar''. According to the faculty pages at Duke Divinity School, from which he resigned in 2017, Griffiths has published ten books as sole author and seven more as co-author or editor. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_J._Griffiths Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020]) +
Paul Groner received his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Yale and spent most of his career at the University of Virginia. His research mostly focused on the Japanese Tendai School during the Heian period. He has also done research on the precepts and ordinations, which led to research on Eison, founder of the Shingon Ritsu sect, and the status of nuns in medieval Japan. In recent years, his interests have extended to the Tendai educational system during the Muromachi Period and to the establishment of Japan’s first public library at the Tendai temple, Kan’eiji. Among his major works are ''Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School'' and ''Ryōgen and Mount Hiei: Japanese Tendai in the Tenth Century''. He is also the translator of HIRAKAWA Akira’s ''The History of Indian Buddhism'', vol. 1 (all published by University of Hawai’i Press). ([https://ealc.berkeley.edu/people/paul-groner Source Accessed Dec 3, 2019]) +
Williiam Grosnick, Assistant Professor of Religion at La Salle College, Philadelphia, received his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1979. His articles on the Buddhist ''Tathāgatagarbha'' tradition have appeared in ''The Journal of the International Association for Buddhist Studies'' and the ''Proceedings of the International Conference of Orientalists'' in Japan. ([https://books.google.com/books?id=r61jYd_uDF0C&pg=PA175&lpg=PA175&dq=william+grosnick+Buddhism+professor&source=bl&ots=TFkHV3J0NN&sig=ACfU3U38FQ1F4GGaJgMNEiZULnWjSjeqYA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWzJ2BgIbnAhWpAp0JHa4_COMQ6AEwBHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=william%20grosnick%20Buddhism%20professor&f=false Source Accessed Jan 15, 2020]) +
Guo Gu (Dr. Jimmy Yu) is the founder of the Tallahassee Chan Center (www.tallahasseechan.com) and is also the guiding teacher for the Western Dharma Teachers Training course at the Chan Meditation Center in New York and the Dharma Drum Lineage. He is one of the late Master Sheng Yen’s (1930–2009) senior and closest disciples, and assisted him in leading intensive retreats throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Guo Gu has edited and translated a number of Master Sheng Yen’s books from Chinese to English. He is also a professor of Buddhism and East Asian religions at Florida State University, Tallahassee. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/authors/g-n/guo-gu.html Shambhala Publications]) +
Dr. Herbert Guenther (1917-2006) was one of the first translators of the Vajrayana and Dzogchen teachings into English. He was well known for his pioneering translations of Gampopa's ''Jewel Ornament of Liberation'' and Longchenpa's ངལ་གསོ་སྐོར་གསུམ་, ''ngal gso skor sgum'', which was published as a trilogy under the title ''Kindly Bent to Ease Us''.
He was born in Bremen, Germany, in 1917. He studied in Munich and Vienna, and then taught at Vienna University from 1943 to 1950. He then lived and taught in India, at Lucknow University from 1950 to 1958, and the Sanskrit University in Varanasi from 1958 to 1963. He then went to the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, where his students included Leslie Kawamura, Kennard Lipman, Steven Goodman and James Valby.
According to Steven Goodman, Guenther used to say that a good translator must do two things: 1) translate Tibetan terms based on the genre and approach in which they are being used, and 2) continually refine one's translation choices.
Guenther had many admirers and although many of his translation choices never caught on, his work did have a clear and undeniable influence on many translators. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Herbert_V._Guenther Source Accessed July 22, 2020])
Also see Steven Goodman's article "[https://www.lionsroar.com/profile-death-of-a-pioneer/ Death of a Pioneer]".
See a list of terms used by Guenther in translation on [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Category:HVG_Glossary Rigpa Wiki here].
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_V._Günther Herbert V. Günther on Wikipedia]
'''QUOTES:'''<br>
"1. To give an example, if someone were to 'translate' the French ''il a le mal de tête'' as 'he has the evil of the earthenware pot,' which is the correct philological rendering and then were to claim that this is what the French understood by that phrase, he would be considered insane, but when someone proclaims such absurdities as 'embryo of Tathāgatha,' 'substantial body', 'eminated incarnation Body,' and so on, which are not even philologically correct but merely reveal utter incomprehension of the subject matter, by a strange volte-face, he is said to be a scholar."
~ "Bodhisattva - The Ethical Phase in Evolution" in [[The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhism]], page 123, note 1.
Gungru Gyaltsen Zangpo (Tib. གུང་རུ་རྒྱལ་མཚན་བཟང་པོ་, Wyl. gung ru rgyal mtshan bzang po) (1383–1450) - the third throneholder of Sera Monastery. He was a disciple of Tsongkhapa, Gyaltsab Je, and Khedrup Je. He was a teacher of Ga Rabjampa Kunga Yeshe. His extant writings were recently published in three volumes.
Volume 1<br>
''byams pa'i dgongs rgyan'' - a commentary on Prajnaparamita philosophy.
Volume 2<br>
''dbu ma rtsa ba shes rab kyi don bsdus'' - Short explanation of the meaning of Nagarjuna's ''Mulamadhyamakakarika''.<br>
''dbu ma 'jug pa'i 'grel pa'' - Commentary on the ''Madhyamakavatara'' of Chandrakirti.<br>
''legs bshad bla ma'i man ngag bdud rtsi'i chu rgyun'' - General treatise on Madhyamika philosophy.
Volume 3<br>
''dbu ma bzhi brgya pa'i 'grel pa'' - Commentary on Aryadeva's ''Four Hundred Verses''<br>
''dbu ma'i stong thun'' - Survey of Madhyamika thought in the context of the various philosophical positions.<br>
''mngon rtogs rgyan gyi de kho na nyid gsal bar byed pa mkhas pa'i yid 'phrog'' - A commentary on the ''Abhisamayalankara''. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Gungru_Gyaltsen_Zangpo Source Accessed Jan 27, 2023]) +
Indian scholiast and major translator of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese during the Liu Song period (420–479). Born in central India to a brāhmaṇa family, he is said to have studied in his youth the five traditional Indian sciences, as well as astronomy, calligraphy, mathematics, medicine, and magic. He was converted to Buddhism and began systematically to study Buddhist texts, starting with the Abhidharma and proceeding through the most influential Mahāyāna texts, such as the ''Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra'' and ''Avataṃsakasūtra''. Around 435, he departed from Sri Lanka for China, arriving in Guangzhou by sea. In China, he devoted himself to teaching and translating Buddhist scriptures, carrying out most of his translations of Mahāyāna and mainstream Buddhist texts while residing in Qiyuansi in Jiankang and Xinsi in Jingzhou. He translated a total of fifty-two scriptures in 134 rolls, including the ''Saṃyuktāgama'' and the ''Prakaranapāda'' [śāstra], both associated with the Sarvāstivāda school, such seminal Mahāyāna texts as the ''[[Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra]]'' and the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra''. In the ''Lengqie shizi ji'', a Chan genealogical history associated with the Northern school (Bei zong) of the early Chan tradition, Guṇabhadra is placed before Bodhidharma in the Chan patriarchal lineage, perhaps because of his role in translating the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'', an important scriptural influence in the early Chan school. (Source: "Guṇabhadra." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 336. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27) +
Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen is core faculty at Nitartha Institute and recently retired from [https://www.naropa.edu/faculty/acharya-gyaltsen.php Naropa University].
Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen was born in Trakar, Nepal, near the Tibetan border. He completed 10 years of traditional scholastic training at [http://www.rumtek.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=400&Itemid=612&lang=en Karma Shri Nalanda Institute] at Rumtek Monastery, Sikkim, India, graduating as acharya with honours (graduated in the same class as [[Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche]]). This was followed by traditional yogic training in the first three-year retreat to be conducted at Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche's monastery in Pullahari, Nepal.
Following the advice of [[Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche]], Lama Tenpa taught at various Kagyu centers in Europe (Teksum Tashi Choling in Hamburg, Germany), at Nitartha, and centers in Canada. In 2004 he moved to Boulder, CO and began teaching at Naropa University. He retired from Naropa in 2020.
Learn more about Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen on the [https://nitarthainstitute.org/about/nitartha-faculty/ Nitartha faculty page] and at [https://nalandabodhi.org/teacher/acharya-lama-tenpa-gyaltsen/ Nalandabodhi]. +
Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso is a noted scholar and teacher who was born in Eastern Tibet in 1935. After completing this early training, he spent five years wandering throughout Eastern and Central Tibet undertaking extensive solitary retreats in caves. When he reached Tsurphu Monastery, he received instruction from the head of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, the 16th Karmapa, who later named him a khenpo, which is a title of scholastic mastery. In 1977 he came to the West to teach Tibetan language and Buddhism. Known for his highly engaging teaching style, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso has been traveling and teaching in the West ever since, placing an emphasis on the careful training of Westerners. Some of his students include [[Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche]], [[Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen]], [[Shenpen Hookham|Lama Shenpen Hookham]], [[Karl Brunnhölzl]], and [[Elizabeth Callahan]]. ([http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0661/2002152104-b.html Source Accessed July, 21 2020])
Visit his official site at [http://www.ktgrinpoche.org/ ktgrinpoche.org] +
The son of a physician, Luis Gómez was born in Puerto Rico on April 7 1943, growing up in the town of Guayanilla. He received his B.A. degree in 1963 from Universidad de Puerto Rico, enrolling there at age sixteen. He received his Ph.D. degree in Buddhist Studies, Indic Philology, and Japanese Language and Literature from Yale University in 1967. His first academic position was at the University of Washington. After that, he returned to Puerto Rico for four years, serving as chair of the Department of Philosophy at the Universidad de Puerto Rico.
He joined the University of Michigan faculty as an Associate Professor of Buddhist Studies in 1973 and was promoted to full professor in 1979. In 1986, he was named a “Collegiate Professor,” the highest faculty rank in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at Michigan, naming his professorship after his former colleague and mentor, the distinguished Chinese historian Charles Hucker.
Luis Gómez’s contributions to Buddhist Studies during his thirty-five years at Michigan spanned the areas of graduate training, undergraduate teaching, and scholarship. He founded Michigan’s highly regarded Ph.D. program in Buddhist Studies, which has produced several generations of outstanding scholars. That his students specialized in Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Indian, Thai, and Burmese Buddhism testifies to his wide-ranging knowledge, as well as his high level of proficiency in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese, as well as Latin, French, German, and Italian (in addition to his native Spanish). His work as a graduate mentor was honored in 1995, when he received the John H. D’Arms Award for Distinguished Graduate Mentoring in the Humanities. In recognition of his outstanding undergraduate teaching, he was named Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in 1997. A dedicated administrator, he chaired the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures for a decade. ([http://iabsinfo.net/2017/09/obituary-tribute-to-luis-oscar-gomez/ Source Accessed May 20, 2020])
H
Yoshito S. Hakeda was an Associate Professor of Japanese in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Associate Professor in the Department of Religion at Columbia University. He is the translator of ''The Awakening of Faith'', attributed to Aśvaghosha (1967), and one of the collaborators assisting Wm. Theodore de Bary in preparing ''Buddhist Tradition in India, China, and Japan'' (1969).
According to his obituary in the New York Times, "Professor Hakeda's major volume was a translation and study of the works and thought of Kukai, a ninth-century Japanese Buddhist priest and scholar, published by the Columbia University Press in 1972. He also collaborated on ''Bankei Zen,'' a translation of the works of a 17th-century Zen master." ([https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/01/obituaries/yoshitoshakeda-professor-ofjapaneseatcolumbiadies.html Source Accessed December 4, 2019)] +
Sarah Harding was born in Malibu in 1951 and educated in Los Angeles, California. She studied English literature and anthropology at Prescott College in Arizona and earned a degree in Religious Studies from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Sarah spent three years traveling through Europe, Africa, and Asia, and while abroad, she studied Tibetan language and culture for two years in Darjeeling, India, and in Kathmandu, Nepal. In 1974, Sarah returned to the United States to continue her studies in Tibetan culture and language. Her interests in Tibetan and Buddhist studies culminated in her participation in the first traditional three-year meditation and study retreat for Westerners, which was conducted entirely in Tibetan, under the guidance of Venerable Kalu Rinpoche, near Dijon, France.
Between 1980 and 1992, Sarah served as a resident Dharma teacher and translator in Los Angeles and later in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has done extensive oral translation internationally for such renowned teachers as Kalu Rinpoche, Chagdud Tulku, Tenga Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, and Gangteng Rinpoche. Sarah is a founding member of the International Buddhist Translation Committee and a member of the Nalanda Translation Committee. Her prolific career as a translator includes more than thirty-five translations of traditional Buddhist texts, as well as the Tibetan Language Correspondence Course, co-authored with Jeremy Morrelli. From 1992 she was a faculty member in Buddhist Studies at Naropa University and is recently retired. Sarah continues to make her home in Boulder, where she is currently working on her next book. She has been a Tsadra Fellow since 2000. ([https://books.google.com/books?id=eBhgB0Xqr24C&pg=PA193&lpg=PA193&dq=Sarah+Harding+was+born+in+Malibu+in+1951+and+educated+in+Los+Angeles,+California.+She+studied+English+literature+and+anthropology+at+Prescott+College+in+Arizona+and+earned+a+degree+in+Religious+Studies+from+Naropa+University+in+Boulder,+Colorado.+Sarah+spent+three+years+traveling+through+Europe,+Africa,+and+Asia,+and+while+abroad,+she+studied+Tibetan+language+and+culture+for+two+years+in+Darjeeling,+India,+and+in+Kathmandu,+Nepal.+In+1974,+Sarah+returned+to+the+United+States+to+continue+her+studies+in+Tibetan+culture+and+language.+Her+interests+in+Tibetan+and+Buddhist+studies+culminated+in+her+participation+in+the+first+traditional+three-year+meditation+and+study+retreat+for+Westerners,+which+was+conducted+entirely+in+Tibetan,+under+the+guidance+of+Venerable+Kalu+Rinpoche,+near+Dijon,+France.&source=bl&ots=aeYb7bOnh-&sig=ACfU3U0wbLUpmQYmQ8kGJrpCPhiuFrEe9g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihnZCTuuHqAhXIbc0KHZQ_AP8Q6AEwAXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=Sarah%20Harding%20was%20born%20in%20Malibu%20in%201951%20and%20educated%20in%20Los%20Angeles%2C%20California.%20She%20studied%20English%20literature%20and%20anthropology%20at%20Prescott%20College%20in%20Arizona%20and%20earned%20a%20degree%20in%20Religious%20Studies%20from%20Naropa%20University%20in%20Boulder%2C%20Colorado.%20Sarah%20spent%20three%20years%20traveling%20through%20Europe%2C%20Africa%2C%20and%20Asia%2C%20and%20while%20abroad%2C%20she%20studied%20Tibetan%20language%20and%20culture%20for%20two%20years%20in%20Darjeeling%2C%20India%2C%20and%20in%20Kathmandu%2C%20Nepal.%20In%201974%2C%20Sarah%20returned%20to%20the%20United%20States%20to%20continue%20her%20studies%20in%20Tibetan%20culture%20and%20language.%20Her%20interests%20in%20Tibetan%20and%20Buddhist%20studies%20culminated%20in%20her%20participation%20in%20the%20first%20traditional%20three-year%20meditation%20and%20study%20retreat%20for%20Westerners%2C%20which%20was%20conducted%20entirely%20in%20Tibetan%2C%20under%20the%20guidance%20of%20Venerable%20Kalu%20Rinpoche%2C%20near%20Dijon%2C%20France.&f=false Adapted from Source July 22, 2020])
'''Online Publications''':
*[http://tsadra-wp.tsadra.org/2016/07/13/pha-dampa-sangye-and-the-alphabet-goddess/ Pha Dampa Sangye and the Alphabet Goddess: A Preliminary Study of the Sources of the Zhije Tradition]. Presented by Sarah Harding at the 2016 meeting of the International Association of Tibetan Studies (IATS) in Bergen, Norway
*[http://magazine.naropa.edu/wisdom-traditions-fall-2017/features/glorious-naropa.php Nāropa’s Life of Liberation and Spiritual Song]
*[http://tsadra-wp.tsadra.org/2014/04/28/did-machik-really-teach-chod/ Did Machik Lapdrön Really Teach Chöd? A Survey of the Early Sources]
Ian Charles Harris (born June 17, 1952, died December 23, 2014 ) was an English Orientalist, Sanskrit scholar, and Buddhist. Harris studied at Lancaster University from 1977 to 1982. He earned a master's degree in religious studies at Lancaster University, and then earned a doctorate at Lancaster, with the book ''The Continuity of Madhyamaka and Yogācāra in Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism'' (1991). He then graduated from the University of Cambridge, and then became a teacher of religious studies and then head of department for schools in Bradford and Keighley. In 1987, his time began as a lecturer in religious studies at St. Martin's College Lancaster (later part of the University of Cumbria). ([https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Charles_Harris Source Accessed Dec 4, 2019])
An online obituary can be found [https://buddhism.arts.ubc.ca/2015/01/06/obituary-professor-ian-charles-harris-june-17th-1952-to-december-23rd-2014/ here.] +
Paul Harrison completed his B.A. and M.A. in Chinese at Auckland University in his native New Zealand and took his Ph.D. in South Asian & Buddhist Studies from Australian National University in 1979. After a short stint at Auckland (1981-1983), he taught Religious Studies at Canterbury University in Christchurch, New Zealand, for 22 years, being responsible for courses on Buddhism. Paul joined the permanent faculty of Stanford's Religious Studies Department in 2007. His research focuses on Buddhist history and literature, on the study of Buddhist manuscripts, and the edition and translation of Buddhist sacred texts in Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese. Paul is co-director of the Ho Center for Buddhist Studies at Stanford. ([https://explorecourses.stanford.edu/instructor/paulh1 Source Accessed Dec 4, 2019]) +
Peter Harvey, who gained his doctorate in Buddhist Studies at Lancaster University, under Ninian Smart, is Emeritus Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Sunderland, UK. His research focuses on early Buddhist thought and practices, and Buddhist ethics. He edits ''Buddhist Studies Review'', journal of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies, having founded the Association in 1995 with Ian Harris, and from 2002 to 2011 ran an online MA Buddhist Studies program. He is author of ''An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices'' (University of Cambridge Press, 1990, 2nd edn. 2013), ''The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvana in Early Buddhism'' (Curzon Press, 1995), and ''An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Practices'' (University of Cambridge Press, 2000). He has edited an anthology of Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna texts, ''Common Buddhist Text: Guidance and Insight from the Buddha'', to be published for free distribution by Mahachulalongkorn-rajavidyalaya University in Thailand. He is a member of the Samatha Trust and teaches a free online course on Samatha meditation. Retired, he now lives near York. ([https://sunderland.academia.edu/PeterHarvey Source Accessed Dec 5, 2019]) +
Dr. Steven Heine is Professor of Religious Studies and History as well as Director of Asian Studies at Florida International University. He specializes in East Asian and comparative religions, Japanese Buddhism and intellectual history, Buddhist studies, and religion and social sciences. Dr. Heine earned his B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania and M.A. and Ph.D. at Temple University. Before coming to FIU in 1997, he taught at Pennsylvania State University and directed the East Asian Studies center there. Professor Heine teaches a variety of courses including Modern Asia and Methods in Asian Studies at graduate and undergraduate levels as well as Japanese culture and religion, Zen Buddhism, Ghosts, spirits and folk religions, religions of the Silk Road, and other aspects of Asian society.
Dr. Heine was a Fulbright Senior Researcher in Japan and twice won National Endowment for Humanities Fellowships plus funding from the American Academy of Religion and Association for Asian Studies in addition to the US Department of Education, the Japan Foundation and Freeman Foundation. He has conducted research on Zen Buddhism in relation to medieval and modern society primarily at Komazawa University in Tokyo. Heine has lectured there institutions in addition to Brown, Cambridge, Columbia, Emory, Florida, Free University, Harvard, Hawaii, Iowa, London, North Carolina, McGill, Ohio State, Oslo, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Stanford, UCLA, Yale, Zurich and many other conferences and institutions. He was chair of the national Japanese Religions Group and the Sacred Space in Asia Group, and he is editor of Japan Studies Review and a former book review editor for Japan for Philosophy East and West published by the University of Hawaii Press.
Dr. Heine’s research specialty is medieval East Asian religious studies, especially the transition of Zen Buddhism from China to Japan. In addition to 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals and outstanding edited volumes, he has published thirty-five books, both monographs and edited volumes. Over a dozen of his books have been reviewed or noted in such publications as CHOICE, Chronical of Higher Education, Booklist, Library Journal, or Times Literary Supplement, in addition to multiple reviews in various academic journals or professional outlets.
The most recent books include ''From Chinese Chan to Japanese Zen: A Remarkable Century of Transmission and Transformation'' (Oxford); ''Zen and Material Culture'' (Oxford); ''Chan Rhetoric of Uncertainty in the Blue Cliff Record: Sharpening the Sword at the Dragon's Gate'' (Oxford); ''Zen Koans'' (Hawaii); ''Like Cats and Dogs: Contesting the Mu Kōan in Zen Buddhism'' (Oxford); ''Dōgen and Sōtō Zen: New Perspectives'' (Oxford); ''Dōgen: Textual and Historical Studies'' (Oxford); and ''Sacred High City, Sacred Low City: A Tale of Sacred Sites in Two Tokyo Neighborhoods'' (Oxford). Three books are forthcoming in 2020: ''Readings of Dōgen’s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye'' (Columbia); ''Flowers Blooming on a Withered Tree: Giun's Verse Comments on Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō'' (Oxford); ''Creating the World of Chan/ Sǒn /Zen: Chinese Chan Buddhism and its Spread throughout East Asia''.
Other books include ''Zen Skin, Zen Marrow: Will the Real Zen Buddhism Please Stand Up?'' (Oxford); ''Did Dōgen Go to China? What He Wrote and When He Wrote It'' (Oxford); ''Opening a Mountain: Kōans of Zen Masters'' (Oxford); ''Shifting Shape, Shaping Text: Philosophy and Folklore in the Fox Kōan'' (Hawaii); ''The Zen Poetry of Dōgen: Verses From the Mountain of Eternal Peace'' (Tuttle); ''Dōgen and the Kōan Tradition: A Tale of Two Shōbōgenzō Texts'' (SUNY); ''Existential and Ontological Dimensions of Time in Heidegger and Dōgen'' (SUNY); ''The Zen Canon: Studies of Classic Zen Texts'' (Oxford). His book ''White Collar Zen: Using Zen Principles to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Your Career Goals'' (Oxford) was reviewed by the Harvard Business School, USA Today, and the Washington Post. For more detailed information on his books, please see [https://asian.fiu.edu/about/director/books/ here]. ([https://asian.fiu.edu/about/director/ Source Accessed Jan 17, 2020])
A long–term student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Ann joined the Nalanda Translation Committee in 1986. She studied Tibetan at Naropa University, mainly with Dzigar Kongtrul, and she taught Tibetan and Foundations of Buddhism at Naropa from 1991-2004. After 30 years in Boulder, Ann lived as a retreatant for eight years at Padma Samye Ling, the monastery in upstate New York of Khenchen Palden Sherab and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal. From 1997 to 2014, she translated primarily with Ringu Tulku and for Dharma Samudra, the Khenpo Brothers’ publication group. In 2014 Ann moved to Portland, Oregon, where she continues her Buddhist practice and study under the guidance of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. ([http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/Ann_Helm Source Accessed Sept 9, 2020]) +
Helmut Tauscher is a retired research scholar. He was affiliated with the Institute for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies in the Department of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at Vienna University. He is a life-member of the Drepung Loseling Library Society in Mundgod, Karnataka, India and since 1991 has been engaged in a research project entitled "Western Tibetan Manuscripts, 11-14 c." He is the author of numerous articles and book-length works on Madhyamaka, including ''Die Lehre von den Zwei Wirklichkeiten in Tsoń kha pas Madhyamaka-Werken'' (1995) and an edition of Phya pa chos kyi seng ge's ''dBu ma shar gsum gyi stong thun'' (1999). ([https://books.google.com/books?id=tIw1BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA398&lpg=PA398&dq=Helmut+Tauscher+He+is+a+life-member+of+the+Drepung+Loseling+Library+Society+in+Mundgod,+Karnataka,+India&source=bl&ots=M2WVZOYOIe&sig=ACfU3U2hZYk8YIUH416oCkmz58TTSX3EFg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiP_aqhlN_qAhVIQ80KHYpDALoQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=Helmut%20Tauscher%20He%20is%20a%20life-member%20of%20the%20Drepung%20Loseling%20Library%20Society%20in%20Mundgod%2C%20Karnataka%2C%20India&f=false Adapted from Author's Biography in ''The Svātantrika-Prāsaṇgika Distinction'', Wisdom Publications 2003, 398]) +
Heshang Moheyan [or Hashang Mahāyāna] was the Chinese abbot whom Kamalashila defeated in a famous debate at Samyé. He is said to have been a representative of a form of Ch’an meditation, but in a rather nihilistic form. He taught that meditation consists of not doing anything at all in the mind, and that this can bring about sudden enlightenment, without the need even to practice the six paramitas. Tibetan scholars throughout the centuries have often accused one another of adhering to Hashang’s system, and often put this down to the particular tendrel created when he “left his shoes behind” in Tibet following his defeat. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Hashang Source Accessed Oct 22, 2019]) +
Hideko Wayman was a translator of Buddhist works and the wife of the Buddhist studies scholar Alex Wayman (1921–2004). She was a graduate of Tsuda College of Tokyo in her native Japan and subsequently earned an M.A. at the University of California, Berkeley.
While Alex Wayman was writing his doctoral dissertation, "Analysis of the
''Śrāvakabhūmi'' Manuscript," she studied the ''Śrāvakabhūmi'' in Hsüan-tsang's Chinese translation as well as in the Japanese rendition.
One of the books Hideko Wayman co-authored with her husband was a translation of the third-century Buddhist scripture ''Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā'', published by Columbia Univ. Press under the auspices of the Translation Committee on Asian Classics at Columbia. Hideko's research and translation of Chinese and Japanese sources complemented Wayman's work in Sanskrit and Tibetan sources. As the cotranslator of this work, she added to the introductions and annotations, supplied important data from the Sino-Japanese commentaries, and supervised preparation of the Glossary, Appendix, and Index. (Adapted from ''The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā'', translators' note, xv) +
Rev. Blayne Higa is the Resident Minister of the Kona Hongwanji Buddhist Temple in Kealakekua on the Big Island of Hawaii. He holds a Master of Divinity from the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California with a focus on Shin Buddhist ministry and chaplaincy. He has been a contributor to Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, and Buddhadharma, and is a frequent speaker and seminar leader at Buddhist communities in Hawaii and around the nation.
Rev. Blayne received Tokudo ordination and Kyoshi certification from the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha in Kyoto, Japan. He is the Chair of the Committee on Social Concerns and Ministerial Training Committee for the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii. He was also a co-planner for the 2022 Future of American Buddhism Conference.
Prior to entering ministry, he had careers in state government and the non-profit sector for over seventeen-years. He holds a Master of Public Administration and a certificate in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He received a BA from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Committed to civic engagement, Rev. Blayne serves on the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii and Vibrant Hawaii. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of The Interfaith Alliance Hawaii. You can learn more about his work at www.blaynehiga.com. ([https://www.blaynehiga.com/about Source Accessed April 25, 2024]) +
David Higgins received his doctorate from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland in 2012. He subsequently held a position as a Post-doc Research Fellow in the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna where he explored the relationship between Mahāmudrā and Madhyamaka philosophies in Bka’ brgyud scholasticism during the post-classical period (15th to 16th centuries). His research interests include Indo-Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and epistemology with a particular focus on Bka’ brgyud Mahāmudrā and Rnying ma Rdzogs chen doctrines and practices. His PhD thesis was published under the title ''Philosophical Foundations of Classical Rdzogs chen in Tibet: Investigating the Distinction Between Dualistic Mind (sems) and Primordial Knowing (ye shes)'' (Vienna, WSTB no. 78, 2013). His recent publications include ''Mahāmudrā and the Middle Way: Post-classical Kagyü Discourses on Mind, Emptiness and Buddha Nature'' (Vienna, WSTB no. 90, 2016, 2 vols.) and ''Buddha Nature Reconsidered: The Eighth Karma pa’s Middle Path'' (Vienna, WSTB, forthcoming, 2 vols.), both of which were co-authored with Martina Drazczyk. ([https://conference.tsadra.org/past-event/2019-vienna-symposium/ Source Accessed July 22, 2020]) +
Born in Toyohashi City in Aichi Prefecture on January 21, 1915, Hirakawa studied as an undergraduate and then graduate student (1939-1945) at the Department of Indian Philosophy and Sanskrit Philology, Faculty of Letters, Tokyo Imperial University (now University of Tokyo), and became Research Assistant of that department in 1946. He was appointed Associate Professor of the newly established Department of Indian Philosophy at Hokkaido University in 1950. After teaching for four years in Hokkaido University, he returned to Tokyo in 1954 to become Associate Professor of Buddhist Studies at his alma mater. Hirakawa was granted a full professorship in 1962, a position he held until reaching the University of Tokyo’s mandatory retirement age of 60 in 1975, at which time he received the title of Professor Emeritus. After his retirement he taught for 10 years (1975-1985) Buddhist Studies at Waseda University, Department of Oriental Philosophy, School of Literature. Hirakawa also served as Chairman of the Directors of the Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies for eight years (1983-1991), where he made tremendous contributions toward the advancement of the Association. In 1993 he was selected to be a member of the Japan Academy. He went on to become Chairman and Professor at the International College for Advanced Buddhist Studies (established in 1996), where in addition to his duties as the director of research and education, he was responsible for the general administration of the College. He held this position until passing away. ([https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/download/8928/2821/ Source Accessed Dec 5, 2019])
[https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/download/8928/2821/ See also, ''In Memoriam'', Professor Akira Hirakawa] +
Dr. Hiromi Habata is a faculty member at the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies in Tokyo, Japan. Before her appointment she was a researcher in Indology at the Institute of Indology and Tibetology at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. Her scholarly interests include Buddhist Sanskrit, manuscripts of Central Asia, and methods of translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese and Tibetan. She is a member of the British Library Sanskrit Fragments Project and is currently working on a critical edition and analysis of the Mahaparinirvana-sutra of the Mahayanists. ([https://www.en.buddhismus-studien.uni-muenchen.de/people_vorlage/index.html Adapted from Source Aug 3, 2020])
Click here for a link to Hiromi Habata's [https://www.indologie.uni-muenchen.de/personen/3_privatdoz/habata/publ_habata/index.html publications] +
Hitoshi Inui is a professor at Koyasan University in the Department of Esoteric Buddhism. His main areas of specialization are Chinese, Indian, and Buddhist Philosophy and Esoteric Buddhism. He is the author of numerous articles on these topics. For a list of publications, visit Hitoshi Inui's page at [https://jglobal.jst.go.jp/en/detail?JGLOBAL_ID=200901092696376140&e=publication/misc J-Global] +
Dr. Stephen Hodge completed his undergraduate studies at SOAS, University of London (1969–72) and his post-graduate studies at Tōhoku Universty (1972–81), focussing on the formation of early tantric Buddhism and early Yogācāra. He was ordained as a Shingon monk at Mt. Koya in 1974. Since returning to the UK, apart from some teaching work, Hodge has mainly engaged in translation work and also independent research into the textual formation of early Mahāyāna, especially focusing on the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'' and related texts. He is currently working on a translation of the Tibetan and two Chinese versions of the ''Nirvāṇasūtra'', to be accompanied by an exhaustive textual analysis demonstrating the compositional methods and stratification of this text and the relationship between the three versions. Hodge has recently embarked upon a parallel study of the development and texts of early 1st century CE Messianic Judaism and the Hebreo-Aramaic basis of the Gospels, as well as investigating possible ideological influences in Southern India.
His publications include: ''An Introduction to Classical Tibetan'' (1990), ''The Illustrated Tibetan Book of the Dead'' (1998), ''The Dead Sea Scrolls'' (2001), ''The Mahā-Vairocana Tantra with Commentary by Buddhaguhya'' (2001), ''The Daodejing'' (2002), the following sections of the ''Yogācāra-bhūmi-ṣāstra'': ''Vyakhyā-saṃgrahaṇī'', ''Paryāya-saṃgrahaṇī'', ''Vastu-saṃgrahaṇī'', ''Śrāvaka-bhūmi'' (forthcoming with BDK). Hodge is also currently publishing a series of interim study papers on the ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra'': Paper I “The Textual Transmisssion of the ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra''," Paper II "Who Compiled the ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra'', Where & When?” (forthcoming), Paper III "The Development of the Conceptual Terminology of the ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra''" (forthcoming. ([https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/en/personen/hodge.html Source Accessed October 16, 2019]) +
Augustus Frederic Rudolf Hoernlé (1841–1918), also referred to as Rudolf Hoernle or A. F. Rudolf Hoernle, was an Indologist and philologist. He is famous for his studies on the Bower Manuscript (1891), Weber Manuscript (1893) and other discoveries in northwestern China and Central Asia particularly in collaboration with Aurel Stein. Born in India to a Protestant missionary family from Germany, he completed his education in Switzerland, and studied Sanskrit in the United Kingdom. He returned to India, taught at leading universities there, and in the early 1890s published a series of seminal papers on ancient manuscripts, writing scripts, and cultural exchange between India, China, and Central Asia. His collection after 1895 became a victim of forgery by Islam Akhun and colleagues in Central Asia, a forgery revealed to him in 1899. He retired and settled in Oxford in 1899. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Hoernl%C3%A9 Source Accessed December 5, 2019]) +
Following an education in France and America, Katia Holmes gained an M.A. in political science at SciencePo in Paris and went on to gain an M.Sc. in economics at the University of Paris. Her research at this time took her to India. Following a year of lecturing at Vincennes University in Paris, in 1970 she stayed for much of a sabbatical year in Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Centre in Scotland, which she had visited in 1969. Based in Samye Ling and France, she has dedicated her life since then to the study and preservation of Tibetan wisdom. In 1987 she gained a pre-doctoral DEA diploma in Religious Anthropology of Asia and Africa at the EPHE, Paris. Since 1993, she has concentrated on Tibetan Medicine and has worked in close conjunction with Khenpo Troru Tsenam Rinpoche . . . Katia is the main translator and interpreter for the Tara-Rokpa College of Tibetan Medicine where she is working on a translation of the famous Fourfold Tantra . . . ([http://kagyu.org.za/harare/visiting-teachers/ken-and-katia-holmes-october-23-november-2-2013/ Source Accessed Jul 22, 2020]) +
Ken is currently Director of Studies at Kagyu Samye Ling. His life is spent teaching in Samye Dzongs in various countries, writing and translating dharma works, and he also occasionally interprets for visiting Tibetan lamas. He has also lectured in elementology and astro-science for the Tara-Rokpa College of Tibetan Medicine. He was a founder member of the Scottish Inter-Faith Council and has worked with the British Cabinet Office and the European Community on training programmes. He represented Buddhism at the seminal 2002 meetings in Brussels to discuss religious representation in the new European constitution. ([https://www.samyeling.org/buddhism-and-meditation/teaching-archive-2/dharmacharya-ken-holmes/ Source Accessed Jul 22, 2020]) +
Lama Shenpen Hookham is the founding Lama of the [https://buddhawithin.org.uk/about/ Awakened Heart Sangha] and principle teacher of the [https://ahs.org.uk/training Living the Awakened Heart training].
Lama Shenpen has trained for over 50 years in the Mahamudra & Dzogchen traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
She has spent over 12 years in retreat and has been a student of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, one of the foremost living masters of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, since the late 70s.
Lama Shenpen is fluent in Tibetan and has translated a number of Tibetan texts into English for her students. On Khenpo Rinpoche’s instructions she produced a seminal study of the profound Buddha Nature doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism, published as ''The Buddha Within'', and gained a doctorate in this from Oxford University. She is also the author of ''[https://www.windhorsepublications.com/product/theres-more-to-dying-than-death/ There’s More to Dying than Death]'', ''[https://buddhawithin.org.uk/autobiography/ Keeping the Dalai Lama Waiting and Other Stories]'', and ''[https://www.shambhala.com/the-guru-principle.html The Guru Principle]''.([https://ahs.org.uk/lama-shenpen Source Accessed July 21, 2020]) +
Jeffrey Hopkins is Professor Emeritus of Tibetan Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia where he taught Tibetan Buddhist Studies and Tibetan language for thirty-two years from 1973. He received a B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1963, trained for five years at the Lamaist Buddhist Monastery of America in Freewood Acres, New Jersey, USA (now the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in Washington, New Jersey), and received a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Wisconsin in 1973.<br> For ten years, from 1979 to 1989, Hopkins served as His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s chief interpreter into English on lecture tours. At the University of Virginia, he founded the largest academic program in Tibetan and Buddhist studies in the West, and served as Director of the Center for South Asian Studies for twelve years. He has published forty-eight books, some of which have been translated into a total of twenty-two languages. He published the first translation of the foundational text of the Jo-nang school of Tibetan Buddhism in ''Mountain Doctrine: Tibet’s Fundamental Treatise on Other-Emptiness and the Buddha-Matrix''. He has translated and edited sixteen books from oral teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the last four being ''How to See Yourself as You Really Are''; ''Becoming Enlightened''; ''How to Be Compassionate''; and ''The Heart of Meditation: Discovering Innermost Awareness''.<br> He is the President and Founder of the UMA Institute for Tibetan Studies. ([https://uma-tibet.org/author-hopkins.html Source Accessed Jul 22, 2020])
Curriculum Vitae available for download [https://uma-tibet.org/bod/cv/hopkins_cv.pdf here] +
Sarah J. Horton received her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Yale University. She is a scholar of East Asian religions and Japanese culture. She is the author of ''Living Buddhist Statues in Medieval and Modern Japan'' (Palgrave MacMillan 2007) +
Mei Hsiao received her PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Calgary in 2008. She is an Assistant Professor at China Medical University Center for General Education in Taiwan. She specializes in Mahāyāna Buddhism and Chinese Philosophy. +
Jamie Hubbard graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a doctorate in Buddhist studies and has been teaching at Smith College since 1985.
Hubbard is the author of books, articles and films on Buddhism in East Asia, including ''Pruning the Bodhi Tree'' (with Paul Swanson), "Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood," and the film ''The Yamaguchi Story: Buddhism and the Family in Japan''. He also has extensive interests in the use of technology in Buddhist studies and has worked on numerous projects in the area of archiving Buddhist texts and digital publication, and more recently in the field of neuroscience and emerging technologies of awareness: Cyborg Buddha! ([https://www.smith.edu/academics/faculty/jamie-hubbard Source Accessed June 13, 2019]) +
Pascale Hugon studied Indology and Tibetology at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). Her primary focus of research is the philosophical literature of Buddhism, in particular epistemology and Madhyamaka. She studies its transmission to Tibet, Tibetan interpretations, and indigenous elaborations. Following the fortunate recovery of significant texts by authors of the bKa’ gdams pa school, her current research is examining the development of Tibetan scholasticism in the 11th–13th c. Her publications include editions, translations and thematic studies based on Sanskrit and Tibetan materials.
Hugon is the head of the FWF project "Buddhist narratives and 'Tibetan' ethnogenesis" (2021–2025) and she is the Principal Investigator of the ERC-funded project "The dawn of Tibetan Buddhist scholasticism (11th–13th c.)" (TibSchol, CoG 101001002) (2021–2026).
:([https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/ikga/team/research/hugon-pascale/ Source Accessed Jan 26, 2023])
[https://www.oeaw.ac.at/fileadmin/Institute/IKGA/PDF/team/CV_Hugon_2021.pdf CV]
[https://www.oeaw.ac.at/fileadmin/Institute/IKGA/PDF/team/Publications_Hugon_2021.pdf Publications] +
Dajian Huineng (traditional Chinese: 大鑒惠能; pinyin: Dàjiàn Huìnéng; Wade–Giles: Ta-chien; Japanese: Daikan Enō; Korean: Hyeneung); (February 27, 638 – August 28, 713), also commonly known as the Sixth Patriarch or Sixth Ancestor of Chan (traditional Chinese: 禪宗六祖), is a semi-legendary but central figure in the early history of Chinese Chan Buddhism. According to tradition he was an uneducated layman who suddenly attained awakening upon hearing the ''Diamond Sutra''. Despite his lack of formal training, he demonstrated his understanding to the fifth patriarch, Daman Hongren, who then supposedly chose Huineng as his true successor instead of his publicly known selection of Yuquan Shenxiu.
Twentieth century scholarship revealed that the story of Huineng's Buddhist career was likely invented by the monk Heze Shenhui, who claimed to be one of Huineng's disciples and was highly critical of Shenxiu's teaching.
Huineng is regarded as the founder of the "Sudden Enlightenment" Southern Chan school of Buddhism, which focuses on an immediate and direct attainment of Buddhist enlightenment. ''The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch'' (六祖壇經), which is said to be a record of his teachings, is a highly influential text in the East Asian Buddhist tradition. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huineng Source Accessed July 14, 2021]) +
Scott Hurley is an Assistant Professor in Religion at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. His research interests include new religions of China and Japan, early-mid twentieth century Chinese Buddhism, animal rights, and welfare issues.
He currently teaches "Living Religions," "Religions of East Asia," and a course entitled "Enduring Questions." ([https://www.luther.edu/religion/faculty/ Source Accessed July 22, 2020])
[https://www.luther.edu/hurlsc01/assets/ScottHurleyCV.pdf CV and List of Publications] +
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Katsuhito Inoue is a Professor at Kansai University in the Faculty of Letters, Department of Humanities. He is the author of numerous articles on Japanese philosophy and Confucian thought. +
Isaline Blew Horner (30 March 1896 – 25 April 1981), usually cited as I. B. Horner, was an English Indologist, a leading scholar of Pali literature and late president of the Pali Text Society (1959–1981). On 30 March 1896 Horner was born in Walthamstow in Essex, England. Horner was a first cousin once removed of the British Theravada monk Ajahn Amaro. In 1917, at the University of Cambridge's women's college Newnham College, Horner was awarded the title of a B.A. in moral sciences. After her undergraduate studies, Horner remained at Newnham College, becoming in 1918 an assistant librarian and then, in 1920, acting librarian. In 1921, Horner traveled to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India and Burma where she was first introduced to Buddhism, its literature and related languages. In 1923, Horner returned to England where she accepted a Fellowship at Newnham College and became its librarian. In 1928, she became the first Sarah Smithson Research Fellow in Pali Studies. In 1930, she published her first book, ''Women Under Primitive Buddhism''. In 1933, she edited her first volume of Pali text, the third volume of the ''Papancasudani'' (Majjhima Nikaya commentary). In 1934, Horner was awarded the title of an M.A. from Cambridge. From 1939 to 1949, she served on Cambridge's Governing Body. From 1926 to 1959, Horner lived and traveled with her companion "Elsie," Dr. Eliza Marian Butler (1885–1959). ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaline_Blew_Horner Source Accessed Apr 22, 2020]) +
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Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India and Burma. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. After graduating from Dartmouth College in Asian Studies in 1967 he joined the Peace Corps and worked on tropical medicine teams in the Mekong River valley. He met and studied as a monk under the Buddhist master Ven. Ajahn Chah, as well as the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma. Returning to the United States, Jack co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with fellow meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein and the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. Over the years, Jack has taught in centers and universities worldwide, led International Buddhist Teacher meetings, and worked with many of the great teachers of our time. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a father, husband and activist.
His books have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than a million copies. They include, ''A Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology''; ''A Path with Heart''; ''After the Ecstasy, the Laundry''; ''Teachings of the Buddha''; ''Seeking the Heart of Wisdom''; ''Living Dharma''; ''A Still Forest Pool''; ''Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart''; ''Buddha's Little Instruction Book''; ''The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness and Peace''; ''Bringing Home the Dharma: Awakening Right Where You Are''; and his most recent book, ''No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You Are''. ([https://jackkornfield.com/bio/ Source Accessed March 6, 2020])
===Teachings on Buddha-nature===
* Awakening to Your Buddha Nature: https://www.spiritrock.org/buddha-nature
* Finding Buddha Nature in the Midst of Difficulty Meditation: https://jackkornfield.com/finding-buddha-nature-in-the-midst-of-difficulty/
* Your Buddha Nature: Teachings on the Ten Perfections: https://www.soundstrue.com/store/your-buddha-nature-507.html
David P. Jackson received his doctorate in 1985 from the University of Washington and studied and translated for many years in Seattle for the polymath Tibetan scholar Dezhung Rinpoche. Until 2007, he was a professor of Tibetan Studies at Hamburg University in Germany and is now a curator for the Rubin Museum of Art in New York. He is the author of numerous articles and books on Tibetan art, literature, and history, including ''A Saint in Seattle'', ''Tibetan Thangka Painting'', ''The Mollas of Mustang'', and ''Enlightenment by a Single Means''. He lives in Washington State. ([http://www.wisdompubs.org/author/david-p-jackson Source Accessed Oct 19, 2019]) +
Roger Jackson is John W. Nason Professor of Asian Studies and Religion, Emeritus, at Carleton College. He also has taught at the University of Michigan, Fairfield University, McGill University, and Maitripa College. He has a BA from Wesleyan University and an MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin, where he studied under Geshe Lhundub Sopa. His books include ''Is Enlightenment Possible?'' (1993), ''Tibetan Literature'' (with José Cabezón, 1996), ''Buddhist Theology'' (with John Makransky, 1999), ''Tantric Treasures'' (2004), ''The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems'' (with Geshe Sopa et al., 2009), and ''Mahāmudrā and the Bka’ brgyud Tradition'' (with Matthew Kapstein, 2011). He is a past editor of the ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies'', and currently co-edits the ''Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies''. He recently completed a major study and anthology centered on Mahāmudrā theory and practice in the Geluk tradition: [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/mind-seeing-mind/ ''Mind Seeing Mind'']. ([http://conference-wp.tsadra.org/past-event/the-2017-tt-conference/ Source Accessed Dec 6, 2019])
Roger Jackson's [https://apps.carleton.edu/profiles/assets/rjackson_cv.pdf CV]
Roger Jackson, John W. Nason Professor of Asian Studies and Religion, Emeritus, recently published an article-length memoir of his career as a scholar of Buddhism, “[https://networks.h-net.org/node/6060/pages/6031574/jackson-roger-r Playing Both Ends Against the Middle: Buddhadharma, Buddhist Studies, and Me],” on the Buddhist studies website H-Buddhism. +
Dr. Lozang Jamspal received an Acharya degree in Sanskrit, Hindi, and Buddhist and Indian philosophy at Sanskrit University, Benares. At the university, he served as a librarian and Tibetan language instructor, and helped to establish the Central Institute of Tibetan Studies where he later worked as lecturer. He also worked as a lecturer of Sanskrit and classical Tibetan language at the University of Delhi. After moving to the U.S. in 1974, he taught at the Bslab gsum bshad grub gling in New Jersey. In 1991, he earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University, where he taught classical Tibetan. Currently he is a regular professor at the International Buddhist College. ([http://ibc.ac.th/en/community/prof-dr-lozang-jamspal Source Accessed April 30, 2020]) +
Yūn-hua Jan was Professor of Religion in the Department of Religious Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton. He received a Canada Council Fellowship (1973-74) and has lectured in Chinese Studies at Visva-Bharati University, India. He has been a visiting researcher at the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo (1974). He was the author of ''A Chronicle of Buddhism in China 581-906 A.D.'' (1967) and ''The Autobiography of Ch'i Pai-shih''. He has contributed many articles written in Chinese and English to various journals. He received his Ph.D. from the Visva-Bharati University, India. (Source: Adapted from [https://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/content/search?search_in%5B%5D=all&SearchText=the+bodhisattva+doctrine+in+buddhism ''The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhism''], Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 1981) +
Dr. Jarosław Zapart is an Indologist and buddhologist whose research interests revolve mainly around early literature and philosophy of Mahāyāna Buddhism. He is especially concerned with origins of the tathāgatagarbha concept, its evolution in Indian sources and its earliest history in China. His second field of interest encompasses the Hindi Sant thought & literature as well as the North Indian Bhakti. He is also involved in the study of Indian aesthetics and poetics and the aesthetics of Indian & Western classical music. ([https://jagiellonian.academia.edu/JaroslawZapart Adapted from Source April 16, 2020]) +
The Most Venerable Phra Thepyanmongkol was born on 6 March 1929. While he was a layman, he worked as a research specialist at the United States Information Services (USIS) in Bangkok. Also, he was a visiting lecturer in research methodology, research and evaluation, and public opinion surveys to various academic institutions in Thailand. Sermchai began practicing meditation in 1970. After he made an attainment according to the Dhammakaya Meditation, he furthered his meditation to the advanced level with the Most Venerable Master Phrarajbrahmathera (Veera Kanuttamo), the vice abbot and head of Vipassana Meditation department of Wat Paknam in Bangkok, who studied the superknowledge of Dhammakaya directly with the Most Venerable Grand Master Phramongkolthepmuni (Luang Por Wat Paknam). After his achievement in meditation, Sermchai entered Buddhist monkhood on 6 March 1986. As a Buddhist monk, he spent years studying Buddhist doctrine and Pali language until he completed the advanced level of Dhamma study and level six of Pali curriculum. In 1991, he established Wat Luang Phor Sodh Dhammakayaram to be a center for Dhamma study and meditation practice in Rajaburi Province. In 1996, he became a certified Buddhist preceptor. As a recognition to his works which benefit Buddhism and the society, Venerable Sermchai was promoted for the first time to the ecclesiastical title of Phra Bhavana Visutthikhun in 1998. In 2004, he was promoted to the title of Phra Rajyanvisith. He was promoted again to the higher ecclesiastical title of Phra Thepyanmongkol in 2011. Throughout years of his monkhood, the Most Venerable Sermchai has promoted Dhamma study and Dhammakaya Meditation practice in order to create peace among human societies. With his qualified knowledge gained from the modern education system and profession as well as knowledge about Dhamma doctrine and meditation experience, the Most Venerable Sermchai has authored many books on Buddhism and meditation. In addition, as the abbot of Wat Luang Phor Sodh Dhammakayaram, he has organized meditation retreat and training for both Thais and foreigners. Venerable Master Sermchai initiated many projects which benefit Buddhism and the propagation of Dhammakaya Meditation which includes the establishment of Buddhist college located within the area of his temple in Rajaburi Provice. Consequently, with his work achievement and qualification, in July 2018, Venerable Master Sermchai (Phrathepyanmongkol) was granted the title of 'Associate Professor' by Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU) which is the prominent Buddhist University in Thailand. ([https://www.meditation101.org/14497024/venerable-master-assoc-professor-sermchai-jayamanggalo Source Accessed Apr 4, 2022])
Jin Y. Park is Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Founding Director of Asian Studies Program at American University. Park's research areas include East Asian Buddhism (especially Zen and Huayan Buddhism), postmodernism, deconstruction, Buddhist ethics, Buddhist philosophy of religion, Buddhist-postmodern comparative philosophy, and modern East Asian philosophy. Park’s research in Buddhism focuses on the Zen and Huayan schools of East Asian Buddhism on language, violence, and ethics. In her comparative study, Park reads Zen and Huayan Buddhism together with postmodern thought in Continental philosophy, with a special focus on Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction. Park’s research on modern East Asian philosophy examines the dawn of philosophy in East Asia and the East-West encounter in this context. In her monograph ''Buddhism and Postmodernity: Zen, Huayan, and the Possibility of Buddhist-Postmodern Ethics'' (2008), Park discusses Buddhism and continental philosophy on the topics of, among others, self, language, and violence. In this book, Park offers the "ethics of tension" as a potential ethical paradigm drawn from Buddhism and postmodern philosophy. ''Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun'' (2014), is a translation of a book published in Korean in 1960 by Kim Iryŏp (1896-1971), a writer, first-generation Korean feminist, Buddhist nun, and philosopher. In this book, Kim Iryŏp offers a creative interpretation of Buddhist philosophy and practice. In ''Women and Buddhist Philosophy: Engaging Zen Master Kim Iryop'' (2017), Park proposes a new mode of philosophizing based on the discussion of Kim Iryŏp’s life and philosophy. Park is also the editor of volumes: ''Buddhisms and Deconstructions'' (2006), ''Merleau-Ponty and Buddhism'' (co-edited, 2009), ''Comparative Political Theory and Cross-Cultural Philosophy'' (2009), and ''Makers of Modern Korean Buddhism'' (2010). ([https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/jypark.cfm Source Accessed May 18, 2020]) +
Jingxi Zhanran. (J. Keikei Tannen; K. Hyŏnggye Tamyŏn 荊溪湛然 (711–782). Chinese monk who is the putative ninth patriarch of the Tiantai zong; also known as Great Master Miaole (Sublime Bliss) and Dharma Master Jizhu (Lord of Exegesis). Zhanran was a native of Jingqi in present-day Jiangsu province. At age nineteen, Zhanran became a student of the monk Xuanlang (673–754), who had revitalized the community on Mt. Tiantai. After Xuanlang's death, Zhanran continued his efforts to unify the disparate regional centers of Tiantai learning under the school's banner; for his efforts, Zhanran is remembered as one of the great revitalizers of the Tiantai tradition. A gifted exegete who composed numerous commentaries on the treatises of Tiantai Zhiyi, Zhanran established Zhiyi's ''Mohe zhiguan'', ''Fahua xuanyi'', and ''Fahua wenju'' as the three central texts of the Tiantai exegetical tradition. His commentary on the ''Mohe zhiguan'', the ''Mohe zhiguan fuxing zhuanhong jue'', is the first work to correlate ''zhiguan'' (calmness and insight) practice as outlined by Zhiyi with the teachings of the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra'' ("Lotus Sūtra"), the central scripture of the Tiantai tradition. In his ''Jingang Pi'' ("Adamantine Scalpel"), Zhanran argued in favor of the controversial proposition that insentient beings also possess the buddha-nature (''foxing''). Zhanran's interpretation of Tiantai doctrine and the distinction he drew between his own tradition and the rival schools of the Huayan zong and Chan zong set the stage for the internal Tiantai debates during the Song dynasty between its on-mountain (shanjia) and off-mountain (shanwai) branches. Zhanran lectured at various monasteries throughout the country and was later invited by emperors Xuanzong (r. 712–756), Suzong (r. 756–762), and Daizong (r. 762–779) to lecture at court, before retiring to the monastery Guoqingsi on Mt. Tiantai. (Source: "Jingxi Zhanran." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 391–92. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Jingying Huiyuan. (J. Jōyō Eon; K. Chǒngyǒng Hyewǒn 淨影慧遠) (523-592). Chinese monk and putative Di lun exegete during the Sui dynasty. Huiyuan was a native of Dunhuang. At an early age, he entered the monastery of Guxiangusi in Zezhou (present-day Shanxi province) where he was ordained by the monk Sengsi (d.u.). Huiyuan later studied various scriptures under the vinaya master Lizhan (d.u.) in Ye, the capital of the Eastern Wei dynasty. In his nineteenth year, Huiyuan received the full monastic precepts from Fashang (495-580), ecclesiastical head of the saṃgha at the time, and became his disciple. Huiyuan also began his training in the Dharmaguptaka "Four-Part Vinaya" (Sifen lü) under the vinaya master Dayin (d.u.). After he completed his studies, Huiyuan moved back to Zezhou and began his residence at the monastery Qinghuasi. In 577, Emperor Wu (r. 560-578) of Northern Zhou began a systematic persecution of Buddhism, and in response, Huiyuan is said to have engaged the emperor in debate; a transcript of the debate, in which Huiyuan defends Buddhism against criticisms of its foreign origins and its neglect of filial piety, is still extant. As the persecution continued, Huiyuan retreated to Mt. Xi in Jijun (present-day Henan province). Shortly after the rise of the Sui dynasty, Huiyuan was summoned by Emperor Wen (r. 581-604) to serve as overseer of the saṃgha (shamendu) in Luozhou (present-day Henan). He subsequently spent his time undoing the damage of the earlier persecution. Huiyuan was later asked by Emperor Wen to reside at the monastery of Daxingshansi in the capital. The emperor also built Huiyuan a new monastery named Jingyingsi, which is often used as his toponym to distinguish him from Lushan Huiyuan. Jingying Huiyuan was a prolific writer who composed numerous commentaries on such texts as the ''Avataṃsakasūtra'', ''Mahāparinirvānasūtra'', ''Vimalakīrtinirdeśa'', ''Sukhāvatīvyūhasūtra'', ''Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra'', ''Shidi jing lun'' (Vasubandhu's commentary on the ''Daśabhūmikasūtra''), ''Dasheng qixin lun'', and others. Among his works, the ''Dasheng yi zhang'' ("Compendium of the Purport of Mahāyāna"), a comprehensive encyclopedia of Mahāyāna doctrine, is perhaps the most influential and is extensively cited by traditional exegetes throughout East Asia. Jingying Huiyuan also plays a crucial role in the development of early Pure Land doctrine in East Asia. His commentary on the ''Guan Wuliangshou jing'', the earliest extant treatise on this major pure land scripture, is critical in raising the profile of the ''Guan jing'' in East Asian Buddhism. His commentary to this text profoundly influenced Korean commentaries on the pure land scriptures during the Silla dynasty, which in turn were crucial in the evolution of Japanese pure land thought during the Nara and Heian periods. Jingying Huiyuan's concept of the "dependent origination of the tathāgatagarbha" (rulaizang yuanqi)—in which tathāgatagarbha is viewed as the "essence" (ti) of both nirvāṇa and saṃsāra, which are its "functioning" (yong)—is later adapted and popularized by the third Huayan patriarch, Fazang, and is an important precursor of later Huayan reconceptualizations of dependent origination (''pratītyasamutpāda''; see fajie yuanqi). (Source: "Jingying Huiyuan." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 392. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Thupten Jinpa Langri (b. 1958) is a former Tibetan monk and a Geshe Lharampa with B.A. in philosophy and a Ph.D. in religious studies, both from Cambridge University. Since 1985, he has been the principal English translator to H.H. the Dalai Lama and has translated and edited numerous books by the Dalai Lama, including the New York Times Bestsellers ''Ethics for the New Millennium'' and ''The Art of Happiness''. Jinpa’s own publications include works in Tibetan, English translations as well as books, the latest being ''Tsongkhapa: A Buddha in the Land of Snows'' and ''Illuminating the Intent'', a translation of Je Tsongkhapa's commentary on ''Entering the Middle Way''. Jinpa is the general series editor of the 32-volume ''Bod kyi tsug lag gces btus'' series, whose translations are published in English as [https://tibetanclassics.org/ The Library of Tibetan Classics]. His current projects include the editing of classical Indian Buddhist texts from Tengyur for a special anthology known as Rgya gzhung gnad che bdam bsgrigs (Selected Indian Buddhist treaties). He is the main author of CCT (Compassion Cultivation Training), an eight-week formal program developed at Stanford University, and co-founder and president of the Compassion Institute. He is the Chair of Mind and Life Institute, founder of the Institute of Tibetan Classics, and an adjunct professor at the School of Religious Studies at McGill University. Jinpa lives in Montreal and is married with two daughters. (Source: Thupten Jinpa) +
Jizang. (J. Kichizō; K. Kilchang) (549–623). In Chinese, "Storehouse of Auspiciousness"; Chinese Buddhist monk of originally Parthian descent and exegete within the San lun zong, the Chinese counterpart of the Madhyamaka school of Indian thought. At a young age, he is said to have met the Indian translator Paramārtha, who gave him his dharma name. Jizang is also known to have frequented the lectures of the monk Falang (507–581) with his father, who was also [an] ordained monk. Jizang eventually was ordained by Falang, under whom he studied the so-called Three Treatises (San lun), the foundational texts of the Chinese counterpart of the Madhyamaka school: namely, the ''Zhong lun'' (''Mūlamadhyamakārikā''), ''Bai lun'' (*''Śataśāstra''), and ''Shi'ermen lun'' (*''Dvādaśamukhaśāstra''). At the age of twenty-one, Jizang received the full monastic precepts. After Falang’s death in 581, Jizang moved to the monastery of Jiaxiangsi in Huiji (present-day Zhejiang province). There, he devoted himself to lecturing and writing and is said to have attracted more than a thousand students. In 598, Jizang wrote a letter to Tiantai Zhiyi, inviting him to lecture on the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra''. In 606, Emperor Yang (r. 604–617) constructed four major centers of Buddhism around the country and assigned Jizang to one in Yangzhou (present-day Jiangsu province). During this period, Jizang composed his influential overview of the doctrines of the Three Treatises school, entitled the San lun xuanyi. Jizang's efforts to promote the study of the three treatises earned him the name "reviver of the San lun tradition." Jizang was a prolific writer who composed numerous commentaries on the three treatises, the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra'', ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'', ''Vimalakīrtinirdeśa'', ''Sukhāvatīvyūhasūtra'', etc., as well as an overview of Mahāyāna doctrine, entitled the ''Dasheng xuan lun''. ("Jizang". In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 395. Princeton University Press, 2014)
Joaquín Pérez-Remon was a Jesuit missionary in India who taught Oriental Philosophy and was the chair of the History of Religions at the Jesuit University of Deusto (Bilbao). He is the author of several books, including ''Misticismo Oriental y Misticismo Cristiano'' (Bilbao, 1985), ''The Self and the Production of Pleasure and Pain in Early Buddhism'' (A.E.O. 1981), and ''Self and Non-Self in Early Buddhism'' (De Gruyter, 1980). ([https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2035 Source Accessed Oct 7, 2020]) +
Edward Hamilton Johnston was a British oriental scholar who was Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford from 1937 until his death. He was born on 26 March 1885; his father was Reginald Johnston, Governor of the Bank of England from 1909 to 1911. He was educated at Eton College before studying at New College, Oxford, switching to history after a year of mathematics and obtaining a first-class degree in 1907. He joined the Indian Civil Service, winning the Boden Sanskrit Scholarship during his probation, and worked in India from 1909 onwards in various capacities. He took the opportunity to retire in 1924 after working in India for 15 years, and returned to England. Thereafter he spent his time on the study of Sanskrit, later learning sufficient Tibetan and Chinese to make use of material available in those languages.
Although Johnston seems only to have published one article in India (on a group of medieval statues), his later works show that he had noted local Indian practices in agriculture and other areas, since he made reference to these in his analysis of Sanskrit texts. Between 1928 and 1936, he published an edition and translation of the ''Buddhacārita'' (''Acts of the Buddha'') by the 2nd-century author Aśvaghoṣa; this was described by the writer of his obituary in The Times as his "magnum opus."
In 1937, he was elected Boden Professor of Sanskrit and Keeper of the Indian Institute at the University of Oxford, also becoming a Professorial Fellow of Balliol College. He started cataloguing the Sanskrit manuscripts acquired for the Bodleian Library by an earlier Boden professor, A. A. Macdonell, helped improve the museum of the Indian Institute, and worked on the manuscripts held by the India Office Library. He published several articles on a variety of topics. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Johnston_(orientalist) Source Accessed Jan 13, 2020]) +
Chris Jones completed doctoral research at the University of Oxford (St Peter’s College) in 2015, with a thesis that explored the language of selfhood (ātman) in relation to teachings about buddha-nature in Indian Buddhist literature. The thesis was awarded the Khyentse Foundation Award for outstanding doctoral research produced in Europe, and was the foundation for his first monograph – The Buddhist Self: On Tathāgatagarbha and Ātman. Jones spent three further years researching and teaching at Oxford as a Postdoctoral Fellow of the British Academy, and is now on a UK Arts and Humanities Research Project connected to the University of Cambridge, associated also with the University of Edinburgh. His continuing research concerns predominantly Mahāyāna Buddhist thought as preserved across Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan literature, as well as the boundaries and interactions between Buddhism and other religious traditions in India and elsewhere. (Personal Communication, September 2021]) +
David Jones is professor of philosophy and editor of ''Comparative and Continental Philosophy'' (Taylor and Francis), the founding editor of ''East-West Connections'' from 2000 to 2013, and the editor of the ''Series on Comparative and Continental Philosophy''. In 2013 and 2015 he was Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences at National Taiwan University and has been a visiting professor at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, Visiting Professor of Chinese Philosophy at the University of North Georgia, and Visiting Professor of Confucian Classics at Emory. From 1996 to 2008 he was the director of the Center for the Development of Asian Studies, which was a Southeast regional center of the Asian Studies Development Program of the East-West Center in Honolulu. Under his direction, CDAS coordinated a number of faculty development workshops and organized conferences and programs on Asia for faculty and the public in Atlanta, the Southeast, and nationally. David Jones was the president of the highly regarded Comparative and Continental Philosophy Circle for the last twelve years. ([http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~djones/index.htm Source Accessed Mar 17, 2020]) +
Sina Joos received her MA in Tibetan studies, Chinese studies, and the History of Oriental Art in 2009 from the University of Bonn, Germany. Since 2016 she has been a PhD candidate at the Department of South Asian, Tibetan, and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria, under the supervision of Prof. Klaus-Dieter Mathes. Her research focuses on the ''gzhan stong'' doctrine of the Jonang school, while her teachers are mainly from the bka’ brgyud school of Tibetan Buddhism. Apart from her academic studies, she participated in the Translation Training Program at Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu and works at the Kamalashila Institute for Buddhist Studies and Meditation, interpreting for Tibetan lamas as well as translating and editing texts for the practice sessions and seminars. +
Khenpo Dr Ngawang Jorden was born in 1956 and grew up in Sikkim. He lived at Lachung, Sikkim until he was 12 then moved to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim where he began formal studies at Enchey School. At age 14 he joined Sa-Ngor-Choe-Tshok Monastery in Gangtok. After completing his monastic studies such as rituals, he then studied Buddhist Philosophy with the late Khenpo Lodro Zangpo.
In 1975 he went to Sakya College, Dehradun, India, where he studied the five branches of Buddhist philosophy under the late Khenchen Appey Rinpoche. He obtained the degree of Kachupa (equivalent to B.A.) and Loppon (equivalent to M.A.) in Buddhist Studies. Khenpo Jorden later taught at Sakya College before going to America to study at Harvard University where he completed his M.A. and then Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies.
His Holiness the Sakya Trizin and Khenchen Appey Rinpoche invited Khenpo Jorden to take up the position of Principal of IBA in Kathmandu and so he left his teaching post at the University of Chicago and joined IBA in 2009. As Principal of IBA he oversees the many projects IBA is involved in, teaches the Dharma to students from across the globe and engages in translation work. He also travels extensively to countries such as Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Europe to give teachings.
IBA has around 40 monastic scholars undertaking the five-year monastic leadership program and each year offers a summer program in Buddhist studies and practice to overseas students. IBA also has an active translation program, the Chödung Karmo Translation Group, with scholars and translators from many countries. Khenpo Jorden is currently managing a rebuilding program at IBA after significant damage to campus buildings in the earthquakes. ([http://internationalbuddhistacademy.org/about-us/khenpo-ngawang-jorden/ Source Accessed July 22, 2020])] +
John Jorgensen is a senior research associate in the Chinese Studies Research Centre at La Trobe University. A specialist in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Buddhism, he taught at Griffith University in Queensland and was a researcher at The Australian National University before taking up his current role at La Trobe University. ([http://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Books/Treatise_on_Awakening_Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Faith Source Accessed Jan 6, 2020]) +
Associate Professor Judith Snodgrass writes, researches and teaches in the areas of Buddhism in the West, Buddhism and Asian modernity, Buddhist nationalism, and Western knowledge of Asia. She is the author of ''Presenting Japanese Buddhism to the West: Orientalism, Occidentalism and the Columbian Exposition'' (University of North Carolina Press, 2003). Associate Professor Snodgrass was editor of the internationally refereed professional journal ''Japanese Studies'' (Taylor and Francis) from 1997 through 2011.
In 1991, Judith was a founding member of TAASA (The Asian Art Society of Australia) and was an active member of the Executive for the first decade of its activities. She is currently President of AABS (Australasian Association of Buddhist Studies). In 2012, she chaired the organising committee of the biennial conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia. ([https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/staff_profiles/uws_profiles/associate_professor_judith_snodgrass Source Accessed June 16, 2020]) +
Prof. GONG Jun 龔隽 is currently based in the Department of Philosophy at Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China). His research interest covers Chan Buddhism, the intellectual history of Chinese Buddhism, and Chinese philosophy. Born in 1964 in Jiangxi, China, Gong studied philosophy and Buddhism at Wuhan University and East China Normal University in Shanghai. Having finished his PhD, Gong started his academic career at South China Normal University in Guangzhou in 1993, and then moved to Sun Yat-sen University in 2001. He stayed one year at Harvard University (2002-2003) as Harvard-Yenching visiting scholar. Being solidly trained in both Chinese philosophy and Buddhist literature, Gong has authored a number of influential monographs such as ''Dacheng qixin lun yu Foxue zhongguohua'' 大乘起信論與佛學中國化 (The ''Awakening of Faith'' and Sinolization of Buddhism, 2001), and ''Chanshi gouchen'' 禅史鈎沉 (Essays Investigating the Hidden Historical Facts about Chan Buddhism, 2006), etc. Overall, Gong’s work demonstrates a very fine combination of philosophical debates with textual analysis. He also dedicates to dealing with methodological issues, his ''Zhongguo Chanxue yanjiu rumen'' 中國禅學研究入門 (Introduction to the studies in Chinese Chan Buddhism; 2009; co-authored with CHEN Jidong 陳繼東), for instance, offers methodological guidance and is deemed a must for junior researchers in this field. ([https://frogbear.org/guest-lecture-gong-jun/ Source Accessed July 3, 2020]) +
Jörg Plassen is Professor of East Asian Religions in the faculty of East Asian Studies / Center for Religious Studies at Ruhr Universität Bochum (RUB) in Germany. His areas of research include: Early Korean Hwaom and Samnon-Buddhism in East Asian Context; Authorship and intertextuality in Tang dynasty Huayan/Hwaom/Kegon texts (combining digital text mining and traditional philological methods); Literary and Pragmatic Dimensions of Buddhist Commentaries (especially Writing and Reading as Spiritual Practice); Religious Processes of Transfer ("Sinification of Buddhism", Interdependencies between Buddhism and Taoism / Xuanxue, Buddho-Confucian Interactions in China and Korea). ([https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/oaw/roa/plassen.html Source Accessed June 15, 2020]) +
Following Dogen Zenji, the Dharma lamp was transmitted to Ejo Zenji, then to Gikai Zenji, and then to Keizan Zenji, who was the fourth ancestor in the Japanese Soto Zen lineage.
Keizan Zenji was born in 1264 in Echizen Province, which is present-day Fukui Prefecture. His mother, Ekan Daishi, was a devoted believer in Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokiteshvara), the bodhisattva of compassion. It is said that she was on her way to worship at a building dedicated to Kannon when she gave birth. For that reason, the name that Keizan Zenji was given at birth was Gyosho.
At the age of eight, he shaved his head and entered Eiheiji where he began his practice under the third abbot, Gikai Zenji. At the age of thirteen, he again went to live at Eiheiji and was officially ordained as a monk under Ejo Zenji. Following the death of Ejo Zenji, he practiced under Jakuen Zenji at Hokyoji, located in present-day Fukui. Spotting Keizan Zenji’s potential ability to lead the monks, Jakuen Zenji selected him to be ino, the monk in charge of the other monks’ practice.
In contrast to Dogen Zenji, who deeply explored the internal self, Keizan Zenji stood out with his ability to look outwards and boldly spread the teaching. For the Soto Zen School, the teachings of these two founders are closely connected with each other. In spreading the Way of Buddha widely, one of them was internal in his approach while the other was external.
After more years of practice in Kyoto and Yura, Keizan Zenji became resident priest of Jomanji in Awa, which is present-day Tokushima Prefecture. He was twenty-seven years old. During the next four years, he gave the Buddhist precepts to more than seventy lay people. From this we can understand Keizan Zenji’s vow to free all sentient beings through teaching and transmitting the Way.
He also came forth emphasizing the equality of men and women. He actively promoted his women disciples to become resident priests. At a time when women were unjustly marginalized, this was truly groundbreaking. This is thought to be the origin of the organization of Soto Zen School nuns and it was for this reason many women took refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
Keizan Zenji finally moved back to Daijoji, in present-day Kanazawa City, where he became the second abbot, following Gikai Zenji. It was here that he gave teisho on Transmission of Light (Denkoroku). This book explains the circumstances by which the Dharma was transmitted from Shakyamuni Buddha through the twenty eight ancestors in India, the twenty three patriarchs in China, through Dogen Zenji and Keizan Zenji in Japan until Keizan’s teacher, Tettsu Gikai.
In 1321 at the age of fifty-eight, a temple called Morookaji in Noto, which is present-day Ishikawa Prefecture, was donated to Keizan Zenji and he renamed it Sojiji. This was the origin of Sojiji in Yokohama, which is, along with Eiheiji, the other Head Temple (Daihonzan) of the Soto Zen School.
Keizan Zenji did not, by any means, make light of the worldly interests of ordinary people and along with the practice of zazen used prayer, ritual, and memorial services to teach. This was attractive to many people and gave them a sense of peace. For this reason, the Soto Zen School quickly expanded.
Even in the Soto Zen School today, while all temples have zazen groups to serve the earnest requests of believers, they also do their best to fulfill the requests that many people have for benefiting in the everyday world, which include memorial services and funerals.
Keizan Zenji died in 1325 at the age of sixty-five. In succeeding years, his disciples did a good job in taking over for him at Sojiji on the Noto Peninsula. However, that temple was lost to fire in 1898. This provided the opportunity in 1907 to move Sojiji to its present location. The former temple was rebuilt as Sojiji Soin and continues today with many supporters and believers. (Source: [https://www.sotozen.com/eng/what/Buddha_founders/dogen_zenji.html Sotozen.com])
K
Kaiji Jeffrey Schneider is a Zen priest who has lived, worked and practiced at San Francisco Zen Center since 1978. The founder of the Zen Center recovery programs, he is currently the Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator. ([https://www.sfzc.org/teachers/kaiji-jeffrey-schneider Source Accessed August 13, 2020]) +
At the age of 13, he joined Shugding Monastery in Tibet and memorized prayers and ritual texts. When he was 20, he joined Sera Monastery in Lhasa and learned language and logic. At 23, he left Tibet and arrived at Sera Monastery in India to pursue education in Buddhist studies. He stood 3rd in his exams on the Middle Way and Perfection Studies and carried out research on logic and epistemology as part of his Lharam Geshe training and sat the exams for it. He also stood 3rd in the examination in tantric studies. In 2020, he sat in the final defense for the Lharam Geshe degree. In addition to his regular academic achievements, he also won the first prize in a literary competition in Tibet, was the sole prize winner for literary composition during the international commemoration of Tsongkhapa, and also received many other prizes for literary writings. He served as the 11th President of the Khampa Literary Society and has authored many works including a commentary on ''Pramāṇasiddhi'' and two books of poetry entitled ''Sweets of the Mute.'' He is currently a researcher. +
Kalu Rinpoche was one of the most prominent Tibetan lamas of the twentieth century, active in both exile communities and in the West. As a young man he spent over a decade in isolated retreat, coming out only to serve as retreat master at Tsādra Rinchen Drak. Although never formally enthroned, he was commonly recognized as a reincarnation of Jamgon Kongtrul. In exile he settled in India, where he was a primary teacher to many contemporary Kagyu lamas and served as the main propagator of the Shangpa Kagyu tradition. In the later decades of his life he traveled multiple times to Europe and North America, where he established dharma centers and three-year retreat centers and initiated the translation of Kongtrul's Treasury of Knowledge into English. (Source: [https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/kalu-rinpoche/12180 Treasury of Lives]) +
My teaching and research together reflect my deep commitment to enhancing our curiosities about one another and to honing sensitive instruments of learning which help to make the once “strange” familiar. Religion studies is a multidisciplinary field, making our approaches both challenging and exciting. Whether it is teaching the discovery of the Tibetan Book of the Dead in my course Death and Desire, deconstructing popular understandings of such terms as ‘yoga’ and ‘buddha’ in Buddhist traditions, or networking across departments in planning a Japanese folk and jazz fusion concert for religions of Japan, I hope to facilitate learning in which once comfortably closed stances regarding ‘us’ and ‘them’ begin to open. Material artifacts can bring cultures into clearer view. I bring scrolls, amulets, spirit tablets, devotional paintings and music into my discussions so students can directly touch the manifestations of the abstract ideas they study. My course on Pilgrimage: Rites of Way has instilled in me the importance of journeying together as well, and I have taken students to see Himalayan art collections, talk with monks in a Tibetan monastery, and even to Japan to give them a sense of what it means to study religion in its fullest possible context. ([https://www.muhlenberg.edu/facultysearch/facultyresults/ktakahashi/ Source Accessed June 23, 2020]) +
Dr. Kano is an associate professor at Komazawa University in Japan and a specialist of Sanskrit and Tibetan tathāgatagarbha literature. His particular research interests focus on philosophical interpretations of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''. ([https://conference.tsadra.org/past-event/2019-vienna-symposium/ Source Accessed July 22, 2020]) +
Matthew T. Kapstein specializes in the history of Buddhist philosophy in India and Tibet, as well as in the cultural history of Tibetan Buddhism more generally. He regularly teaches Contemporary Theories in the Study of Religion in the History of Religions program, and Introduction to the Philosophies of India in Philosophy of Religions. His seminars in recent years have focused on particular topics in the history of Buddhist thought, such as Buddha Nature, idealism, and epistemology (''pramāṇa''), or on broad themes in the study of religion including the problem of evil, death, and the imagination. Kapstein has published over a dozen books and numerous articles, among the most recent of which are a general introduction to Tibetan cultural history, ''The Tibetans'' (Oxford 2006), an edited volume on Sino-Tibetan religious relations, ''Buddhism Between Tibet and China'' (Boston 2009), and a translation of an eleventh-century philosophical allegory in the acclaimed Clay Sanskrit Series, ''The Rise of Wisdom Moon'' (New York 2009). With Kurtis Schaeffer (University of Virginia) and Gray Tuttle (Columbia), he has completed ''Sources of Tibetan Traditions'', published in the Columbia University Press Sources of Asian Traditions series in 2013. Kapstein is additionally Professor Emeritus of Tibetan Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris. In 2018 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. ([https://divinity.uchicago.edu/directory/matthew-kapstein Source Accessed Sep 17, 2019]) +
Professor Seishi Karashima was appointed assistant professor at Soka University’s International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology in April 1997 upon the establishment of the institute, becoming a full professor two years later. After taking on the role of director in April 2011, he continued to make significant contributions to the development of the institute.<br> Specializing in Buddhist philosophy, Professor Karashima applied his vast knowledge of Sanskrit, Tibetan, Pāḷi, Middle Indo-Aryan, and ancient Chinese to conduct detailed analyses of early Chinese Buddhist Translations. Among his many publications, he compiled A glossary of Dharmaraksa's translation of the Lotus Sutra, A Glossary of Kumārajīva's translation of the Lotus Sutra, and A glossary of Lokakṣema's translation of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā. He studied the formation of early Mahayana Buddhism and was a leading light of the Buddhist academic community in Japan and abroad. Professor Karashima was invited to work at various institutions in Japan and abroad, including the University of California, Berkeley; the School of Literary Studies at Renmin University of China; and Institut de France. During his time at these institutions, he did not limit himself to simply giving lectures on Buddhist studies. He also set up initiatives to support research, such as creating a worldwide network of Buddhist researchers.<br> Numerous published papers and books bear the hand of Professor Karashima, either as author or editor. These include Vessantara-jātaka Yakuchū (included in The Jātaka, Vol. 10 by Hajime Nakamura, Shunjūsha, 1988); A Textual Study of the Chinese Versions of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra (Sankibo Busshorin, 1992); A Study of the Underlying Language of the Chinese Translation of the Dīrgha-āgama (Hirakawa Shuppan Inc., 1994); Buddhist Manuscripts from Central Asia: The British Library Sanskrit Fragments, (author and editor of three volumes in five books; International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University, 2006, 2009, 2015); Abhisamācārika- Dharma (three volumes, German language publication, International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, 2012); Languages and Transmission of Buddhist Scriptures (Chinese language publication, Nakanishi Shokyoku, 2016). (Source: [https://www.soka.ac.jp/en/news/2019/07/10324/ Soka University])
An important master of the Dakpo Kagyu tradition. He was a student of the Seventh Karmapa and a teacher to the Eighth Karmapa and the Second Pawo Rinpoche. An immanent scholar, he wrote works on both sūtra and tantra, as well as an acclaimed commentary on the three cycles of doha of the famed Indian master Saraha. +
Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön is a scholar, teacher, and translator in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. She divides her time between the Rigpe Dorje Institute at Pullahari Monastery, Kathmandu, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Before studying Buddhism, she completed graduate degrees in biology and law and worked as a litigator in Miami and Silicon Valley. With her husband, Lama Karma Zopa Jigme, she cofounded Prajna Fire and the Prajna Sparks podcast. She also co-hosts the Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC teachers podcast. ([https://www.lionsroar.com/author/lama-karma-yeshe-chodron/ Source Accessed April 25, 2024]) +
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, was a prominent Karma Kagyu hierarch who also held Nyingma and Chod lineages. He was likely the first man to carry the title of Karmapa, following his identification by Orgyenpa Rinchen Pel as the reincarnation of Karma Pakshi, whom Orgyenpa posthumously identified as the reincarnation of Dusum Khyenpa. He spent much of his life traveling across Tibet and made two visits to the Yuan court in China. ([http://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Third-Karmapa-Rangjung-Dorje/9201 Read more at the source: Treasury of Lives]) +
The eighth member of the incarnation lineage of the Karmapas, Mikyö Dorje, was a prolific scholar and an acclaimed artist, often credited with the development of the Karma Gadri style of painting. Though he only lived into his mid-40's his contributions to the Karma Kagyu and Tibetan tradition, in general, were immense. His collected works are said to have originally filled thirty volumes and he is widely held to be one of the most significant of the Karmapa incarnations.
For a detailed discussion of The Eighth Karmapa's life, with interesting reference to source texts, see the [https://kagyuoffice.org/life-of-mikyo-dorje/ 17th Karmapa's teachings from February 2021].
'''From the book, ''Karmapa: 900 Years'' (KTD Publications, 2016, revised 3rd edition):'''
Mikyö Dorje is among the greatest scholars Tibet has ever produced. He was an active participant in the rigorous intellectual debates of his day, making major contributions in virtually all areas of textual study. He was an accomplished Sanskritist, and wrote Sanskrit grammars alongside works ranging from poetry to art to tantra. The Eighth Karmapa’s voluminous writings include substantial commentaries on all the principal Sanskrit texts, clarifying points of confusion and deeply engaging with their inner meaning. The act of composing philosophical texts within the Karma Kagyu—a lineage so fully devoted to attaining realization through practice—is wholly unlike the act of producing philosophical texts in a modern academic or scholastic setting. Rather, the philosophical works of Mikyö Dorje point out the way to view reality in order to be liberated from the cycles of samsaric suffering. As such, his compositions are a supreme act of kindness. It is said that Mikyö Dorje’s deeds in recording his insight and understanding in his commentaries had the effect of doubling or tripling the lifespan of the Karma Kagyu lineage.(Source: Page 73, ''Karmapa: 900 Years'' (KTD Publications, 2016, revised 3rd edition). E-Book available online here: http://www.ktdpublications.com/karmapa-900-third-edition-e-book/ .
Mikyö Dorje left numerous Buddhist writings on all major and minor topics, including a biography of Bodong Chogle Namgyal (1376–1451), entitled ''Ocean of Miracles'' (ngo mtshar gyi rgya mtsho), a Gongchik commentary, and he introduced a special guru yoga in four sessions, which is the basis for contemporary Karma Kagyu practice. See a list of Tibetan works by the 8th Karmapa available as free ePubs on [https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/book-author/eighth-karmapa-mikyo-dorje/ Tsadra Foundation's DharmaCloud website].
'''For more biographical information see the following sources:'''
*Rheingans, Jim. 2017. ''The Eighth Karmapa's Life and His Interpretation of the Great Seal: A Religious Life and Instructional Texts in Historical and Doctrinal Contexts''. Bochum, Germany: Projekt Verlag.
*[https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:P385 BDRC Person page for The 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje]
*[https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1335480 WikiData entry for The 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje]
*[https://www.himalayanart.org/items/560 Himalayan Art Resource page for The 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje]
*[https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/People/Karmapa,_8th Tsadra Foundation person page for The 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje]
*[https://kagyuoffice.org/life-of-mikyo-dorje/ Official Karmapa Office Page on the 8th Karmapa]
*[http://tsurphu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19:the-eighth-karmapa-mikyo-dorje-1507-1554&catid=10&Itemid=280&lang=en Tsurphu Monastery Page on the 8th Karmapa]
Born in eastern Tibet in 1924, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche was one of the great masters of the Karma Kagyu tradition. Rinpoche, who received most of his training and education in Tibet before the Chinese invasion, was highly accomplished in meditation, philosophy, and monastic arts. As abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmacakra Monastery (KTD) in Woodstock, New York; spiritual guide of thirty-five Karma Thegsum Choling (KTC) affiliate centers; and retreat master at the Karme Ling Retreat Center in Delhi, New York, Rinpoche touched the lives of thousands of students. He was also known for numerous books, including ''The Quintessence of the Union of Mahamudra and Dzokchen''; ''Dharma Paths''; ''Instructions of Gampopa''; ''Bardo: Interval of Possibility''; ''The Wish-Fulfilling Wheel: The Practice of White Tara''; and the five-volume masterwork ''Karma Chakme’s Mountain Dharma''. +
Kazunobu Matsuda is a Professor of Buddhist Studies at Bukkyo University in Kyoto, Japan. He is the author of numerous papers on Buddhist Sanskrit manuscripts and is particularly known for his work on the Buddhist manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection. He was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (2001-2002). And he received an ACLS grant to work on a collaborative project—The Eighth Century Schøyen fragments of the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya—a project that brings together an international collaborative team with expertise in Buddhist manuscripts, palaeography, and the Mulasarvastivada vinaya (MSV) in order to sort, transcribe, study and catalog a set of unique eighth century birch bark manuscript fragments presently held in the Schøyen Collection in Oslo. +
Birgit Kellner is an Austrian Buddhologist and Tibetologist. She studied Buddhology and Tibetology at University of Vienna, where she received a master's degree in 1994 under the supervision of Ernst Steinkellner, and at the Hiroshima University, where she earned her doctorate in 1999 under the supervision of Katsura Shōryū.
After a series of research projects, including as a Humboldt Fellow at the University of Hamburg, as well as a Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley, she joined the University of Heidelberg in 2010 as Professor of Buddhist Studies within the Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context". In 2015, she returned to Austria to serve as the Director of the Institute for Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia in Vienna, part of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birgit_Kellner Source Accessed Nov 15 2019]) +
Casey Kemp received her Master’s degree from Oxford University in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and she has worked closely with the Drikung Kagyu monastic community in Europe and Asia. She is completing her PhD dissertation on the concept of luminosity in the early Tibetan Mahāmudrā tradition through the University of Vienna. She has translated and edited for 84000 and is a Snow Lion editor at Shambhala Publications. +
Kengo Harimoto has been a faculty member in the Buddhist Studies department at Mahidol University in Thailand since 2015. He is a Sanskritist focusing on Indian Philosophy, an expert reader of manuscripts, and has a wide academic background ranging from Vedānta, to Āyurveda, to the edition of Buddhist philosophical commentaries. ([https://www.facebook.com/BuddhistPhDMahidol/photos/a.10152914725503032/10153873367343032/?type=1&theater Source Accessed April 27, 2020]) +
Sangye Khandro has been a Buddhist since 1971 and a translator of the Dharma since 1976. She has helped to establish numerous centers in the USA and has served as translator for many prominent masters in all four lineages. Sangye has been the spiritual companion of the Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche for nearly thirty years and has continued to help serve the centers established by her root teacher, Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, with whom she studied and practiced for many years. Sangye Khandro is one of the founders of the Light of Berotsana Translation Group. ([http://www.berotsana.org/sangye-khandro/ Source Accessed August 2014]) +
Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche, born in Tsari, Tibet in the spring of 1946, came to the West in the early 1980’s to found the Tibetan Meditation Center in Washington, D.C. The only Khenchen in the Drikung lineage, Rinpoche completed a nine-year course of study at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Varanasi, India beginning in 1967. ([https://drikungtucson.org/our-teachers/khenchen-konchog-gyaltsen-rinpoche/ Source Accessed Jan 30, 2020]) +
Khenpo Gyurme Tsultrim was born in the Mugu district of western Nepal in 1969 where he studied reading and writing with his uncle. When he was thirteen, he met Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and became one of the first monks at Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling Monastery in Nepal. In 1985, as the Shechen Philosophical College was not yet built, Khyentse Rinpoche sent him to the Dzongsar Monastic College in India for higher studies. He studied there for six years and then completed the last three years of his study at the Palyul Nyingmapa College in Mysore, India.
He became the first monk of Shechen Monastery, Nepal, to attain the rank of Khenpo, the equivalent of a Ph.D., in 1996. Presently, Khenpo Gyurme Tsultrim is the vice abbot of the monastery and teaches at its College. He has traveled to Europe a number of times to give teachings, and he oversees many of the activities of the monastery. (Source: Shechen https://shechen.org/spiritual-development/teachers/khenpo-gyurme-tsultrim/) +
Khenpo Kunga became a monk at a young age and began his education at Tergar monastery, where he studied the rituals, prayers, and other traditional practices of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. At fifteen, he entered an extended meditation retreat and spent three years mastering the profound contemplative practices of the Kagyü lineage.<br> Following this period of intense meditation practice, he entered the renowned Dzongsar monastic college near Dharamsala in Northwest India. After studying there for eleven years and receiving his Khenpo degree (roughly equivalent to a PhD), he taught at Dzongsar college for three additional years. Khenpo Kunga’s primary teacher is Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, though he has studied with many other revered masters as well.<br> In recent years, Khenpo Kunga has taught in Asia, Europe, and the United States as one of the main teachers for the worldwide network of Tergar monasteries, meditation centers, and meditation groups. ([https://tergar.org/about/instrtergar-lamas/ Source Accessed August 14, 2020]) +
Born in Nubri, the sacred land blessed by Milarepa and many other saints, in the Gorkha region of Nepal in 1992, he spent his early youth at home. In 2001, he had the opportunity to join Benchen Monastery near Bouddha and study under Sangay Nyenpa Rinpoche and Tenga Rinpoche. He received monastic ordination from H.H. Tenga Rinpoche and started his education, including reading, writing, grammar, Buddhist teachings in general, and the Marpa Kagyu tradition in particular. In 2007, he joined Benchen College, which was newly established, and became a part of the first cohort and undertook education in Buddhist literature, including the five great treatises, history, language, etc. He finished his education in 2018 and currently serves as a lecturer at the monastic college. +
Born in Phadru Lhok village in the Lato Dingri region, he joined school for about four years. Then, he left Tibet and joined Mindrolling Monastery in Dehradun, India. For three years, he learned monastic rituals and language. He got his novice ordination from H.H. Trulzhik Rinpoche and his full monastic ordination from H.H. Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche. He entered the monastic college in Mindrolling to undertake the nine-year program of studying the 13 great treatises. Even before completing his study, he served as an assistant lecturer, and in 2014, he completed his higher Buddhist education and became a lecturer in the same college for four years and the chief of examination for one year. In 2018, he was awarded the Khenpo title by Mindrolling Monastery. He taught in the Mindrolling college for three years and also worked for four months in the project of creating an extensive catalogue of the Kangyur canon under the aegis of H.H. Darthang Rinpoche. He participated in the Nyingma conferences at Namdrolling twice and currently serves as a teacher at Zhelpa Monastery in Kathmandu. +
He was born in Drukrephud village in Latolho in the Tsang region. From seven to eight, he went to local school, and in 2005 he joined Dongachodzong Monastery in Shar Khambu. In 2007, he joined Sakya College and studied the eighteen great treatises and other sciences for 10 years. In 2015, he obtained the Kachupa degree, in 2017 the Lopen title, and he was conferred the Khenpo title in 2022. After serving as assistant lecturer at Sakya College for two years, he was appointed in 2017 as lecturer for the Sakya tradition at the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies, where he currently works. +
After being ordained at Larung Gar Serthar Buddhist Institute in 1985, Khenpo Sodargye relied on Kyabje Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche as his root guru.
After intensive study of the five principle treatises on Madhyamaka, Prajnaparamita, Abhidharma, Vinaya, and Buddhist logic, Khenpo received direct transmissions of tantric teachings such as the Dzogchen, Kalachakra, and the Web of Magical Illusion from Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche and gained unshakable faith in the Omniscient Longchenpa and Mipham Rinpoche. Through his practice, he obtained supreme realization of these teachings.
After engaging in classic Tibetan Buddhist debate and undergoing oral and written examination, he obtained his khenpo degree. Khenpo Sodargye was then placed in charge of the institute by Kyabje Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche and became Kyabje’s chief translator for Chinese disciples. +
Khenpo Könchog Tamphel was born in 1975 in Ladakh. At the age of nine, he became a novice at Lamayuru Monastery, where he received a basic Dharma educationfor several years. There he also studied and practiced some of the Drikung Kagyü rituals. In 1987 he joined the Drikung Kagyu Institute in Dehra Dun, Indiafor advanced Buddhist studies. There he spent nine years studying the twelve main commentaries of the Masters of Nalanda and the Drikung Kagyu treatises such as the Gong Chig, 'The Heart of the Mahayana Sutras', etc., under the skilful guidance of Khenpo Togdol Rinpoche , Khenpo Könchog Mönlam,Khenpo Könchog Tashi and Khenchen Könchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche . After completing his studies in 1996, he traveled to Europe and Southeast Asia as translator of SH Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang. He also taught at Drikung Kagyü Centers in Malaysia, Singapore, North America, Estonia and Latvia.
In the meantime, he took part in a one-year translation course English-Tibetan in Dharamsala and then spent a year studying works by Maitreya at the Dzongsar Institute. for several years he was the resident Khenpo in the Songtsen Library in Dehra Dun. In addition to his teachings in the library, he has translated some rare Drikung Kagyü texts into English and has published some English-language books. Since 2015 he lives in Vienna and works at the University of Vienna. Incidentally, he continues to translate texts from Tibetan into English. ([https://drikung.de/die-drikung-kagyue-linie/biographien/khenpo-koenchog-tamphel/ Source Accessed Sept 23, 2020]) +
He was born in Adrong in the Gojo region of Kham and became a monk at young age at Goego Monastery, where he studied prayers and rituals. In 2004, he arrived in South India via Nepal and joined Namdrolling Monastery, where he began his study in grammar and language. In 2005, he joined Ngagyur Nyingma Institute and finished the nine-year program of study in general sciences and sūtra and tantric forms of Buddhism. Since the eighth grade, he served as assistant lecturer and manager of the summer retreat. He finished his education in 2015 and served as lecturer for eight years until 2022 and also as the treasurer for the Institute. He was conferred the title of Khenpo in 2023 by Karma Kuchen Rinpoche during the enthronement of the 8th cohort of Khenpos in Ngagyur Nyingma Institute. Currently, he is teaching at Tshogyal Shedrupling Nunnery. +
Born in Ura village, Bumthang, Bhutan, he joined Wangthang Temple as young boy to learn prayers and rituals in the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions under Wangthang Rinpoche Yeshi Dorje. He also learned language and grammar under Lama Gyalwang Nyima and astrology under Lopen Norbu Wangchuk. He joined Ngagyur Nyingma Institute in Mysore and completed his education in 1996 while he also received training in meditation from Nyoshul Khenpo, Khenpo Akhyug, and Tulku Thubzang. In 1988, he served as a teacher at Tsangkha Monastic College, and from 1997, at the behest of H.H. Penor Rinpoche, he served as chief lecturer at Palyul Chokhorling in North India, Palyul Monastery in Tibet, and Ngagyur Nyingma Institute in Mysore. He also taught a large public gathering in Bhutan and regularly gave teachings on national TV on a wide range of topics. After spending three years in retreat in solitude, he currently serves as the head of Tharpaling Monastery and has authored commentaries on ''Entering the Middle Way'', ''Ornament of Realization'', and many other works. +
Born in Serta in Kham in 1984, he started learning Tibetan language at the age of nine. From the age of 15, he studied at Jamyangling Academy for three years. In 2005, he arrived in India and got the opportunity to see both H.H. the Dalai Lama and H.H. Penor Rinpoche, and in 2006 he joined the Ngagyur Nyingma Institute to pursue higher Buddhist education and completed the course in 2015. Between 2015 and 2019, he served as a teacher at Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, Serme Thoesamling, and Zhichen Vairoling. In 2020, he joined the research team at Ngagyur Nyingma Institute and worked on a shared topic of ''Twenty Lines on Vows'' and an individual topic of ''The Lock of Secret Mantra Teachings''. In 2023, he was conferred the title of Khenpo in Namdrolling. He has published a book on poetry called ''The Splendor of Youth'' and authored many other writings, lectures, and presentations in magazines and online forums. +
The present Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, Thubten Chökyi Gyamtso, was born in 1961 in eastern Bhutan. He was recognized as a tulku by H.H. Sakya Trizin, and received empowerments and teachings from many of the greatest masters of Tibetan Buddhism, including H.H. the 16th Karmapa; H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche and Lama Sonam Zangpo (his paternal and maternal grandfathers); Chatral Rinpoche; Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, Khenpo Appey, and many others. His root guru was Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who began training Rinpoche from the age of 7.
While still a teenager, Rinpoche built a small retreat center in Ghezing, Sikkim and soon began traveling and teaching around the world. In the 1980s, he began the restoration of Dzongsar Monastery in Derge, the responsibility of which he had inherited from his previous incarnation, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö. He established Dzongsar Institute in Bir, India, (now DKCLI in Chauntra), which has grown to be one of the most respected institutions for advanced dialectical study. He also oversees two monasteries in Bhutan and has established dharma centres in Australia, Europe, North America, and Asia. He has written several books and made award-winning films. Rinpoche continuously travels all over the world, practicing and teaching the Dharma. (Source: [https://khyentsefoundation.org/about-dzongsar-jamyang-khyentse-rinpoche/ Khyentse Foundation.org]) +
Dilgo Khyentse Tashi Peljor was one of the most prominent Nyingma lamas of the twentieth century, widely known also in the West. The mind reincarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, his seat was Shechen Monastery, which he reestablished in Boudhanath, Nepal, in 1980. After fleeing the Communist takeover of Tibet, Dilgo Khyentse settled in Bhutan. A prolific author and treasure-revealer, his compositions are collected in twenty-five volumes. Although he received novice vows at age ten, he never fully ordained, living the life of a householder with wife and children. ([http://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Dilgo-Khyentse-Tashi-Peljor/P625 Source: Treasury of Lives]) +
༧འཁོན་གདུང་ཨ་སངྒ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཆོག་ནི་ས་སྐྱ་གོང་མའི་གདུང་བརྒྱུད་ཕུན་ཚོགས་ཕོ་བྲང་སྐྱབས་མགོན་གོང་མ་འཇིགས་བྲལ་བདག་ཆེན་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཡི་རིགས་རུས་སུ་འཁྲུངས་པ་དང་ཡུམ་ཕྱོགས་སྔར་འགྱུར་རྙིང་མའི་བླ་མ་སྐྱབས་རྗེ་ཁམས་སྤྲུལ་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་ཚ་བོ་སུ་འཁྲུངས་ཡོད་པར་ཡིན་ནོ།།
His Eminence Khöndung Asanga Vajra Rinpoche is the son of H.E.Khöndung Ani Vajra Sakya Rinpoche, the second son of the Phuntsok Phodrang family and Dagmo Chimey la. He is also the youngest grandson of the His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Dorjechang Rinpoche and therefore a direct descendant of the unbroken Khön lineage which dates back to 1073. His Eminence is also the grandson of H.E. Garje Khamtrul Rinpoche, a highly realized and accomplished Nyingmapa master on his mother’s side. ([https://www.asangasakya.com/about/ Source Accessed Feb 24, 2022]) +
Gavin Kilty has been a full-time translator for the Institute of Tibetan Classics since 2001. Before that he lived in Dharamsala, India, for fourteen years, where he spent eight years training in the traditional Geluk monastic curriculum through the medium of class and debate at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics. He has also taught Tibetan language courses in India, Nepal, and elsewhere, and is a translation reviewer for the organization 84000, Translating the Words of the Buddha. He received the 2017 Shantarakshita Award from Tsadra Foundation for his translation of ''A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages''. Other published translations are ''The Fourteenth Dalai Lama's Stages of the Path, Volume 1'' (2022), ''The Life of My Teacher'' (2017), ''Mirror of Beryl'' (2010), ''Ornament of Stainless Light'' (2004), and '' The Splendor of an Autumn Moon'' (2001). ([https://conference.tsadra.org/session/special-address-2017-shantarakshita-award/ Source: Tsadra Foundation]) +
King, a Quaker and Buddhist, is Professor Emerita of Philosophy and Religion at James Madison University and Affiliated Faculty, Professor of Buddhist Studies, Department of Theology, Georgetown University. She is the author, co-editor or translator of numerous works on Buddhism, Engaged Buddhism, Buddhist-Christian dialogue, interfaith dialogue, and the cross-cultural philosophy of religion. ([https://esr.earlham.edu/node/962 Source Accessed July 24, 2020]) +
Professor Richard King studied philosophy and religious studies at the University of Hull before completing a PhD on Hindu and Buddhist philosophy at the University of Lancaster. He has worked in a number of different universities including Stirling, Derby, Vanderbilt (Nashville, USA), Glasgow and has been at the University of Kent since 2013.
Richard describes himself as a philosopher and a historian of ideas by inclination with an interest in classical South Asian thought and postcolonial theory. His work explores the intersection between what we call philosophy and mysticism/spirituality and the ways in which European colonialism has influenced (and continues to influence) modern interpretations of classical Indian traditions.
Richard's research explores interdisciplinary issues in the intersection between Religious Studies, Philosophy, the comparative study of mysticism/spirituality and the study of Asia. He works on theory and method questions in the study of religion (see Religion/Theory/Critique, Columbia University Press, 2017) and, in particular, has written about the impact of coloniality/modernity on the representation of Hindu and Buddhist traditions in the West.
He is one of a number of key writers who have called into question the usefulness of the category of religion as a cross-cultural variable, especially with regard to the history of South Asian traditions. He is also known for his writings on colonialism and the modern formation of the category of Hinduism. More specifically, Richard is a specialist of classical Indian (Hindu Brahmanical and Buddhist) thought, with specific interests in early Indian Mahayana Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta.
Richard has a particular interest in postcolonial theory and the challenges involved in seeking to globalise and expand philosophy beyond its western horizons. (see Orientalism and Religion, Routledge; and Indian Philosophy, 2000). He is also interested in the impact that neoliberal capitalism has played in the emergence of new forms of eastern-inspired spirituality in the contemporary period (see Selling Spirituality, Carrette and King, Routledge, 2005).
From 2007 to 2009 Richard served on the advisory committee to the Guggenheim Museum in New York for 'The Third Mind. a major exhibition exploring Asian philosophical influences on modern American art and also as co-chair of the Cultural History for the Study of Religion group for the American Academy of Religion.
From 2017-2020 he is co-investigator for a Leverhulme Trust funded research project which seeks to map mindfulness training provision in the UK (Twitter: @MapMindful)
Richard's current research work explores apophatic (that is, negative or ‘unsaying’) discourse in classical Buddhist, Vedantic and Christian literature and the ways in which these trends have been largely excluded from the history of philosophy and framed by the category of mysticism. He is also working on the rise of 'mindfulness” in the 21st-century, exploring how an ancient Buddhist meditative practice became a modern secular therapy now widely adopted in healthcare, business and military contexts. ([https://www.kent.ac.uk/european-culture-languages/people/1663/www.kent.ac.uk/european-culture-languages/people/1663/king-richard Source Accessed Dec 9, 2019])
[https://www.kent.ac.uk/european-culture-languages/people/1663/www.kent.ac.uk/european-culture-languages/people/1663/king-richard#publications Publications]
Anne Carolyn Klein (Rigzin Drolma), Professor and Former Chair of Religious Studies, Rice University, and Founding Director of Dawn Mountain. (www.dawnmountain.org). Her six books include ''Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse: A Story of Transmission''; ''Meeting the Great Bliss Queen'', ''Knowledge & Liberation, and Paths to the Middle'' as well as ''Unbounded Wholeness'' with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. She has also been a consulting scholar in several Mind and Life programs. Her central thematic interest is the interaction between head and heart as illustrated across a spectrum of Buddhist descriptions of the many varieties of human consciousness. ([https://www.colorado.edu/event/lotsawa/presenters/anne-klein Source Accessed July 24, 2020]) +
Kokyo Henkel has been practicing Zen since 1990 in residence at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (most recently as Head of Practice), Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, No Abode Hermitage in Mill Valley, and Bukkokuji Monastery in Japan.
He was ordained as a priest in 1994 by Tenshin Anderson Roshi and received Dharma Transmission from him in 2010. Kokyo is interested in exploring how the original teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan can still be very much alive and useful in present-day America to bring peace and openness to the minds of this troubled world.
Kokyo has also been practicing with the Tibetan Dzogchen (“Great Completeness”) Teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche since 2003, in California, Colorado, and Kathmandu. ([https://sczc.org/kokyo-henkel-page Source Accessed Nov 20, 2020]) +
Yaroslav Komarovski (Ph.D. University of Virginia, 2007) teaches and conducts research on Asian religions, in particular Tibetan Buddhism, at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. His research focuses on Madhyamaka and Yogācāra interpretations of the nature of reality and related epistemological, philosophical, and contemplative issues. In particular, he focuses on writings of a seminal Tibetan Buddhist thinker Shakya Chokden (1428–1507) who articulated a startlingly new reconsideration of the core areas of Buddhist thought and practice, such as epistemology, ethics, tantric rituals, and the relationship between philosophy and contemplation. ([https://www.unl.edu/classics/yaroslav-komarovski Source Accessed July 24, 2020])
[https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/do/search/?q=author_lname%3A%22Komarovski%22%20AND%20author_fname%3A%22Yaroslav%22&start=0&context=52045&sort=date_desc&facet= Papers by Dr. Komarovski available for free online here]!
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glmGrQwmbqE Video of a presentation on Madhyamaka & Methodology: A Symposium on Buddhist Theory and Method] +
Kenneth Lewis Kraft (July 16, 1949-October 1, 2018) was a professor of Buddhist studies and Japanese religions (emeritus) at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
====Education====
Kraft received a B.A. from Harvard University in 1971. He holds an M.A. in Asian Languages and Cultures from the University of Michigan (1978) and a Ph.D. in East Asian Studies from Princeton University (1984).
====Career====
In 1984, Kraft became a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard's Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies. He joined the Lehigh University faculty in 1990 and was appointed a full professor in 2001. At Lehigh he has served as chair of the Religion Studies department and director of the College Seminar Program.
He was a visiting professor at the Stanford University Japan Center and a visiting scholar at the International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism, both in Kyoto. He also taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore College.
Kraft has served on the advisory boards of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship in Berkeley, California; the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University; the ''Journal of Buddhist Ethics''; the Rochester Zen Center; and the World Faiths Development Dialogue in Washington DC.
In 1992, he was featured in "The Creative Spirit," a PBS television series. In 2008, he participated in "Secrets of the Samurai Sword," a NOVA documentary, and, in 2009, "Inquiry into the Great Matter: A History of Zen Buddhism," an independent film.
In his early research, Kraft explored the transmission of Zen from China to Japan in the 13th and 14th centuries. Zen master Daitō, a seminal figure in this process, is best known as an exemplar of post-enlightenment training. Kraft documented Daitō's life, his teaching, and his role in the development of capping phrases (''jakugo''), a form of spiritual/literary commentary.
The transmission of Zen from Asia to the West accelerated after World War II. In 1988, Kraft edited ''Zen: Tradition and Transition'', a collaboration by present-day Zen teachers and scholars. It addressed some of the same issues that had arisen in Daitō's era: What is real Zen? What are the criteria of authenticity?
Buddhism's encounter with the West in the 20th century inspired an international movement known as engaged Buddhism. Its leaders include the 14th Dalai Lama and Thích Nhất Hạnh. Kraft began writing about engaged Buddhism in the mid-1980s, at the height of the Cold War. Some of the underlying concerns can be framed as questions: What do Buddhist ethical principles signify today? What is the relation between work on oneself and work in the world? Does Buddhist nonviolence call for unwavering opposition to war, or are there exceptions?
Some observers challenge the apparent newness of engaged Buddhism. Columbia University scholar Thomas Yarnall has criticized the work of Kraft and other "modernists" who "appropriate, own, and reinvent Buddhism from the ground up." In Yarnall's view, engaged Buddhism should be seen as a revival of original Buddhism, which was more engaged than is usually assumed.
Buddhism may have resources that are freshly relevant in a time of ecological crisis. Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism, an anthology coedited in 2000 by Kraft and Stephanie Kaza, was an early contribution to an emerging field. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Kraft Source Accessed Sep 17, 2021])
Leonard van der Kuijp is professor of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies and chairs the Committee on Inner Asian and Altaic Studies. Best known for his studies of Buddhist epistemology, he is the author of numerous works on Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. Recent publications include An Early Tibetan Survey of Buddhist Literature (Vol. 64, Harvard Oriental Series, 2008), coauthored with Kurtis R. Schaeffer, and In Search of Dharma: Indian and Ceylonese Travelers in Fifteenth Century Tibet (Wisdom, 2009). Van der Kuijp’s research focuses primarily on the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist thought, Tibetan Buddhist intellectual history, Tibetan Buddhism, and premodern Sino-Tibetan and Tibeto-Mongol political and religious relations. He teaches three new courses this term, covering histories, the era of the 5th Dalai Lama, and the historical geography of the Tibetan cultural area. Van der Kuijp received his Master's degree at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and his doctorate at the University of Hamburg in Germany. He joined the faculty at Harvard in 1995. He is the former chair of the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies (now the Department of South Asian Studies). In 1993 van der Kuijp received the MacArthur Fellowship for "pioneering contributions to the study of Tibetan epistemology, biography and poetry." Van der Kuijp worked with the Nepal Research Center of the Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1999, he founded the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (TBRC), together with E. Gene Smith. ([https://ealc.fas.harvard.edu/people/leonard-van-der-kuijp Source Accessed Jan 14, 2019]) +
Seiji Kumagai was born in 1980 in Hiroshima (Japan). He studied Buddhist philosophy and received his Ph.D. in 2009 from Kyoto University. In 2011, he became an assistant professor at the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research of Kyoto University. Since 2013, he has been Uehiro Associate Professor at Kokoro Research Center of Kyoto University from then until the present. Since 2017, he has been a divisional director of the Department of Bhutanese Studies at Kokoro Research Center. He was invited by the University of Vienna as Numata Professor in 2018. His field of research is Buddhist Madhyamaka philosophy in India, Tibet, and Bhutan, and also that of Bon religion. He has also conducted research on the history of Tibetan and Bhutanese Buddhism. His most notable publications include books such as The Two Truths in Bon (Kathmandu: Vajra Publications, 2011), Bhutanese Buddhism and Its Culture (Kathmandu: Vajra Publications, 2014), and Buddhism, Culture and Society in Bhutan (Kathmandu: Vajra Publications, 2018), as well as numerous academic articles on Indo-Himalayan Buddhism and Bon. +
Traleg Kyabgon (1955–2012) was born in Eastern Tibet and educated by many great masters of all four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. He is the founder of the Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute, which is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with a major practice center in upstate New York and a practice community in New York City. He taught extensively at universities and Buddhist centers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia beginning in 1980, and is the author of numerous books that present Buddhist teachings to Western readers, including ''The Essence of Buddhism'' and ''[[Mind at Ease]]''. ([https://www.shambhala.com/authors/g-n/traleg-kyabgon.html Source Accessed July 27, 2020]) +
Kyotön Monlam Tsultrim, the abbot who led Narthang monastery at the peak of its history, was an illustrious figure of his time in Central Tibet. A resolute monk, a meditation master, a learned scholar, author, and public figure, he epitomized the high ideals, practices, and approaches of the Kadam school and championed its traditions of scriptural exegesis and meditation instructions. A Kadam luminary, he also left behind religious writings which hold great significance for Tibetan Buddhist scholarship and practice today.
(Source: Karma Phuntsho, ''The Life and Works of Kyotön Monlam Tsultrim'', iii) +
L
Louis Étienne Joseph Marie de La Vallée Poussin was born on 1. January, 1869 in Liège, where he received his early education. He studied at the University of Liege from 1884 to 1888, receiving his doctorate at the age of nineteen. He studied Sanskrit, Pali, and Avestan under Charles de Harlez and Philippe Colinet from 1888 to 1890 at the University of Leuven, receiving a docteur en langues orientales in July 1891. Moving to Paris, he began his studies at the Sorbonne that same year under Victor Henri and [[Lévi, S.|Sylvain Lévi]]. During this time (1891-1892), he also occupied the chair of Sanskrit at the University of Liege. He continued his study of Avestan and the Zoroastrian Gathas under Hendrik Kern at Leiden University, where he also took up the study of Chinese and Tibetan. In 1893, he attained a professorship at the University of Ghent teaching comparative grammar of Greek and Latin, a position which he held until his retirement in 1929. Louis de La Vallée Poussin died in Brussels on 18 February, 1938. ([https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/index.php?page=person&vid=92&entity=92 Source Accessed July 27, 2020]) +
A native of Patterson, New Jersey, LaFleur received his BA from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He earned two master’s degrees, one in comparative literature from the University of Michigan and another in the history of religions from the University of Chicago. He also completed his doctoral work at the University of Chicago, where he studied with Joseph Kitagawa and Mircea Eliade. After completing his PhD in 1973, LaFleur taught at Princeton University; University of California, Los Angeles; Sophia University, Tokyo; and University of Pennsylvania, where he was the E. Dale Saunders Professor of Japanese Studies.
LaFleur was a groundbreaking figure in the interdisciplinary study of Buddhism and culture in Japan and trained two generations of graduate students in these fields. His seminal work ''The Karma of Words: Buddhism and the Literary Arts in Medieval Japan'' (University of California Press, 1986) broke away from a traditional focus on specific Buddhist figures and lineages and instead approached Buddhism as the “cognitive map” by which medieval Japanese of all Buddhist schools and social levels made sense of their world. He also uncovered an intimate relation between the Japanese Buddhist episteme and medieval literary arts. The innovative studies now emerging from a generation of younger scholars working at the intersections of Buddhism and literature owe much to LaFleur’s influence.
A scholar of far-reaching interests and expertise, LaFleur refused to be confined by any single research area, historical period, or method of approach. In addition to his work on Buddhist cosmology and the “mind” of medieval Japan, he was a gifted translator and interpreter of poetry and published two volumes on the medieval monk-poet Saigyō. He was deeply interested in Zen, especially as a resource for contemporary thought. He wrote and edited several books and essays, introducing to Western readers the work of the thirteenth century Zen master Dōgen, the Kyoto-school figure Masao Abé, and the twentieth century philosopher and cultural historian Watsuji Tetsurō. In 1989, he became the first non-Japanese to win the Watsuji Tetsurō Cultural Prize.
LaFleur’s ''Liquid Life: Abortion and Buddhism in Japan'' (Princeton University Press, 1994) expanded his earlier attention to Buddhist notions of the body and catalyzed his growing interest in comparative public philosophy and social ethics. In his later career, while continuing to study medieval Japanese religion and literature, he produced pioneering studies of Japanese bioethics, highlighting contrasts with Western approaches to such issues as abortion, organ transplants, and medical definitions of death. Altogether, he wrote or edited nine books. He left several other projects still in progress; some of which will be published posthumously. ([http://rsnonline.org/index7696.html?option=com_content Source Accessed Jan 16, 2020])
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist scholar and meditator who for over 30 years has overseen the spiritual activities of the extensive worldwide network of centers, projects and services that form the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) which he founded with Lama Thubten Yeshe. (Source [https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/ FPMT.org]) +
Étienne Paul Marie Lamotte (21 November 1903 – 5 May 1983) was a Belgian priest and Professor of Greek at the Catholic University of Louvain, but was better known as an Indologist and the greatest authority on Buddhism in the West in his time. He studied under his pioneering compatriot Louis de La Vallée-Poussin and was one of the few scholars familiar with all the main Buddhist languages: Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan. His first published work was his PhD thesis: ''Notes sur le Bhagavad-Gita'' (Paris, Geuthner, 1929). In 1953, he was awarded the Francqui Prize in Human Science.
He is also known for his French translation of the ''Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa'' (Chinese: 大智度論, English: ''Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom''), a text attributed to Nāgārjuna. Lamotte felt that the text was most likely composed by an Indian bhikkhu from the Sarvāstivāda tradition, who later became a convert to Mahāyāna Buddhism. Lamotte's translation was published in five volumes but unfortunately remains incomplete, since his death put an end to his efforts.
In addition to the ''Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa'', Lamotte also composed several other important translations from Mahāyāna sūtras, including the ''Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra'', and the ''Vimalakīrtisūtra''. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_Lamotte Source Accessed Sep 30, 2022]) +
Lewis Lancaster (born 27 October 1932) is Emeritus Professor of the Department of East Asian Languages at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and has served as President, Adjunct Professor, and Chair of the dissertation committee at University of the West since 1992. He graduated from Roanoke College (B.A.) in 1954 and received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Roanoke in 2007. He is also a 1958 graduate of USC-ST (M.Th.) and a 1968 graduate of the University of Wisconsin (Ph.D.). He received an Honorary Doctorate of Buddhist Studies from Vietnam Buddhist University in 2011.
Professor Lancaster has published over 55 articles and reviews and has edited or authored numerous books including ''Prajñāpāramitā and Related Systems'', ''The Korean Buddhist Canon'', ''Buddhist Scriptures'', ''Early Ch’an in China and Tibet'', and ''Assimilation of Buddhism in Korea''. He also founded the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative to use the computer-based technology to map the spread of Buddhism from the remote past to the present. In 2008 he gave the Burke Lectureship on Religion & Society. Professor Lancaster is the research advisor for the Buddha's Birthday Education Project. He was the Chair of Buddhist Studies at UC, Berkeley, USA and Editor of the Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series. . . .
Professor Lancaster was a key figure in the creation of descriptive catalogue and digitization of the Korean Buddhist Canon. He was awarded the 2014 Grand Award from the Korean Buddhist Order for his contribution to Buddhism. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Lancaster Source Accessed March 23, 2020]) +
Lea Terhune is a professional writer and journalist based in India, where she has lived since 1982. Currently editor of SPAN (a magazine of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi), she has also worked as a correspondent and producer for CNN International, ABC News Radio, and Voice of America. Her work has appeared in The Far-Eastern Economic Review, Asiaweek, International Herald Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Yoga Journal, and ABCNews.com. She lives in New Delhi. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/lea-terhune/ Wisdom Experience]) +
My research areas include East Asian Buddhism with particular focus on Yogācāra Buddhism, Buddhist philosophy of religion, Buddhist ethics, and Buddhist hermeneutics. My research interests focus on the relationship between Yogācāra and ''tathāgatagarbha'' thought and its soteriological implications, the exegetical interpretations in East Asian Yogācāra tradition, and the intersections between East Asian Yogācāra and Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. In recent years, my research has been focused on the ''Awakening of Faith'', the seminal treatise in East Asian Buddhist tradition, which is well known for its synthesis of Yogācāra and ''tathāgatagarbha'' ideas. ([https://dongguk.academia.edu/SumiLee/CurriculumVitae Source Accessed July 27, 2020]) +
Leonard Zwilling was born in New York City in 1945. He studied Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan language with Geshe Wangyal at Labsum Shedrub Ling in Freewood Acres, New Jersey (1967-1969) and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.A. in Indian Studies in 1970, going on to receive a masters degree in Hindu Studies (1972), and a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies (1976), also at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His doctoral dissertation, on the theory of apoha in Buddhist logic, was done under the direction of Prof. Geshe Lhundub Sopa. He did pre-doctoral research in Sri Lanka (1973-74) and in Nepal (1975-76), under Ford Foundation and Fulbright-Hayes scholarships respectively.
From 1977-83 Dr. Zwilling taught Asian Religions, Sanskrit and Tibetan at the University of Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee), Gustavus Adolphus College, Western Illinois University, and Beloit College. He received a masters in library science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985, and from 1986-2009 was General Editor (and Bibliographer until 2004) at the Dictionary of American Regional English in the Department of English, University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is presently Senior Scientist Emeritus.
Dr. Zwilling has published research in a number of fields, including pioneering work on the history of sexuality in ancient India. Since 2005 his research has centered on Ippolito Desideri and the Catholic missions to Tibet, and he is currently working with Michael Sweet on a new and complete English translation of Desideri’s Notizie Istoriche del Tibet. ([http://win.ippolito-desideri.net/doc/biografie/Zwilling-en.pdf Source Accessed May 12, 2020]) +
Venerable Geshe Lhakdor is the Director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala. Geshe La was born in western Tibet and came to India, completing advanced degrees at the University of Delhi and Punjab and continuing on to complete a full Geshe degree at Drepung Loseling Monastic University in south India. He has held many posts in support of the Dharma, as well as translating many texts, some from Tibetan to English, and some from English to Tibetan including:
*Shantideva's Compendium of Precepts (Shikshasamucchaya)
*The Three Essential Meanings (Nyingpo Donsum)
*Tsongkhapa's Three Principal Aspects of Path
*Words of Manjushri by the Fifth Dalai lama (into English)
*Versified Lamrim by Dvagpo Ngawang Drakpa (Into English)
*Universe in a Single Atom (into Tibetan)
**Co-translator, co-editor, co-producer (partial list)
***The Way to Freedom, by HH Dalai Lama, HarperCollins (USA)
***The Joy of Living and Dying in Peace by HH Dalai Lama, HarperCollins
***Awakening the Mind and Lightening the Heart by HH Dalai Lama, HarperCollins
***Stages of Meditation by HH Dalai Lama, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca NY, USA
***His Holiness's Commentary of Nagarjuna's Fundamental Wisdom (into Tibetan)
***Kindness, Clarity and Insight by HH Dalai Lama (into Tibetan)
***His Holiness's Commentary on Nagarjuna's Letter to the Friend (into Tibetan)
***His Holiness's Extensive Commentary on Thogme Zangpo's 37 Bodhisattava Practices. +
Lhodrak Dharma Senge was the author of a commentary on the ''Ultimate Continuum''. Apart from the obvious association of the author with the southern Lhodrak region of Central Tibet, we have no information on when and where he lived. However, the style and content of the commentary suggest its composition was completed in the early classical period of the twelfth-thirteenth centuries, most likely before the well-known commentaries on the ''Ultimate Continuum'' appeared at the peak of the classical period in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. +
Xuezhu Li is a research assistant at the Institute for Religious Research at the China Tibetology Research Center, Beijing. Li Xuezhu was born in Fuding, Fujian in 1966. He studied in Otani University, Kyoto, Japan in 1993. He has obtained master's and doctorate degrees in Buddhist studies at the Graduate School of Literature at the university. The main research directions are China's third theory of Zongji Tibetan doctrine and Indian Mahayana Buddhism meso-ideology, especially a deep study of the meso-doctrine of Yingcheng Zhongguan, a representative of the two middle schools of India's mid-level mesozoism. The doctoral dissertation "Research on the Thought of the Mean of the Moon" is mainly through the interpretation of the Tibetan translations of the representative work of the Moon, "Into the Middle", and the interpretation of Sanskrit documents such as the "Ming Sentence Theory" and "The Thinning of the Theory of Entering the Bodhidharma" to accurately grasp the month. On the basis of the so-called meso-idea, I conducted a comparative study with the three theories of Ji Zang, the master of meso-ideology in China, and made a more in-depth comparison in methodology and critical criticism. Yue said that the theorist is a famous Indian Buddhist scholar in the seventh century, which has a great influence on the later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. He was praised by Master Tsongkhapa as the master who can correctly inherit the righteous views of the pioneer of the Mahayana Buddhism, and designated his The masterpiece "Into the Middle" is one of the five major theories of the Gelug monks.<br> After returning to China in April 2002, he worked at the Institute of Religion of the China Tibetology Research Center, engaged in the study of Sanskrit literature, and has participated in many international cooperative research projects such as the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Ryukyu University, Leipzig University, etc. since 2006. He collated and published Sanskrit texts such as "The Theory of Five Yuns" and "The Five Hundred Songs of Prajna Sutra", and has published more than 40 papers in academic journals at home and abroad. The Sanskrit Baye Scriptures currently being collated and studied include "Into the Middle School", "Abida Mill Lamp Theory", "Muni's Interesting and Solemn Theory", "Abida Mill Mill Collection" and so on. ([http://www.tibetology.ac.cn/person/detail/851 Source Accessed July 7, 2020])
Li Zijie 李 子捷 achieved a Ph.D. degree in East Asian Buddhism from Komazawa University in Tokyo under the guidance of Ishii Kōsei and Matsumoto Shirō. He was subsequently elected as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Humanities of Kyoto University, under the guidance of Funayama Tōru. He is now a Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at SOAS University of London (Centre of Buddhist Studies), hosted by Lucia Dolce. His main research area is the history of East Asian Buddhist Thought between the 5th and 7th centuries. He is the author of Kukyō ichijō hōshōron to higashiajia bukkyō: Go—nana seiki no nyoraizō, shinnyo, shushō no kenkyū『究竟一乗宝性論』と東アジア仏教 ── 五—七世紀の如来蔵・真如・種姓説の研究 [The Ratnagotravibhāga and East Asian Buddhism: A Study on the Tathāgatagarbha, Tathatā and Gotra between the 5th and 7th Centuries] (Tokyo: Kokusho kankōkai, 2020). (Source: [https://www.soas.ac.uk/buddhiststudies/events/18feb2021-book-launch-revisiting-buddha-nature-in-india-and-china.html SOAS]) +
Judy Lief is a Buddhist teacher who trained under the Tibetan meditation master Ven. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. She has been a teacher and practitioner for over 35 years, and continues to teach throughout the world. Ms. Lief was a close student of Ven. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who trained and empowered her as a teacher in the Buddhist and Shambhala traditions.
Judy is a writer. Ms. Lief is the editor of numerous books on Buddhist meditation and psychology. She is the author of Making Friends with Death: A Buddhist Guide to Encountering Mortality and numerous articles. Her articles have appeared in The Shambhala Sun, Tricycle, O Magazine, Buddhadharma, and The Naropa Journal of Contemplative Psychotherapy.
She is also an editor. Ms. Lief is the editor of many of Trungpa Rinpoche’s books, including the recently published three-volume set, The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma, which gives a penetrating overview of the three-yana journey from beginning to end.
'''Facing Mortality and Caring for the Dying'''<br/>
Judy has been presenting classes and workshops on a contemplative approach to death and dying, and on the teachings of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, since 1976. She had the privilege of working with Florence Wald, a founding mother of the Hospice movement in the United States and former head of the Yale School of Nursing, on several conferences, workshops, and dialogues examining the role of spirituality in the care of the sick and dying. Ms. Lief was a keynote speaker at the 10th International Palliative Care Conference, held in Montreal in 1994, and more recently lead a workshop at the 2012 conference. In 2000-2001 Ms Lief served as pastoral counselor for the Maitri Day Health Center (an adult day health center for people with AIDS) in Yonkers, NY.
Judy was an active member and chair of the Vermont based organization, the Madison-Deane Initiative, which produced the award winning documentary, Pioneers of Hospice, and has the mission of changing the face of dying through education and advocacy. She served on the board and was a member of the faculty of the Clinical Pastoral Education program at the Fletcher Allen Hospital in Burlington, Vermont.
Ms. Lief offers workshops and retreats on the contemplative care of the dying for pastoral counselors, hospice workers, care givers, and medical personnel .
'''Dealing with Cancer'''<br/>
Judy is a founding faculty member of the Courageous Women, Fearless Living Cancer Retreat, held annually at the Shambhala Mountain Center. This retreat empowers women dealing with cancer through meditation and yoga, community, art, movement, and practical information from the integrative medicine perspective.
'''Pilgrimages'''<br/>
Judy leads pilgrimages to India, Tibet, and Bhutan under the auspices of Authentic Asia.
'''Peace and Justice'''<br/>
Judy is a founding member of The Contemplative Alliance, an affiliate of the Global Peace Initiative of Women. This organization brings together contemplatives and activists from many traditions who seek to apply contemplative understanding to pressing global issues.
'''Background'''<br/>
Education. From 1968-1972, Judy did graduate study, completing all but the dissertation at Columbia University in Sociology and Asian Studies. While there, she engaged in research at the Bureau of Applied Social Research and the South Asian Institute. Prior to Columbia she spend as yeas as a Fulbright Scholar in Lucknow, India. She graduated summa cum laude from Luther College in 1967.
'''Buddhism'''<br/>Judy became a Buddhist practitioner in 1972, when she met her teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. She became a close student and studied with him until his death in 1987. She served under him as as executive editor of Vajradhatu Publications, and from 1980-1985, as the Dean of Naropa University, in Boulder Colorado. She was on the staff of the Maitri Therapeutic Community and also worked closely with Trungpa Rinpoche as the Head of Study and Practice at several of his advanced three-month training programs, called Vajradhatu Seminaries.
'''Family'''<br/>Judy currently lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband and their dog Loki. Her two daughters, Jessica and Deborah, son-in-law Frazier, and Judy and Chuck’s three grandchildren, Niamaya, Neruda, and Kaizer live nearby.
([https://judylief.com/blog Source Accessed March 20, 2019])
Chen-kuo Lin is Professor Emeritus of Buddhist Philosophy at National Chengchi University. He also serves as Director of the Sheng Yen Center for Chinese Buddhist Studies. Currently there are four research projects under his supervision: (1) "An Annotated Translation of Dharmapāla’s Cheng weishi baosheng lun," (2) "Exploring Buddhism in Early Modern East Asia through the Manuscripts and Rare Copies," (3) "Mapping the Buddhist Scholasticism during the Edo Period," and (4) "Re-examining the Philosophical Debate between Bhāviveka and Dharmapāla in the Sino-Indic Buddhist Context." His recent research focuses on epistemology in Chinese Buddhism and application of syllogism in Buddhist hermeneutics. He is the author of three books: ''Emptiness and Method: Explorations in Cross-Cultural Buddhist Philosophy'' (Taipei: The NCCU Press, 2012), ''Emptiness and Modernity: From the Kyoto School, Modern Neo-Confucianism to Multivocal Hermeneutics'' (Taipei: New Century Publication, 1999), ''A Passage of Dialectics'' (Taipei: New Century Publication, 2002), and several articles in Journal of Chinese Philosophy, Journal of Indian Philosophy, Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy and Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. His recent edited volumes include (1) ''A Distant Mirror: Articulating Indic Ideas in Sixth and Seventh Century Chinese Buddhism'', co-edited with Michael Radich (Hamburg: University of Hamburg Press, 2014), (2) ''A Collection of the Rare Manuscripts of the Commentaries on Dignāga’s Ālamabanaparīkṣā in Early Modern East Asia'', co-edited with Kaiting Jien (Kaohsiung: Fo Guang Publishing Co., 2018). ([https://buddhica.nccu.edu.tw/people/cklin Source Accessed July 23, 2020]) +
Rabbi Kennard Lipman, Ph.D., received rabbinic ordination in 2002 from the Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles, and was rabbi in State College, PA, Napa, CA, and Santa Maria, CA. He is currently a Lecturer in the Dept. of Humanities at San Jose State University.
During college he traveled to India and then studied for the next 20 years with some of the foremost teachers of Tibetan Buddhism. He received his Ph.D. in Far Eastern Studies under Prof. H.V. Guenther. In that same year he also met his principal Tibetan teacher, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. Ken taught in, and was also Program Director of, the East-West Psychology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. ([https://www.amazon.com/Kennard-Lipman/e/B004NF0CPQ%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share Source Accessed March 31, 2020]) +
Born in 1924, Geshe Loden became a monk at seven years old. After completing extensive Buddhist philosophy studies, he received the Geshe Lharampa degree from Sera Je Monastery in Tibet, and an Acharya degree from Varanasi's Sanskrit university in India. He was also awarded a Master's qualification in Vajrayana Buddhism after many years study at Gyudmed Tantric College. Geshe Loden originally came to Australia in 1976 at the invitation of Lama Thubten Yeshe to be the resident teacher at Chenrezig Institute, Queensland, where he remained for three years before leaving to start his own organization.<br> Geshe Loden has written many books on Tibetan Buddhism, including: ''Great Treasury of Mahamudra'' (2009); ''Essence of the Path to Enlightenment'' (1997); ''Meditations on the Path to Enlightenment'' (1996); ''The Fundamental Potential for Enlightenment'' (1996); and ''Path to Enlightenment in Tibetan Buddhism'' (1993). ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geshe_Acharya_Thubten_Loden Source Accessed Jul 27, 2020]) +
Margarita Loinaz is a community teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland and a visiting teacher at Spirit Rock. She began teaching in 1997 and co-organized the first People of Color Retreat at Spirit Rock in 1999. A student of both the Theravada and Tibetan traditions, her teaching integrates Dzogchen practice with social justice and environmental awareness. ([https://www.lionsroar.com/author/margarita-loinaz/ Source Accessed April 25, 2024]) +
Also known as Klong chen pa (Longchenpa). An esteemed master and scholar of the Rnying ma sect of Tibetan Buddhism known especially for his promulgation of rdogs chen. Klong chen pa is believed to be the direct reincarnation of Padma las 'brel rtsal, who revealed the ''Rdzogs chen snying thig'', and also of Padma gsal, who first received those teachings from the Indian master Padmasambhava. Born in the central region of G.yo ru (Yoru), he received ordination at the age of twelve. At nineteen, he entered Gsang phu ne'u thog monastery where he engaged in a wide range of studies, including philosophy, numerous systems of sūtra and tantra, and the traditional Buddhist sciences, including grammar and poetics. Having trained under masters as diverse as the abbots of Gsang phu ne'u thog and the third Karma pa, Rang 'byung rdo rje, he achieved great scholarly mastery of numerous traditions, including the Rnying ma, Sa skya, and Bka' brgyud sects. However, Klong chen pa quickly became disillusioned at the arrogance and pretention of many scholars of his day, and in his mid-twenties gave up the monastery to pursue the life of a wandering ascetic. At twenty-nine, he met the great yogin Kumārarāja at Bsam yas monastery, who accepted him as a disciple and transmitted the three classes of rdzogs chen (rdzogs chen sde gsum), a corpus of materials that would become a fundamental part of Klong chen pa's later writings and teaching career . . . Among the most important and well-known works in Klong chen pa's extensive literary corpus are his redaction of the meditation and ritual manuals of the heart essence (Snying thig), composed mainly in the hermitage of Gangs ri thod dkar. Other important works include his exegesis on the theory and practice of rdzogs chen, such as the Mdzod bdun (“seven treasuries”) and the Ngal gso skor gsum (“Trilogy on Rest”). (Source: “Klong chen rab 'byams.” In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 439. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Born in 1998 in Mang village in the Mukhum region of Nepal, he joined Jonang Ngedon Takten Shedrup Chokhorling in Parping after meeting Tashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche in 2006. He learned reading, writing, grammar, rituals, and how to play musical instruments. In 2010, he started learning logic and epistemology under Khenpo Ngawang Rinchen Gyatso and Geshe Drime Ozer and received novice ordination from Khentrul Chokyi Nangwa and full monastic ordination from Chogtrul Jamyang Jinpa. In 2016, he received further education in Buddhist literature, including the five great treatises, from Khenpo Ngawang Gedun Gyatso, and he completed his higher Buddhist education in 2022 and received the Lopen title in first rank. He currently serves as an assistant lecturer at Jonang Monastery in Parping. +
Donald S. Lopez, Jr. was born in Washington, D. C. in 1952 and was educated at the University of Virginia, receiving a doctorate in Religious Studies in 1982. After teaching at Middlebury College, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1989, where he is currently Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books, which have been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Czech, Polish, Korean, and Chinese. His books include ''Buddhism in Practice'' (Princeton, 1995), ''Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sutra'' (Princeton, 1996), ''Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism Under Colonialism'' (Chicago, 1995), ''Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West'' (Chicago, 1998), ''The Story of Buddhism'' (Harper San Francisco, 2001), ''A Modern Buddhist Bible'' (Beacon, 2002), ''Buddhist Scriptures'' (Penguin Classics, 2004), ''Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism'' (Chicago, 2005), ''The Madman's Middle Way: Reflections on Reality of the Tibetan Monk Gendun Chopel'' (Chicago, 2005), ''Buddhism and Science: A Guide for the Perplexed'' (Chicago, 2008), and ''In the Forest of Faded Wisdom: 104 Poems of Gendun Chopel'' (Chicago, 2009). He has also served as editor of the ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies''. In 2002-03 he served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Getty Research Institute. In 1998 he was named Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, the University of Michigan's highest award for undergraduate teaching. In 2000 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2005, he was named a Distinguished University Professor. In 2007, he received the John H. D'Arms Faculty Award for Distinguished Graduate Mentoring in the Humanities. He currently serves as chair of the Michigan Society of Fellows and as chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. ([http://www.css.edu/academics/school-of-arts-and-letters/lectures-and-performances/oreck-alpern-interreligious-forum/dr-donald-lopez.html Source Accessed July 22, 2020])
David Robert Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism.
He is a prolific author, whose essays and books have been translated into many languages. His articles appear regularly in the pages of major journals such as ''Tikkun'' and Buddhist magazines including ''Tricycle'', ''Lion's Roar'', and ''Buddhadharma'', as well as in a variety of scholarly journals. Many of his writings, as well as audio and video talks and interviews, are available on the web. He is on the advisory boards of Buddhist Global Relief, the Clear View Project, Zen Peacemakers, and the Ernest Becker Foundation.
David lectures nationally and internationally on various topics, focusing primarily on the encounter between Buddhism and modernity: what each can learn from the other. He is especially concerned about social and ecological issues. A popular recent lecture is "Healing Ecology: A Buddhist Perspective on the Eco-crisis", which argues that there is an important parallel between what Buddhism says about our personal predicament and our collective predicament today in relation to the rest of the biosphere. You can hear David's podcast interview with Wisdom Publications here. Presently he is offering workshops on "Transforming Self, Transforming Society" and on ''Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Precipice'', which is also the title of a new book forthcoming in early 2019. He also leads meditation retreats.
Loy is a professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy. His BA is from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and he studied analytic philosophy at King’s College, University of London. His MA is from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and his PhD is from the National University of Singapore. His dissertation was published by Yale University Press as ''Nonduality: A Study in Comparative Philosophy''. He was senior tutor in the Philosophy Department of Singapore University (later the National University of Singapore) from 1978 to 1984. From 1990 until 2005, he was professor in the Faculty of International Studies, Bunkyo University, Chigasaki, Japan. In January 2006, he became the Besl Family Chair Professor of Ethics/Religion and Society with Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, a visiting position that ended in September 2010. In April 2007, David Loy was visiting scholar at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. From January to August 2009 he was a research scholar with the Institute for Advanced Study, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. From September through December 2010 he was in residence at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, with a Lenz Fellowship. In November 2014, David was a visiting professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands. In January through April 2016, David was visiting Numata professor of Buddhism at the University of Calgary. ([https://www.davidloy.org/ Source Accessed Sep 17, 2021])
Hong Luo studied Indology and Buddhology at Peking University with Prof. Bangwei Wang. He was awarded Ph.D. in 2007 with a dissertation on the Pravrajyāvastu of Guṇaprabha’s Vinayasūtra. From 2007 to 2017, he was affiliated with the China Tibetology Research Center and mainly worked for the international cooperative projects on editing Sanskrit manuscripts preserved in Tibet. In 2015 and 2016, he taught as Numata visiting professor in the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna. From 2011 to 2014, he was visiting scholar of Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Hamburg, and Ryukoku University. In 2018, he became professor for religious studies at the Center for Tibetan Studies of Sichuan University. +
M
William Magee received a Ph.D. in History of Religions from the University of Virginia in 1998.
Magee was the author of several books and articles including ''The Nature of Things: Emptiness and Essence in the Geluk World'', and is co-author of ''Fluent Tibetan: A Proficiency-Oriented Learning System''. He was an Associate Professor at Dharma Drum Buddhist College in Jinshan, Taiwan. He is currently teaching at Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon.
Magee served as Vice-President of the UMA Institute for Tibetan Studies. ([https://uma-tibet.org/author-magee.html Source Accessed April 1, 2020])
'''OBITUARY FROM 22 FEBRUARY, 2023''' (by Paul Hackett on H-Buddhism):
It is with great sadness that I must inform you that William Magee passed away at his home in Portland (OR) last night, peacefully, and in the company of his friends and family.
Known as “Bill” to his friends and colleagues alike, Bill Magee began his studies of the Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy in the mid-1980s with the ven. Geshe Jampel Thardo, for whom he subsequently served as translator. Shortly afterward, Bill entered the Ph.D. program of studies in Tibetan Buddhism at the University of Virginia under Jeffrey Hopkins, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1998, writing his dissertation on the subject of “nature” (svabhāva / prakṛti) in the thought of Nāgārjuna, Candrakīrti, and Tsong-kha-pa.
Over the years, Bill taught at the Namgyal Institute in Ithaca, New York, at Dharma Drum Buddhist College in Jinshan, Taiwan, and at Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon. He is perhaps most well-known, however, for teaching the Summer Tibetan Language Intensive courses at the University of Virginia from 1988 to 2000, during which time he taught the fundamentals of the Tibetan language to hundreds of students, many of whom would go on to pursue advanced studies in the field.
Bill was renown for jovial disposition and his kindness and generosity toward others, routinely opening his home to students and monks alike, and with his wife, Rabia, generously cared for, fed, and housed any and all who appeared at their door.
Even after retiring from teaching the summer language intensives at UVa, throughout the years that followed, Bill’s passion for the Tibetan language remained, and during the COVID pandemic, Bill used his personal funds to revive the Dharma Farm institute (thedharmafarm.net) and began offering free classes online in Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy.
Bill continued to translate and publish research on Buddhist philosophy, authoring several works on the thought of Jamyang Shepa (1648-1721), and publishing them freely online under the auspices of Jeffrey Hopkins’s UMA Institute (uma-tibet.org).
Bill is survived by his wife (Rabia), his son (Tristan), and his daughter (Meri). He was 72 years old.
Known in Tibetan as the "Lord of Love" or the "Noble Loving One" <span class="tibetan-jomolhari font-size-130-em align-sub">འཕགས་པ་བྱམས་པ།</span> (Pakpa Jampa), the "Loving Protector" <span class="tibetan-jomolhari font-size-130-em align-sub">བྱམས་པའི་མགོན་པོ་</span> (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.
The list of five is: Ornament of Clear Realization (Abhisamayālaṃkāra, mngon rtogs rgyan, 現觀莊嚴論); Ornament for the Mahāyāna Sūtras (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra, theg pa chen po mdo sde rgyan, 大乘莊嚴經論); Differentiation of the Middle and the Extremes (Madhyāntavibhāga, dbus mtha' rnam 'byed, 辨中邊論頌); Differentiation of Phenomena and Their Nature (Dharmadharmatāvibhāga, chos dang chos nyid rnam 'byed, 辨法法性論); and The Mahāyāna Treatise of the Highest Continuum (Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos, 分別寶性大乘無上續論). +
John Makeham specializes in the intellectual history of Chinese philosophy. He has a particular interest in Confucian thought throughout Chinese history and, in more recent years, in the influence of Sinitic Buddhist thought on pre-modern and modern Confucian philosophy. Educated at ANU, He has held academic positions at Victoria University of Wellington, University of Adelaide, National Taiwan University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and ANU. ([https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/display/jmakeham Source Accessed Jan 6, 2020]) +
Currently a literary translator for The Institute of Tibetan Classics, Dan Martin completed his doctoral degree in Tibetan Studies with minors in Religious Studies and Anthropology at the Department of Central Eurasian Studies in 1991. He has taught courses as a Visiting Lecturer at Indiana, Hamburg, and Harvard Universities. He has held research positions in Bloomington, Oslo, and Jerusalem. His publications include over 30 articles as well as books entitled ''Mandala Cosmogony'', Harrassowitz (Wiesbaden 1994), ''Unearthing Bon Treasures'', Brill (Leiden 2001), and the bibliography ''Tibetan Histories'', Serindia (London 1997). His main areas of research fall within the realm of the cultural history of Tibet, from the tenth century to the twentieth. His interests are in Indian and Tibetan literature, medicine and religions, as well as Eurasian interconnections in the same fields. These days he is finalizing a translation of a 400-page history of Buddhism in India and Tibet composed in the late 13th century. ([https://iias.huji.ac.il/people/dan-martin Source Accessed Aug 3, 2020]) +
Marty Bo Jiang is a research fellow at the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies. He received his PhD from Columbia University in 2008, writing a dissertation entitled "Cataphatic Emptiness: rGyal-tshab on the Buddha-Essence Theory of Asaṅga's ''Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā''." He is also known for his work ''The Sublime Continuum and Its Explanatory Commentary'' (Columbia University Press, 2017). +
*[http://www.univie.ac.at/cirdis/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=67&lang=en Tibetology at CIRDIS]
'''Bio:'''
:Venerable Yuen Hang Memorial Trust Professor in Buddhist Studies at the University of Hong Kong.
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.
'''Current Ongoing Research:'''
*[http://www.univie.ac.at/mahamudra/index.php?article_id=11 Emptiness of Other (gzhan stong) in Tibetan Mahamudra Traditions of the 15th and 16th Centuries]
+
Matsumoto Shirõ is Professor in the Faculty of Buddhism at Komazawa University. His publications (in Japanese) include ''Pratītyasamutpāda and Emptiness'' (Daizõ Shuppan, 1989), ''The Path to Buddhism'' (Tõkyõ Shoseki, 1993), and ''Critical Studies on Zen Thought'' (Daizõ Shuppan, 1994). Along with Hakamaya Noriaki, he is associated with what has come to be known as "Critical Buddhism." +
Jacques May was born in 1927 in Aigle (Switzerland). He first studied Latin and Greek at the University of Lausanne (1949), where the teaching and personality of the Swiss Hellenist André Bonnard (1888-1959), a noted specialist and translator of ancient Greek tragedy, left a lasting impression on him. His early childhood fascination with Alexandra David-Néel (1868-1969) was transformed into a deep interest in "oriental" studies by the great Polish linguist, philologist, and musician Constantin Regamey (1907-1982). In 1949 Jacques May moved to Paris in order to obtain a "certificat d’études indiennes" (1951). At Sorbonne University, the École Pratique des Hautes Études and the Collège de France he studied Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Indian and Buddhist studies under the guidance of extraordinary personalities such as Louis Renou (1896-1966), Marcelle Lalou (1890-1967), Jean Filliozat (1906-1982), Paul Mus (1902-1969) and Paul Demiéville (1894-1979), all of whom impressed him deeply by their impeccable erudition, kindness, and, in the case of Jean Filliozat, administrative, diplomatic, and "political" skills. Of those who studied at the same time in Paris, mention can be made of André Bareau (1921-1993), Paul Horsch (1925-1971), Gerhard Oberhammer (born 1929), and the French Japanologist Bernard Frank (1927-1996). Jacques May could speak endlessly about that "golden age" of French Indology.<br><br>
Returning to Lausanne in 1956, he served as a librarian until 1961 while he prepared his doctoral thesis, which was published in Paris (Adrien Maisonneuve) in 1959 under the title ''Candrakīrti: Prasannapadā Madhyamakavṛtti'' (''Commentaire limpide au Traité du milieu''). This remarkable work consisted of an annotated French translation of the twelve chapters that had been left untranslated by Th. Stcherbatsky, S. Schayer and J.W. de Jong. As noted by P. Demiéville in his foreword, May’s translation was – and remains – a monument of erudition, accuracy and elegance. In 1961 the same Paul Demiéville appointed Jacques May as the editor in chief of the ''Hôbôgirin, Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme d’après les sources chinoises et japonaises'', to which he contributed two long articles, ''Chūdō'' ([中道] "Middle Way," together with Katsumi Mimaki) and ''Chūgan'' ([中觀] "Madhyamaka"). Active as a privat-docent, Jacques May taught Sanskrit and Tibetan in Kyoto, where he stayed first as a grantee of the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, 1962-1965) and then as a member of the École française d’Extrême-Orient (1965-1968).<br><br>
In 1968 Jacques May was appointed as a "professeur extraordinaire" at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lausanne ("professeur ordinaire" from 1976 to 1992, with a "chaire ad personam" of the Swiss National Science Foundation), directing?/managing? the Department of Oriental Languages and Cultures together with his colleagues Constantin Regamey, Heinz Zimmermann (1929-1986, since 1981), and Johannes Bronkhorst (born 1946, since 1987). Jacques May’s teaching was dedicated, in multi-annual cycles, to diverse topics such as Vasubandhu’s ''Abhidharmakośa'', the ''Mahāyāna Sūtras'', the life of the Buddha, and Sanskrit readings such as the ''Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā'' and the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra'' (the two texts the present writer read with Jacques May in 1991-1992). Besides occasional collaboration with Étienne Lamotte (1903-1983), Jacques May carried on his research on Indian Madhyamaka, which resulted in the French translation of Candrakīrti’s commentary on the ninth chapter of Āryadeva’s ''Catuḥśataka'' ("Āryadeva et Candrakīrti sur la permanence," 1980-1984). Jacques May also supervised the doctoral theses of Tom J.F. Tillemans (his successor in Lausanne, 1992-2011) and Cristina A. Scherrer-Schaub (born 1947, professor of Indian Buddhism at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris until 2015). He was involved in the doctoral research of the Geneva-based japanologists Jérôme Ducor and Michel Mohr.<br><br> Wishing to make his retirement a "true retirement," Jacques May published nothing after 1992 but continued to actively supervise the PhD thesis of his Korean student and wife Kim Hyung-Hi, published in 2013 under the title ''La carrière du Bodhisattva dans l'Avatamsaka-sutra ; Matériaux pour l'étude de l'Avataṃsaka-sūtra et ses commentaires chinois'' (Peter Lang). As long as his health allowed, Jacques May kept travelling, notably in Asia and in South America. Those who had the privilege to know him remember an endearing personality with much wit, a touch of cynicism and (often dark) humor. As his impeccable French translations abundantly testify, Jacques May was a very talented writer; he was an expert in eighteenth-century French prose and late nineteenth-century poetry, above all Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898) and his famous "aboli bibelot d’inanité sonore." Curious about everything and naturally inquisitive, there was very little Jacques May, who lived among dictionaries, encyclopedias and maps, could not say about nineteenth-century Vienna or the work of Mozart; in his hand-written correspondence (Jacques May never used a computer in his life), he would quote Vasubandhu and Nāgārjuna in Sanskrit. Although he was not very fond of Yogācāra Buddhism, his article "La philosophie bouddhique idéaliste" (1971) has become a classic and remains, as Étienne Lamotte said a little less than fifty years ago, the best introduction to the topic. (Source: [http://iabsinfo.net/2018/03/obituary-tribute-to-professor-jacques-may/ Jacques May Obituary by Vincent Eltschinger, published on IABS March 24, 2018])
Mazu Daoyi (709–788) (Chinese: 馬祖道一; pinyin: Mǎzŭ Dàoyī; Wade–Giles: Ma-tsu Tao-yi, Japanese: Baso Dōitsu) was an influential abbot of Chan Buddhism during the Tang dynasty. The earliest recorded use of the term "Chan school" is from his ''Extensive Records''. Master Ma's teaching style of "strange words and extraordinary actions" became paradigmatic Zen lore.
His family name was Ma – Mazu meaning ''Ancestor Ma'' or ''Master Ma''. He was born in 709 northwest of Chengdu in Sichuan. During his years as master, Mazu lived in Jiangxi, from which he took the name "Jiangxi Daoyi".
In the ''Transmission of the Lamp'', compiled in 1004, Mazu is described as follows:
:His appearance was remarkable. He strode along like a bull and glared about him like a tiger. If he stretched out his tongue, it reached up over his nose; on the soles of his feet were imprinted two circular marks.
According to the ''Transmission of the Lamp'', Mazu was a student of Nanyue Huairang (677-744) at Mount Heng in Hunan. A story in the entry on Nanyue Huairang in the ''Transmission of the Lamp'' is regarded as Mazu's enlightenment-account, though the text does not claim it as such. An earlier and more primitive version of this story appears in the ''Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall'' which was transcribed in 952:
:Reverend Ma was sitting in a spot, and Reverend Rang took a tile and sat on the rock facing him, rubbing it. Master Ma asked, "What are you doing?" Master [Huairang] said, "I'm rubbing the tile to make it a mirror." Master Ma said, "How can you make a mirror by rubbing a tile?" Master [Huairang] said, "If I can't make a mirror by rubbing a tile, how can you achieve buddhahood by sitting in meditation?"
This story echoes the ''Vimalakirti Sutra'' and the ''Platform Sutra'' in downgrading purificative and gradualist practices instead of direct insight into the Buddha-nature. . . .
Though regarded as an unconventional teacher, Mazu's teachings emphasise Buddha-nature:
:[L]et each of you see into his own mind. ... However eloquently I may talk about all kinds of things as innumerable as the sands of the Ganges, the Mind shows no increase... . You may talk ever so much about it, and it is still your Mind; you may not at all talk about it, and it is just the same your own Mind. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazu_Daoyi Source Accessed July 15, 2021])
Melvin McLeod is the editor-in-chief of two of America's leading Buddhist magazines, [https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Category:Buddhadharma:_The_Practitioner%27s_Quarterly Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly] and [https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Category:Lion%27s_Roar Lion's Roar magazine] (formerly Shambhala Sun), and is the editorial director of [https://www.mindful.org/magazine/ Mindful magazine]. McLeod has edited three books of teachings by Thich Nhat Hanh, ''Mindful Politics: A Buddhist Guide to Making the World a Better Place'', and is the series editor for The Best Buddhist Writing series. He lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. ([https://www.alibris.com/search/books/author/Melvin-McLeod Adapted from Source Aug 4, 2020]) +
Ingrid McLeod earned a B.A. in Psychology. She completed two three-year retreats at Kagyu Ling France, her first from 1976–1980, and her second from 1980–1983. She was resident lama at Montreal Dharma Center from 1985–1987. She is a founding member and coordinator of Kalu Rinoche's International Translation Group. And she was a Tsadra Foundation fellow from 2001 to 2008.
Completed Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow
* ''The Treasury of Knowledge: Book VI, Part 4; Systems of Buddhist Tantra'', Jamgön Kongtrul (with Elio Guarisco)
* ''The Treasury of Knowledge: Book VIII, Part 3; The Elements of Tantric Practice'', Jamgön Kongtrul (with Elio Guarisco)
Previously Published Translations (with participation of Kalu Rinpoche’s Translation Group)
* ''The Treasury of Knowledge: Book I; Myriad Worlds'', Jamgön Kongtrul
* ''The Treasury of Knowledge: Book V; Buddhist Ethics'', Jamgön Kongtrul +
John R. McRae was a renowned expert on Chinese Chan who also possessed an extensive knowledge of the field of Buddhism in general. After getting a PhD at Yale University, he taught at Cornell and Indiana Universities before moving to Japan and teaching part-time at Komazawa University. As a specialist in East Asian Buddhism, he was especially interested in ideologies of spiritual cultivation and how they interact with their intellectual and cultural environments. His seminal work on Chinese Chan was ''The Northern School and the Formation of Early Chan Buddhism'', (University of Hawai`i Press, 1986). This was later followed by ''Seeing through Zen: Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism'', (University of California Press, 2003). He spent much of his career studying the life of the important Chan figure Shenhui (684–758), and was expecting to complete a manuscript on the topic before his untimely passing in October of 2011. John also completed a number of translations of Chinese Buddhist scriptural texts for the Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai's English translation series and served as Chair of the Publication Committee for the series until his passing.
For the DDB, John provided explanations for a number of terms derived from his research in Chinese Chan texts. ([http://www.buddhism-dict.net/credits/mcrae.html Source Accessed Nov. 27, 2019]) +
I am Assistant Professor at the Chinese Department of ELTE University, in Budapest. My research focuses on Chinese Tiantai philosophy, I wrote my doctoral thesis about Zhanran and his buddha-nature theory, and obtained a PhD in 2011. I'm interested in various forms of Chinese Buddhist philosophy, the ways of interpreting and re-interpeting the inherited ideas. +
Melissa Myozen Blacker, Roshi, is a Zen teacher with Boundless Way Zen, a school of Zen Buddhism with practice centers throughout New England and beyond. She is one of the resident teachers at Boundless Way Temple (Mugendo-ji) in Worcester, MA.
Background: Melissa was born in 1954 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents were secular Jews, who taught her from an early age to have a deep appreciation of art, theater, music (especially jazz) and leftist politics. In order to understand a spontaneous spiritual experience she had when she was nine years old, Melissa began a life-long exploration of religion and psychology.
Education, Work and Family: Melissa is a 1976 graduate of Wesleyan University, with a BA magna cum laude in Anthropology and Music. She went on to earn an MA in Counseling Psychology from Vermont College of Norwich University in 1991, specializing in grief counseling. In 1993, after careers as a vocalist, pianist, music teacher and psychotherapist, she joined the staff of the Center for Mindfulness, founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. Until 2012 she was a member of the teaching staff, the Associate Director of the Stress Reduction Clinic, and a Director of professional training programs at the Center. She met her husband David Dae An Rynick, Roshi in 1977, and they married in 1982. Their daughter, Rachel Blacker Rynick, was born in 1986.
Zen training and teaching: In 1981 she and David began studying Zen with the independent teacher Richard Clarke, a former student of Philip Kapleau, Roshi. After twenty years of study with Dr. Clarke she became the student of James Myoun Ford, Roshi, a dharma heir of Jiyu Kennett, Roshi and John Tarrant, Roshi. She was ordained a Soto Zen priest (unsui) in 2004 and completed shuso training in 2005. Advancing through the Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum she received Dharma transmission from James Ford in April of 2006, and was elected a guiding teacher of Boundless Way Zen. After hosting a Zen meditation group in their home for 20 years, Melissa and David founded Boundless Way Temple in 2009. Melissa received inka shomei from James Ford in July, 2010.
Melissa is co-editor of ''The Book of Mu'', published by Wisdom Publications in April of 2011, and her writing appears in ''Best Buddhist Writing'', 2012, published by Shambhala Publications and ''The Hidden Lamp'', published by Wisdom in 2013 . . . She is a member of the American Zen Teachers Association and the Soto Zen Buddhist Association.
([http://www.melissablacker.com/biography/ Source Accessed Jul 20, 2020])
Michael Sweet received a PhD in Buddhist Studies in 1977 from the University of Wisconsin–Madison under the direction of Geshe Lhundub Sopa. From 1977–78 he taught and did research at the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. After later graduate studies, he was a psychotherapist in public and private practice (1980–2004) and a sometime lecturer at UW Madison, where he has been an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry. He has written extensively on the history of sexuality in South Asia and on Buddhist Studies. Since 2001 his research has focused on Ippolito Desideri and the Catholic missions in Tibet. Current research focuses on the first mission to Tibet, led by the Portuguese Jesuit Antonio de Andrade. ([https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/michael-j-sweet/ Source Accessed May 12, 2020]) +
Michael is a well-known editor of Tibetan Buddhist texts, particularly on Dzogchen and Mahamudra. Titles he has worked on include Blazing Splendor by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Brilliant Moon by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, The Great Image: The Biography of Vairotsana, Clear Mirror by Dudjom Lingpa, The Royal Seal of Mahamudra by Khamtrul Rinpoche III, Freedom in Bondage by Adeu Rinpoche, Clarifying the Natural State by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, Crystal Clear by Thrangu Rinpoche, Lotus Ocean by Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, The Great Medicine by Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, Heart Teachings by Penor Rinpoche (forthcoming), Wellsprings of the Great Perfection by Erik Pema Kunsang, and many others. ([http://www.zangthal.com/about Source Accessed May 7, 2020]) +
Dr. Peter Michel received his Ph.D. in Comparative Religion and German Literature from the University of Freiburg in Germany. He is sought after, both on German and Austrian television, as an expert on such subjects as the relationships between Christianity and spirituality, reincarnation, karma, and Christian teachings. He has published several books on these topics in English, German, Spanish, and Czech. He is the founder of Aquamarin Verlag, one of the major publishing houses for Wisdom Literature in Germany. ([https://www.amazon.com/His-Holiness-14th-Dalai-Lama/dp/1885394551 Source Accessed Nov 5, 2020]) +
Andrea Miller is the deputy editor of ''Lion's Roar'' magazine (formerly the Shambhala Sun) and the author of two picture books: ''The Day the Buddha Woke Up'' and ''My First Book of Canadian Birds''. She's also the editor of three anthologies, most recently ''All the Rage: Buddhist Wisdom on Anger and Acceptance''. ([https://newbooksnetwork.com/andrea-miller-the-day-the-buddha-woke-up-wisdom-publications-2018/ Source Accessed July 28, 2020]) +
Surya Das (born Jeffrey Miller in 1950) is an American lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is a poet, chant master, spiritual activist, author of many popular works on Buddhism, meditation teacher, and spokesperson for Buddhism in the West. He has long been involved in charitable relief projects in the Third World and in interfaith dialogue. Surya Das is a Dharma heir of Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche, a Nyingma master of the non-sectarian Rime movement, with whom he founded the Dzogchen Center and Dzogchen retreats in 1991. His name, which means "Servant of the Sun" in a combination of Sanskrit (''sūrya'') and Hindi (''das'', from the Sanskrit ''dāsa''), was given to him in 1972 by the Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surya_Das Source Accessed Feb 7, 2020]) +
Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche aka Tsering Paldrön (Tib. ཚེ་རིང་དཔལ་སྒྲོན་, Wyl. tshe ring dpal sgron) (b.1967) is the daughter of Kyabjé Minling Trichen Rinpoche and one of the most renowned Tibetan teachers currently teaching in the West.
She was recognized at the age of two by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa as the reincarnation of the great dakini of Tsurphu, Khandro Ugyen Tsomo, one of the most renowned female masters of her time. The present Khandro Rinpoche holds the lineages of both the Nyingma and Kagyü traditions.
Khandro Rinpoche has received teachings and transmissions from some of the most accomplished masters of the 20th century, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Minling Trichen, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Trulshik Rinpoche, Tenga Rinpoche, Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche.
[Khandro] Rinpoche maintains a rigorous schedule, teaching from both the Kagyü and Nyingma traditions in the USA including Hawaii, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Germany, France, the Czech Republic and Greece. She has established and heads the Samten Tse Retreat Center in Mussoori, India, which is home to 30 nuns and also provides a place of study and retreat for monastics and western lay practitioners. [Khandro] Rinpoche is also resident teacher at the Lotus Garden Retreat Center in Virginia, USA, which she established to provide retreat practice, the study of important Buddhist texts, and visiting teachers from all lineages. [Khandro] Rinpoche is also actively involved with the Mindroling Monastery in Dehra Dun, India.
She also heads a variety of charitable projects that supply health care and Buddhist education for monastics and lay practitioners who work side by side in a variety of challenging settings—including a leprosy project. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Mindrolling_Jets%C3%BCn_Khandro_Rinpoche Source Accessed Oct 14, 2020]) +
Ming-Wood Liu received his PhD in Buddhist Studies under UCLA’s inaugural professor of Chinese Buddhism, Kenneth Ch’en. Liu is the author of ''Madhyamaka Thought in China'' (Sinica Leidensia, 30), and many research articles in Chinese Buddhism, including "Fan Chen's ‘Treatise on the Destructibility of the Spirit’ and its Buddhist Critics" (''Philosophy East and West''), "The Lotus Sûtra and Garland Sûtra According to the Tien-t'ai and Hua-yen Schools in Chinese Buddhism" (T'oung Pao), and "Madhyamika and Yogacara Interpretations of the Buddhist-nature Concept in Chinese Buddhism" (''Philosophy East and West''). He was a lecturer in Chinese Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. ([https://www.international.ucla.edu/buddhist/person/1031 Source Accessed Jan 14, 2019]) +
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (born 1975) is a Tibetan teacher and master of the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. He has authored two best-selling books and oversees the Tergar Meditation Community, an international network of Buddhist meditation centers.
As the head of the Tergar Meditation Community, Mingyur Rinpoche supports groups of students in more than thirty countries, leading workshops around the world for new and returning students every year. [https://tergar.org/about/mingyur-rinpoche/ Learn more at https://tergar.org/]
Mingyur Rinpoche was born in Nepal in 1975, the youngest of four brothers. His mother is Sönam Chödrön, a descendant of the two Tibetan kings Songtsen Gampo and Trisong Deutsen. His brothers are Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche, and his nephews are Phakchok Rinpoche and the reincarnation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, known popularly as Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche. From the age of nine, his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, taught him meditation, passing on to him the most essential instructions of the Dzogchen and Mahamudra traditions.
At the age of eleven, Mingyur Rinpoche began studies at Sherab Ling Monastery in northern India, the seat of Tai Situ Rinpoche. Two years later, Mingyur Rinpoche began a traditional three-year retreat at Sherab Ling. At age twenty, Mingyur Rinpoche became the functioning abbot of Sherab Ling. At twenty-three, he received full monastic ordination. During this time, Mingyur Rinpoche received important Dzogchen transmissions from Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche. At the age of nineteen, he enrolled at Dzongsar Institute, where, under the tutelage of the renowned Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk, he studied the primary topics of the Buddhist academic tradition, including Middle Way philosophy and Buddhist logic.
In 2007, Mingyur Rinpoche completed the construction of Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya, India, which will serve large numbers of people attending Buddhist events at this sacred pilgrimage site, serve as an annual site for month-long Karma Kagyu scholastic debates, and serve as an international study institute for the Sangha and laity. The institute will also have a medical clinic for local people.
Mingyur Rinpoche has overseen the Kathmandu Tergar Osel Ling Monastery, founded by his father, since 2010. He also opened a shedra (monastic college) at the monastery.
In June 2011, Mingyur Rinpoche left his monastery in Bodhgaya to begin a period of extended retreat. Rinpoche left in the middle of the night, taking nothing with him, but leaving a farewell letter. He spent four years as a wandering yogi... After continuing with his retreat for four years, he later returned to his position as abbot. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongey_Mingyur_Rinpoche Source Accessed June 27, 2022])
Minoru ("Min") Kiyota was born on October 12, 1923 in Seattle, Washington and grew up in San Francisco, California and Hiratsuka, Japan, where he lived from 1934 to 1938.
While merely a high-school student, he was interned as an American-born but Japan-educated offspring of Japanese parents (''kibei'') in relocation centers in Tanforan, Topaz, and Tule Lake in 1942 during World War II. In his autobiographical account, ''Beyond Loyalty: The Story of a Kibei'' (1997), and in a chapter in his edited volume, ''The Case of Japanese Americans During World War II: Suppression of Civil Liberty'' (2004), he described his experiences during this difficult period of his life.
After his release from Tule Lake Segregation Center in 1946, he accepted a scholarship to the College of the Ozarks in Arkansas and later transferred to the University of California at Berkeley, where he received his B.A. in East Asian Languages and History in 1949. Min attended the San Francisco Theological Seminary from 1949 to 1950 and worked as a civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force Intelligence Service in Japan and
Korea from 1950 to 1953 during the Korean War. He continued to stay in East Asia, attending Tokyo University in Tokyo, Japan from 1953 to 1962, where received his M.A. in 1958 and completed his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies in 1963.
In 1962 Min joined the Department of Indian Studies (later renamed the Department of South Asian Studies and currently designated as the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia - LCA) of the
University of Wisconsin-Madison as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor with a joint appointment with the Department of East Asian Languages and Literature in 1968. In 1978 he rose to the rank of Professor.
Min's research interests were wide-ranging but his main area of teaching and scholarship was Mahāyāna Buddhism in East Asia. He emphasized textual research, requiring rigorous training in Sanskrit, Chinese and
Japanese. In 1989 Min also started teaching Kendō (a Japanese martial art, which descended from traditional swordsmanship) as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology. His "Kendo: An Integration of Martial and Liberal Arts," cross-listed with the Department of East Asian Languages and Literature and the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia, was the first and only course of its kind taught in a university setting in the USA. Min used his Kendō class to teach Zen Buddhism as the philosophical foundation of Kendō. He stressed the importance of Kendō as a way to overcome fear, to develop one-pointed concentration (for better study habits), to grow personally, and to understand different cultural perspectives on life.
During the course of his employment at UW-Madison, Min published twelve books, numerous articles and book chapters, and supervised thirty-two Ph.D. students, a great number of whom found positions at colleges
and major universities in the United States, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Among his books on Buddhism, ''Shingon Buddhism: Theory and Practice'' (1978) is a pioneering study of esoteric Buddhism in Japan and remains an important reference work on the subject. Min is best known for his edited volume ''Mahāyāna Buddhist Meditation'', published in 1978 and reprinted in 1991.
Min also published on Kendō, most importantly his comprehensive work ''Kendo: Its Philosophy, History and Means to Personal Growth'' (1995), republished as ''The Shambhala Guide to Kendo'' (2002). ([https://federated.kb.wisc.edu/images/group222/shared/2014-02-03FacultySenate/2463mr.pdf Source Accessed Jan 14, 2020])
Mitsuya Dake is a Professor at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, Japan. His research themes include Shinran thought, engaged Buddhism, and interfaith dialogue. He has taught courses in Japanese religion and thought and the comparative study of Buddhist culture. He is a member of several academic associations, including The Academy of Japanese Religions, The Association of Indology and Buddhology, and The International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies. ([https://www.ryukoku.ac.jp/english2/prog/graduate/world/professors/dake.html Source Accessed October 17, 2019]) +
Kaie Mochizuki is professor and vice president at Minobusan University in Yamanashi Japan. His areas of specialization include Indian philosophy, Chinese philosophy, and Tibetan and Indian Buddhism. He is also a translator of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist works into Japanese. He currently teaches in the Nichiren major at Minobusan. His many publications in the field include: '"Are the Madhyamikas Sunyatavadins?" (in ''Three Mountains and Seven Rivers'', Motilal Banarsidass 2004), "A Study on the Basic Idea of Lamrim in Tibetan Buddhism" (Minobusan University 2005), "Teaching of Buddhism" (Nichiren-shu 2005), and ''Knowing Wisdom, Repaying Kindness'' (Minobusan University 2007). His most recent project includes research on the development of the ''Lotus sūtra'' in inner Asia. According to his bio on the Minobusan faculty page, he "specializes in deciphering the classical literature of India and Tibet and analyzing its history of thought, but he is also interested in movies and music. Not only Atisha, but also Aki Kaurisumaki and Neil Young." ([http://www.min.jp/department/teacher.html Source Accessed May, 14 2020]) +
David Molk studied Tibetan language at Venerable Geshe Rabten's Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in Mont-Pelerin, Switzerland. Since 1987 he has interpreted and translated for many Tibetan lamas. He lives in Big Sur, California. +
A. Charles Muller (born September 19, 1953) is an academic specializing in Korean Buddhism and East Asian Yogacara, having published numerous books and articles on these topics. He is a resident of Japan, currently teaching at Musashino University. He is one of the earliest and most prolific developers of online research resources for the field of Buddhist Studies, being the founder and managing editor of the online Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, the CJKV-English Dictionary, and the H-Buddhism Scholars Information Network, along with having digitized and published numerous reference works.
Muller's academic study of Buddhism began as an undergraduate at Stony Brook University, where he majored in Religious Studies under the guidance of Sung Bae Park, a specialist in Seon and Korean Buddhism. After graduating, he spent two years studying in Japan, after which he spent one year in the graduate program in Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. In 1988, he left UVa to return to Stony Brook, where he completed a PhD in Comparative literature, once again with Sung Bae Park as his principal advisor. He also studied Christian Theology with Peter Manchester, Islam with William Chittick, and Postmodern literary criticism with Michael Sprinker and Hugh Silverman. His dissertation, "Hamhŏ Kihwa: A Study of His Major Works," was accepted in 1993, after which he spent six months in Korea as a research associate at the Academy of Korean Studies, before taking up an academic position in Japan, at Toyo Gakuen University.
From 1994 to 2008, Muller taught courses in philosophy and religion at Toyo Gakuen University, during which time he published numerous books and articles on Korean Buddhism, Zen, East Asian Yogacara, and Confucianism. While active in numerous academic organizations such as the American Academy of Religion and the Japanese Association for Indian and Buddhist Studies, he also became known as one of leading figures in the creation of online research resources. In 1995, he set up his web site called Resources for East Asian Language and Thought (still in active service today), featuring online lexicons, indexes, bibliographies, and translations of classical texts. In 1996, he started the Budschol listserv for the academic study of Buddhism, which would, in 2000, become part of H-Net, under the name of H-Buddhism, the central internet organ for communication among scholars of Buddhism. He also initiated two major dictionary projects, the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism and the CJKV-E Dictionary, which have become basic reference works for the field of Buddhist and East Asian studies, subscribed to by universities around the world. His work in the area of online reference works and digitization led him into the field of Digital Humanities, with his principal area of expertise lying in the handling of literary documents using XML and XSLT. In 2008, Muller was invited to join the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Tokyo, where he taught courses in Digital Humanities, Chinese Philosophy, and Korean Philosophy and Religion. He retired from UTokyo in March 2019 and moved to Musashino University, where he is director of the Institute of Buddhist culture and teaches courses in Buddhist Studies. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Charles_Muller Source Accessed July 21, 2021])
After graduating from Humboldt University Berlin and following (post-)doctoral research in Munich, Zurich and Kyoto, I am currently a research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy at Hildesheim University (Germany), which specializes in Asian and World philosophy.
My research focuses on the philosophy of language and culture, particularly based on the works of Ernst Cassirer and Wilhelm von Humboldt. My interests also encompass regional philosophies including pre-modern Buddhist and modern Japanese philosophy. I have published widely in various languages and translated seminal philosophical works from Japanese into German and English.
Throughout my career, I have been engaged in cross-cultural and interdisciplinary research activities inside and outside of academia. I am the founding member of the research network »Morphology as Scientific Paradigm« (funded by the German Research Council, DFG) and have co-curated (as »Konzeptbegleiter«) the new permanent exhibit »Play of culture/s« (»Spiel der Kultur/en«) at Historisches und Völkerkundemuseum in Sankt Gallen, Switzerland. ([http://ralfmueller.eu Source Accessed May 14, 2020]) +
N
Reverend Master Hubert was a senior disciple of Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett. He was ordained a monk in 1988 and was transmitted by Rev. Master Jiyu in 1992. He translated the ''Shobogenzo'', as well as numerous scriptures and religious texts. He was a resident of [Shasta] Abbey from the time of his ordination. ([https://www.facebook.com/olympiazencenter/posts/remembering-rev-hubert-nearmanrev-hubert-nearman-obc-died-at-shasta-abbey-on-the/10153432879308214/ Source Accessed June 28, 2021]) +
David Need is Lecturing Fellow of Religion at Duke University. He has taught at Duke since 1999, primarily in Religious Studies. He developed the ICS gateway class and taught it from 2005–2012. His academic expertise is in Asian Religions and in Literature and Religion, with a focus on poetics, ritual, and meditation systems.
In addition to scholarly articles, he has published three books — two are translations and essays on Rainer Maria Rilke, the third is a selection of his own poetry, including a long poem set alongside the Gospel of Mark.
===Current Research Interests===
* Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke
* Non-dual awareness and poetics
* Influence of Buddhism on 20th Century American Poetry
* Women's Religious Experience & Poetics +
Heidi Nevin studied Tibetan language at Manjushri Center for Tibetan Culture (1996-8); apprenticed to Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche (1996-2003); served Lama Tharchin by helping to translate the mkha’ ‘gro thugs thig (Vol. Ma of Dudjom Rinpoche’s Collected Works) and other texts (2006-present). She translated the autobiography of Khenpo Ngakchung (Wondrous Dance of Illusion, Shambhala, 2013, restricted text) and volume one of Dungse Trinley Norbu Rinpoche’s three-volume Collected Works (Shambhala 2022, as Ruby Rosary). She is currently translating volume 20 of the Complete Nyingma Tradition (mdo rgyud mdzod), among other things. Heidi lives in Corvallis, Oregon, USA. +
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]. +
Nguyen Dac Sy received his PhD from the Department of Buddhist Studies at the University of Delhi in 2012. His doctoral research on buddha-nature and the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'' was supervised Dr. Ram Kumar Rana and co-supervised by Dr. T. R. Sharma. +
Solvej Hyveled Nielsen was born in Denmark in 1987. She mostly translates Tibetan-English (written and oral). Her mother tongue is Danish, and she understands a little bit of German.
Solvej has a B.A. in Buddhist Studies with Himalayan languages rrom Rangjung Yeshe Institute, Kathmandu University. She also has a B.A. and M.A. in Tibetology from Copenhagen University.
She studied Drikung texts and Tibetan history with Dr. Jan-Ulrich Sobisch and also worked with him on a project about Tibetan divination. Since 2015 she has spent her summers with Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen and the Vikramashila Translation Group at the Milarepa Center, Schneverdingen. ([https://www.drikungtranslation.com/translators/#Solvej Source Accessed Sep 7, 2022]) +
Kosen Nishiyama Roshi is Zen master, teacher and priest, as well as abbot (31st Patriarch) of the Daimanji Temple, a large temple in the northern Japanese metropolis of Sendai with approx. 450 active members. He is also a professor of Buddhology and English at Tohoku Fukushi University. Nishiyama Roshi was born in Sendai in 1939. He received his instruction in Zen in the main monastery of the Japanese Soto School of Zen, the Sojiji Temple in Yokohama. In 1975 his translation of Dogen Zenji's ''Shobogenzo'' was published in English. Nishiyama Roshi also translated Keizan Jokin's ''Denkoroku'' into English (published 1994). The German translations of parts of ''Shobogenzo'' in Theseus and Angkorverlag are based on these translations. ([http://www.weltfriede.at/nishiyama01.htm Source Accessed June 29, 2021]) +
Nobuyoshi Yamabe is Professor of Asian Philosophy at Waseda University. Professor Yamabe specializes in Indian Buddhism, with particular interest in the Yogācāra and Buddhist meditation texts. He is the author of numerous works in both English and Japanese. His articles include "An Shigao as a Precursor of the Yogācāra Tradition," "Nine Similes of Tathāgatagarbha in Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra and the Six Similes of Buddhānusmṛti in Guanfo sanmei hai jing," and "Visionary Repentance and Visionary Ordination in the ''Brahmā Net Sūtra''." +
Khenpo Tenzin Norgay Rinpoche was born in Bhutan in 1965. He became a senior colleague at Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, the prestigious Buddhist studies and research center, at Namdroling Monastery in Mysore. At the Institute he studied under Khenchen Pema Sherab, Khenpo Namdrol Tsering, Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso, and other visiting professors, including Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok and Khenpo Pema Tsewang from Tibet. He completed the Shedra program in 1995 and joined the Institute staff, teaching there for three years. He was formally enthroned as Khenpo by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche in 1998 and was assigned by His Holiness to teach at the Buddhist college at Palyul monastery in Tibet. He is now the main resident master at [http://www.palyulnyc.org/npdc/ Palyul Dharma Center] in the New York City metropolitan area.
Official Bio from Palyul Dharma Center:
Khenpo Tenzin Norgay Rinpoche was born in the Tashigang District of Bhutan in 1965. After completing Jigme Sherubling High School in 1986, he joined Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, the prestigious Buddhist studies and research center, at Namdroling Monastery in Mysore. At the Institute he studied under Khenchen Pema Sherab, Khenpo Namdrol Tsering and Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso and other visiting professors, including Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok and Khenpo Pema Tsewang from Tibet.
He completed the Shedra program at the Institute in 1995 and joined the Institute staff, teaching there for three years. He was formally enthroned as Khenpo by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche in 1998 and was assigned by His Holiness to teach at the Buddhist college at Palyul monastery in Tibet.
He has received all the major empowerments of the Rinchen Terzod, Nam Cho, Nyingthik Yabshi and Nyingma Kama from His Holiness Penor Rinpoche as well as the Mipham Kabum from His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.
Because of his knowledge and experience, and fluent command of the English language, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche has assigned him to teach students in the United States in conjunction with the ongoing teaching programs offered by Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche.([http://www.palyulnyc.org/npdc/about/our-teachers/venerable-khenpo-tenzin-norgay-rinpoche/ Source Accessed April 18, 2022])
Noël Péri (22 August 1865 - 25 June 1922) was a French Catholic priest. A missionary and author, he was responsible for translating the Gospels into Japanese and published the first research journal devoted to Japanese topics. He read and wrote broadly about Japanese culture, including studies of Buddhist history and mythology, and as a result came into conflict with some members of the Catholic missionary community. A trained musician, he also taught Western music in Japan and wrote early Western works on Japanese opera and music theory, and Noh drama. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No%C3%ABl_P%C3%A9ri Source Accessed June 15, 2020]) +
Despite the variations in the titles preceding the personal name, dPal-dbyangs, it seems certain that they all refer to one personage who belongs to the clan gNyan/bsNyan and who apparently was a renowned master learned in Mahāyoga tantras and rDzogs chen doctrines . . .
. . . However, nothing is known about his life. According to Tāranātha, he lived in Kha-ra sgo-bstun, a district in gTsang where Tāranātha himself was born and gNyan is said to have founded a temple called g.Yung-drung-gi lha-khang in 'Dam-chen.
. . . gNyan dPal-dbyangs, in later sources is considered to be a disciple of Lo-tsā-ba gNyags Jñanakumāra ''alias'' Jo-bo Zhang-drung and one of the teachers of gNubs Sangs-rgyas ye-shes, the author of the ''SM'' [''Bsam gtan mig sgron''] . . .
(Samten Karmay, ''The Great Perfection (rDzogs chen): A Philosophical and Meditative Teaching of Tibetan Buddhism'', Brill's Tibetan Studies Library 11 [Leiden: Brill, 2007], 67–69. +
O
Eugene Obermiller (1901–1935), as a Buddhist scholar, inherited the tradition of Ivan Minayev (1840-1890), the founder of Russian school of Indology and Buddhist studies through his teacher Fyodor Ippolitvich Shcherabatskoy (1866–1942), who was a pupil of Minayev. After obtaining his PhD from the University of Leningrad, he joined Academy of Sciences at Leningrad as an Under Secretary to the Director of the Bibliotheca Buddhica.
His published works include the translation of Bu-ston's ''Tibetan History of Buddhism'' (1932) in two volumes. He also translated the ''Uttaratantra'' or ''Ratnagotravibhaga'' (of Maitreya Asaṅga) from Tibetan and published it in 1932. Obermiller's other important work is the Sanskrit text and Tibetan translation of the ''Abhisamayālamkara'', which he undertook as a joint venture with his teacher Shcherabatskoy and published in 1929. He also contributed papers to the ''Indian Historical Quarterly''. +
Rev. Ichijo Ogawa is the Director of Shinshu Otani-ha Research Institute for Shin Buddhist Studies, Kyoto, Japan, Professor Emeritus, and former President of Otani University, Kyoto, Japan. His main areas of specialization are Chinese, Indian and Buddhist philosophy, and he is the author of numerous articles and books on these topics. +
Shinsui (Mamiko) Okada, a professor emerita at the University of Hyogo, earned a Dr.Phil. at the University of Bonn, Germany. She is an ordained Nichiren-shū priest and a member of the Science Council of Japan. She was also one of the organizers of the Japan Religion Coordinating Project for Disaster Relief, which was organized after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. ([https://rk-world.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/DW18_7-12.pdf Source Accessed Sep 17, 2021]) +
Shohaku Okumura was born in Osaka, Japan in 1948. He is an ordained priest and Dharma successor of Kōshō Uchiyama Roshi in the lineage of Kōdō Sawaki Roshi. He is a graduate of Komazawa University and has practiced at Antaiji with Kōshō Uchiyama Roshi, Zuioji with Narasaki Ikkō Roshi in Japan, and Pioneer Valley Zendo in Massachusetts. He taught at Kyoto Sōtō Zen Center in Japan and Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis. He was the director of the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center (previously called Soto Zen Education Center) in San Francisco from 1997 to 2010.
His previously published books of translation include ''Dōgen’s Extensive Record: A Translation of the Eihei Kōroku''; ''Shikantaza: An Introduction to Zazen''; ''Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki: Sayings of Eihei Dōgen Zenji''; ''Heart of Zen: Practice without Gaining-mind'' (previously titled ''Dōgen Zen''); ''Zen Teachings of "Homeless" Kōdō''; ''Opening the Hand of Thought''; ''The Whole Hearted Way: A Translation of Eihei Dōgen’s Bendōwa with Commentary by Kōshō Uchiyama Roshi''; and ''Dōgen’s Pure Standards for the Zen Community: A Translation of Eihei Shingi''. Okumura is also the editor of ''Dōgen Zen and Its Relevance for Our Time''; ''Soto Zen: An Introduction to Zazen''; and ''Nothing is Hidden: Essays on Zen Master Dōgen’s Instructions for the Cook''.
He is the founding teacher of the Sanshin Zen Community, based in Bloomington, Indiana, where he lives with his family. (''Realizing Genjokoan'', about the author) +
Morten Ostensen is the Digital Curator for the Research Department of Tsadra Foundation where he works to create digital editions of major Tibetan literary collections, as well other online resources developed by the research team and their collaborators. He was a frequent resident of Nepal from the mid 1990's until 2015 where he has studied Buddhism as an undergrad, a graduate student, and a doctoral candidate, as well as in more traditional settings. He now lives in upstate New York with his wife and daughter. +
P
Birth and Recognition:
Tulku Orgyen Phuntsok was born in Pemakö, in northeastern India, as the son of Lama Rigdzin Phuntsok. He was recognized at a young age by Dudjom Rinpoche as the reincarnation of Togden Kunzang Longrol, his father’s root guru. Togden Kunzang Longrol was a great Dzogchen yogi from the Powo region who had been a main disciple of Dudjom Rinpoche, and who had been influential in spreading the dharma and the Dudjom Tersar lineage both in Tibet and in upper and lower Pemakö.
Training:
Tulku Orgyen Phuntsok spent his early years in retreat in Pemakö, at his own monastery, under the blessings of his first root teacher, the great master Tulku Dawa Rinpoche. Tulku Orgyen Phuntsok underwent vigorous training in multiple fields of study, including various ritual sadhana performances from different terma lineages, with an emphasis on the Dudjom Tersar lineage, all under the care of his previous incarnation’s disciples, including his father Lama Rigzin Phuntsok.
At the age of 15, Tulku Orgyen commenced advanced studies in southern India at Namdroling Monastery, the largest Nyingma monastery in India, established by Penor Rinpoche. There, Tulku Orgyen completed a nine-year-long program of study, obtaining the degree of Khenpo. While appointed to a teaching position for the duration of his final three years at the monastery, he taught various Buddhist philosophies to monks. Over the course of his nine years of study, he also received empowerments and transmissions from many masters of the Nyingma lineage such as Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche, Lama Rigdzin Phuntsok, Penor Rinpoche, and Tulku Dawa Rinpoche.
Upon completion of his studies at Namdroling monastery, Tulku Orgyen Phuntsok returned to his retreat land in Pemakö, where he engaged in solitary retreat and completed the requisite practices to become a qualified Vajra master in this lineage.
Activity:
Since late 1999, Tulku Orgyen Phuntsok has assisted his uncle and teacher, Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche, by giving teachings, leading practices and retreats, and undertaking various other Dharma activities at Vairotsana Foundation Centers in California and New Mexico and in various cities in North America and Asia. In order to gain a western education and perspective, Tulku Orgyen studied and guest lectured at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Currently, Tulku Orgyen Phuntsok splits his time between North America and Asia, spending winters in Pemakö where he oversees reconstruction of the temple.
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo is a bhikṣuṇī in the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. She is an author, teacher and founder of the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, India.
Diane Perry grew up in London's East End. At the age of 18 however, she read a book on Buddhism and realised that this might fill a long-sensed void in her life...
In 1963, at the age of 20, she went to India and met her root guru, His Eminence the 8th Khamtrul Rinpoche of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage.
In 1976 she secluded herself in a remote cave 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas, where she stayed for 12 years between the ages of 33 and 45. In this mountain hideaway she faced unimaginable cold, wild animals, floods, snow and rockfalls, grew her own food and slept in a traditional wooden meditation box, three feet square - she never lay down. In 1988 she emerged from the cave with a determination to build a convent in northern India to revive the Togdenma lineage, a long-forgotten female spiritual elite. (Source: ''Cave in the Snow'', Bloomsbury, 1999.)
In 2001 construction began at the Padhiarkar site for the [https://tenzinpalmo.com Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery]. H.E. Khamtrul Rinpoche gave the nunnery the name ''Dongyu Gatsal Ling'', which translates as “Garden of the Authentic Lineage”.
In February 2008 Tenzin Palmo was given the rare title of Jetsunma, which means Venerable Master, by His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, Head of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage in recognition of her spiritual achievements as a nun and her efforts in promoting the status of female practitioners in Tibetan Buddhism.
Tenzin Palmo spends most of the year at Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery and occasionally tours to give teachings and raise funds for the ongoing needs of the DGL nuns and Nunnery.
In addition to her role as Founding Director of Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery, Jetsunma is a former President of Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women, Founding Director of the Alliance of Non Himalayan Nuns, Honorary Advisor to the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, co-president of the International Buddhist Confederation [IBC], and Founding Member of the Committee for Bhiksuni Ordination.
To find out more about Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo’s life, read Vicki Mackenzie’s biography Cave in the Snow published by Bloomsbury, and see the ‘Cave in the Snow’ DVD directed by Liz Thompson and narrated by Rachel Ward. ([https://tenzinpalmo.com/jetsunma-tenzin-palmo/ Source: TenzinPalmo.com])
*Books:
**1999. ''Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment'', Bloomsbury.
**2002. ''Reflections on a Mountain Lake'', Shambhala Publications.
**2011. ''Into the Heart of Life'', Snow Lion Publications.
Paramārtha was an influential sixth-century translator of Indic texts into Chinese. He arrived at the Liang-dynasty court of Emperor Wu in 546 and began his work with imperial patronage. When the emperor was assassinated in 549, he went south to continue his work. In addition to the material he brought with him, such as the ''Mahāyānasaṃgraha'' and the ''Suvaṇaprabhāsottamasūtra'', Paramārtha is credited by tradition with the translation of the ''[[Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna]]'', although scholars now believe that the attribution is not correct. Paramārtha's translations and compositions, actual or apocryphal, were influential in spreading the Yogācāra teachings in China, including the doctrine of ''amalavijñāna'', the ninth consciousness. +
Diana Y. Paul was born in Akron, Ohio and is a graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in both psychology and philosophy and of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Ph.D in Buddhist Studies.
. . . Her short stories have appeared in a number of literary journals and she is currently working on a second novel, ''A Perfect Match''. Currently, she lives in Carmel, CA with her husband and loves to create mixed media art, focusing on printmaking in her studio.
As a Stanford professor, she has authored three books on Buddhism, one of which has been translated into Japanese and German (''Women in Buddhism'', University of California Press). ([https://dianaypaul.com/about/ Source Accessed Jan 14, 2020])
Her other Buddhist works include ''Philosophy of Mind in Sixth-Century China: Paramartha’s Evolution of Consciousness'' and ''The Buddhist Feminine Ideal: Queen Srimala and the Tathagatagarbha''. +
Paul Masson-Oursel was a French orientalist and philosopher, a pioneer of 'comparative philosophy'. Masson-Oursel was a student of Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, Henri Bergson, Emile Durkheim, Pierre Janet, André Lalande, Marcel Mauss. With Sylvain Lévy, Alfred Foucher, Chavannes, Clément Huart, he learned Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, Arab[ic?]. ''La Philosophie Comparée'', his Sorbonne doctoral dissertation, attempted to apply Comtean positivism and a comparative method which identified 'analogies' between the philosophies of Europe, India and China. Masson-Oursel argued that "philosophy cannot achieve positivity so long as its investigations are restricted to the thought of our own civilization", since "no one philosophy has the right to put itself forward as co-extensive with the human mind." ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Masson-Oursel Source Accessed May 13, 2020]) +
Paul Oltramare was a Sanskritist and historian of religious ideas of Ancient India. Born in Geneva in 1854 to a protestant family of university scholars, he was a lecturer who held the chair for Latin literature and language and the chair for religions at the University of Geneva. He had studied under Louis Havet and Michel Bréal during the 1870s in Paris where he had published his thesis on ''L'histoire des idées théosophiques en Inde'' (''The history of theosophical ideas in India'') in a ''Musée Guimet'' collection. Source: Roland Lardinois, ''Scholars and Prophets: Sociology of India from France in the 19th-20th Centuries'' (London: Routledge, 2018), 16. +
Marcus Perman is the Executive Director of Tsadra Foundation, where he has worked for 14 years. He graduated from St. Lawrence University with honors in Psychology and Philosophy and graduated from Naropa University with an MA in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism focused on Tibetan and Sanskrit languages. From 2007-2008 Marcus studied at Tibet University in Lhasa, Tibet and Rumtek, Sikkim, India. His early interests lay primarily in philosophical interpretations of Tibetan Buddhism, but his current work focuses on online educational resources and digital resources for translators and scholars. With Tsadra Foundation, Marcus developed the Translation & Transmission Conference series and the Lotsawa Workshops and regularly hosts online events and other workshops. Other interests include comparative philosophy, writing, Vladimir Nabokov, and rock climbing.
===Published Works===
*Tricycle Magazine Review of ''Contemplating Reality: A Practitioner's Guide to the View in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism'' by Andy Karr. Tricycle Summer 2007. <br> http://www.tricycle.com/reviews/balancing-act
*"Appreciating all Sentient Beings." in Heart Advice. Dharamsala, India: Altruism Press, 2008.
*Mind Only Tenet System. Translation of ''sems tsam pa'i grub mtha''' by Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen. Seattle: Nitartha Institute Publications, 2009.
===Unpublished Works (completed)===
M.A. Thesis: “Tshad Ma Literature: Towards a History of Tibetan Buddhist Epistemology” <br>
B.S. Honors project: “Neurofeedback: The effect of training attentional abilities in female college students” Advisor: Dr. Artur Poczwardowski. +
John Whitney Pettit has been a student of many Tibetan and other Buddhist teachers, especially the first Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He holds advanced degrees in religion and Buddhist Studies from Harvard and Columbia University, and is the author of ''Mipham’s Beacon of Certainty'' (Wisdom, 1999). Since 2005, he has researched and translated Tibetan commentaries on the topic of Buddha-nature, which are the subject of a forthcoming volume to be published by the Institute of Tibetan Classics. ([http://www.ewamchoden.org/?p=3702 Source Accessed Aug 5, 2020]) +
Lopen (Dr) Karma Phuntsho is one of Bhutan’s leading intellectuals. He finished his monastic training in Bhutan and India before he pursued a M.St in Classical Indian Religions and a D.Phil in Oriental Studies at Balliol College, Oxford. He was a researcher at CNRS, Paris, a Research Associate in the Department of Social Anthropology at Cambridge University, and the Spalding Fellow for Comparative Religion at Clare Hall, Cambridge University. He was also a Research Consultant at University of Virginia.
An author of over one hundred books and articles including the authoritative ''History of Bhutan'' and ''Mipham’s Dialectics and the Debates on Emptiness'', he speaks and writes extensively on Bhutan and Buddhism. His work has received extensive media coverage by the BBC, BBS, Kuensel, The Bhutanese, Science, Radio Free Asia, Oxford Today, Times of India, India Today, and Channel News Asia. He is also the President and founder of Loden Foundation, a leading educational, entrepreneurial, and cultural initiative in Bhutan. He is currently based in Thimphu, Bhutan. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_Phuntsho Read a complete bio on Wikipedia]. +
Piya Tan, who works on the Sutta Discovery Project . . . was a former Theravada monk for 20 years. Today he is a full time lay Dharma teacher specializing in early Buddhism. He was consultant and regular lecturer to the Buddhist Studies Team (BUDS) that successfully introduced Buddhist Studies in Singapore Secondary Schools in the 1980s. After that, he was invited as a visiting scholar to the University of California at Berkeley, USA. He has written many ground-breaking and educational books on Buddhism (such as ''Total Buddhist Work'') and social surveys (such as ''Buddhist Currents and Charisma in Buddhism'').
As a full-time Dharma teacher, he runs Buddhist, Sutta and Pali classes like the basic Pali course series, the Sutta Study Group (NUSBS), Dharma courses (the Singapore Buddhist Federation), Sutta Discovery classes (Buddhist Fellowship and elsewhere), and Sutta-based (including meditation) courses (Brahm Education Centre), besides his own full-time Pali translation and research project, the Pali House, and doing a comparative study of the Pali Nikayas and the Chinese Agamas. As a Theravada monk, he learned insight meditation from Mahasi Sayadaw himself in the 1980s. As a lay teacher, he learned forest meditation from the Ajahn Brahmavamso. He has run numerous meditation courses and retreats for students and adults (including non-Buddhists) since 1980s. In 1992, he taught meditation at the University of California at Berkeley, USA, and also to BP, JPMorgan, the Defence Science Organization, GMO, HP and SIA. He is doing all this for the love of Dharma and of Ratna and their two children. ([http://www.themindingcentre.org/dharmafarer/piyatan Source Accessed Nov 10 2020]) +
M. Cody Poulton has been teaching Japanese language, literature and theatre in the Department of Pacific and Asian Studies at the University of Victoria since 1988. His research has focused on Japanese theatre and drama, particularly of the modern period. He has also been active as a translator of kabuki and modern Japanese fiction and drama, for both publication and live stage productions in Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan. Poulton’s books include ''Spirits of Another Sort: The Plays of Izumi Kyoka'', ''A Beggar’s Art: Scripting Modernity in Japanese, 1900‑1930'', and his translation of Yasuhiko Ohasi’s ''Godzilla''. ([https://www.jgshillingford.com/poulton-m-cody/ Source Accessed Sep 18, 2021]) +
Dr. John Powers is a faculty member in the Australian National University's Centre for Asian Societies and Histories. He is a specialist in Asian religions with a specific focus on Buddhism, India, and Tibet. His latest publication is ''History As Propaganda: Tibetan Exiles versus the People's Republic of China''. Amongst his publications are ''An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism'' (Snow Lion Publications, 1995); (with J. Hopkins) ''Tibetan-Sanskrit-English Dictionary'' (Charlottesville, VA, 1990); ''The Yogacara School of Buddhism: a Bibliography'' (Metuchen, NJ, 1991); and (with J. Fieser) ''Scriptures of the World's Religions'' (1997). He is a member of the American Academy of Religion; the American Philosophical Association; the Association of Asian Studies; the International Association for Ladakh Studies; the International Association of Tibetan Studies; the Asian Studies Association of Australia; and the International Association of Buddhist Studies. ([http://www.snowlionpub.com/pages/powers.html Source Accessed Jun 7, 2019]) +
Renowned Madhyamaka master belonging to Candrakīrti's lineage, he wrote several commentaries of Candragomin and Haribhadra's works, but those texts seem no more available.
Depending on the sources, he was either the gatekeeper of the Western Gate of Nalanda when Naropa was living there (chos 'byung mkhas pa'i dga' ston, vol. 2, p. 323 / 1175), or the gatekeeper of the Western Gate of Vikramashila when Naropa was in charge of the Northern Gate (deb ther sngon po; vol. 1, p. 295). ([https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P7313 Source Accessed Jan 22, 2020]) His ''Bodhicaryāvatārapañjikā'' is considered to be the most important Indian commentary on the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' by Śāntideva. +
Research Experience: 35 Years
* Department of Philosophy, BHU, 3 years (1976-1979)
* Department of South Asian and Buddhist Studies, the Australian NationalUniversity, Canberra, 3 years (1979-82)
* Department of Pali & Buddhist Studies, BHU, 1 year (1982-1983)
* Department of Philosophy, Delhi University, 28 years (1983-99)
Teaching Experience: 32 years (Post-graduate and Research)
* In the Department of Philosophy, BHU, Varanasi, 3 years
* In the Department of Pali & Buddhist Studies, BHU, 1 year
* In the Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi, 28 years
Languages Known :
* Hindi (Mother tongue)
* English
* Sanskrit
* Pali
Fields of Special Interest
* Buddhist Philosophy
* Indian Philosophy of Language
* Indian Metaphysics
* Environmental Ethics
* Philosophy of Interculturality
Membership of Learned Bodies
* International Society for the Study of Times, USA
* Professors World Peace Academy, USA
* International Society for Intercultural Philosophy (Koln/ Bremen, Germany)
* Creative Peace Through Encounter of World Cultures (Bamberg, Germany)
(Read more about Prof. Prasad [https://in.linkedin.com/in/hari-shankar-prasad-9a728824 here]) +
Graham Priest is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and Boyce Gibson Professor Emeritus at the University of Melbourne. He is known for his work on non-classical logic, metaphysics, the history of philosophy, and Buddhist philosophy. He has published over 300 articles—in nearly every major philosophy and logic journal—and seven books—mostly with Oxford University Press. Further details can be found at: grahampriest.net. ([https://www.gc.cuny.edu/Page-Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Doctoral-Programs/Philosophy/Faculty-Bios/Graham-Priest Source Accessed Dec 2, 2019]) +
Q
Katrin Querl is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Indology and Central Asian Studies. Before joining the University of Leipzig, she studied at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, the Kagyu College in Dehradun, and the University of Vienna. Katrin Querl's dissertation dealt with the presentation of the three wheels of Dharma in the works of the Tibetan Buddhist scholar Jigten Sumgön, the founder of the Drikung Kagyu tradition. In addition to her academic research, she collaborates with several translation projects, such as the Vikramashila Translation Project, the Rinchenpal Translation Project, and the Buddhist Translation Studies project (BTS). Her recent publications include the translation of several texts from the collected works of Jigten Sumgön and two translations for the project "84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha". Katrin was a Tsadra Foundation study scholarship recipient from 2013 to 2017 and began a translation project with a grant from Tsadra Foundation in 2022. +
Andrew Quintman is a scholar of Buddhist traditions in Tibet and the Himalayan world focusing on Buddhist literature and history, sacred geography and pilgrimage, and visual cultures of the wider Himalaya. His work addresses the intersections of Buddhist literary production, circulation, and reception; the reciprocal influences of textual and visual narratives; and the formation of religious subjectivities and institutional identities. He is also engaged in developing new digital tools for the study and teaching of religion. His book, The Yogin and the Madman: Reading the Biographical Corpus of Tibet’s Great Saint Milarepa (Columbia University Press 2014), won the American Academy of Religion’s 2014 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion, the 2015 Heyman Prize for outstanding scholarship from Yale University, and received honorable mention for the 2016 E. Gene Smith Book Prize at the Association of Asian Studies. In 2010 his new English translation of the Life of Milarepa was published by Penguin Classics. He is currently working on two new projects, one exploring Buddhist religious and literary culture in the borderlands of Tibet and Nepal, and the other examining the Life of the Buddha through visual and literary materials associated with the seventeenth-century Jonang Monastery in western Tibet. ([https://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/faculty/aquintman/profile.html Source: Wesleyan Website])
Quintman currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the [https://www.tbrc.org/#!footer/about/newhome Buddhist Digital Resource Center] (BDRC). He is former Co-Chair of the [http://campuspress.yale.edu/thrg/ Tibetan and Himalayan Religions Group of the American Academy of Religion] and co-leads an ongoing collaborative workshop on [http://tibetanlit.org/ Religion and the Literary in Tibet].
You can see an amazing example of Quintman's [http://lotb.iath.virginia.edu/ contributions to digital scholarship on the Life of the Buddha project website]. +
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Michael Radich received his doctorate from the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University (2007), for a dissertation treating the history of Buddhist ideas about the various embodiments of buddhahood. His first monograph (Tokyo, 2011), treats the history of Buddhist stories about the sins and redemption of the famed patricide King Ajātaśatru, as that story changed across two thousand years of Buddhist history in India, China and Japan. His second monograph (Hamburg, 2015) treats the origins of Tathāgatagarbha thought in the (Mahāyāna) Mahāparinivāņa-mahāsūtra. He has held visiting positions at Kyōto University (2009) and the University of Hamburg (Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies, 2013-2014; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellow, 2015). From 2005-2017, he taught at Victoria University of Wellington in his native New Zealand, where he was latterly Associate Professor and Programme Director of Religious Studies. As of January 2018, he is Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context" at the University of Heidelberg. ([http://www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/en/people/academic-staff/details/persdetail/radich.html Source Accessed July 20, 2018]) +
Ralf Kramer (born 1971) studied Tibetan, Japanese, and Social Anthropology at the Universities of Hamburg and London. He was Aris Librarian for Tibetan & Himalayan Studies at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford (2000–2005), before working on a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) at the University of Munich (2006–2007). He is currently employed as Tibetan specialist at the Bavarian State Library in Munich. +
Fabio Rambelli is an Italian academic, author, and editor. He is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
Fabio Rambelli was born in Ravenna, Italy. He earned a BA in Japanese language and culture from the University of Venice. In 1992, he was awarded his PhD in East Asian Studies from University of Venice and the Italian Ministry of Scientific Research. He also studied at the Oriental Institute in Naples and at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
In 2001, Rambelli was a professor of religious studies, cultural studies, and Japanese religions at Sapporo University in Japan. At present, Rambelli holds the International Shinto Foundation Chair in Shinto Studies at UCSB. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabio_Rambelli Source Accessed April 6, 2020]) +
Rase Konchog Gyatso was born in 1968 in the village below the monastery of Drikung Thil in Tibet. Dagpo (or Gampo) Chenga is the 8th reincarnation of the heart son of Gampopa (1079-1153).
From his young age Dagpo Chenga revealed a virtuous personality as well as a sharp mind. He studied at Drikung Buddhist College and at the Tibetan College in Lhasa. Dagpo Chenga also attended the Medical and Astrological College. He studied the Ten Aspects of Knowledge, as well as natural sciences, social sciences, and history and became very erudite in many fields of knowledge. Already as a young student he began writing papers on many subjects of Tibetan history and Tibetan Buddhism under his name Rase Konchog Gyatso. Among his books is also a seven-volume publication entitled A Faithful Speech that shows how to develop, improve and spread the Dharma tradition of the Drikung Kagyu in the future. Dagpo Chenga is considered one of the most learned lamas of the Drikung tradition. ([https://www.garchen.de/index.php/en/spiritual-guidance/visiting-teachers Source Accessed Oct 6, 2022]) +
Ratnavajra was originally a Kashmiri brahmana who became a great Buddhist master. Taranatha relates a story of his patronage according to which he was the son of a brahmana named Haribhadra. The story runs as follows: Once a Kashmiri brahmana appeased Mahesvara. Thus, it was predicted that all his descendents would become renowned scholars. The prophecy came through and amongst this twenty-five descendants the last was Brahmana Haribhadra. This brahmana once entered in a debate with Buddhists having staked his own creed. He was defeated in debate, as a result of which he was converted to Buddhism. Having become a Buddhist, he acquired proficiency in the doctrine. Ratnavajra was son of this converted brahmana.
Ratnavajra was an ''upasaka'' (a lay disciple). He studied in Kashmir up to the age of thirty under Gangadhara. He learnt by heart the ''sutras'', the tantras and all the branches of knowledge. After that he went to Vikramasila for further studies. In Vikramasila he received the title of Pandita from the king and became the central pillar of the University. Among his expositions there, noteworthy works include the Tantrayana, the seven treatises on Pramana, the five works of Maitreya, etc. Ratnavajra returned to Kashmir. He converted many ''tirthikas'' to the Buddhist faith and established many centres for the study of Vidyasambhara, Sutralankara, Guhyasamaja etc.
From Kashmir, Ratnavajra proceeded to Udyana (Urgyana). It was perhaps here that he converted a Saivaite Kashmiri brahmana, to whom he gave the name Guhyapragna after ordination.
Ratnavajra went to Tho-lin where he assisted in translation of several works and collaborated with the great Tibetan translator Rin-chen-bzan-po. He further visited Central Tibet where he had a chance to supervise the rebuilding of the circular terrace of Bsam-yas, which was burnt in 986 A.D. Ratnavajra supervised five hundred workers including brick-layers, carpenters, goldsmiths, black-smiths and sculptors for three years.
Ratnavajra is believed to have transmitted the ''Prasannapada'' and the ''Madhyamakavatarabhasya'' to Parahitabhadra. ''Dam-pa Sans-rgyas'' (Paramabuddha), a native of South India, was instructed in Mahamudra under him. As a logician Ratnavajra composed the Yuktiprayoga, signifying application of reasoning. Other works of Ratnavarja which deal with the Mantrayana are:
(a) Cycle of Buddhasamyoga:<br>
1. ''Srisarvabuddhasamyogadakinijalasambaramahatantra-rajanamamandalopayika''.
(b) Cycle of Cakrasamvara:<br>
1. ''Abhisekavidhikrama'',<br>
2. ''Sricakrasamvaramandalamangalagatha'',<br>
3. ''Sricakrasamvaramandaladevaganastotra'', and<br>
4. ''Sri Cakrasamvarastotra''
(c) Cycle of Guhyasamaja<br>
1. ''Aksobhyavajrasadhana''
(d) Cycle of Hevajra: <br>
1. ''Balikarmakrama'',<br>
2. ''Snhevajrastotra'', and <br>
3. ''Sarvapapasuddhanagnipujasamadhi''
(e) Cycle of Mahamaya: <br>
1. ''Mahamayasadhana'',<br>
2. ''Meghalokaganapatisadhana'',<br>
3. ''Srinathacaturmukhastotra'',<br>
4. ''Mantrarajasamayasiddhisadhana'',<br>
5. ''Aryajanbhalastotra'', and <br>
6. ''Sricakrasamvaradvayavlrasadhana''.
He also composed ''Vajravidaraninamadharanimandalagatha-krama-praknya''. There exist several other works which are reported to have either been composed or translated by Ratnavajra. (Source: 'Kundan', T. N. Dhar. ''Saints and Sages of Kashmir''. New Delhi: A.P.H. Publishing, 2004, p. 24–26.)
Andrew Rawlinson was a war baby (b.1943) and lived in 17 different places by the time he was six. He got hit early on: Elvis, Jelly Roll Morton, Samuel Johnson, John Keats, Jack Kerouac, Cezanne, Pollock. And Zeus. He added philosophy and Indian traditions to rock’n’roll, jazz and literature. He was a scholar at Cambridge and did a Ph.D on the ''Lotus Sūtra'' at the University of Lancaster. He taught Buddhism for 20 years and put on a course on Altered States of Consciousness at Berkeley and Santa Barbara. He is the author of ''The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers on Eastern Traditions'' (Open Ciourt, 1997) and ''The Hit: Into the Rock’n’Roll Universe and Beyond'' (99 Press, 2014). ([https://explore.scimednet.org/index.php/events/event/the-hit-derangement-and-revelation/ Source Accessed May 19, 2020]) +
Bill Porter (born October 3, 1943) is an American author and translator of Chinese and Sanskrit works who writes under the name Red Pine (Chi Song). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Porter_(author) Source]
*2018: Porter, 74, a translator of Chinese poetry and author, has been awarded the American Academy of Arts & Letters Thornton Wilder Prize for translation. He writes under the name Red Pine (Chi Song) and has lived in Port Townsend since the late 1980s. ([https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/port-townsend-translator-of-chinese-poets-wins-national-prize/ Source Accessed May 8, 2020]) +
Rev. George Kosho Finch is a Shingon Buddhist minister. Rev. Finch took Tokudo (Initiation) in Shingon Buddhism in 1999. In 2000 he traveled to Japan for the Jukai (Reciept of Precepts on Mt. Koya), and in 2006 he completed Denpo-Kanjo (Final Ordination) on Mt. Koya, Japan. In 2009 Rev. Finch completed the Ichiryu Denju, complete transmission of the teachings.
Since that time he has led meditation groups in Portland Oregon, and served as assistant minister with the Koyasan Shingon Mission of Hawaii. Rev. Finch earned his Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, and his Juris Doctorate from Willamette University College of Law.
Rev. Finch’s goal, and the purpose of the [Shingon Buddhist] Foundation, is to maintain the lineage and traditional Shingon practice, while finding new and innovative ways to share the teachings (such as through yoga and qigong) with those are who are new to Buddhism, and those who may have practiced their whole lives.
In 2019, Rev. Finch began leading Henjyoji Shingon Buddhist Temple in Portland, Oregon. Henjyoji Temple has been in its current location since 1951. Ensuring the temple continues to offer opportunities for spiritual growth and development into a new millennia. ([https://www.shingonbuddhism.org/about-us-2/ Adapted from Source Nov 19, 2020]) +
Richard was born on 10 October 1845 in Ffaldybrenin, Carmarthenshire in south Wales, the son of Timothy and Eleanor Richard, a devout Baptist farming family. Inspired by the Second Evangelical Awakening to become a missionary, Richard left teaching to enter Haverfordwest Theological College in 1865. There he dedicated himself to China, where he had an active role in relief operations during the Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879, and was instrumental in promoting anti-foot binding and gender equality in China.<br> Richard applied to the newly formed China Inland Mission, but Hudson Taylor considered that he would be of better service to the denominational Baptist missions. In 1869 the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) accepted Richard's application, and assigned him to Yantai (Chefoo), Shandong Province.<br> In 1897 Richard undertook a journey to India to discover the conditions of the Christian mission there. Travelling with a young missionary, Arthur Gostick Shorrock, they visited Ceylon, Madras, Agra, Benares, Delhi, Calcutta and finally Bombay.<br> Timothy Richard helped the Qing government to deal with the aftermath of the Taiyuan massacre during the Boxer Rebellion. He thought the main cause of the Boxer Rebellion was due to lack of education of the population, so he proposed to Qing court official Li Hongzhang to establish a modern university in Taiyuan with Boxer Indemnity to the Great Britain, and his proposal was approved later. In 1902, Timothy Richard represented the British government to establish Shanxi University, one of the three earliest modern universities in China. Timothy Richard was in charge of the fund to build Shanxi University until ten years later in 1912. During that period, he also served as the head of the College of Western Studies in Shanxi University.<br> Richard's other works include: ''Some Hints for Rising Statesman'' (1905); ''Calendar of the Gods in China'' (1906); ''Conversion by the Million in China: Being Biographies and Articles'', 2 vols. (1907); and ''Forty-Five Years in China'' (1916). ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Richard Source Accessed May 20, 2020])
Jim holds an MA in Tibetan Studies from the University of Hamburg (with minors in Classical Indology and Ethnology) and a PhD from the University of the West of England (taught at Bath Spa University). Next to various postdoctoral research projects at the University of Hamburg, he has taught at the University of Copenhagen and as Acting Professor for Tibetan Studies in Bonn. Jim has been engaged in various interdisciplinary teaching projects and acted as interpreter for Tibetan. His research focuses on Tibetan literary genres, religious history of the Tibetan plateau and Buddhist meditative traditions. Recent publications include ''Tibetan Literary Genres, Texts, and Text Types'' (2015) and the monograph ''The Eighth Karmapa's Life and His Interpretation of the Great Seal'' (2017). ([https://www.sydney.edu.au/arts/about/our-people/academic-staff/jim-rheingans.html Source Accessed September 9, 2021])
He recently completed a monograph about ''The Life and Works of Karma 'phrin las pa'' (1456–1539). +
Born in France in 1946, son of philosopher Jean-François Revel and artist Yahne Le
Toumelin, Matthieu Ricard is a Ph.D. in cell genetics turned Buddhist monk who has studied
Buddhism in the Himalayas for the last 50 years under respected masters such as Kangyur
Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He is a humanitarian, an author, a photographer,
and a speaker at various international events.
His books in English include ''The Monk and the Philosopher''; ''The Quantum and the Lotus'';
''Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill''; ''Why Meditate?''; ''Altruism:
The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World'', ''A Plea for the Animals'',
''Enlightened Vagabond'', ''Beyond the Self: A conversation between Neuroscience and
Buddhism'', ''In Search of Wisdom'', ''Freedom for All and Our Animal Neighbours''.
As a translator from Tibetan, in English, his works include,
:Dilgo Khyentse, ''The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel'', Shambhala Publications.
:Dilgo Khyentse, ''The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones'', Shambhala Publication.
:Dilgo Khyentse, ''The Excellent Path to Enlightenment'', Snow Lion Publications.
:Dilgo Khyentse, ''The Hundred Verses of Advice'', Shambhala Publications.
:Dilgo Khyentse, ''The Heart of Compassion'', Shambhala Publications.
:Rabjam Rinpoche, ''The Great Medicine that Vanquishes Ego Clinging'', Shambhala Publications.
:''Shabkar, Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin'', SUNY Press, reprinted Snow Lion Publications.
:''On the Path to Enlightenment: Heart Advice from the Great Tibetan Masters''. Shambhala Publications, 2013.
:''The Enlightened Vagabond, The life and teachings of Patrul Rinpoche'', Shambhala Publications.
As a photographer, he has published a number of albums in French, including, in English ''Journey to Enlightenment (Aperture)'', ''Tibet: An Inner Journey'' (Thames and Hudson), ''Motionless Journey: From a Hermitage in the Himalayas'' (Thames and Hudson), ''Bhutan: Land of Serenity''. Henri Cartier Bresson wrote about his photographic work: "Matthieu's camera and his spiritual life are one. From there, spring these images, fleeting yet eternal."
As a scientist and Buddhist monk, under the umbrella of the Mind and Life Institute, he has been an active participant in the scientific research on the effects of meditation on the brain and has co-authored a number of scientific publications.
He presently lives at Shechen monastery in Nepal and devotes all the proceedings of his books and activities to humanitarian projects in India, Nepal and Tibet, through Karuna- Shechen, the organization he founded twenty-one years ago (www.karuna-shechen.org), which benefit over 400,000 people every year. (Source: Matthieu Ricard, personal communication, Oct. 12, 2021.)
www.matthieuricard.com
Richard Mather was born in Baoding, China and grew up there until he came to United States to go to college, graduating summa cum laude in 1935 from Princeton University. His plans to return to China were interrupted by the war and he instead went on to the University of California, Berkeley to pursue his PhD in Chinese literature, studying with Peter Boodberg and others.<br> Mather came to the University of Minnesota in 1949 to found the study of Chinese language and literature. In the following decades, he was a major force in Chinese studies at the university and across the nation. He was central to establishing the field of early medieval Chinese studies with his monumental translation, ''A New Account of Tales of the World'' (University of Minnesota Press, 1976). Even after his 1984 retirement Mather was very active, publishing ''The Poet Shen Yüeh: The Reticent Marquis'' (Princeton UP, 1988) and the two-volume ''The Age of Eternal Brilliance: Three Lyric Poets of the Yung-ming Era'' (Brill, 2003). His ''New Account'' was reissued in a revised second edition by U of Michigan Press in 2002. ([http://asianlanguages-literatures.blogspot.com/2013/11/professor-richard-b-mather-turns-100.html Source Accessed May 11, 2020]) +
Morris was born at Bermondsey on 8 September 1833, of Welsh parentage. He was trained as an elementary schoolmaster at St John's College, Battersea, but his education was for the most part self-acquired. In 1869, he was appointed Winchester lecturer on English language and literature in King's College School.<br> In 1871, he was ordained, and served for two years as curate of Christ Church, Camberwell. From 1875 to 1888 he served as headmaster of the Royal Masonic School for Boys at Wood Green, and afterwards for a short time master of the grammar school of Dedham, Essex. His diploma of LL.D. was a Lambeth degree, conferred in 1870 by Archbishop Tait.<br> As early as 1857, Morris showed the bent of his mind by publishing a little book on ''The Etymology of Local Names''. He was one of the first to join as an active member the Chaucer, Early English, and Philological societies, founded by his lifelong friend, Dr F. J. Furnivall. None of his colleagues surpassed him in the devotion which he expended upon editing the oldest remains of our national literature from the original manuscript sources, on the same scientific principles as adopted by classical scholars. Between 1862 and 1880, he brought out no fewer than twelve volumes for the Early English Text Society, including three series of ''Homilies'' (1868 onwards) and two of ''Alliterative Poems'' (1864). In 1866, he edited Chaucer for the ''Aldine Poets'' (2nd ed. 1891). This was the first edition to be based upon manuscripts since that of Thomas Tyrwhitt, and remained the standard one until it was superseded by W. W. Skeat's edition of 1894–7. In 1869, he edited Edmund Spenser for Macmillan's ''Globe'' edition, again using manuscripts as well as the original editions. In 1867, he published ''Specimens of Early English'' for the Clarendon Press, Oxford, which was augmented by Skeat in later editions.<br> Morris's long experience as a schoolmaster also prompted him to undertake a series of successful educational works. The first was ''Historical Outlines of English Accidence'' (1872), which went through some twenty editions, before being thoroughly revised after the author's death by Henry Bradley and Leon Kellner. In 1874 he brought out ''Elementary Lessons in Historical English Grammar''; and in the same year a primer of ''English Grammar''.<br> Scarcely had he struck out on this remunerative line of authorship than he turned aside to devote the remainder of his life to the study of Pāli, the sacred language of Buddhism. The stimulus came from his friendship with Professor Thomas Rhys Davids, founder of the Pāli Text Society. For the PTS he edited four texts between 1882 and 1888, more than any other contributor up to that point. But he did not confine himself to editing: his familiarity with the development of early English caused him to take a special interest in the corresponding position of Pāli, as standing midway between the ancient Sanskrit and the modern vernaculars, and as branching out into various dialects known as Prakrits. These relations of Pāli he expounded in a series of letters to the Academy, which were valuable not only for their lexicographical facts, but also as illustrating the historical growth of the languages of India. The last work he was able to complete was a paper on this subject, read before the International Congress of Orientalists in London in September 1892. He was not personably able to correct the proofs of this paper for publication in the ''Transactions''. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Morris_(philology) Source Accessed June 15, 2020])
Geshe Sonam Rinchen was born in 1933 at Dhargyey, in the Trehor Kham region of Eastern Tibet. At the age of thirteen, he decided to become a monk and entered Dhargyey Monastery, where he excelled in his studies and in debate. When he was nineteen, he made the two and a half month journey on foot to Central Tibet in order to enter Sera Je College of Sera Monastery. He became a fully ordained monk and remained there for the next six years until his studies were interrupted by the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, which forced him into exile in India.
For the following nine years, he lived with many other monks under extremely harsh conditions in Buxa Duar, West Bengal, in what had previously been a British internment camp. In 1967, he entered what is now the Central University of Tibetan Studies in Sarnath and stayed there until 1976, obtaining the degrees of Shastri and Acharya with honors. In 1980, he took the public examinations for the monastic title of Geshe. He received the highest qualification, that of Geshe Lharampa.
Geshe Sonam Rinchen taught at the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives in Dharmsala, India for over 30 years. He published ten books in collaboration with his translator Ruth Sonam including Aryadeva’s Four Hundred Stanzas on the Middle Way, The Heart Sutra, The Bodhisattva Vow, the Six Perfections, How Karma Works, and Atisha’s Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. ([https://sravastiabbey.org/advisory-member/geshe-sonam-rinchen/ Source Accessed Sep 29, 2022]) +
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche was born in Kham Lingtsang, in eastern Tibet, and recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa as the incarnation of one of the tulkus of a Kagyüpa monastery in his home province. When asked to introduce himself during an interview with Alexander Berzin's Study Buddhism website, he replied, "My name is Ringu Tulku. Ringu is the name of my monastery, which is in Eastern Tibet. I myself was mainly educated in Sikkim, India. I studied under different khenpos and lamas, but I consider Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche and the 16th Karmapa as my main teachers. I received all my ordinations from them, but I’ve also had the opportunity to receive teachings from all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism." (Source: [https://studybuddhism.com/en/essentials/interviews/interview-with-ringu-tulku Study Buddhism])
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist Master of the Kagyu Order. He was trained in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism under many great masters such as HH the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa and HH Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche. He took his formal education at Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok and Sampurnananda Sanskrit University, Varanasi, India and has served as Professor of Tibetology in Sikkim for 17 years. His doctoral thesis was on the Ecumenical Movement in Tibet.
Since 1990 he has been traveling and teaching Buddhism and meditation at more than 50 Universities, Institutes and Buddhist Centres in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and Asia. He also participates in various interfaith dialogues. He authored several books on Buddhism as well as some children’s books both in Tibetan and European languages.
He founded Bodhicharya (www.bodhicharya.org ), an international organization that coordinates the worldwide activities to preserve and transmit Buddhist teachings, to promote inter-cultural dialogues and educational & social projects. He also founded Rigul Trust which supports his projects in his birthplace, Rigul, Tibet (www.rigultrust.org ).
Rinpoche is the Official Representative of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa for Europe and the Founder of Karmapa Foundation Europe (www.karmapafoundation.eu).
(Source: [https://bodhicharya.org/ringu-tulku/ Bodhicharya.org])
<big>'''''Videos:'''''</big>
*[https://www.youtube.com/user/OnlineShedra Bodhicharya Dharma Channel and Shedra]
*[https://vimeo.com/198083193 Ringu Tulku on Kongtrul's Dam ngak Dzö]
*[https://bodhicharya.org/ringu-tulku/lazy-lama-film/ Lazy Lama Film]
Short Biography of the Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Tulku, Karma Lodrö Lungrik Maway Senge:
The Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche was born in Kham, Tibet, in 1933. At the age of five, he was formally recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa and Tai Situpa as the ninth incarnation of the great Thrangu tulku. He entered Thrangu monastery, where, from the ages of seven to sixteen, he studied reading, writing, grammar, poetry, and astrology, memorized ritual texts, and completed two preliminary retreats. At sixteen, under the direction of Khenpo Lodro Rabsel, he began the study of the three vehicles of Buddhism while in retreat. At twenty-three he received full ordination from the Karmapa.
Because of the Chinese military takeover of Tibet, Thrangu Rinpoche, then twenty-seven, was forced to flee to India in 1959. He was called to Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, where the Karmapa has his seat in exile. Because of his great scholarship and unending diligence, he was given the task of preserving the teachings of the Kagyu lineage; the lineage of Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa, so that one thousand years of profound Buddhist teachings would not be lost.
He continued his studies in exile, and at the age of thirty-five he took the geshe examination before 1500 monks at Buxador monastic refugee camp in Bengal and was awarded the degree of Geshe Lharampa. Upon his return to Rumtek, he was awarded the highest Khenchen degree. Because many of the Buddhist texts in Tibet were destroyed, Thrangu Rinpoche helped in beginning the recovery of these texts from Tibetan monasteries outside of Tibet. He was named Abbot of Rumtek monastery and the Nalanda Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies at Rumtek. Thrangu Rinpoche, along with Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, was one of the principal teachers at the Institute, training all the younger tulkus of the lineage, including The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, who was in the first class. He was also the personal tutor of the four principal Karma Kagyu tulkus: Shamar Rinpoche, Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Gyaltsab Rinpoche. Thrangu Rinpoche established the fundamental curriculum of the Karma Kagyu lineage taught at Rumtek. In addition, he taught with Khenpo Karthar, who had been a teacher at Thrangu Rinpoche's monastery in Tibet before 1959, and who is now head of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in Woodstock, New York, the seat of His Holiness Karmapa in North America.
After twenty years at Rumtek, in 1976 Thrangu Rinpoche founded the small monastery of Thrangu Tashi Choling in Boudhanath, Kathmandu, Nepal. Since then, he has founded a retreat center and college at Namo Buddha, east of the Kathmandu Valley, and has established a school in Boudhanath for the general education of Tibetan lay children and young monks in Western subjects as well as in Buddhist studies. In Kathmandu, he built Tara Abbey, which offers a full dharma education for Tibetan nuns, training them to become khenpos or teachers. He has also established a free medical clinic in an impoverished area of Nepal.
Thrangu Rinpoche recently completed a large, beautiful monastery in Sarnath, India, overlooking the Deer Park where the Buddha gave his first teaching on the Four Noble Truths. This monastery is named Vajra Vidya after the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, and it is now the seat for the annual Kagyu conference led by His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa. In January of this year, His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to Sarnath to perform a ceremony in the Deer Park with the Karmapa, Thrangu Rinpoche, and other high lamas.
Around 1976, Thrangu Rinpoche began giving authentic Buddhist teachings in the West. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. In 1984 he spent several months in Tibet where he ordained over one hundred monks and nuns and visited several monasteries. In the United States, Thrangu Rinpoche has centers in Maine and California, and is currently building the Vajra Vidya Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado. Highly qualified monks and nuns from Thrangu Rinpoche's monastery will give retreatants instruction in various intensive practices. He often visits and gives teachings in centers in New York, Connecticut, and Seattle, Washington. In Canada, he gives teachings in Vancouver and has a center in Edmonton. He is the Abbot of Gampo Abbey, a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia. He conducts yearly Namo Buddha seminars in the United States, Canada, and Europe, which are also part of a meditation retreat.
Rinpoche has now taught in over twenty-five countries and has seventeen centers in twelve countries. He is especially known for making complex teachings accessible to Western students. Thrangu Rinpoche is a recognized master of Mahamudra meditation.
Because of his vast knowledge of the Dharma and his skill as a teacher, he was appointed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to be the personal tutor for His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa.
(Source: [http://www.rinpoche.com/bio1.htm Rinpoche.com, Official Site of the 9th Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche])
For ''The Life of Thrangu Rinpoche with Pictures'' [http://www.rinpoche.com/life_of_TR_11_11_2015.pdf Click here]
The Venerable Yangthang Tulku Rinpoche, was born into the Yangthang clan in Sikkim. He was recognized as the incarnation of Terton Dorje Dechen Lingpa of Dhomang Monastery in Tibet where he took his seat to guide sentient beings. In 1959, when the Communist Chinese invaded Tibet, the Ven. Yangthang Rinpoche fled Dhomang. He was later captured by the Communists, and imprisoned for twenty-two years. Following the death of Mao Tse Tung he was released. He returned to Dhomang to find his monastery completely dismantled. He then obtained permission to return to Sikkim and continued his Dharma activities. Yangthang Rinpoche is currently known as one of the principle lineage holders of the Nyingmapa Lineage and is widely recognized for the quality and depth of his realization, the power of his attainment, and the purity of his transmissions. In recent times he has come to the United States several times and often travels to Taiwan where he has many devoted students. ([http://vimalatreasures.org/yangthang.aspx Source Accessed April 4, 2019])
[https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/yangthang-rinpoche/ Lotsawa House Master Series for Yangthang Rinpoche]
[https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Yangthang_Rinpoche Rigpa Wiki Entry for Yangthang Rinpoche] +
After meeting Suzuki Roshi in 1970, Rinso Ed Sattizahn lived at Tassajara from 1973 to 1977. He spent the next five years at City Center, serving as Zen Center's Vice President and President. From 1983 to 2000 Ed held various executive positions in the microcomputer software industry and developed familiarity with how the world works. In 2003, he served as Shuso (Head Student) at Green Gulch Farm, and in the same year co-founded Vimala Sangha in Mill Valley with Lew Richmond. Vimala Sangha is named after Vimalakirti, the famous householder disciple of the Buddha, and is dedicated to the practice of householder Zen in the tradition of Suzuki Roshi. Ed received Lay Entrustment in 2005, was ordained as a Zen priest in 2010, and received Dharma Transmission in 2012, all from Lew Richmond. Ed previously served on the Zen Center Board for six years (2006-2011) and as board chair for three years (2009-2011). In March 2014, Ed became Abiding Abbot at City Center, and in March 2019 stepped into the role of Central Abbot. He remains the guiding teacher at Vimala Sangha Mill Valley. ([https://www.sfzc.org/teachers/rinso-ed-sattizahn Source Accessed August 13, 2020]) +
Robert W. Clark is the Coordinator of the Stanford Tibetan Language Program. He teaches Tibetan language and literature at Stanford University, and serves as a curator and consultant for Asian Art collections in the US and India. He is the program director of Tardo Ling, in San Francisco, a center for translation of Tibetan literature. Dr. Clark worked as a translator in the Private Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and has served as interpreter for Tibetan lamas and educators for over 25 years. He is an author of numerous books and articles on Tibetan, Nepalese, and Indian Buddhist art, history and culture including ''Treasures of the Nying T’ik''; ''The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (Mahayanasutralamkara)''; ''Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World''; ''The Art of Gandhara and Tibet''; ''The Tethong Portraits of the Eighty Four Mahasiddhas''; ''The Treasures of Buddhist Tibet''; ''Art of the Qianlong Emperor''; and ''The Practice of Mahamudra''. He has translated over 70 Tibetan texts, and over 1000 Tibetan official and commercial documents from the Nepalese Government archive. Dr. Clark was a curator and catalogue author for exhibitions of Tibetan and Buddhist art at the Tibetan Museum (Dharamsala), Asian Art Museum (San Francisco), Dallas Art Museum, and Bowers Museum of Culture. He is currently working on a biographical account concerning Buddhist culture in Tibet and India in the 20th century. ([https://dlcl.stanford.edu/people/robert-w-clark Source Accessed April 30, 2020]) +
Peter Alan Roberts was born in Wales and lives in Hollywood, California. He earned a BA in Sanskrit and Pali and a DPhil in Tibetan Studies from Oxford University (Harris-Manchester College). For more than thirty years he has been working as an interpreter for lamas and as a translator of Tibetan texts. He specializes in the literature of the Kagyü and Nyingma traditions with a focus on tantric practices . . . <br>([https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/peter-alan-roberts/ Source Accessed Aug 7, 2020]) +
Ulrike Roesler received her PhD in Indian Studies from the University of Münster (Germany) with a thesis on the notion of "light" in the Vedas. For more than a decade she has been teaching Indian and Tibetan Studies as well as Buddhist Studies at the universities of Marburg, Freiburg, and Oxford. Her research interests include Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, the history of the Tibetan Kadam school, and Tibetan biographical and narrative literature. Her German translation and study of Potowa Rinchen Sal's ''Dharma Exemplified (Dpe chos)'' was published by Reichert Verlag (Weisbaden) in 2011. With Linda Covill and Sarah Shaw, she coedited ''Lives Lived, Lives Imagined: Biography in the Buddhist Traditions'' (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2010). (Source: [https://books.google.com/books?id=B68aCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT918&lpg=PT918&dq=Ulrike+Roesler+received+her+PhD+in+Indian+Studies+from+the+University+of+M%C3%BCnster+(Germany)+with+a+thesis+on+the+notion+of+%22light%22+in+the+Vedas.&source=bl&ots=MWXJJre-DW&sig=ACfU3U0oqRUrOgdcIk9dgYb82jAVXyqQdQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSs6jojd3rAhWomeAKHTpUCPkQ6AEwAXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Ulrike%20Roesler%20received%20her%20PhD%20in%20Indian%20Studies%20from%20the%20University%20of%20M%C3%BCnster%20(Germany)%20with%20a%20thesis%20on%20the%20notion%20of%20%22light%22%20in%20the%20Vedas.&f=false "About the Contributors," ''Stages of the Buddha's Teachings: Three Key Texts'', Wisdom Publications, 2015]) +
*https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Rongzom_Ch%C3%B6kyi_Zangpo
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rongzom_Chokyi_Zangpo
+
[https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Topic_of_the_week/Post-21 Please see Ruegg's obituary here].
David Seyfort Ruegg (New York, 1931) was an eminent Buddhologist with a long career, extending from the 1950s to the present. His specialty was Madhyamaka philosophy, a core doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism.
Ruegg graduated from École des Hautes Etudes in 1957 with degrees in historical science and Sanskrit. He published his thesis "Contributions à l'histoire de la philosophie linguistique indienne" ("Contributions to the History of Indian Linguistic Philosophy") in 1959. He received a second doctorate in linguistics from the Sorbonne in Paris, where his thesis was "La théorie du tathâgatagarbha et du gotra : études sur la sotériologie et la gnoséologie du bouddhisme" ("The Theory of Gotra and Tathâgatagarbha: A Study of the Soteriology and Gnoseology of Buddhism"), with a second half thesis on Bu Rin chen grub's approach to tathâgatagarbha. In 1964 he joined the faculty of the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient, where he researched the history, philology and philosophy of India, Tibet and Buddhism.
From 1966-1972 Ruegg occupied the Chair of Languages and Cultures of India and Tibet at Leiden University. His predecessor was [[Jan Willem de Jong]] and his successor was Tilmann Vetter. He has since become associated with the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Ruegg was president of the International Association for Buddhist Studies (IABS) from 1991 to 1999. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Seyfort_Ruegg Source Accessed Aug 5, 2020]) +
Since 2006, Rulu, a Mahayana Buddhist, has been translating texts selected from the Chinese Buddhist canon into English. A deep believer in making Buddhist teachings available to all, Rulu focuses on creating translations that are clear to readers while staying faithful to the Chinese texts. ([https://www.authorhouse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/727045-The-Tathagata-Store Source Accessed Aug 20 2021]) +
Ryōgen (良源, 912 – January 31, 985) was the 18th chief abbot of Enryaku-ji in the 10th century. He is considered a restorer of the Tendai school of Mahayana Buddhism, and credited for reviving Enryaku-ji. His supposed role as a precursor of the sōhei, or "warrior monks," is questionable and seems to be a later invention (see Adolphson 2007).<br> Ryōgen was born in the Omi Province in 912, and he began his practice at Mount Hiei in 923, becoming chief abbot in 966. Over the course of the 10th century, there had been a number of disputes between Enryaku-ji and the other temples and shrines of the Kyoto area, many of which were resolved by force. In 970, Ryōgen formed a small army to defend Enryaku-ji and to serve its interests in these disputes. Records are not fully clear on whether this army consisted of hired mercenaries, or, as would be the case later, trained monks. Most likely, this first temple standing army was a mercenary group, separate from the monks, since Ryōgen forbade monks from carrying weapons. In addition to the prohibition on carrying weapons, Ryōgen's monks were subject to a list of 26 articles released by Ryōgen in 970; they were forbidden from covering their faces, inflicting corporal punishment, violently interrupting prayer services, or leaving Mount Hiei during their twelve-year training. In 981 Ryōgen was appointed general administrator, the most important rank in priesthood. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%8Dgen Source Accessed June 4, 2020]) +
S
A Japanese Buddhist poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods, especially famous for his many waka poems, a traditional style of Japanese poetry; his dharma name literally means "Traveling West," presumably referring to the direction of the pure la n d of Amitābha. Born as Satō Norikiyo into a family of the warrior class, he served during his youth as a guard for the retired emperor Toba (r. 1107-1123) before becoming a monk at the age of twenty-two. Although relatively little is known about his life, Saigyō seems to have traveled around the country on pilgrimage before eventually settling in relative seclusion on Kōyasan, the headquarters of the Shingonshū. Virtually all of his poems are written in the thirty-one-syllable waka form favored at court and cover most of the traditional topics addressed in such poems, including travel, reclusion, cherry blossoms, and the beauty of the moon in the night sky. His poetry also reflects the desolation and despondency that Japanese of his time may have felt was inevitable during the degenerate age of the dharma (J. ''mappō''; C. ''mofa''). Saigyō's ''Sankashū'' ("Mountain Home Collection") includes some fifteen hundred poems written in the course of his career; ninety-four of these poems were included in the imperially sponsored waka collection, the ''Shinkokinshū'' ("New Collection of Ancient and Modern Times"), compiled in 1205, making him one of Japan’s most renowned and influential poets. (Source: "Saigyō." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 738. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Sharon Salzberg is a meditation pioneer and industry leader, a world-renowned teacher and New York Times bestselling author. As one of the first to bring meditation and mindfulness into mainstream American culture over 45 years ago, her relatable, demystifying approach has inspired generations of meditation teachers and wellness influencers. Sharon is co-founder of The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and the author of eleven books, including the New York Times bestseller, ''Real Happiness'', now in its second edition, her seminal work, ''Lovingkindness'' and her newest book, ''Real Change: Mindfulness To Heal Ourselves and the World'', coming in September of 2020 from Flatiron Books. Sharon’s secular, modern approach to Buddhist teachings is sought after at schools, conferences and retreat centers around the world. Sharon is the host of her own podcast, ''The Metta Hour'', featuring 100+ interviews with the top leaders and voices in the meditation and mindfulness movement, and her writing can be found on Medium, On Being, the Maria Shriver blog, and Huffington Post. ([https://www.dharma.org/teacher/sharon-salzberg/ Source Accessed Sept 16, 2020]) +
Sandrine Colombo is a French journalist working at France Ô and France 3, where she presents from Monday to Friday, at 11:50 am, the Overseas edition. Of West Indian and Italian descent, she lives in Paris, but stays several weeks a year in Martinique and Guadeloupe. She also presents the Sunday morning show Sagesses bouddhistes on France 2, alternating with Aurélie Godefroy. ([https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandrine_Colombo Source Accessed Nov 10, 2020)] +
Gelong Lodrö Sangpo is a student of the late Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. After receiving his first ordination in the Karma Kagyü Sangha in 1984, he moved to Gampo Abbey in 1985 and received bhikshu ordination in 1987 from H.E. Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche. From 1990–1996 he participated in the first group of three-year retreatants at Söpa Chöling and afterwards entered a four-year study retreat. He served as acting Director of Gampo Abbey for some years and is one of the co-founders of the Nitartha Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies.
Lodrö Sangpo currently is head of the Chökyi Gyatso Translation Committee and has published an English translation of Erich Frauwallner’s The Philosophy of Buddhism (Motilal Banarsidass). His annotated English translation of Louis de La Vallée Poussin’s Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya was published in 2012 (4 volumes: Motilal Banarsidass). He is presently working on an English translation of Professor Lambert Schmithausen’s Collected Writings.
He has been a senior teacher of Vidyādhara Institute since its inception and serves as its chair.
([http://www.gampoabbey.org/shedra-faculty.php Source Accessed May 18, 2015]) +
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo began his studies in Tibet with the famed master Petsé Rinpoche, with whom he studied for over twenty years. He became a monk at the age of seven at Gyalwa Phukhang Monastery, a branch of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s Sechen Monastery. Under Petsé Rinpoche's guidance, he first studied Tibetan Buddhist ritual, eventually becoming one of the monastery's ritual leaders and chant masters. Even at a young age, he was renowned for his ability to memorize the vast number of texts used at the monastery and his command of Tibetan Buddhist ritual.
[Presently,] Khenpo Sherab Sangpo is the Spiritual Director of Bodhicitta Sangha, Heart of Enlightenment Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khenpo_Sherab_Sangpo Source Accessed Oct 7, 2020])
For a complete biography [https://www.bodhicittasangha.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Biography-of-Khenpo-Sherab-Sangpo.pdf click here] +
A Kadam scholar from Sangpu Neutok Monastery who was known for his expertise in the Five Treatises of Maitreya. He was a contemporary of both Dölpopa and Butön and a teacher of the Sakya scholar Yakde Paṇchen and the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. +
His Eminence, the 10th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche was born in 1964 at Paro Taktsang, Guru Rinpoche’s temple, Bhutan and was recognized by His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa, who saw through His undiluted wisdom eye the birthplace, the name of the parents, the year and sign of birth and thus gave clear indications. Nyenpa Rinpoche was born in a family of practitioners; Sangye Lekpa and the mother Karma Tshewang Choden.
At the tender age of four, he brought to Rumtek Monastery by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa Ranjung Rigpe Dorje, where he was enthroned by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa and given the name of "Karma Palden Rangjung Thrinle Kunkyab Tenpe Gyaltsen Pal Sangpo". He received from His Holiness the 16th Karmapa the Novice and Bodhisattva vows, many empowerment of the highest Yoga Tantra, instructions on Chagchen Da Ser, Marig Münsel (Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance), Chöku Tzubtsug (Pointing out the Dharmakaya), etc and this was introduced to the ultimate realisation.
His Eminence Sangye Nyenpa was brought up at Rumstek Monastery by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa and many other masters; had a particularly close relationship with His Holiness Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche. The previous 9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, who passed away in Rumstek in 1962, had been His Holiness Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche's older brother. From an early age, he has been studying Buddhist philosophy with various teachers of the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions, including His Holiness the 16th Karmapa and His Holiness Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche. His thorough education on Sutrayana and Tantrayana textual learning, philosophy, liturgy, meditation and so forth at Nalanda Institute in Rumstek, Sikkim was a total of eighteen years and obtained the title of an Acharya. An accomplished scholar and practitioner, His Eminence Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche taught three years at the Institute.
His Eminence Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche is one of the most learned Rinpoches in both philosophy and tantric rituals. When the construction of the Benchen Monastery was completed in the early nineties, His Eminence Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche gave the transmission of the whole Kangyur to several thousand people.
In recent years, he has restored his traditional seat in Nangchen, the great Benchen Monastery, which was originally founded by the 4th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche. The Benchen Monastery is being looked after by himself and in 2006, on the 15th day of the new Tibetan year, the third three year- three-fortnight retreat began under the Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche's guidance.
His other projects consisted of completion of a monastic university, or "Shedra" in Pharping near Kathmandu for the purpose of teaching Buddhist Philosophy. He has also rebuilt the monastery in Qinghai, China and has also been giving transmission to His Holiness the 17th Karmapa in Gyuto Monastery and as well as to many monks & to the public at Sherabling Monastery, India.
As of recent His Eminence Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche has a vision to built a modest retreat centre in Gomphukora, East Bhutan at a religious ground that was blessed by Guru Rinpoche with many auspicious prayers carried out from time to time and is one of the pilgrimage grounds in Bhutan.
Currently, His Eminence Sangye Nyenpa travels to several countries in Asia and as far as Europe every year to spread Dharma teachings, give transmission to the public and effortlessly trying to help as many people as possible. Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche resides at Benchen Phuntsok Dargyeling Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Dominick Scarangello, PhD, specializes in early-modern and modern Japanese religions. He has taught at the University of Virginia and was the Postdoctoral Scholar in Japanese Buddhism at the Center for Japanese Studies, University of California, Berkeley (2013-14). Currently he is an international advisor to Rissho Kosei-kai.
Dominick Scarangello obtained his Ph.D. in Religious Studies with a concentration in East Asian Buddhism from the University of Virginia in 2012. He specializes in early modern and modern Japanese religions, and his scholarly interests include the Lotus Sutra tradition in East Asia, esoteric Buddhism, religion and modernity, embodiment, religious material culture, and religious praxis in Japan, including liturgy and ascetic practices. He taught at the University of Virginia and was the Postdoctoral Scholar in Japanese Buddhism at the Center for Japanese Studies, University of California, Berkeley (2013-2014).
Presently, he is the International Advisor to the lay Buddhist group Rissho-Kosei-kai, located in Tokyo, Japan, where he is responsible for education, translation and other duties, including coordinating the International Lotus Sutra Seminar (ILSS), an annual academic conference focused on the Lotus Sutra and its related religious traditions. At Rissho Kosei-kai he was one of the principle editors of The Threefold Lotus Sutra: A Modern Translation for Contemporary Readers, and is now engaged in a retranslation of one of the principle Lotus Sutra commentaries of Niwano Nikkyo (1906-99), founder of Rissho Kosei-kai. He is also involved with editing Dharma World magazine and is a regular contributor. ([https://independent.academia.edu/DominickScarangello Adapted from Source Sep 16, 2021]) +
Kurtis R. Schaeffer received an M.A. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Washington in 1995, a Ph.D. in Tibetan and South Asian Religions from Harvard in 2000 and is now is the Frances Myers Ball Professor of Religion and the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. He is a student of Buddhist history and culture, with a special interest in the spiritual literature of Tibet and the Himalayas. He is the author or editor of nine books, including the largest anthology of Tibetan literature in English and, most recently, a translation of the life of the Buddha. Schaeffer co-directs the half-century old Tibetan Buddhist studies graduate program at the University of Virginia and, with Martien Halvorson-Taylor, directs the Global Religion Lab at UVA. His books include The Life of the Buddha (2015), Sources of Tibetan Tradition (2013), The Tibetan History Reader (2013), The Culture of the Book in Tibet (2009), An Early Tibetan Catalogue of Buddhist Literature (2009), Dreaming the Great Brahmin, and Himalayan Hermitess (2004). ([https://religiousstudies.as.virginia.edu/kurtis-r-schaeffer Source Accessed April 12, 2023])
You can watch Kurtis talk about [http://conference.tsadra.org/session/notes-from-the-cave-jigs-med-gling-pa-on-buddha-nature/ Jigmé Lingpa's notes from a cave here] and learn more about [http://conference.tsadra.org/session/kavya-in-tibet/ Kavya literature and translation here].
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZYwvi8-KUk&index=23&list=UL7FWysj1EjdY He is also an editor and contributor to The Lives of the Masters Series] at [https://www.shambhala.com/lives-of-the-masters-series/ Shambhala Publications] and you can [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FWysj1EjdY&list=UL40lXGqjo_oY&index=19 watch him speak more about Jigme Lingpa here].
Kurtis also contributed to the amazing [http://lotb.iath.virginia.edu/ Life of the Buddha project online] with [[People/Quintman,_A.|Andrew Quintman]].
*[http://virginia.academia.edu/KurtisSchaeffer Schaeffer on Academia.edu]
*[http://www.uvatibetcenter.org/ Learn more about The UVA Tibet Center]
Prof. Schapiro studied comparative religion as an undergraduate at Columbia University before pursuing a degree in Buddhist Studies at Harvard University, where he earned a PhD in 2012. His scholarship has primarily focused on Tibetan Buddhist ideas about teachers and teaching, as well as on Tibetan forms of advice writing.
Schapiro teaches a range of courses on Asian Religions at Fordham, including classes on Buddhism, Hinduism, Chinese Religions and Japanese Religions. His classes incorporate semester-long reflections on a variety of themes, including Ethics & Responsibility (Hindu Literature and Ethics), Literary Rhetoric (Classic Buddhist Texts), Aesthetics (Japanese Religions), Becoming (more) Human (Chinese Religions), the Value of Knowledge (Buddhist Meditation), and American Identity (Buddhism in America). ([https://www.fordham.edu/info/23704/theology_faculty/10615/joshua_schapiro Source Accessed Apr 23, 2020]) +
Schmithausen received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Vienna in 1963. He was an associate professor of Indology at the University of Münster from 1970 to 1973, moving to the University of Hamburg from 1973 until his retirement in 2005. His main fields of research are the Yogacara tradition of Indian Buddhism and Buddhist ethics, particularly the ethics of nature. He was elected a Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 1995. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_Schmithausen Source Accessed Jan 17, 2020]) +
Jim Scott, who has been a student and translator for Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche for over 25 years, is well known for both his translation work and his musical compositions of the songs of Milarepa. He lives in Denmark, where he founded a Buddhist society inspired by both the 16th Karmapa and Kalu Rinpoche, and he teaches annually at Pullahari Monastery in Nepal, and in Europe and the USA. ([http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/Jim_Scott Source Accessed Sept 17, 2020]) +
C. D. Sebastian (PhD, Banaras Hindu University) is Professor of Indian Philosophy in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Mumbai, India. He is an established Indian Buddhist scholar and has expertise in philosophy, theology and religious studies. Among his works are ''Metaphysics and Mysticism in Mahayana Buddhism'' (2005, Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica Series – 238) and ''Recent Researches in Buddhist Studies'' (2008, Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica Series – 248). ([https://www.springer.com/us/book/9788132236443?utm_campaign=bookpage_about_buyonpublisherssite&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=springerlink#aboutAuthors Source Accessed May 21, 2020]) +
I do research on philosophy of education and ethics, drawing from and comparing Japanese philosophy (the Kyoto School of Philosophy), American philosophy (contemplative pedagogy, care ethics, Deweyan philosophy), and continental philosophy (existential education, post-structuralism). I am particularly interested in the ethical, existential, and spiritual aspects of education, and the kind of human relationships involved therein. My Ph.D. research was on Watsuji Tetsurô and the ethics of emptiness, which I completed under Buddhist philosopher Sueki Fumihiko (at the Graduate University of Advanced Studies, based in Nichibunken, Kyoto). I came to Kyushu University just this year (2015), but prior to this I taught in the Department of Philosophy of the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines for five years. ([http://asianstudies-kyushu.com/staff/dr-anton-luis-sevilla/ Source Accessed Aug 6, 2020]) +
Born in Rome, Italy, in 1965, Francesco Sferra studied philosophy and Indology at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” under the guidance of Prof. Raniero Gnoli, Prof. Raffaele Torella and Prof. Corrado Pensa. He was awarded a Doctorate in Sanskrit by the same University in 1999.
He has a permanent appointment for the teaching of Sanskrit Language and Literature at the University of Naples “L’Orientale.”
His main research areas are: tantric traditions in pre-13th century South Asia, especially Vajrayāna Buddhism; Śaivism; and classical Indian philosophy of language. ([https://www.tantric-studies.uni-hamburg.de/people/prof-francesco-sferra-naples.html Source Accessed Dec 17, 2019])
[http://docenti.unior.it/index2.php?content_id=18425&content_id_start=1 Curriculum Vitae] +
Shaoyong Ye is an Associate Professor in the Department of South Asian Studies, School of Foreign Languages, at Peking University, Beijing, China. He received his PhD in Indian Ancient Languages and Literature (2005−2009) from the Department of Oriental Languages and Cultures, Peking University, his MA in Indian Ancient Language and Literature (2002−2005) from the same dept., and holds a BA in Traditional Chinese Painting (1998−2002) from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China. He is the author of several articles on Sanskrit textual studies and the author of two monographs: ''Yuktiṣaṣtikākārikā: Editions of the Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese Versions, with commentary and a Modern Chinese Translation'' (with Xuezhu Li) (Zhongxi, 2014) and ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā and Buddhāpalita's Commentary: A Philological Study on the Basis of Newly Identified Sanskrit Manuscripts'' (2011). +
Robert Sharf is D. H. Chen Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Berkeley. He received a B.A. in Religious Studies (1979) and an M.A. in Chinese Studies (1981) from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Michigan (1990). His graduate work included study in Japan; he was a Research Fellow at the Institute for Research into the Humanities (Jinbun Kagaku Kenkyūjo) at Kyoto University, and also conducted fieldwork at Kōfukuji in Nara (1985-87).
Before joining the Berkeley faculty he taught in the Department of Religious Studies at McMaster University (1989-95) and in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan (1995-2003). He works primarily in the area of medieval Chinese Buddhism (especially Chan), but he also dabbles in Japanese Buddhism, Buddhist art, ritual studies, and methodological issues in the study of religion. He is author of Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism: A Reading of the Treasure Store Treatise (2002), co-editor of Living Images: Japanese Buddhist Icons in Context (2001), and is currently working on a book tentatively titled "Thinking about Not Thinking: Buddhist Struggles with Mindlessness, Insentience, and Nirvana."
In addition to his appointment in East Asian Languages and Cultures, he is Chair of the Center for Buddhist Studies at UCB. He also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, the Journal for the Study of Chinese Religions, the Journal of Religion in Japan, and the Kuroda Institute Series published in conjunction with University of Hawai'i Press. ([http://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/sharf/ Source Accessed Jun 11, 2019]) +
Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, born in 1967, is the grandson and spiritual heir of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Since his grandfather’s passing in 1991, Rabjam Rinpoche has taken the responsibility of transmitting Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s teachings, and is bringing his vision for the preservation of Tibetan Buddhist teaching and culture to fruition.
Rabjam Rinpoche is the seventh in the line of the Rabjam succession. The second Rabjam Rinpoche founded Shechen Monastery in Kham, eastern Tibet. ([https://shechen.org/spiritual-development/teachers/shechen-rabjam-rinpoche/ Source Accessed Feb. 10, 2022])
*'''The Shechen Rabjam Incarnations'''
:[[Shechen Rabjam Tenpé Gyaltsen]] (1650-1704)
:[[Gyurme Kunzang Namgyal]] (1711-1769)
:[[Rigdzin Paljor Gyatso]] (1770-1809)
:[[Garwang Chökyi Gyaltsen]] (1811?-1862?)
:[[Gyurme Pema Thekchok Tenpé Gyaltsen]] (1864-1909)
:[[Gyurme Kunzang Tenpé Nyima]] (aka Nangdzé Drubpé Dorje) (1910-1959)
:[[Jikmé Chökyi Senge]] (b.1967) +
Michael R. Sheehy is a Research Assistant Professor in Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, Director of Scholarship at the Contemplative Sciences Center, and affiliated faculty with the Tibet Center at the University of Virginia. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in Tibet, including three years training in a Buddhist monastery in the far eastern cultural domain of Golok. Michael’s research interests include Buddhist philosophy of mind, practices of contemplation, and the history of thought and science in Tibet. His writings and translations have given attention to histories of marginalized lineages in Tibet, most notably the ''zhentong'' (''gzhan stong'') and Kālacakra lineages of the Jonang order of Tibetan Buddhism.
For over a decade, through extensive collaborations with monastic communities, Michael worked on-the-ground to digitally preserve rare Tibetan manuscripts across the plateau. From 2008 to 2016, he was the editor-in-chief and research director at the Buddhist Digital Resource Center (formerly the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, TBRC). He worked closely with the late Tibetologist E. Gene Smith (1936-2010) to digitize Tibetan literature, develop scholarly resources, and architect the encyclopedic digital library. In 2004, together with Jonangpa exemplars, he founded the Jonang Foundation, an international nonprofit that preserves and promotes research on the Jonang order of Tibetan Buddhism.
Michael’s current research focus is contexts and dynamics of Tibetan contemplative practices. Most broadly, his interest lies in questions about how Buddhism, and Tibetan contemplative traditions more specifically, can contribute to discourses in the humanities, cognitive science, and cultural psychology about consciousness and its transformations. He is particularly interested in Tibetan contemplative practices of attention, dream, imagination and visualization, and embodiment as detailed in Tibetan yoga and meditation manuals.
He recently coedited with Klaus-Dieter Mathes (Vienna University) the book, ''The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet'' (SUNY Press 2019), an anthology of scholarship on the history, literature, and philosophy of zhentong in Tibet. With David Germano, he is Series Editor of the ''Traditions and Transformations in Tibetan Buddhism'' and the ''Contemplative Sciences'' book series published by the University of Virginia Press.
Recent publications include:
* "The Philosophical Grounds and Literary History of Zhentong." 2019. Co-authored with Klaus-Dieter Mathes. In ''The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet''. Edited by Michael R. Sheehy and Klaus Dieter-Mathes. State University of New York Press. ([http://www.sunypress.edu/pdf/64101.pdf Click here to read])
* "The Dharma of the Perfect Eon: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsan’s (1292-1361) Hermeneutics of Time and the Jonang Doxography of Zhentong Madhyamaka." 2019. In ''The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet''. Edited by Michael R. Sheehy and Klaus Dieter-Mathes. State University of New York Press.
* "The Zhentong Lion Roars: Dzamthang Khenpo Lodro Drakpa (1920-1975) and the Jonang Scholastic Renaissance." 2019. In ''The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet''. Edited by Michael R. Sheehy and Klaus Dieter-Mathes. State University of New York Press.
* "Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen on Refraining from Meat." 2019. In ''The Faults of Meat: Tibetan Buddhist Writings on Vegetarianism''. Edited by Geoff Barstow. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
* "Traversing the Path of Meditation." 2017. In ''A Gathering of Brilliant Moons: Practice Advice from Rimé Masters of Tibet''. Ed. Holly Gayley and Joshua Schapiro. Wisdom Publications: Boston, MA.
Sheng Yen (聖嚴; Pinyin: Shèngyán, birth name Zhang Baokang, 張保康) (January 22, 1931 – February 3, 2009) was a Chinese Buddhist monk, a religious scholar, and one of the mainstream teachers of Chan Buddhism. He was a 57th generational dharma heir of Linji Yixuan in the Linji school (Japanese: Rinzai) and a third-generation dharma heir of Hsu Yun. In the Caodong (Japanese: Sōtō) lineage, Sheng Yen was a 52nd-generation Dharma heir of Dongshan Liangjie (807–869), and a direct Dharma heir of Dongchu (1908–1977).
Sheng Yen was the founder of the Dharma Drum Mountain, a Buddhist organization based in Taiwan. During his time in Taiwan, Sheng Yen was well known as a progressive Buddhist teacher who sought to teach Buddhism in a modern and Western-influenced world. In Taiwan, he was one of four prominent modern Buddhist masters, along with Hsing Yun, Cheng Yen and Wei Chueh, popularly referred to as the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Taiwanese Buddhism. In 2000 he was one of the keynote speakers in the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders held in the United Nations. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheng-yen Source Accessed November 12, 2019]) +
Chinese Chan master and reputed main disciple of the sixth patriarch Huineng; his collateral branch of Huineng’s lineage is sometimes referred to as the Heze school. Shenhui was a native of Xiangyang in present-day Hubei province. He became a monk under the master Haoyuan (d.u.) of the monastery of Kuochangsi in his hometown of Xiangyang. In 704, Shenhui received the full monastic precepts in Chang'an, and extant sources provide differing stories of Shenhui's whereabouts thereafter. He is said to have become a student of Shenxiu and later visited Mt. Caoxi where he studied under Huineng until the master's death in 713. After several years of traveling, Shenhui settled down in 720 at the monastery of Longxingsi in Nanyang (present-day Henan province). In 732, during an "unrestricted assembly" (wuzhe dahui) held at the monastery Dayunsi in Huatai, Shenhui engaged a monk by the name of Chongyuan (d.u.) and publicly criticized the so-called Bei zong (Northern school) of Shenxiu’s disciples Puji and Xiangmo Zang as being a mere collateral branch of Bodhidharma's lineage that upheld a gradualist soteriological teaching. Shenhui also argued that his teacher Huineng had received the orthodox transmission of Bodhidharma's lineage and his "sudden teaching" (dunjiao). In 745, Shenhui is said to have moved to the monastery of Hezesi in Luoyang, whence he acquired his toponym. He was cast out of Luoyang by a powerful Northern school follower in 753. Obeying an imperial edict, Shenhui relocated to the monastery of Kaiyuansi in Jingzhou (present-day Hubei province) and assisted the government financially by performing mass ordinations after the economic havoc wrought by the An Lushan rebellion in 755. He was later given the posthumous title Great Master Zhenzong (Authentic Tradition). Shenhui also plays a minor, yet important, role in the ''Liuzu tan jing'' ("Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch"). A treatise entitled the ''Xianzongji'', preserved as part of the ''Jingde chuandeng lu'', is attributed to Shenhui. Several other treatises attributed to Shenhui were also discovered at Dunhuang. Shenhui's approach to Chan practice was extremely influential in Guifeng Zongmi's attempts to reconcile different strands of Chan, and even doctrine, later in the Tang dynasty; through Zongmi, Shenhui's teachings also became a critical component of the Korean Sǒn master Pojo Chinul’s accounts of Chan soteriology and meditation. (Source: "Heze Shenhui." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 349. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Ven. Khenchen Palden Rinpoche (1942-2010) began his intensive monastic training at the age of six at Gochen Monastery. So strong was his desire to study and learn that he would sneak outdoors after curfew and into the shrubberies to read his books under the moonlight. At age 12, he entered Riwoche Monastery, one of the oldest and largest monastic institutes in eastern Tibet and famous for its philosophers and logicians. There he was trained to become the next Abbot of Gochen. He completed his studies just as the Chinese invasion reached the area. ([http://www.padmasambhava.org/teach.html Source Accessed Jan 29, 2015]) +
Born in Nyeshang Drakar, as a young boy he joined Trangu Tashiling monastery near Bouddha and became a monk. For four years, he learnt prayers, rituals, making of tormas and butter sculpture, and playing musical instruments. In 1996, he joined the Trangu Monastic College in Namo Buddha started by HH Trangu Rinpoche and studied Buddhist texts including the five great treatises, and language and grammar under Khenpo Karma Tashi, Lobzang Tenzin and Jigme. He served as Assistant Lecturer for three years and in 2003 was conferred the Khenpo title. He studied under HH Trangu Rinpoche as the main teacher receiving monastic, Bodhisattva and tantric vows and numerous instructions from him. For 15 years, he served as a lecturer at the Trangu Monastic College and from 2016 for over four years, he undertook retreat in order to carry out meditation at Sekhar Retreat Centre according to the Kamtshang tradition. He currently serves as a lecturer/teacher at Trangu Monastic College and has authored many works including commentaries and synopses on the Middle Way, Perfection of Wisdom, monastic discipline, brief biographies of 17 Karmapa lamas, brief biographies of the founding fathers of Kagyu, and works on Kālacakra and Sarvavid. +
Khenchen Pema Sherab (Tib. པདྨ་ཤེས་རབ་, Wyl. pad+ma shes rab) is one of the seniormost khenpos in the Nyingma tradition and one of the three Khenchen or 'great khenpos' of Namdroling Monastery.
Khenpo Pema Sherab was born in 1936, at Riphu, in the Dergé region of Eastern Tibet. He started to study at the age of eight, learning to read and write Tibetan with his uncle, Lama Chözang, while he was herding cattle. At fourteen, he went to Lhasa and studied under masters and scholars of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1953 he received ordination from Shechen Kongtrul Rinpoche. In Lhasa, he also met Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and served as his attendant for about ten years, fleeing with him to Bhutan and then India in 1959. Over the years, he received many teachings from him, including the Guhyagarbha Tantra, and Longchenpa’s Treasury of Pith Instructions. During the 1950s he also stayed for long periods at Nenang Monastery and Tshurphu, the monastery of the Karmapas, which at that time was home to many great Kagyü masters who had escaped from the troubles in East Tibet. While on pilgrimage in Central Tibet, he met Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö at Tsering Jong, the seat of Jikmé Lingpa. While in India, he also studied with Kyabjé Dudjom Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsöndrü, and from Kyabjé Trulshik Rinpoche he received the vows of a fully ordained monk, and also various empowerments and teachings.
In 1968, at the request of Kyabjé Penor Rinpoche he went to Namdroling Monastery to teach. Though the shedra was not yet established at that time, Khen Rinpoche taught the monks for several years. The shedra was finally established in 1978 and from then until 2003, for 25 years, Khenpo Pema Sherab taught there tirelessly while also managing the institution.
Among the many books he has written are a biography of Guru Padmasambhava, an exposition of the two truths, lorik and tarik, and an exposition of logic. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Khenchen_Pema_Sherab Source Accessed June 29, 2022])
James Mark Shields is Associate Professor of Comparative Humanities and Asian Thought at Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA), Japan Foundation Visiting Research Fellow at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Kyoto, Japan), and Research Associate with the Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies, Harvard University. He was educated at McGill University (Canada), the University of Cambridge (UK), and Kyoto University (Japan). He conducts research on modern Buddhist thought, Japanese philosophy, comparative ethics, and philosophy of religion. He has published articles and translations in ''Asian Philosophy'', ''The Eastern Buddhist'', ''Japan Review'', ''Studies in Religion / Sciences religieuses'', ''Journal of Religion and Society'', ''Kultura i Politkya'', and ''Philosophy, Culture, and Traditions''. He is author of ''Critical Buddhism: Engaging with Modern Japanese Buddhist Thought'' (Ashgate, 2011) and co-editor (with Victor Sōgen Hori and Richard P. Hayes) of ''Teaching Buddhism in the West: From the Wheel to the Web'' (Routledge, 2003). He is currently working on a book manuscript entitled ''Warp and Woof: Modernism and Progressivism in Japanese Buddhism, 1886–1936''. He is Associate Editor of the ''Journal of Buddhist Ethics'', and is on the editorial board of the ''Journal of Japanese Philosophy''. ([https://bucknell.academia.edu/JamesMarkShields Source Accessed Jan 15, 2020]) +
Professor Venerable Heng-Ching Shih earned a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and taught in the Department of Philosophy, National Taiwan University. She has worked in Buddhist education at almost all levels in Taiwan throughout the years.
Venerable Heng-Ching helped establish Pumen Buddhist High School and Fakuang Buddhist Graduate Institute. She also founded the Center of Buddhist Studies at National Taiwan University and Taiwan’s first Graduate Students’ Buddhist Forum. She was also active in the early stages of the project to digitize the Chinese tripitaka, known as CBETA (Chinese Buddhist Electronic Texts Association).
Venerable Heng-Ching has retired and now serves as the President of the Bodhi Education Foundation and as Consultant to the Committee of Western Bhiksunis. She is the author of many academic papers and books, including [https://www.amazon.com/Syncretism-Buddhism-Asian-Thought-Culture/dp/0820416819 The Syncretism of Ch’an and Pure Land Buddhism] (English), Buddha Nature (Chinese), and Good Women on the Bodhisattva Path (Chinese).
She continues to work tirelessly in support of fully ordained nuns worldwide.
([https://sravastiabbey.org/guest-teacher/professor-venerable-heng-ching-shih/ Source Accessed March 21, 2019]) +
Rigdzin Shikpo grew up in Dalston in East London, and at an early age he took a keen interest in Buddhism, which he has now studied for over 65 years. As a young man, he previously worked as a physicist, mathematician and a computer consultant and practised for nine years under the instruction of Theravadin monks while becoming closely associated with the Buddhist Society in London.
In 1965, he met his root guru Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche who was studying in Oxford at the time. Trungpa Rinpoche entrusted Rigdzin Shikpo at a very early stage with some of most profound Nyingma Dzogchen teachings and together they translated seminal Dzogchen texts and Sutras from Tibetan into English. Trungpa Rinpoche also encouraged him to take teachings and guidance from his own teacher HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. In 1975 Trungpa Rinpoche established the Longchen Foundation in consultation with HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, appointing Rigdzin Shikpo as spiritual director.
When Chögyam Trungpa left to teach in the United States, Rigdzin Shikpo continued to follow his instruction, from time to time travelling to America to see him to receive further teachings. Khyentse Rinpoche also told him to take further Dzogchen instruction from Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, an eminent yogin and scholar who was also a student of HH Khyentse Rinpoche. Since the deaths of Trungpa Rinpoche and Khyentse Rinpoche, Khenpo Rinpoche has been Rigdzin Shikpo’s main source of guidance.
In 1990, Rigdzin Shikpo went into a traditional three year retreat under the supervision of Khenpo Rinpoche in a semi-detached house in Marston, Oxford. On finishing his retreat in 1993, as a sign of his accomplishment, he was given the title ‘Rigdzin Shikpo’. ‘Rigdzin’ (Skt. ''vidyādhara'', ) means ‘awareness holder’ and ‘Shikpo’ means ‘beyond conepts’. Rigdzin Shikpo teaches his students the whole of the path according to the lineage transmissions he received from his own teachers. They encouraged him to transmit the teachings according to his inspiration in response to the needs of his students.
Khenpo Rinpoche emphasises that the Longchen Foundation lineage is more than simply an organisation—it is a Buddhist school in its own right. It is the living embodiment of the Mahayana and Maha Ati (Dzogchen) teachings and as such has a particular significance for the expression of the Buddha’s teachings in the West. ([https://www.longchenfoundation.org/rigdzin-shikpo-rinpoche/ Source Accessed August 8, 2022])
Prof. Shimoda specializes in the history of the formation of the scriptures of Indian Buddhism, as well as Digital Humanities. Concerning the former, he focuses on the clarification of the background of history of thought and social history from early Buddhism to Mahāyāna Buddhism through the formation process clarified in the sutras and vinayas. During the past two years he has proposed a new theory regarding the origins of Mahāyāna Buddhism generated by the change of the medium of the received tradition. The topics he has researched up to the present are: (1) a revised approach to prior research regarding the formation of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its prominent characteristics; (2) a re-questioning of the methods of research of Buddhism in the modern age that support Buddhist studies; (3) an investigation of relations between Buddhism and various modern problems, as well as (4) consolidating these four points in research on Mahāyāna Buddhism. He is seeking to lay hold of the future trajectory of Buddhist studies by focusing on examining the field of Buddhist studies that originated in the West during modernity, having a 200-year history, oriented around the above four points.
Concerning his second major area, Digital Humanities, starting from seven years ago, he entered into full scale efforts toward the process of advancing the digitization of the Buddhist canonical works. These works were supported by A-level Grant-in-aid from the JSPS under the topic of "Formation of a Buddhist studies Knowledge Base through International Cooperation." The creation of an international knowledge base of Buddhist studies for the next generation was developed around this project, serving as a model case for the advancement of Digital Humanities in Japan. ([http://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/DHI/index.php?English%20shimoda Source Accessed October 9, 2019]) +
Shinran (1173–1263) lived during the late-Heian early-Kamakura period (1185–1333), a time of turmoil for Japan when the emperor was stripped of political power by the shōguns. Shinran's family had a high rank at the Imperial court in Kyoto, but given the times, many aristocratic families were sending sons off to be Buddhist monks instead of having them participate in the Imperial government. When Shinran was nine (1181), he was sent by his uncle to Mount Hiei, where he was ordained as a śrāmaṇera in the Tendai sect. Over time, Shinran became disillusioned with how Buddhism was practiced, foreseeing a decline in the potency and practicality of the teachings espoused.
Shinran left his role as a dosō ("practice-hall monk") at Mount Hiei and undertook a 100-day retreat at Rokkaku-dō in Kyoto, where he had a dream on the 95th day. In this dream, Prince Shōtoku appeared to him, espousing a pathway to enlightenment through verse. Following the retreat, in 1201, Shinran left Mount Hiei to study under Hōnen for the next six years. Hōnen (1133–1212) another ex-Tendai monk, left the tradition in 1175 to found his own sect, the Jōdo-shū or "Pure Land School". From that time on, Shinran considered himself, even after exile, a devout disciple of Hōnen rather than a founder establishing his own, distinct Pure Land school. ([https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/Jodo_Shinshu Source Accessed October 16, 2019]) +
Dr. Henry Shiu is the Shi Wu De Professor in Chinese Buddhist Studies at Emmanuel College on Toronto, Canada. Dr. Shiu holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto (2006). He is currently a Sessional Lecturer in the Buddhism, Psychology, and Mental Health Program at New College; and Emmanuel College. Dr. Shiu’s teaching of Buddhist Contemplative Care represents a development of the principles of Engaged Buddhism. He brings expertise in the foundational areas that contribute to the Buddhist focus within Emmanuel’s Master of Pastoral Studies Program, including the foundational tenets and practices of Buddhism, Buddhist ethics, and Buddhist meditative traditions. As the coordinator of the Applied Buddhist Studies Initiative at Emmanuel College, he facilitated connections with the local and international Buddhist communities. His published research focuses on early Mahayana Buddhism and the transmission of Buddhism to China. He has recently completed articles about Buddhist women in the Chinese diaspora and about the construction of Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Canada. He is also the author of numerous scholarly works in Chinese, including his forthcoming book with Oxford University Press, ''The Cultural Interpretation of the Heart Sutra in India, China, and Tibet''. ([https://emmanuel.utoronto.ca/home/henry-shui/ Source Accessed June 1, 2020]) +
Dr. Shizuka Sasaki is a Professor of Indian Buddhism at Hanazono University. His research focuses on Indian Buddhist monasticisms, history of Mahayana Buddhism, Buddhist philosophy, and the relationship between Buddhism and science. A recognized authority in these areas, Sasaki’s publications include a celebrated series of eight articles "Buddhist Sects in the Asoka Period" (1989-1999) and "A Study of the Origin of Mahayana Buddhism" (1997). ([https://frogbear.org/panelists-buddhism-and-business/ Source Accessed May 20, 2020]) +
Mark Siderits was trained in Asian and Western philosophy at the University of Hawaii and Yale University. He has taught both Asian and Western philosophy, for many years at Illinois State University, and most recently as Professor of philosophy at Seoul National University, from which he retired in 2012. He is the author or editor of five books and has published numerous articles on a wide variety of subjects in Indian Buddhist philosophy and comparative philosophy. Much of his work aims at building bridges between the classical Indian tradition and contemporary philosophy, by using insights from one tradition to cast light on problems arising in the other. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/mark-siderits/ Wisdom Experience]) +
Silk (1960-) studied East Asian Studies at the Oberlin College in Ohio and subsequently Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan. At the latter university he obtained his PhD in 1994 with the thesis: ''The Origins and Early History of the Mahāratnakūţa Tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, With a Study of the Ratnarāśisūtra and Related Materials''.
During his studies, Silk spent several years in Japan. After his PhD, he became Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Grinnell College in Iowa and in 1995 at the Department of Comparative Religion of the Western Michigan University. From 1998 until 2002 he taught in the Department of Religious Studies at Yale University, and from 2002 in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Since 2007 he has been Professor in the study of Buddhism at Leiden. In 2010 he was awarded a VICI grant from the NWO (Dutch National Science Foundation) for project: “Buddhism and Social Justice.” In 2016 he was elected as a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen [KNAW]).
Currently, Silk is Professor of Buddhist Studies at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies. He specializes in Buddhism in its Asian contexts, primarily from a historical point of view. He has a special interest in Buddhist scriptures.
Research:
Silk’s scientific orientation on Buddhism is very broad, in time as well as geographically: his interest covers the oldest primary sources and the rise of Buddhist communities all over Asia, but he is equally interested in the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia. Silk reads Sanskrit, Pāli, , Classic Tibetan, Classic Chinese, and Japanese.
Recent publications:
2016 - ''Materials Toward the Study of Vasubandhu’s Viṁśikā (I): Sanskrit and Tibetan Critical Editions of the Verses and Autocommentary; An English Translation and Annotations''. Harvard Oriental Series 81 (Cambridge MA: Department of South Asian Studies, Harvard University).
2015 - ''Buddhist Cosmic Unity: An Edition, Translation and Study of the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta''. Hamburg Buddhist Studies 4 (Hamburg: Hamburg University Press). Indian Buddhist Monasticism (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
2015 - ''Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Volume I: Literature and Languages''. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section Two, India, 29/1. Leiden: Brill. (editor)
2013 - ''Buddhism in China: Collected Papers of Erik Zürcher''. Sinica Leidensia 112 (Leiden: Brill). (co-editor) ([https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/jonathan-silk/publications#tab-2 Source Accessed Aug 5, 2020])
Sir Aurel Stein, (born Nov. 26, 1862, Budapest, Hung.—died Oct. 26, 1943, Kabul, Afg.), Hungarian–British archaeologist and geographer whose travels and research in central Asia, particularly in Chinese Turkistan, revealed much about its strategic role in history.<br> Principal of the Oriental College, Lahore, Punjab, India (now in Pakistan; 1888–99), in 1892 he published his Sanskrit edition of the only known surviving ancient Indian historical work, the 12th-century ''Rājataraṅgiṇī'' by Kalhaṇa. His English translation, ''A Chronicle of the Kings of Kaśmīr'', followed in 1900.<br> In that year he began the first of his central Asian expeditions, traveling through westernmost China to Khotan. In the course of this and three other expeditions (1906–08, 1913–16, and 1930), he traced the ancient caravan routes between China and the West, made valuable geographical observations on little-known regions, and collected many documents and artifacts, from Neolithic stone tools to 8th-century-AD grave findings and textiles. Near Tun-huang he discovered the Cave of the Thousand Buddhas, unknown outside China, which, with its extraordinary assemblage of paintings, temple banners, and documents, had been walled up since the 11th century. Many of the treasures he found are in the Asian Antiquities Museum, New Delhi. The results of his work of this period were published in ''Ancient Khotan'', 2 vol. (1907), ''Serindia'', 5 vol. (1921), and ''Innermost Asia'', 4 vol. (1928).<br> Superintendent of the Indian Archaeological Survey (1910–29), Stein was also interested in Greco-Buddhist remains and in tracing Alexander the Great’s eastern campaigns. In 1926, at Pīr Sarāi, near the Indus River, he identified the site of Alexander’s storming of the nearly impregnable Rock of Aornos. Other studies by Stein added to the precise knowledge of Alexander’s movements in Asia. In an effort to elucidate the relationship between Mesopotamian and Indus civilizations, Stein investigated ancient mounds in Iran and Baluchistan. He also carried out an aerial photographic reconnaissance of the Roman frontiers in Iraq. Near his 81st birthday, his long-standing wish to explore in Afghanistan was granted, but he died there before he could commence his work. A British subject from 1904, he was knighted in 1912. ([https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aurel-Stein Source Accessed June 19, 2020])
Peter Skilling is a Fellow of the Lumbini International Research Institute (Lumbini, Nepal) and a Special Lecturer at Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok, Thailand). He is founder of the Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation (Bangkok), a project dedicated to the preservation, study and publication of the Buddhist literature of Southeast Asia. He is a founding member of the International Centre for Buddhist Studies (Bangkok). Peter Skilling has lived in Thailand for over thirty years, and has travelled extensively in Asia. His interests include the early history of religion in Southeast Asia as known through inscriptions and archaeological remains; the history of Indian Buddhism and the development of Mahayana sutras; and the Pali and vernacular literature of pre-modern Siam, including jataka and sermon genres. He has also written about the history of the Buddhist order of nuns in India and Siam and the development of the Tibetan canonical collections (Kanjur). His publications include Mahasutras, a critical edition and study of ten Sarvastivadin texts preserved in Tibetan translation in the Kanjur compared with their Pali counterparts (Vols. I and II, Oxford: The Pali Text Society, 1994, 1997; Vol. III, translations, forthcoming). Skilling is reported to be overly fond of durian. He lives in Nandapuri on the outskirts of Bangkok with a turtle rescued from the streets after a flood some years ago.
Translation & Transmission Conference Bio: Professor Skilling is a Fellow of the Lumbini
International Research Institute (Lumbini, Nepal) and a Special Lecturer at Chulalongkorn
University (Bangkok, Thailand). At present he is Maître de Conférences with the École
française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO) and Head of the Buddhist Studies Group of the EFEO.
He is founder of the Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation (Bangkok), a project dedicated to the
preservation, study and publication of the Buddhist literature of Southeast Asia. He received a PhD with honours and a Habilitation in Paris (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes). Peter’s publications include numerous articles and several books, the most recent being ''How Theravada is Theravada?'' (University of Washington Press, 2012) and ''Mahāsātras: Great Discourses of the Buddha'' (2 vols., Oxford, The Pali Text Society, 1994 and 1997) and the edited volume ''Wat Si Chum, Sukhothai: Art, Architecture and Inscriptions'' (River Books, Bangkok, 2008).
Tadeusz Skorupski is Senior Lecturer in Buddhist Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He received his Ph.D. in Indo-Tibetan Studies from the University of London in 1978. His publications include ''The Sarvadurgatipariśodhana'' and ''The Cultural Heritage of Ladakh''. +
David Llewellyn Snellgrove (29 June 1920 – 25 March 2016) was a British Tibetologist noted for his pioneering work on Buddhism in Tibet as well as his many travelogues. Snellgrove was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and educated at Christ's Hospital near Horsham in West Sussex. He went on to study German and French at Southampton University. In 1941 he was called up to do his military service as a member of the Royal Engineers. He attended the Officers Cadet Training Unit in the Scottish seaside town of Dunbar, and was commissioned as an infantry officer. Thereafter he attended various intelligence courses and further training at the War Office in London, from where he requested a posting to India.
Snellgrove arrived in Bombay in June 1943, and travelled cross-country to Calcutta. He was stationed at Barrackpore, some way up the Hooghly River. A few months after beginning his posting he contracted malaria and was sent to the military hospital at Lebong, just north of Darjeeling. It was while he was at Lebong that he began his future life's calling by purchasing some books about Tibet by Charles Bell as well as a Tibetan Grammar and Reader.
Snellgrove returned to Darjeeling, from where he sometimes went on leave to Kalimpong. On one of these visits he took a young Tibetan into his personal employ in order to have someone with whom to practice speaking Tibetan. He also travelled in the small Himalayan state of Sikkim, and on one such visit he met Sir Basil Gould, who was then the British Representative for Tibet.[2] Inspired to work in Tibet, in 1946 after he left the Army he sat the entrance exams for the Indian Civil Service. This was the first time the exams had been held since the start of the war, and the last time they were ever held. Although he passed the exams, he was not able to take up an appointment in India. Having already begun to study Tibetan, he resolved to find a university where he could further his studies. However, as no university offered courses in Tibetan at that time he was convinced by Sir Harold Bailey that a sound knowledge of Sanskrit and Pali would be beneficial, so he gained entry to Queens' College, Cambridge in October 1946. While at Cambridge, he converted to Roman Catholicism, in part through the influence of his friend Bede Griffiths.
In 1950, after having completed his studies at Cambridge, he was invited to teach a course in elementary Tibetan at the School of Oriental and African Studies University of London.[3] He was Professor of Tibetan at SOAS until his retirement in 1982.
Snellgrove's research subsequent to his retirement was focused increasingly upon the art history of South East Asia. He died on 25 March 2016 in Pinerolo, Italy. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Snellgrove Source Accessed Feb 14, 2020])
Jan Sobisch studied Tibetology as main subject at Hamburg University (1985-1992, Prof. Seyfort Ruegg), and the minor subjects Classical Indology (1986-1992, Profs. Schmithausen and Wezler), and Philosophy (1990-1992, Prof. Schnädelbach). During his dissertation (Prof. David Jackson), he worked on a genre of Tibetan literature that debates theories of simultaneously practising without conflicts and within a single mental continuum the ethics and vows of sravakas, bodhisattvas and mantra adepts. During these years (1994-1999) he also worked half time in the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project for Prof. Wezler. While working for the project, he discovered among microfilms made available to us the 30 volumes of the complete works of A mes zhabs (1597-1659), one of the most prolific Tibetan writers on history and mantra.
This enabled him to obtain two stipends from the German Research Council (DFG) for studying the manuscripts of A mes zhabs' works (leading to the publication of a catalogue and study) and his documents of transmission (gsan yig or thob yig). The latter project Sobisch passed on to a successor when he accepted the position of an assistant professor in Copenhagen. Within A mes zhabs' works he found numerous writings on the Hevajra Tantra and the connected Path with Its Fruits cycle (lam 'bras). These he researched in his early years in Copenhagen, leading to the publication of a study of the Indian and Tibetan literatures of these teachings. In 2006, he received tenure in Copenhagen and put much effort into building a study program for Tibetan that included classical, Buddhist, and modern studies. His research in the past ten years focussed on the early 'Bri gung bKa' brgyud pas and their unique dGongs gcig, a text that had a tremendous impact on the formation of the bKa' brgyud pas from the 13th c. onwards. His monograph on this work is accepted for publication in the Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Studies Series of Wisdom Publications.
Unfortunately, the Danish government began a series of dramatic budget cuts that resulted in the dismissal of over 500 persons at the University of Copenhagen. In order to save the larger programs like Chinese and Religious Studies, his institute leadership decided to sacrifice the smaller subjects like Tibetan, Sanskrit and Thai Studies, and Sobisch was laid-off with six months notice in February, 2016. In the same year he was granted the Humboldt Research Award in recognition of his entire achievements in research to date.
([https://ceres.rub.de/de/personen/jsobisch/ Source Accessed Sept 9, 2020])
Ruth Sonam was born and grew up in Ireland and graduated from Oxford University with an MA in Modern Languages. She began studying with Geshe Sonam Rinchen in 1978 and started working as his interpreter in 1983. She was his interpreter at the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives from 1989 to 2012. ([https://www.shambhala.com/authors/o-t/ruth-sonam.html Source Accessed Aug 6, 2020]) +
Khenpo Tshewang Sonam is the Lama of Tharpaling Monastery, the most well-known center founded by Longchenpa in Bhutan. Prior to becoming the Lama of Tharpaling, he spent many years as a hermit in the mountains of Bhutan while also giving mass teachings on Amitabha and Sukhavati practice in many parts of Bhutan. At the turn of the century, he served as the head of Ngagyur Nyingma Institute in Namdrolling, Mysore, India and as the head of Palyul Shedra, Sichuan in Tibet after he finished his Khenpo degree in Namdrolling in 1998. Khenpo Tshewang received his early education under Wangthang Rinpoche Yeshi Dorji, Lama Gyalwang Nyima, and Lopen Norbu Wangchuk before he moved to study in Namdrolling in Mysore. Since then, he trained under His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and Nyoshul Khenpo in India and Bhutan, and Khenpo Achoe and Trulku Thubzang in Tibet, receiving oral teachings on Dzogchen. He is the author of commentaries on ''Madhyamakāvatāra'' and ''Abhisamayālaṇkāra'' and many other minor writings. (Source: Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho) +
Joan Stambaugh was an American philosopher and professor of philosophy at City University of New York. She was an interpreter and translator of Martin Heidegger's writings, specifically known for her translation of ''Being and Time'' into English. She is the author of several works dealing with Buddhist and Existentialist topics, including ''Impermanence is Buddha-Nature: Dogen’s Understanding of Temporality'' (1990), ''The Other Nietzsche'' (1994), and ''The Formless Self'' (1999). ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Stambaugh Source Accessed April 1, 2020]) +
Gabriele Staron is a translator who took part in the Translator Training Program 2006-2008 initiated by Venerable Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche from the Drikung Kagyu Institute, Dehradun. She has translated Ayang Thubten Rinpoche’s ''Rays of Sunlight'', a commentary on Zhedang Dorje's ''The Heart of the Mahāyāna Teachings'', a detailed guide to the stages of the path to awakening. +
Cyrus Stearns has twenty-seven years of experience in the study of Tibetan language, literature, and religion. He has extensive experience in the translation of Tibetan Buddhist texts into English. From 1973 until 1987 he studied with the late Dezhung Tulku Rinpoche, and from 1985 until 1991 he studied with Chogye Trichen Rinpoche. During most of these years he was the principal translator for both teachers. Cyrus lived for about eight years Nepal, India, and Southeast Asia. He has often translated for Tibetan teachers of all traditions during public talks and seminars in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
Cyrus was educated at the University of Alabama and received his PhD from the University of Washington in 1996. In 1985 Cyrus was the leader of the Smithsonian Institute's Associates Tour to Tibet and China, one of the first groups allowed into Tibet after many years of travel restriction by the Chinese government. He was a Tsadra Foundation fellow from 2003–2015. He is currently an independent scholar and translator and lives in the woods on Whidbey Island north of Seattle, Washington.
'''Completed Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow:'''
*''King of the Empty Plain: The Tibetan Iron-Bridge Builder Tangtong Gyalpo'', Lochen Gyurmé Dechen
*''Treasury of Esoteric Instructions: A Commentary on Virupa’s "Vajra Lines,"'' Lama Dampa Sönam Gyaltsen
*''The Buddha from Dölpo: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen'', rev. ed.
*''Treasury of Esoteric Instructions'', Lama Dampa Sonam Gyaltsen, Virupa
*''Song of the Road, The Poetic Travel Journal of Tsarchen Losal Gyatso'', Tsarchen Losel Gyatso
'''Previously Published Books:'''
*''The Buddha from Dolpo: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen''
*''Luminous Lives: The Story of the Early Masters of the Lam ’Bras Tradition in Tibet''
*''Hermit of Go Cliffs: Timeless Instructions from a Tibetan Mystic'', Godrakpa
*''Taking the Result as the Path: Core Teachings of the Sakya Lamdré Tradition''
([http://tsadra-wp.tsadra.org/translators/cyrus-stearns/ Source Accessed March 29, 2019])
Rolf Alfred Stein (13 June 1911 – 9 October 1999) was a German-born French Sinologist and Tibetologist. He contributed in particular to the study of the ''Epic of King Gesar'', on which he wrote two books, and the use of Chinese sources in Tibetan history. He was the first scholar to correctly identify the ''Minyag'' of Tibetan sources with the Xixia of Chinese sources.
Stein was born in Schwetz (now Świecie, Poland) to a family of Jewish origin in 1911. As a young man, Stein became interested in the occult, and it was from there that his interest in Tibet began.
He received his first degree in Chinese from the ''Seminar für Orientalische Sprachen'' at the University of Berlin in 1933. He fled to France the same year. He obtained degrees from l'École nationale des langues orientales vivantes in Chinese (1934) and Japanese (1936). In Paris he studied Tibetan with Jacques Bacot and Marcelle Lalou. He became a French citizen on 30 August 1939. Stein spent the Second World War in French Indo-China, working as a translator and where he was taken prisoner by the Japanese. He completed his ''doctorat d'État'' in 1960 on the Gesar epic.
Stein was a professor at the École pratique des hautes études, Ve section (''Religions de la Chine et de la Haute Asie'') from 1951 until 1975. He was a professor at the prestigious Collège de France from 1966 until 1982. He died in 1999. He was married to a Vietnamese lady from the highlands and adopted a daughter of Vietnamese-French descent.
Among Stein's most notable students were Anne-Marie Blondeau, Ariane Macdonald-Spanien, Samten Karmay, Yamaguchi Zuiho, and Yoshiro Imaeda. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolf_Stein Source Accessed Jan 20, 2020]) +
I have been interested for some time in the sites and economies of practice that mediated religious life in Middle Period China (10th–14th centuries), particularly as they applied to persons who identified themselves (or others) as “Buddhist.” This interest arises from the conviction that religious subjects and their traditions are not static and monolithically constituted entities, but disparate works in progress, the estimations of which are ceaselessly negotiated in relation to a diversity of shifting idioms, obligations, and historical contingencies. To me the key question becomes one of processes and agencies of cultural practice, and that question in turn implies networks, that is to say, the sites and channels through which cultural data move, locate, and come to be collectively embodied.
I am working on several projects at the moment, all of which focus on Song (960–1279) and Yuan period China (1279–1368). ([https://religiousstudies.ku.edu/daniel-stevenson Source Accessed October 22, 2019]) +
Jacqueline Stone joined the Princeton faculty in 1990. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Buddhism and Japanese religions. Her chief research field is Japanese Buddhism of the medieval and modern periods. Her current research areas include death and dying in Buddhist cultures, Buddhism and nationalism, and traditions of the ''Lotus Sutra'', particularly Tendai and Nichiren. She is the author of ''Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism'', which received a 2001 American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion. She has co-edited ''The Buddhist Dead: Practices, Discourses, Representations'' (with Bryan J. Cuevas, 2007), ''Readings of the Lotus Sutra'' (with Stephen F. Teiser, 2009), and other volumes of collected essays. Her newest book, ''Right Thoughts at the Last Moment: Buddhism and Deathbed Practices in Early Medieval Japan'' (working title), is forthcoming from University of Hawai`i Press. She has been president of the Society for the Study of Japanese Religions and co-chair of the Buddhism section of the American Academy of Religion. Currently she is vice president of the editorial board of the Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and serves on the advisory board of the ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies''. ([https://religion.princeton.edu/people/faculty/core-faculty/jacqueline-stone/ Source Accessed Aug 6, 2020]) +
Mark Strange is a Sinologist with research interests in the history of political thought and the historiography of pre-modern China, in particular between the third and eleventh centuries AD. He has taught Chinese history and Literary Chinese language at the Universities of Warwick, Oxford, and Cambridge. He joined the Australian National University in 2012. ([http://ciw.anu.edu.au/people/mark-strange Source Accessed Jan 6, 2020]) +
Fumihiko Sueki, PhD, is a professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo, the Graduate University for Advanced Studies, and the International Research Center for Japanese Studies. His research focuses mainly on reconstruction of the intellectual history of Buddhism in Japan from ancient to modern times. He is the author and editor of a number of books, mainly on Japanese Buddhism and the history of Japanese philosophy and religion. ([https://rk-world.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/DW18_7-12.pdf Source Accessed Sep 17, 2021]) +
Hao Sun, born 1987 in Nanjing, China, finished his major subjects of Sanskrit and Pali Languages & Literatures and minor subject of Japanese Language at Peking University, where he worked as one of the translators in the translation programme of Dīghanikāya from Pali into modern Chinese (published in 2012) and gained a Master’s degree with his work on Dvattiṃsākāraṃ of the Pāli Canon. He was an exchange-student from 2007 to 2008 at the Nepal Sanskrit University in Kathmandu. Since 2012 he pursued his doctor’s degree at the University of Hamburg. His PhD thesis centered on the Buddha-nature thought in the Śrīmālāsūtra. He is now working on the project "The Ethical Framework for Buddhist Meditation Practice". ([https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/en/personen/sun.html Source Accessed July 18, 2023]) +
Professor of Religious Studies. Expertise in Buddhism, East Asian Philosophy and Religion as well as interfaith dialogue such as Buddhist-Christian dialogue and Budhist-Confucian debate in Korea. Founder and director of the Center for Korean Studies at Stony Brook. Taught various courses ranging from Chinese, Japanese and Korean to Confucianism and Taoism, since 1977. Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies at the University of California at Berkeley in 1978. Publication includes ''Buddhist Faith and Sudden Enlightenment'' (SUNY Press, 1983) and ''The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue'' (with Lewis Lancaster, University of California Press, 1979). Also the General Editor of the Wonhyo Translation Project as well as the translator of "Wonhyo’s Commentaries on the Awakening of Faith" from "Collected Works of Wonhyo." Currently researching in the T'i-yung construction as an East Asian way of thinking and the debates between Subitist and Gradualist approaches toward Buddhist Enlightenment and Practice. ([https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/asianamerican/facultystaff/SungBaePark.php Source Accessed April 6, 2020]) +
Dominic D. Z. Sur is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, teaching courses in world religions and Buddhism. Dr. Sur's recent publications include ''Entering the Way of the Great Vehicle: Dzogchen as the Culmination of the Mahāyāna'' (2017). He is presently working on a study of the rise of scholasticism and sectarian identity in eleventh century Tibet. ([https://history.usu.edu/faculty/faculty-directory/dominic-sur Source Accessed Jan 27, 2020])
*'''Recent Publications:'''
**Constituting Canon and Community in Eleventh Century Tibet: The Extant Writings of Rongzom and His Charter of Mantrins (sngags pa’i bca’ yig). Religions (2017) 8, 40. [https://www.academia.edu/31878104/Constituting_Canon_and_Community_in_Eleventh_Century_Tibet_The_Extant_Writings_of_Rongzom_and_His_Charter_of_Mantrins_sngags_pai_bca_yig_?email_work_card=title doi:10.3390/rel8030040] +
Surendrabodhi (Wyl. lha dbang byang chub) was an Indian paṇḍita who came to Samye at the time of Trisong Deutsen. The following information has been complied by Dan Martin:
* One of the Indian teachers invited to Tibet in time of Emperor ral pa can (early 9th century). See the shorter Lde'u history (p. 135), where the name is spelled su len tra bo de.
* In list of South Asian pundits in bu ston's History (1989), p. 280.7.
* In list of imperial period pundits in Tibet contained in zhu chen, bstan 'gyur dkar chag, p. 158, line 19.
* Stog Palace catalogue, index.
* su randra bodhi. Translator in time of Emperor Ral pa can. Padma dkar po, Chos 'byung, p. 331.
* Biographical Dictionary of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, vol. 1, p. 565. Surendrabodhi — in Tibetan translation, Lha dbang byang chub — in time of Ral pa can. Mtshan tho, no. 18. ([http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/Surendrabodhi Source Accessed Aug 18, 2020]) +
Susanne Fairclough is an American Buddhist educator and practitioner of long-standing. After working as an editor and a writer for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Magazine, she studied Tibetan Buddhism for over 30 years. ([http://ibc.ac.th/en/node/2978 Source Accessed Apr 21, 2020])
To read a brief interview with Susanne Fairclough at The International Buddhist College [http://ibc.ac.th/en/node/2978 click here]. +
Shunryu Suzuki (鈴木 俊隆 Suzuki Shunryū, dharma name Shōgaku Shunryū 祥岳俊隆) (May 18, 1904–December 4, 1971) was a Sōtō Zen roshi (priest) who popularized Zen Buddhism in the United States, particularly around San Francisco. Born in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan, Suzuki was occasionally mistaken for the Zen scholar D.T. Suzuki, to which Suzuki would reply, "No, he's the big Suzuki, I'm the little Suzuki."
In 1924 Shunryu enrolled in a Soto preparatory school in Tokyo not far from Shogan-ji, where he lived on the school grounds in the dorm. From 1925 to 1926 Suzuki did Zen training with Dojun Kato in Shizuoka at Kenko-in. He continued his schooling during this period. Here Shunryu became head monk for a 100 day retreat, after which he was no longer merely considered a novice. He had completed his training as a head monk.
In April 1926 Shunryu graduated from preparatory school and entered Komazawa Daigakurin, a university which also taught Soto Zen. During this period he continued his connections with So-on in Zoun-in, going back and forth whenever possible.
Some of his teachers here were discussing how Soto Zen might reach a bigger audience with students and, while Shunryu couldn't comprehend how Western cultures could ever understand Zen, he was intrigued.
On August 26, 1926, at age 22, So-on gave Dharma transmission to Suzuki. Shunryu's father also retired as abbot at Shogan-ji this same year, and moved the family onto the grounds of Zoun-in where he served as inkyo (retired abbot).
Later that year Suzuki spent a short time in the hospital with tuberculosis, but soon recovered. In 1927 an important chapter in Suzuki's life was turned. He went to visit a professor in English he had at Komazawa named Miss Nona Ransom, a woman who had taught English to such people as Jiro Kano and the children of Chinese president Li Yuanhong. She hired him that day to be a translator with others and to help with errands. Through this period he realized she was very ignorant of Japanese culture and the religion of Buddhism. She respected it very little and saw it as idol worship. But one day, when there were no chores to be done, the two had a conversation on Buddhism that changed her mind. She even let Suzuki teach her zazen meditation. This experience is significant in that Suzuki realized that Western ignorance of Buddhism could be transformed if they were educated on exactly what it is.
On January 22, 1929, So-on retired as abbot of Zoun-in and installed Shunryu as its 28th abbot. Sogaku would run the temple for Shunryu. In January 1930 a ceremony called ten'e was held at Zoun-in for Shunryu acknowledging So-on's Dharma transmission to him. A way for the Soto heads to grant him permission to teach as a priest. On April 10, 1930, at age 25, Suzuki graduated from Komazawa Daigakurin with a major in Zen and Buddhist philosophy, and a minor in English.
Suzuki mentioned to So-on during this period that he might be interested in going to America to teach Zen Buddhism. So-on was adamantly opposed to the idea. Suzuki realized that his teacher felt very close to him and that he would take such a departure as an insult. He did not mention it to him again. ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunryu_Suzuki Source Accessed Nov 18 2019])
Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (鈴木 大拙 貞太郎 ''Suzuki Daisetsu Teitarō''; he rendered his name "Daisetz" in 1894; 18 October 1870 – 12 July 1966) was a Japanese author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in spreading interest in both Zen and Shin (and Far Eastern philosophy in general) to the West. Suzuki was also a prolific translator of Chinese, Japanese, and Sanskrit literature. Suzuki spent several lengthy stretches teaching or lecturing at Western universities, and devoted many years to a professorship at Ōtani University, a Japanese Buddhist school. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1963. ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.T._Suzuki Source Accessed July 30, 2020]) +
Paul L. Swanson is a Permanent Research Fellow at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, and Professor in the Faculty of Arts & Letters of Nanzan University, in Nagoya, Japan. He is editor of the ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies'' and has published on Tiantai/Tendai Buddhism and other aspects of East Asian Buddhism and religion. ([https://www.society-buddhist-christian-studies.org/paul-swanson Source Accessed June 13, 2019])
[https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/en/files/2012/11/Swanson-CV-ALL-2012.pdf Click here for full CV and Publications list] +
French Orientalist who wrote on Eastern religion, literature, and history and is particularly noted for his dictionary of Buddhism.
Appointed a lecturer at the school of higher studies in Paris (1886), he taught Sanskrit at the Sorbonne (1889–94) and wrote his doctoral dissertation, ''Le Théâtre indien'' (1890; "The Indian Theatre"), which became a standard treatise on the subject. After his appointment as professor at the Collège de France (1894–1935), he toured India and Japan (1897 and 1898) and published ''La Doctrine du sacrifice dans les Brâhmanas'' (1898; "The Doctrine of Sacrifice in the Brāhmaṇas"). Another book resulting from these travels was ''Le Népal: Étude historique d’un royaume hindou'', 3 vol. (1905–08; "Nepal: Historical Study of a Hindu Kingdom"). In ''L’Inde et le monde'' (1926; "India and the World"), he discussed India's role among nations.
Subsequent travels to East Asia (1921–23) generated his major work, ''Hôbôgirin. Dictionnaire du Bouddhisme d’après les sources chinoises et japonaises'' (1929; "Hōbōgirin. Dictionary of Buddhism Based on Chinese and Japanese Sources"), produced in collaboration with the Japanese Buddhist scholar Takakusu Junjirō.
Lévi also worked with the French linguist Antoine Meillet on pioneer studies of the Tocharian languages spoken in Chinese Turkistan in the 1st millennium AD. He determined the dates of texts in Tocharian B and published ''Fragments de textes koutchéens'' . . . (1933; "Fragments of Texts from Kucha"). ([https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sylvain-Levi Source Accessed Jan 29, 2020]) +
Rahul Sāṅkṛityāyana is called the Father of Indian Travelogue Travel literature. He played a pivotal role in giving travelogue a "literature form" and was one of the most widely travelled scholars of India, spending forty-five years of his life on travels away from his home.
He traveled to many places and wrote many travelogues, approximately in the same ratio. He is also famously known for his authentic description about his travel experiences. For instance, in his travelogue "Meri Laddakh Yatra," he presents overall regional, historical, and cultural specificity of that region judiciously. He became a Buddhist monk (Bauddha Bhikkhu) and eventually took up Marxist Socialism. Sāṅkṛityāyana was also an Indian nationalist, having been arrested and jailed for three years for creating anti-British writings and speeches. He is referred to as the "Greatest Scholar" (Mahapandit) for his scholarship. He was both a polymath as well as a polyglot. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honor of the Padma Bhushan in 1963. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahul_Sankrityayan Source Accessed Jan 13, 2020]) +
T
Taehyǒn. [alt. T ’aehyǒn] (C. Daxian/Taixian; J. Daiken/Taigen XS/XS) (d.u.; fl. c. mid-eighth Century). In Korean, "Great/Grand Sagacity"; Silla-dynasty monk during the reign of king Kyǒngdǒk (r. 742-765) and reputed founder of the Yuga (Yogācāra) tradition in Korea; also known as Ch’ǒnggu Samun ("Green Hill [viz., Korea] śramaṇa" ) and often referred to as Yuga cho, "Patriarch of Yogācāra," due to his mastery of that school's complex doctrine. As one of the three most productive scholars of the Silla Buddhist tradition, Taehyǒn is matched in his output only by Wǒnhyo (617-686) and Kyǒnghǔng (fl. c. eighth century). Although renowned for his mastery of Yogācāra doctrine, his fifty-two works, in over one hundred rolls, cover a broad range of Buddhist doctrinal material, including Yogācāra, Madhyamaka, Hwaǒm (C. Huayan zong), and bodhisattva-precept texts. It is presumed that Taehyǒn was a disciple of Wǒnch’cūk's (613-696) student Tojǔng (d.u.), and that his scholastic positions were therefore close to those of the Ximing school, a lineage of Faxiang zong thought that derived from Wǒnch’ūk; their connection remains, however, a matter of debate. Taehyǒn’s ''Sǒng yusik non hakki'' ("Study Notes to the Cheng weishi lun [*''Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi-śāstra'']") (six rolls), the only complete Korean commentary on the ''Cheng weishi lun'' that is still extant, is particularly important because of its copious citation of the works of contemporary Yogācāra exegetes, such as Kuiji (632-682) and Wǒnch’ǔk. Taehyǒn appears to have been influenced by the preeminent Silla scholiast Wǒnhyo, since Taehyǒn accepts in his ''Taesǔng kisin non naeǔi yak tamgi'' ("Brief Investigation of the Inner Meaning of the Dasheng qixin lun") Wǒnhyo's ecumenical (Hwajaeng) perspective on the "Awakening of Faith According to the Mahāyāna." Although Taehyǒn never traveled abroad, his works circulated throughout East Asia and were commented upon by both Chinese and Japanese exegetes. His ''Pǒmmang kyǒng kojǒkki'' ("Record of Old Traces of the Fanwang jing" ), for example, was widely consulted in Japan and more than twenty commentaries on Taehyǒn’s text were composed by Japanese monks, including Eison (1201-1290) and Gyōnen (1240-1321). Unfortunately, only five of Taehyǒn's works are extant; in addition to the above three texts, these are his ''Yaksa ponwǒn kyǒng kojǒkki'' ("Record of Old Traces of the Bhaiṣajyagurusūtra" ) and ''Pǒmmang kyǒng posalgyebon chongyo'' ("Doctrinal Essentials of the Bodhisattva's Code of Morality from the ‘Sūtra of Brahmā's Net'"). (Source: "Taehyǒn." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 886–87. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Jikido Takasaki, D. Litt. (1926-2013), was a specialist in Indian Buddhism, especially the philosophy of Mahayana Buddhism. After graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1950, he studied at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute at Poona, making a special study of the Ratnagotravibhaga, for which he received a Ph.D. degree in 1959 from the University of Poona. He began his teaching career in 1957 at Komazawa University, Tokyo, and after a period of teaching at Osaka University he eventually gained a professorship at the University of Tokyo in 1977, from where he retired in 1987. ([https://www.amazon.com/Study-Ratnagotravibhaga-Uttaratantra-Treatise-Tathagatagarbha/dp/8120836421 Source Accessed Oct 24, 2019]) +
Jim Kodera is committed to the academic study of religion from the historical and comparative perspective, with a focus on Asia, broadly including both East Asia and South Asia. More specifically, he offers courses on Buddhism from its origin in India through its development in Tibet, China, Korea, Japan and the West and is also interested in the inner relationship between a contemplative life and social and political responsibility, involving a variety of religious and cultural traditions.
At Wellesley, he helped develop Japanese Studies as part of East Asian Studies Program and Asian American Studies as part of American Studies.
Earlier research focused on individuals and issues in East Asian Buddhism, especially in the Ch’an/Zen tradition. Kodera has written on the place and the role of Christianity in East Asia, including the Jesuits in the 16th century and Uchimura Kanzo. More recently, his research has focused on the plight of “Untouchables” in India (Dalits) and Japan (Burakumin). He is in an early stage of research on Nagasaki from Francis Xavier, who arrived in Nagasaki in 1549, and Takashi Nagai, affected by radiation after the atomic bomb and yet turned Nagasaki into the “City of Prayer” as it remains today, in contrast to Hiroshima. ([http://rippleffectne.com/speaker/t-james-kodera/ Source Accessed May 7, 2020]) +
Takayasu Suzuki is member of the Faculty of International Culture at Yamaguchi Prefectural University in Japan. His areas of specialization include Chinese philosophy, Indian philosophy and Buddhist Studies. His areas of interest include the history of thought on Nyorai's Externality and Internality; the relationship and empathy between self and others (others/world); and modern and independent understandings of Buddhism. ([https://www.yamaguchi-pu.ac.jp/ic/ic/teachers-new/suzuki/?c=page&q=Takayasu Source Accessed June 22, 2020]) +
Yoshiro Tamura (1921-1989) was a well-regarded scholar of Japanese Buddhism, known particularly for his study of the Lotus Sūtra and the traditions that developed around it and the person of Nichiren in Japan. ([https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/yoshiro-tamura/ Source Accessed October 17, 2019]) +
Kenneth Ken'ichi Tanaka (born 1947), also known as Kenshin Tanaka or Ken'ichi Tanaka is a scholar, author, translator and ordained Jōdo Shinshū priest. He is author and editor of many articles and books on modern Buddhism.
Tanaka was born in 1947 in Japan but grew up in Mountain View, California. He received his B.A in Anthropology from Stanford University in 1970. He then received his masters in Philosophy and Indian Studies and his Ph.D. through the Graduate School of Humanities Doctoral Program in Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1991 Tanaka was appointed the Rev. Yoshitaka Tamai Professor at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, an affiliate of the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, California. He was president of the Buddhist Council of Northern California and served as editor of ''Pacific World: The Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies''. In 1995 he became the pastor of the Southern Alameda County Buddhist Church.
Tanaka is the author of numerous articles and books on the subject of Buddhism. He was interviewed as part of the PBS report Tensions in American Buddhism in 2001and Talk of the Nation program of National Public Radio. In 1998 he became professor of Buddhist Studies at Musashino University in Tokyo, Japan. He produced and appeared in a television series sponsored by the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai foundation that aired in 2005, with DVDs later distributed. He gave the keynote address at the 750th memorial observance of Shinran in February 2010. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_K._Tanaka Source Accessed July 21, 2021]) +
Buddhist monk, writer of Northern Zhou and Sui. Tanyan’s secular surname was Wang 王. His ancestral home was Sangquan 桑泉 in Puzhou 蒲州 (modern Linjin 臨晉, Shanxi). At the age of sixteen, Tanyan visited a monastery and listened to a monk lecturing on the Niepan jing 涅槃經 (Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra). At that moment he decided to become a Buddhist monk. Tanyan lived in seclusion in the Taihang 太行 Mountains. Yuwen Tai 宇文泰 (505–556) showed great respect to Tanyan while he served in the Western Wei court. During the Jiande period (572–578) of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou, Tanyan went to Chang’an where he was selected to debate with Zhou Hongzheng 周弘正 (496–574), an envoy from the southern Chen court. Tanyan lost the competiton, but Zhou Hongzheng regarded Tanyan as his master. Before Zhou Hongzheng returned to the south, he composed forty poems “Feng yun shan hai shi” 風雲山海詩 (Poems on wind, cloud, mountain and ocean) and sent them to Tanyan, who replied with poems on the same subject.
Tanyan again became a recluse in the Taihang Mountains when Emperor Wu undertook his proscription of Buddhism. He returned to Chang’an after Emperor Xuan 宣 (r. 579–579) lifted the ban on Buddhism. He died at the age of seventy-three.
Tanyan has only one extant poem which is preserved in the Xu Gaoseng zhuan 續高僧傳, Shi ji of Feng Weine, and Lu Qinli’s Xian Qin Han Wei Jin Nanbeichao shi. His only extant prose piece, “Lin zhong yi qi” 臨終遺啟 (Last testament), is preserved in Yan Kejun’s Quan shangguo Sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen. (Source: Knechtges, David R., and Taiping Chang. ''Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide, Part Two''. Leiden: Brill, 2014, p. 1076–77. https://brill.com/display/title/19546) +
Tao Jin is an Associate Professor in the Religion Department at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Professor Jin teaches courses on East Asian Buddhism, focusing primarily on its thoughts, its classical texts, Zen, and the theories and practices in its exegetical tradition. He also teaches Chinese religions, modern Japanese religions, popular religions in East Asia, and Asian religious literature.
Professor Jin holds graduate degrees from Tianjin Foreign Languages Institute (M.A., 1994), University of Memphis (M.A., 1999) and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Ph.D., 2008). He specializes in Buddhist philosophy of mind, its classical East Asian presentation in the treatise entitled the ''Awakening of Faith in Mahāyāna'' (or ''Qixinlun'' in its popular Chinese abbreviation), the commentarial literature of the treatise, and theory and practice of Buddhist exegesis. He is also interested in the formulation and interpretation of the Chinese cosmology, and the interaction between Confucianism and Buddhism.
Professor Jin has presented his studies at both national and international conferences, and has published in various peer-reviewed journals, such as ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies'', and ''Philosophy East and West''. He is currently working on a book, entitled ''The Awakening of Faith in Mahāyāna: A Textual Study and Annotated Translation'', and a number of related projects involving the annotation and structural analysis (''kepan'') of several classical commentaries of the ''Qixinlun''. ([https://www.iwu.edu/religion/faculty/TaoJin.html Source Accessed Oct 22, 2020])
(Professor Jin's [https://www.iwu.edu/religion/faculty/jin-tao-cv.pdf CV]) +
Francesca Tarocco is Visiting Associate Professor of Buddhist Cultures at NYU Shanghai. Prior to joining NYU Shanghai she was Lecturer in Buddhist Studies and Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow in Chinese History at the University of Manchester, UK.
Tarocco’s research interests are in the cultural history of China, Chinese Buddhism, visual culture and urban Asia. Her books include ''The Cultural Practices of Modern Chinese Buddhism: Attuning the Dharma'' (Routledge, 2007 and 2011) and ''The Re-enchantment of Modernity: Buddhism, Photography and Chinese History'' (2018). Her scholarly articles include “The City and the Pagoda: Buddhist Spatial Tactics in Shanghai” (2015), “Terminology and Religious Identity: The Genealogy of the Term Zongjiao,” (2012) and “On the Market: Consumption and Material Culture in Modern Chinese Buddhism” (Religion, 2011).
Tarocco is the co-founder and director of the international research initiative Shanghai Studies Society and a fellow of the Critical Collaborations network at the Institute for Advanced Study (NYU). She is the recipient of awards from the Leverhulme Trust, the Sutasoma Foundation and the Chinese Ministry of Education, among many others. Tarocco is a regular contributor of the contemporary visual culture journals ''Parkett'', ''Flash Art International'' and ''Frieze''.
===Research Interests===
History of Religion in China<br>
Shanghai Buddhism<br>
Buddhist Visual Culture<br>
Chinese Photography<br>
Chinese Diasporic Art<br>
Global Visual Culture
===Education===
PhD, Chinese History, University of London<br>
MA, Chinese Studies, University of London<br>
MA, Chinese and Buddhist Studies, Venice University<br>
([https://shanghai.nyu.edu/academics/faculty/directory/francesca-tarocco Source Accessed Jan 10, 2020]) +
Tenshin Reb Anderson was born in Mississippi, grew up in Minnesota, and left advanced study in mathematics and Western psychology to come to Zen Center in 1967. He practiced with Suzuki Roshi, who ordained him as a priest in 1970 and gave him the name Tenshin Zenki ("Naturally Real, The Whole Works"). He received dharma transmission in 1983 and served as abbot of San Francisco Zen Center's three training centers (City Center, Green Gulch Farm, and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center) from 1986 to 1995. Tenshin Reb Anderson continues to teach at Zen Center, living with his family at Green Gulch Farm. He is author of ''Warm Smiles from Cold Mountains: Dharma Talks on Zen Meditation'' and ''Being Upright: Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts''. Published in 2012: ''The Third Turning of the Wheel: Wisdom of the Samdhinirmocana Sutra'', a guidebook to the workings of consciousness and compassionate awakening. ([https://www.sfzc.org/teachers/tenshin-reb-anderson Source Accessed August 13, 2020]) +
Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin took his monk’s vows at the age of 14. He studied the Thirteen Major Texts with Khenchen Nawang Gyalpo Rinpoché and other khenpos. He also received the entire Lamdré-cycle of empowerments of the Ngor-Sakya lineage from Khensur Khenchen Rinpoché and from Amdo Lama Togden Rinpoché and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoché he received many Nyingma empowerments and teachings. Later, Khenpo Rinpoché joined Drikung Kagyu Institute at Jangchub Ling in Dehra Dun and there met His Holiness Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Rinpoché. The spontaneous devotion he felt for His Holiness resulted in his request to His Holiness to join the monastery there and continue his education.
Having already completed the first four years of his studies at other monasteries, Khenpo Rinpoché quickly completed his education at Jangchub Ling. After three years teaching lower classes in the monastic college, he was enthroned by His Holiness Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Rinpoché as a “Khenpo” in 1998 and spent three more years teaching Buddhist philosophy at the Institute. In between his busy schedule first as student and later as instructor, Khenpo Rinpoché completed the Ngondro, Chakrasamvara and other practices while in retreat. In April 2001, Khenpo Rinpoché arrived at the TMC to assist Khenchen Rinpoché and also to improve his mastery of the English language so that he can be of more benefit to the spread of Dharma. He began teaching at TMC in August of that year and was subsequently appointed as co spiritual director of TMC by Khenchen Rinpoché. Khenpo Rinpoché is known and loved for his engaging teaching style as well as his complete lack of pretensions. ([http://drikungtmc.com/about/khenpo-tsultrim-tenzin/ Source Accessed Nov 18, 2020]) +
Lama Tharchin Rinpoche was a Dzogchen (Great Perfection) master of Vajrayana Buddhism. He was the tenth lineage holder of the Repkong Ngakpas. This is a family lineage of yogis, or householders, and was the largest community of non-monastic practitioners in Tibet. Rinpoche was trained in His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche's monastery, engaged in five years of solitary retreat and then completed the three year retreat with three others under Dudjom Rinpoche.
In addition to Dudjom Rinpoche, his main teachers were Chatral Rinpoche, Lama Sherab Dorje Rinpoche, and Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche. Rinpoche left Tibet by foot with his family in 1960. He lived in Orissa, India and Kathmandu, Nepal before coming to America in 1984 for health reasons. While in America, Dudjom Rinpoche asked Lama Tharchin Rinpoche to turn the third wheel of Dharma, the teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism.
As a householder with two sons, Rinpoche had a wonderfully kind and wise approach to working with Western students. His gentleness and jewel-like qualities embodied a living expression of the wisdom and compassion of the Buddhadharma. He was so rare and precious, not only because of his great realization, but also for his vast knowledge of Tibetan ritual arts, music, and dance, as well as the philosophical basis of the Vajrayana teachings. ([http://www.vajrayana.org/teachers/#hide1 Source Accessed Oct 14, 2015]) +
"After the death of 'Jam dbyangs chos kyi grags pa (the 3rd Drukchen or Gyalwang Drukpa), monks found the rebirth in the house of a minor aristocrat of Kongpo, to the disappointment of both the families of Rwa lung and Bya. This child, the sprul sku Ngag dbang nor bu, was to be the great Padma dkar po. Padma dkar po was one of those rare renaissance men. The breadth of his scholarship and learning invites comparison with the Fifth Dalai Lama. It was Padma dkar po who systematized the teaching of the 'Brug pa sect. It is no wonder that the 'Brug pa Bka' brgyud pa always refer to him as Kun mkhyen, the Omniscient, an epithet reserved for the greatest scholar of a sect. Padma dkar po was a shrewd and occasionally ruthless politician. His autobiography is one of the most important sources for the history of the sixteenth century. Padma dkar po was a monk and insisted on adherence to the vinaya rules for his monastic followers. He also held that in the administration of church affairs the claims of the rebirth and the monastic scholar took priority over those of the scion of a revered lineage. Although he preached often at both Rwa lung and Bkra shis mthong smon, the seats of his two immediate predecessors, he never exercised actual control over these monasteries and their estates. He founded his monastery at Gsang sngags chos gling in Byar po, north of Mon Rta dbang, which became the seat of the subsequent Rgyal dbang 'Brug pa incarnation." (Gene Smith, ''Among Tibetan Texts'', 81) +
A remarkable master who lived at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. He wrote ''The Great Medicine That Conquers Clinging to the Notion of Reality'' (''Byang chub kyi sems bsgom pa'i rim pa bdag 'dzin 'joms pa'i sman chen''). He was a disciple of the greatest luminaries of the nineteenth century, including Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, and Lama Mipam Rinpoche. +
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche (b.1964) — the present Dzigar Kongtrul, Jigme Namgyel (འཛི་སྒར་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་འཇིགས་མེད་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་, Wyl. 'dzi sgar kong sprul 'jigs med rnam rgyal), was born in Northern India, shortly before the Tibetan community settlement at Bir was established by his father, the third Neten Chokling Rinpoche. When Rinpoche was just nine years old, his father passed away. Soon after this His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche recognized him as an emanation of Jamgön Kongtrul the Great and His Holiness the 16th Karmapa confirmed this. He was soon enthroned at Chokling Gompa in Bir.
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche grew up in a monastic environment and received extensive training in all aspects of Buddhist doctrine. In particular, he received the teachings of the Nyingma lineage, especially those of the Longchen Nyingtik, from his root teacher, His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Rinpoche also studied extensively under Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, and the great scholar Khenpo Rinchen.
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche then moved to the United States in 1989 with his family and began a five-year tenure as a professor of Buddhist philosophy at Naropa University (then Institute) in 1990. Not long after arriving in the United States, he founded Mangala Shri Bhuti, an organization dedicated to furthering the practice of the Longchen Nyingtik lineage. He established a mountain retreat centre, Longchen Jigme Samten Ling, in southern Colorado, where he spends much of his time in retreat and guides students in long-term retreat practice.
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche's students include Pema Chödrön, the best-selling buddhist author, his wife Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel, and his son Dungse Jampal Norbu. He is also an avid painter in the abstract expressionist tradition. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dzigar_Kongtrul_Rinpoche Source Accessed Dec 11, 2020]) +
Fyodor Ippolitovich Shcherbatskoy or Stcherbatsky (30 August 1866–18 March 1942), often referred to in the literature as F. Th. Stcherbatsky, was a Russian Indologist who, in large part, was responsible for laying the foundations in the Western world for the scholarly study of Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy. He was born in Kielce, Poland (Russian Empire), and died at the Borovoye Resort in northern Kazakhstan.
Stcherbatsky studied in the famous Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum (graduating in 1884), and later in the Historico-Philological Faculty of Saint Petersburg University (graduating in 1889), where Ivan Minayeff and Serge Oldenburg were his teachers. Subsequently, sent abroad, he studied Indian poetry with Georg Bühler in Vienna, and Buddhist philosophy with Hermann Jacobi in Bonn. In 1897, he and Oldenburg inaugurated ''Bibliotheca Buddhica'', a library of rare Buddhist texts.
Returning from a trip to India and Mongolia, in 1903 Stcherbatsky published (in Russian) the first volume of ''Theory of Knowledge and Logic of the Doctrine of Later Buddhists'' ( 2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1903-1909 ). In 1928 he established the Institute of Buddhist Culture in Leningrad. His ''The Conception of Buddhist Nirvana'' (Leningrad, 1927), written in English, caused a sensation in the West. He followed suit with his main work in English, ''Buddhist Logic'' (2 vols., 1930–32), which has exerted an immense influence on Buddhology.
Although Stcherbatsky remained less well known in his own country, his extraordinary fluency in Sanskrit and Tibetan languages won him the admiration of Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore. According to Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, "Stcherbatsky did help us – the Indians – to discover our own past and to restore the right perspective of our own philosophical heritage." The Encyclopædia Britannica (2004 edition) acclaimed Stcherbatsky as "the foremost Western authority on Buddhist philosophy". ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_ShcherbatskoySource Accessed Sept 25, 2020])
Ngawang Zangpo (Hugh Leslie Thompson) completed two three-year retreats under the direction of the late Kalu Rinpoche at Kagyu Ling, France, 1976–1980 and 1980–1983, and he served as translator for Kalu Rinpoche from 1985–1989. He is the founding resident lama of a Buddhist center in Taipei, Taiwan (1985), a founding member of Kalu Rinpoche's International Translation Group (1987), and he was a Tsadra Foundation Fellow from 2000 to 2018. He is presently working on a number of translation projects that were initiated under the direction of Chadral Rinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. He has also contributed to the Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group's books ''Myriad Worlds'' and ''Buddhist Ethics''. [http://www.tsadra.org/translators/hugh-thompson-ngawang-zangpo/ Source: Tsadra.org] and [https://www.shambhala.com/authors/u-z/ngawang-zangpo.html Shambhala Publications]
'''Completed Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow:'''
*''Sacred Ground: Jamgön Kongtrul on Pilgrimage and Sacred Geography'', Jamgön Kongtrul
*''Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times'', Taranatha, Jamgön Kongtrul, and Sera Khandro
*''Timeless Rapture: Inspired Verse of the Shangpa Masters'', compiled by Jamgön Kongtrul
*''The Treasury of Knowledge: Books II, III, and IV; Buddhism’s Journey to Tibet'', Jamgön Kongtrul
*''A History of Buddhism in India and Its Spread to Tibet'', Butön Rinchen Drup
*''Refining Our Perception of Reality'', Sera Khandro
*''The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Books 1 to 10, Foundations of the Buddhist Path'', Choying Tobden Dorje
*''The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Book 14, An Overview of Buddhist Tantra'', Choying Tobden Dorje
'''Previously Published Translations:'''
*''Jamgön Kongtrul’s Retreat Manual'', Jamgön Kongtrul
*''Enthronement: Recognition of the Reincarnate Masters of Tibet'', Jamgön Kongtrul +
A native of the U.S., Ven. Chodron, whose Chinese Dharma name is De Lin, is particularly qualified to teach Western monastics. She trained in Asia for many years, receiving novice ordination from Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in 1977 and full ordination in Taiwan in 1986. Her teachers include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Lama Thubten Yeshe and many others.
In addition to founding Sravasti Abbey, Ven. Chodron is a well-known author and teacher. She has published many books on Buddhist philosophy and meditation, including four volumes (so far) in The Library of Wisdom and Compassion, co-authored with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with whom she has studied for nearly forty years. Find info on the first four volumes in the series here: Volume 1, ''Approaching the Buddhist Path''; Volume 2, ''The Foundation of Buddhist Practice''; Volume 3, ''Samsara, Nirvana, & Buddha Nature'', and Volume 4, ''Following in the Buddha’s Footsteps''.
Ven. Chodron teaches worldwide and is known for her practical (and humorous!) explanations of how to apply Buddhist teachings in daily life. She was resident teacher at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore and Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle. Ven. Chodron is also actively involved in prison outreach and interfaith dialogue. ([https://sravastiabbey.org/community-member/thubten-chodron/ Source Accessed Nov 1, 2021]) +
Robert Thurman is a recognized worldwide authority on mind science and spirituality, Asian history, philosophy, Tibetan Buddhism, and H. H. the Dalai Lama, Robert Thurman is an advocate of the relevance of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist sciences, arts, and practices in our daily lives. He is a leading voice for the value of reason, wisdom, peace and compassion. He was named one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans and has been profiled by The New York Times and People Magazine. He recently has been awarded the Padma Shri Award, the President of India’s fourth highest civilian honor for achievement in enriching Indian education and literature. An author and Jey Tsong Khapa Professor Emeritus of Indo-Tibetan Buddhology at Columbia University, Thurman lectures internationally at universities, companies, conferences and think-tanks. His many books include ''Inner Revolution'', a ground-breaking history of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and a call for an enlightened ethics and politics; ''The Central Philosophy of Tibet'', on Buddhist science; ''Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet'', on Buddhist art; ''Essential Tibetan Buddhism'', an anthology of key works of Tibetan authors; ''Infinite Life'', a yogic commentary on Shantideva’s Bodhisattva Career; and ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', a study of the Tibetan science and art of dying and navigating the rebirth process; ''Why the Dalai Lama Matters'', a win-win plan to solve China’s Tibet catastrophe; ''Man of Peace'', a 300 page fully-illustrated graphic novel of the XIV Dalai Lama’s life and the true story of the invasion of Tibet; ''The Brilliantly Illuminating Lamp'', a study and translation of Tsong Khapa’s masterwork on the most advanced yogas for mastering the process of conscious evolution; and his latest, forthcoming, ''The Esoteric Community Tantra'' with its ''Illuminating Lamp Commentary'', an introduction with translations to the unexcelled yoga tantras; and ''Buddha Bliss'', a study of the eightfold path as an evolutionary core curriculum. At the request of H.H. the Dalai Lama, Thurman co-founded Tibet House US in 1987 with Tenzin Namgyal Tethong and Philip Glass, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation and renaissance of Tibetan civilization. It maintains a lively museum and cultural center in New York city, affiliates with Tibet Houses in New Delhi and other national capitals around the world. In 2002 he founded Menla Retreat & Dewa Healing Spa in the Catskill Mountains to advance the practical wisdom and healing arts of Tibetan medicine traditions. Working with the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, an international network of universities, and Indian Buddhist partners, he is currently engaged in establishing the Dharmachakra Buddhist Classics Translation Center in Andhra Pradesh, to complete the multi-generational task of translating from the Tibetan Tengyur the 5000+ originally Sanskrit works from India’s long lost "Library of Alexandria," the Ratnodadhi Library of Nālandā University, into English and other modern Indian and world languages, creating a necessary database for the 21st century collaboration of the Indian and Tibetan Inner Sciences (''adhyātmavidyā'') with modern, "outer," materialist sciences. Inspired by H. H. the Dalai Lama, Thurman's public presentations take a stand on Buddhism's open ground and thence transport audiences into an expanded vision of the world—the sweep of history, the subtleties of the inner science of the psyche, or the depths of the life of the heart. They help clear away shrouds of confusion and tend to evoke the cheerfulness of an enriched present, with the realistic hope for a peaceful future. (Source: [https://menla.org/teachers/robert-a-f-thurman/ Menla.org])
Tilopa. (T. Ti lo pa) (988–1069). An Indian tantric adept counted among the eighty-four mahāsiddhas and venerated in Tibet as an important source of tantric instruction and a founder of the Bka' brgyud sect. Little historical information exists regarding Tilopa's life. According to his traditional biographies, Tilopa was born a brāhmaṇa in northeast India. As a young man he took the vows of a Buddhist monk, but later was compelled by the prophecies of a ḍākinī messenger to study with a host of tantric masters. He lived as a wandering yogin, practicing tantra in secret while outwardly leading a life of transgressive behavior. For many years Tilopa acted as the servant for the prostitute Barima (in truth a wisdom ḍākinī in disguise) by night while grinding sesame seeds for oil by day. The name Tilopa, literally "Sesame Man," derives from the Sanskrit word for sesamum. Finally, Tilopa is said to have received instructions in the form of a direct transmission from the primordial buddha Vajradhara. Tilopa instructed numerous disciples, including the renowned Bengali master Nāropa, who is said to have abandoned his prestigious monastic position to become Tilopa's disciple, undergoing many difficult trials before receiving his teachings. Those teachings were later received by Marpa Chos kyi blo gros, who brought Tilopa's teachings to Tibet. As with many Indian siddhas, Tilopa's main instructions are found in the form of dohā, or songs of realization. Many of his songs, together with several tantric commentaries and liturgical texts, are included in the Tibetan canon. Among the teachings attributed to him are the bka’ ’babs bzhi ("four transmissions"), the lus med mkha’ ’gro snyan rgyud chos skor dgu ("nine aural lineage cycles of the formless ḍākinīs"), and the Mahāmudropadeśa. (Source: "Tilopa." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 914. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Tokiwa Gishin began studying Buddhism in 1944, becoming a member of the forerunner of the F.A.S. Society. After graduation he taught English as a second language for students while studying Buddhism. He has translated into English ''Zen and the Fine Arts'' and ''Jueguan-lun'', and into modern Japanese both a work by Hakuin and the ''Lankavatara sutra''. ([https://www.amazon.in/Critical-Sermons-Zen-Tradition-Hisamatsus/dp/0333962710/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&qid=1610744821&refinements=p_27%3AGishin+Tokiwa&s=books&sr=1-2 Source Accessed Jan 15, 2021]) +
Khenpo Karma Gyurme (Tokpa Tulku) is one of the most popular professors teaching at the Buddhist University at Ka-Nying Monastery in Kathmandu. +
Dr. Tony Page is lecturer in English Literature in the School of Humanities, Bangkok University. He received his Ph.D. in Austrian/German Literature from Oxford University, England, where he also pursued a special interest in Buddhist philosophy. He received his First Class Honours B.A. in German/French Language and Literature from the University of London. He is the author of three books on Buddhist philosophy, and two books on the scientific invalidity of animal experimentation. He is one of the UK’s leading researchers on the Buddhist scripture, the ''Mahāyana Mahāparinirvāna Sūtra'', of which scripture he is the English-language editor and upon which he has lectured at the University of London. ([https://www.bu.ac.th/knowledgecenter/epaper/jan_june2010/pdf/Page_47.pdf Source Accessed April 28, 2020]) +
Tony See is currently teaching in the National University of Singapore (NUS). His research interests include philosophy, critical theory and media studies. His current research interest is in exploring theories of subjectivity, with a focus on the intersections between Deleuze’s idea of immanence and desire, and its resonances with the idea of Buddha-nature in Mahayana Buddhism. His previous publications include the book ''Community Without Identity: The Ontology and Politics of Heidegger'' (2009), and a number of articles such as "Deleuze and Mahayana Buddhism" (2014), "Deleuze and Ikeda" (2015) and "Deleuze, Religion and Education" (2016). ([https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137567055#aboutAuthors Source Accessed May 22, 2020]) +
Fabrizio Torricelli spent several study stays at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives of Dharamsala (LTWA), India. He has been an associate member of the Italian Institute for Africa and the Orient (IsIAO) since 1996, consultant in a manuscript preservation and cataloguing project of the manuscripts preserved in the Tucci Tibetan fund of the IsIAO (1999–2004), and in the reorganization of the reference room of the IsIAO library (2003–2004). He has taught courses on Tibetan culture in the IsIAO schools (1999–2004). His research is mainly focused on the Indo-Tibetan texts providing documentary evidence of the philosophical thought and the ascetic techniques in use amongst the Buddhist siddhas in the centuries spanning from the first and the second millennium. He has recently completed a book on the Bengali siddha Tilopā, which has been published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. ([https://torricellif.academia.edu/ Source Accessed October 10, 2019 and Lightly Modified]). On the 25th of February 2022 while working on Nāropā ("Regarding Nāropā. Text and English Translation of Mar pa’s"), he suddenly passed away ([https://independent.academia.edu/torricellif Source: Academia.edu]). +
Alex is an executive coach and life coach to senior business executives, including two CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, as well as movie stars and rock musicians. He also serves the global Performance Leadership practice at McKinsey & Company, helping the world’s leading companies build performance cultures that are aligned with their strategic objectives, and coaching executives and managers through personal transformations that support business goals and also bring greater meaning and purpose to their lives. He is currently serving clients on four continents. Alex was formerly a Professor of Business Administration in London and Copenhagen, teaching leadership on MBA programs. He holds a Ph.D. in Strategy and Organizational Behaviour from London University and an M.A. in Theoretical Physics from Cambridge University. He has been awarded a Natwest Fellowship to the London Business School and a Fulbright Fellowship to the Harvard Business School. Alex has transcribed and edited Khyentse Rinpoche’s Madhyamakavatara teachings given in France from 1996-2000, and organized them into Khyentse Foundation’s first publication, the Madhyamakavatara Commentary. He is now editing Rinpoche’s cycle of ''Uttaratantra'' teachings. Alex serves as a teaching assistant at select Khyentse Rinpoche teachings. (Source: [https://khyentsefoundation.org/project/alex-trisoglio/ Khyentse Foundation]) +
Chogyam Trungpa (1940–1987)—meditation master, teacher, and artist—founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America; the Shambhala Training program; and an international association of meditation centers known as Shambhala International. He is the author of numerous books, including ''[https://www.shambhala.com/shambhala-the-sacred-path-of-the-warrior.html Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior]'', ''[https://www.shambhala.com/cutting-through-spiritual-materialism-458.html Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism]'', and ''[https://www.shambhala.com/the-myth-of-freedom-and-the-way-of-meditation-1073.html The Myth of Freedom]''. ([http://www.shambhala.com/authors/o-t/chogyam-trungpa.html?limit=90 Source Accessed March 20, 2019])
See also the [http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/chogyam-trungpa.php Shambhala biography online]. +
Chih-Mien Adrian Tseng is Assistant Professor of Buddhist Studies at Fo Guang University in Taiwan. She received her PhD from McMaster University in Ontario Canada. Her area of research includes Chinese Buddhist thought of medieval China and the concept of buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism. ([https://buddhist.fgu.edu.tw/en/person/-C-M-Adrian-TSENG-90195673# Source Accessed Aug 7, 2020]) +
Tsepak Rigzin received his B.A. and M.A. from Punjab University, B.Ed. from Annamalai University, India, and traditional Buddhist training from the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics. He is the author and co-author of numerous books and articles on Tibetan Buddhism and he has extensive experience in written and oral translation.
From 1980 to 1993, Rigzin led the Research and Translation Bureau at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala, India, producing numerous articles and books, and attending international seminars, workshops and conferences. During the ten year period from 1993 to 2003, he held high ranking positions as Rector, Principal and Education Officer with Central Tibetan Schools. For two consecutive years, he served as translator and spokesperson for Mystical Arts of Tibet, touring with the monks throughout North America and Europe.
Rigzin began teaching Tibetan language courses at Emory in August 2009. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at the university, he served as Scholar in Residence and official translator for Drepung Loseling Monastery in Atlanta, where he dedicated his time to outreach programs and also teaching the Tibetan language. ([http://mesas.emory.edu/home/people/faculty/rigzin.html Source Accessed Feb 14, 2020]) +
Tsoknyi Rinpoche (Wylie: Tshogs gnyis rin po che), or Ngawang Tsoknyi Gyatso (born 13 March 1966), is a Nepalese Tibetan Buddhist teacher and author and the founder of the Pundarika Foundation. He is the third Tsoknyi Rinpoche, having been recognized by the 16th Karmapa as the reincarnation of Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche. He is a tulku of the Drukpa Kagyü and Nyingma traditions and the holder of the Ratna Lingpa and Tsoknyi lineages.
He began his education at Khampagar Monastery at Tashi Jong in Himachal Pradesh, India, at the age of thirteen. His main teachers are Khamtrul Rinpoche Dongyu Nyima, his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, and Adeu Rinpoche.
Rinpoche has overseen the Tergar Osel Ling Monastery, founded in Kathmandu, Nepal, by his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. His brothers are Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, and Mingyur Rinpoche, and his nephews are Phakchok Rinpoche and the reincarnation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, known popularly as Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche. He has overseen the monastery's operations and introduced studies for non-Tibetans. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsoknyi_Rinpoche Source Accessed November 18, 2019]) +
Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo, a specialist in Buddhist studies, has taught at USD since 2000. She offers classes in Buddhist Thought and Culture, World Religions, Comparative Religious Ethics, Religious and Political Identities in the Global Community, and Negotiating Religious Diversity in India. Her research interests include women in Buddhism, death and dying, Buddhist feminist ethics, Buddhism and bioethics, religion and politics, Buddhist social ethics, and Buddhist transnationalism. She integrates scholarship and social activism through the Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women and Jamyang Foundation, an innovative education project for women in developing countries, with 15 schools in the Indian Himalayas, Bangladesh, and Laos. Karma Lekshe Tsomo studied at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India for 15 years. She obtained a BA from Berkeley and a PhD from the University of Hawai‘i in Comparative Philosophy. ([https://www.sandiego.edu/cas/theology/faculty-and-staff/biography.php?profile_id=190 Source: University of San Diego Home Page]) +
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche passed away on the 13th of February at his hermitage Nagi Gompa on the southern slope of the Shivapuri mountain. He was born in eastern Tibet on the tenth day of the fourth Tibetan month in 1920. He was recognized by H.H. Khakyab Dorje, the 15th Gyalwang Karmapa, as the reincarnation of the Chowang Tulku, as well as the emanation of Nubchen Sangye Yeshe, one of the chief disciples of Padmasambhava. Guru Chowang the First (1212-70 AD) was one of the five Terton Kings, the major revealers of secret texts hidden by Guru Padmasambhava.
Tulku Urgyen’s main monastery was Lachab Gompa in Nangchen, Eastern Tibet. He studied and practiced the teachings of both the Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Among the four greater Kagyu Schools, his family line was the main holder of the Barom Kagyu Lineage.
In the Nyingma tradition, Tulku Urgyen held the complete teachings of the last century’s three great masters: Terchen Chokgyur Lingpa, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Kongtrul Lodro Thaye. He had an especially close transmission for the New Treasures, a compilation of all the empowerments, reading transmissions and instructions of Padmasambhava’s teachings, which were rediscovered by Terchen Chokgyur Lingpa, his great-grandfather. Rinpoche passed on this tradition to the major regents of the Karma Kagyu lineage as well as to many other lamas and tulkus.
The close relationship between the lineage of the Karmapas and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche came about since the 14th Gyalwang Karmapa was one of the main recipients of Chokgyur Lingpa’s termas, receiving the empowerments from the terton himself. Tulku Samten Gyatso, the grandson of Chokgyur Lingpa and the root guru of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, offered the same transmission to the 15th Gyalwang Karmapa Khakyab Dorje. The Gyalwang 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpey Dorje, was offered the major transmissions of the Chokling Tersar by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. In addition, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche also felt fortunate to pass on the transmission for the important Dzogchen Desum, the Three Sections of the Great Perfection, to both His Holiness Karmapa and Dudjom Rinpoche, as well as numerous Tulkus and lamas of the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages.
Tulku Urgyen established six monasteries and retreat centers in the Kathmandu region. The most important of these are at Boudhanath, the site of the Great Stupa, and another at the Asura Cave, where Padmasambhava manifested the Mahamudra Vidyadhara level. He lived at Nagi Gompa Hermitage above the Kathmandu Valley. Under his guidance were more than 300 monks and nuns. He stayed in retreat for more than 20 years, including four three-year retreats.
In 1980 Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, accompanied by his oldest son Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, went on a world tour through Europe, the United States and South East Asia, giving teachings on Dzogchen and Mahamudra to many people. Every year since then a seminar on Buddhist study and practice has been held at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in essential meditation practice, combining the view and meditation of Dzogchen, Mahamudra and the Middle Way. Less concerned with the systematic categories of topics of knowledge or with the logical steps of philosophy, Tulku Urgyen directly addressed the listener’s present state of mind. His published works in English include ''Repeating the Words of the Buddha'', ''As It Is 1'' & ''As It Is 2'', ''Rainbow Painting'' and ''Vajra Speech''.
The over-all background of the teachings of Dzogchen and Mahamudra, which are tremendously vast and profound, can be condensed into simple statements of immediate relevance to our present state of mind. Tulku Urgyen was famed for his profound meditative realization and for the concise, lucid and humorous style with which he imparts the essence of the 84,000 sections of the Buddhist teachings. His method of teaching is ‘instruction through one’s own experience.’ Using few words, this way of teaching points out the nature of mind, revealing a natural simplicity of wakefulness that enables the student to actually touch the heart of the Buddha’s Wisdom Mind.
—written by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and Erik Pema Kunsang, New York, 1981. ([http://www.rangjung.com/book_author/tulku-urgyen-rinpoche/ Source Accessed Feb 6, 2019])
Philippe was born in Canada, and has studied Buddhism in both traditional and academic contexts. Since 1996 he has studied primarily with Khenchen Palden Sherab and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche. Philippe’s academic studies have mostly been at McGill University and the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in Sarnath, India. Philippe joined RYI in 2011 where he currently teaches on both the BA and MA programs. ([https://www.ryi.org/faculty/philippe-turenne Source Accessed April 14, 2020]) +
Tai Situ Rinpoche, the Twelfth Tai Situpa, Pema Donyö Nyinché (Tib. པདྨ་དོན་ཡོད་ཉིན་བྱེད་, Wyl. pad+ma don yod nyin byed) was born in 1954, in Dergé, Eastern Tibet, and recognized as the reincarnation of the previous Tai Situpa, Pema Wangchok Gyalpo, by the Sixteenth Karmapa. At the age of eighteen months he was brought to his monastic seat, Palpung Monastery, and enthroned there by the Karmapa according to tradition.
Due to the changing political situation in Eastern Tibet, he was taken to Tsurphu Monastery in Central Tibet, at the age of five. It was there that he performed his first Red Crown Ceremony, assisted by Ninth Sangyé Nyenpa Rinpoche. He stayed in Tsurphu Monastery for one year and then left Tibet with his attendants for Bhutan. Later, he went to Sikkim, to Rumtek Monastery, where he remained under the care of the Sixteenth Karmapa and received his formal religious training. He also received important transmissions from many great masters, notably Kalu Rinpoche, the Ninth Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Saljay Rinpoche, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, the late Drikung Khenpo Konchok, and the late Khenpo Khedup.
At the age of twenty-two, Situ Rinpoche assumed responsibility for founding his own new monastic seat, Sherab Ling Monastery, close to the Tibetan community of Bir, in Northern India. In 1980 he made his first tour to Europe, and has since traveled widely in North America, Europe and South-East Asia.
In 1992, Tai Situ Rinpoche recognized the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, and enthroned him at Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet. He has become Orgyen Trinlé Dorje's main teacher in the Mahamudra lineage. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Tai_Situ_Rinpoche Source Accessed April 12, 2020]) +
Born in Hachinohe, Japan, Tōru Tomabechi (苫米地等流) graduated in Buddhist Studies at the University of Kyoto in 1989. From 1995 to 2000 he was Assistant at the Dept. of Oriental Languages and Cultures, University of Lausanne. From 2001 to 2002 he was Research Fellow at the same Department. He obtained the Imprimatur for his doctoral thesis, Étude du Pañcakrama, from the University of Lausanne in 2006. Tōru Tomabechi worked at the Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia (IKGA), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna. He participated in a research project on the epistemological school of Buddhism in India and Tibet. He is also working on two Sanskrit commentaries on the ''Pañcakrama''—the ''Pañcakramapañjikā'' by Samayavajra and the ''Pañcakramatātparyapañjikā Kramakaumudī'' by Abhayākaragupta—using manuscripts newly available from China, and on other tantric texts.
Currently he is a member of the International Institute for Digital Humanities, Tokyo. ([https://www.tantric-studies.uni-hamburg.de/people/dr-toru-tomabechi.html Source Accessed Apr 14, 2020]) +
U
Ueda Yoshifumi (1904-1993) was Professor at Chikushi Gakuen, Fukuoka, Japan, and Professor Emeritus at Nagoya University, Nagoya. He edited the Shin Buddhism Translation series at Hongwanji International Center, Kyoto. Prof. Ueda Yoshifumi contributed the essay "Freedom and Necessity in Shinran's Concept of Karma" to ''Living in Amida’s Universal Vow'', edited by Alfred Bloom. He is also the author, along with Dennis Hirota, of ''Shinran: An Introduction to His Thought'' (Kyoto: Hongwanji International Center, 1989). ([http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/Ueda-Yoshifum.aspx Source Accessed and Amended July 7, 2020]) +
Hakuju Ui (1882-1963) was a Doctor of Literature, Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo, Member of the Japanese Bachelor's College, and an Indian Philosophy, Buddhist History, and Buddhist Literature Research Expert.<br> In 1894, he joined Cao Dongzong and later graduated from Imperial University of Tokyo in 1909. From 1913 to 1917, he went to the UK, Germany, and India to study. In 1919, he was a lecturer at the University of Tokyo. In 1923, he was a professor at Northeastern Imperial University. In 1930, he was a professor at Tokyo Imperial University and received a doctorate in literature. In 1945, he was elected as a member of the Japanese Academy of Sciences and was awarded the honorary professor of the University of Tokyo. In 1953, he received the Cultural Medal. He was fluent in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan, and has contributed greatly to the study of Buddhist history. His main works include: ''Buddhist Thought Research'' (Yanbo Bookstore, 1943), ''Pan Buddhism'' (2 volumes, Yanbo Bookstore, 1947-1949), ''Buddhist Classic History'' (Dongcheng Publishing House, 1957), ''Vietnamese and Contradiction Bodhisattva Index'' (Suzuki Academic Foundation, 1961), ''Study on Western Region Buddhist Scriptures - Brief Introduction to Dunhuang Yishu'' (Yanbo Bookstore, 1969), ''Tibetan Buddhist Scriptures'' (Masterpieces Press, 1970) Year), and ''Translation of History Studies'' (Yanbo Bookstore, 1971). ([https://list.wiki/Ui_Hakuju Accessed and Adapted from List.Wiki July 6, 2020]) +
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (Tib. སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་ཨོ་རྒྱན་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་, Wyl. ''sprul sku o rgyan rin po che'') (1920–1996) was one of the greatest teachers of Dzogchen and Mahamudra in recent times, whose lineage is now continued by his sons, including Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Mingyur Rinpoche.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was born in Nangchen, in the province of Kham, eastern Tibet, in 1920. He began meditation practice at the early age of four, when he attended the teachings his father, Chime Dorje, would give to his many students. Already at four he had what is called a recognition of the nature of mind. Later he studied with his uncle Samten Gyatso, his root master, as well as with many other lamas of both Kagyü and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Among the lineage masters from whom he drew his inspiration were Milarepa and Longchen Rabjam—on merely hearing their names, tears would come to his eyes.
In his youth he practised intensively, and stayed in retreat for a total of twenty years. He had four sons, each of whom is now an important Buddhist master in his own right: Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Mingyur Rinpoche.
When he left Tibet he went to Sikkim and then settled in Nepal at Nagi Gompa Hermitage, in the mountains above the Kathmandu valley. He was the first lama to spread the Tibetan Buddhist teachings to Malaysia. In 1980 Tulku Urgyen went on a world tour encompassing Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, Great Britain, the USA, Hong Kong and Singapore. In his later years, however, he did not travel much and his many students, both Eastern and Western, would go to Nepal to visit him.
Tulku Urgyen accomplished a great deal in his life. He constructed and restored many temples, and established six monasteries and retreat centres in the Kathmandu region. He had over three hundred monks and nuns under his guidance. In particular he built a monastery and three-year retreat centre at the site of the sacred cave of Asura, the site of Padmasambhava’s famous retreat. He also re-established some traditional annual prayer gatherings in exile.
In his childhood he had been recognized by the Fifteenth Karmapa Khakhyap Dorje, as the reincarnation of the master Chöwang Tulku, and he was also an emanation of Nupchen Sangye Yeshe, one of the twenty-five main disciples of Padmasambhava. He was the lineage holder of many teaching transmissions, especially that of the terma teachings of his great grandfather Chokgyur Lingpa. He transmitted the Dzogchen Desum teachings to such masters as Sixteenth Karmapa, Dudjom Rinpoche, and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche as well as thousands of other disciples. Tulku Urgyen was especially close to the Karmapa—one of his root teachers—and to Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, with both of whom there was a powerful bond of mutual respect.
Tulku Urgyen is the author of several books in English, including ''Repeating the Words of the Buddha'' and ''Rainbow Painting''. He also supervised many English translations of Tibetan texts and teachings carried out by his Western students, and gave the name Rangjung Yeshe to the publishing imprint established to make these and other Dharma works available in the West.
He was famed for his profound meditative realization and for the concise, lucid and humorous style with which he imparted the essence of the teachings. Using few words, he would point out the nature of mind, revealing a natural simplicity and wakefulness that enables the student to actually touch the heart of the Buddha’s wisdom mind. In this method of instruction, he was unmatched.
Tulku Urgyen passed away peacefully on 13th February 1996 (the 24th day of the 12th month of the Wood Pig year), at Nagi Gompa. At that time the sky overhead was clear and completely cloudless for two days, which is traditionally seen as a sign that a highly realized master is passing on.
The ''yangsi'' of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, named Urgyen Jigme Rabsel Dawa, was born in 2001. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Tulku_Urgyen_Rinpoche Rigpa Wiki])
V
There are at least two Indian authors known by the name Vairocanarakṣita, as well as being the full ordination name of the famous Tibetan translator Vairocana (bai ro tsa na). Of the two Indians, the first was an 11th century scholar from Vikramaśīla, while the second, known also as Vairocanavajra, lived about a century later and spent time in Tibet in the mid-12th century. Based on the literary output of these two figures, with the former producing works on sūtra and the latter more focused on tantra and mahāmudrā, Brunnhölzl suggests the 11th century Vairocanarakṣita as the most likely candidate for the authorship of the ''Mahāyānottaratantraśāstraṭippanī''. However, BDRC seems to conflate these two figures, perhaps even all three, with attributions of their individual works and translations included in the Tibetan canon linking to a single page. Though, it is clear that some of these texts, such as the commentaries on the works of Śāntideva belong to the 11th century Vairocanarakṣita, as they were translated by Ngok Lotsāwa who predates the 12th century Vairocanarakṣita. While, others works linked to the same page should certainly be attributed to this second Vairocanarakṣita, a.k.a. Vairocanavajra, as he was well known among early Kagyu masters for his teaching activities and his translations of several crucial ''dohas'' that helped form the basis of the Kagyu mahāmudrā tradition. +
Robina Courtin (born 20 December 1944, in Melbourne, Australia) is a Buddhist nun in the Tibetan Buddhist Gelugpa tradition and lineage of Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In 1996 she founded the Liberation Prison Project, which she ran until 2009.
Courtin was raised Catholic, and in her youth was interested in becoming a Carmelite nun. In her young adulthood, she trained as a classical singer while living in London during the late 1960s. She became a feminist activist and worked on behalf of prisoners' rights in the early 1970s. In 1972 she moved back to Melbourne. Courtin began studying martial arts in 1974, living in New York City and, again, back in Melbourne. In 1976, she took a Buddhist course taught by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa in Queensland.
In 1978 Courtin ordained at Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala. She was Editorial Director of Wisdom Publications until 1987 and Editor of Mandala until 2000. She left Mandala to teach and to develop the Liberation Prison Project.
Robina Courtin's work has been featured in two documentary films, Christine Lundberg's On the Road Home (1998) and Amiel Courtin–Wilson's Chasing Buddha (2000), and in Vicki Mackenzie's book ''Why Buddhism?'' (2003). Her nephew's film, Chasing Buddha, documents Courtin's life and her work with death row inmates in the Kentucky State Penitentiary. In 2000, the film was nominated for best direction in a documentary by the Australian Film Institute.
In 2001, Courtin created Chasing Buddha Pilgrimage, which lead pilgrimages to Buddhist holy sites in India, Nepal, and Tibet to raise money for the Liberation Prison Project, an association engaged for the Tibetan cause. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robina_Courtin Source Accessed Nov 18, 2020]) +
Phra Visuddhisamvarathera AM, known as Ajahn Brahmavaṃso, or simply Ajahn Brahm (born Peter Betts on 7 August 1951), is a British-Australian Theravada Buddhist monk. Currently Ajahn Brahm is the Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery, in Serpentine, Western Australia, Spiritual Adviser to the Buddhist Society of Victoria, Spiritual Adviser to the Buddhist Society of South Australia, Spiritual Patron of the Buddhist Fellowship in Singapore, Patron of the Brahm Centre in Singapore, Spiritual Adviser to the Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project in the UK, and the Spiritual Director of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia (BSWA). ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajahn_Brahm Source Accessed Nov 12, 2020]) +
The Venerable Cheng Kuan is the founder, president, and abbot of Americana Buddhist Temple (Michigan) and Mahavairocana Temple (Taiwan), as well as the founder and president of the Neo-carefree Garden Buddhist Canon Translation Institute (Taiwan).
He became an ordained Buddhist monk in 1988 under Master Hsien-Ming (the 45th-generation patriarchate holder of the Tien-Tai sect).
Born in 1947 in Taipei, Taiwan, he graduated from the English department of Taiwan Normal University (1977–1978) and attended graduate school at Texas Christian University (1979–1982).
His publications include many translations of Buddhist sutras: ''The Sutra of 42 Chapters'' (2005), ''The Diamond Sutra'' (2005), ''The Altar Sutra'' (2005), ''The Sutra of Consumate Enlightenment'' (2009), ''The Sutra of Terra-Treasure'' (2009), ''The Heart Sutra'' (2012), and ''The Lotus Sutra of Wondrous Dharma'' (2014).
His other writings in English include: ''The Sweet Dews of Ch'an'' (1995), ''Three Contemplations toward Buddha Nature'' (2002), and ''Tapping the Inconceivable'' (2002). (Source: Adapted from author's biography in ''Three Contemplations Toward Buddha Nature'', 2018) +
Now 60 years old, Venerable Dhammadipa (lay name Thomas Peter Gutman) was born in Czechoslovakia in 1949. He studied Chinese Literature and Philosophy at Prague University, graduating in 1969, and then studied Russian literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he received a degree in 1973.<br> In the late seventies Venerable began his Buddhist studies in Berlin, where he had immigrated as a refugee after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. In 1977 he received a master's degree in Chinese literature and philosophy at the University of Paris. In 1979, he enrolled at Nalanda University in India (where he also taught French and German) to study Sanskrit and Buddhist Philosophy. After receiving a degree at Nalanda in 1984, he returned to serve as the Associate Librarian at Berlin University.<br> In 1986, Venerable Dhammadipa went to Japan and studied under Zen Master Harada Serrei Roshi of the S t school (Caodong in Chinese) practice. He was given a Dharma name as Xing-Kong (meaning Nature of Emptiness).<br> In 1987, with the encouragement of Venerable Athurugiriye Nyanavimala Mahathera, Venerable Wijayasoma Mahathera, and Venerable Dikwelle Mahinda, he ordained as a monk in Meetirigala and was given a Dharma name as Dhammadipa (island of Buddhism or Dharma). He received the full Theravada Bhiksu ordination in Sri Lanka where he practiced meditation under the guidance of his preceptor, Venerable Nanarama Mahathera. In 1989, he received the Three Fold ordination as a Mahayana Monk in Hsi Lai Temple, Los Angeles and began Dharma teaching in US, Germany and Taiwan. ([http://dhammadipa.info/Bio.htm Source Accessed Aug 13, 2020]) +
A 12th to 13th century Indian scholar that, like his teacher Śākyaśrībhadra, was active in Tibet. He wrote several works that are preserved in Tibetan translation, including a commentary on the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' in which he is also recorded as the translator. +
Satish Chandra Vidyabhusan was born in 1870 in Rajbari District, British India. His father, Pitambar Vidyavagish, was a Pandit and astronomer. In 1888, Satish Chandra passed entrance from Nabadwip Hindu School, and in 1892 passed the B.A with Sanskrit Honours from Krishnagar Government College with a gold medal. He was the first Indian who obtain M.A degree in Pali from Calcutta University.<br> Vidyabhushan was known for his distinguished knowledge in Indian logic and Tibetan Buddhist Texts. He, along with Sarat Chandra Das, prepared the Tibetan-English dictionary. Vidyabhusan went to Śri Lanka in 1910 for study and on his return he was appointed the Principal of Sanskrit College, Kolkata. He became the Assistant editor of the Buddhist Text Society. He edited the magazine of Bangiya Sahitya Parisad for 22 years. Vidyabhushan was a linguist having knowledge in Buddhist literature, Chinese, Japanese, German and French language. Vidyabhushan authored a number of books on Buddhist Tibetan culture, logic, Sanskrit and Systems of Indian Philosophy. In 1906 he received the title of Mahamahopadhyaya and got Ph.D. in 1908.
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satish_Chandra_Vidyabhusan Adapted from Source July 3, 2020]) +
Markus Viehbeck works as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of South Asian, Tibetan, and Buddhist Studies, University of Vienna. In the past he has been employed as researcher and lecturer at the same institute and, between 2010 and 2018, has served as Assistant Professor at the Chair of Buddhist Studies, Cluster "Asia & Europe," University of Heidelberg. His research interests address diverse topics within Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan intellectual history, and the interlinkage of religious and social history, with a focus on working with textual sources. His publications include ''Polemics in Indo-Tibetan Scholasticism'' (Vienna, 2014) and ''Transcultural Encounters in the Himalayan Borderlands: Kalimpong as a "Contact Zone"'' (Heidelberg, 2017). In a new project he studies Tibetan canonical literature and contributes to building up a comprehensive database at [https://www.istb.univie.ac.at/kanjur/rktsneu/sub/index.php Resources for Kanjur & Tanjur Studies (rKTs)] +
Kevin Vose is a professor of religious studies at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He received his PhD in Buddhist studies from the University of Virginia. His research examines the interplay of late-Indian and early-Tibetan Madhyamaka and the formation of Tibetan scholasticism.
Professor Vose's current research concerns a thirty-volume collection of recently discovered Tibetan manuscripts from the Kadampa (bka' gdams pa) order. These manuscripts were recovered from one of the few monastic libraries to survive the Cultural Revolution in Tibet. Within this collection, he's examining several eleventh- and twelfth-century texts pertaining to the formation of Tibetan Madhyamaka ("Middle Way") philosophy.
His first monograph was ''Resurrecting Candrakirti: Disputes in the Tibetan Creation of Prasangika''. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2008. ([http://www.wm.edu/as/religiousstudies/faculty/vose_k.php Source Accessed March 25, 2020]) +
W
Norman Waddell born in Washington, D.C. in 1940, was attracted to Japan by the works of the legendary D. T. Suzuki and his protégée R. H. Blyth, taught at Otani University for over thirty years, and was editor of the Eastern Buddhist Journal for several decades. He has published more than a dozen books on Japanese Zen Buddhism and is considered one of the finest translators of sacred texts of our time. He is the authoritative English translator of works by and about Hakuin.
He is the translator of: ''The Complete Poison Blossoms from a Thicket of Thorn: The Zen Record of Zen Master Hakuin''; ''Poison Blossoms from a Thicket of Thorn''; ''The Religious Art of Zen Master Hakuin''; and ''The Old Tea Seller''. (Source: [https://www.counterpointpress.com/authors/norman-waddell/ Counterpoint Press]) +
Ives Waldo (Rime Lodro Waldo) studied with Trungpa Rinpoche from 1970 to 1988, and was trained in Tibetan translation as a member of the Nalanda Translation Committee, of which he is still a member. He participated in the translations of ''The Rain of Wisdom, The Life of Marpa'', and many liturgical texts. He has also recently worked on ''The Life of Tilopa''. ([http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/Ives_Waldo Source Accessed Sept 18, 2020]) +
Arthur David Waley (born Arthur David Schloss, 19 August 1889 – 27 June 1966) was an English orientalist and sinologist who achieved both popular and scholarly acclaim for his translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry. Among his honours were the CBE in 1952, the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1953, and he was invested as a Companion of Honour in 1956.
Although highly learned, Waley avoided academic posts and most often wrote for a general audience. He chose not to be a specialist but to translate a wide and personal range of classical literature. Starting in the 1910s and continuing steadily almost until his death in 1966, these translations started with poetry, such as ''A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems'' (1918) and ''Japanese Poetry: The Uta'' (1919), then an equally wide range of novels, such as ''The Tale of Genji'' (1925–26), an 11th-century Japanese work, and ''Monkey'', from 16th-century China. Waley also presented and translated Chinese philosophy, wrote biographies of literary figures, and maintained a lifelong interest in both Asian and Western paintings.
A recent evaluation called Waley "the great transmitter of the high literary cultures of China and Japan to the English-reading general public; the ambassador from East to West in the first half of the 20th century", and went on to say that he was "self-taught, but reached remarkable levels of fluency, even erudition, in both languages. It was a unique achievement, possible (as he himself later noted) only in that time, and unlikely to be repeated. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Waley Source Accessed Apr 22, 2020]) +
Dynamic lecturer, progressive scholar, and one of the most prolific writers and translators of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D., continually seeks innovative ways to integrate Buddhist contemplative practices with Western science to advance the study of the mind.
Dr. Wallace, a scholar and practitioner of Buddhism since 1970, has taught Buddhist theory and meditation worldwide since 1976. Having devoted fourteen years to training as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, ordained by H. H. the Dalai Lama, he went on to earn an undergraduate degree in physics and the philosophy of science at Amherst College and a doctorate in religious studies at Stanford. ([http://www.alanwallace.org Source Accessed Nov 17, 2020]) +
Walter Liebenthal (12 June 1886 – 15 November 1982), was a German philosopher and sinologist who specialized in Chinese Buddhism. He translated many philosophical works from Pali, Sanskrit and specially from Chinese into German. Based upon his extensive research in Indian Buddhism and Chinese religion, one of his main conclusions was that early Chinese Buddhism through Ch'an (Zen-) was not a Chinese version of Indian Buddhism, but rather, that it developed from Taoism, a Chinese religion. Indian concepts are present, but at the core it represents a Chinese perspective. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Liebenthal Source Accessed March 31, 2020]) +
Tsering Wangchuk is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Francisco. His areas of specialization include the intellectual history of Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhist Studies, and history of religions. He has published articles with several peer-reviewed journals. He teaches classes on Buddhism and Himalayan religions and cultures. He is also the Blum Chair in Himalayan Studies. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville and came to USF in 2011. ([https://www.usfca.edu/faculty/tsering-wangchuk Source Accessed Jan 3, 2018]) +
Dorji Wangchuk was born in 1967 in East Bhutan. After the completion of his ten year training (1987–1997) in the Tibetan monastic seminary of Ngagyur Nyingma Institute at Bylakuppe, Mysore, South India, he studied classical Indology and Tibetology, with a focus on Buddhism, at the University of Hamburg, where he received his MA (2002) and PhD (2005) degrees. Currently he is professor for Tibetology at the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg. His special field of interest lies in the intellectual history of Tibetan Buddhism and in the Tibetan Buddhist literature. (Source: [http://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/indtib/Personen.html Hamburg University]) +
Taklung Tsetrul Pema Wangyal Rinpoche, the eldest son of the late Kangyur Rinpoche. Pema Wangyal Rinpoche was born in Rong Dakmar, central Tibet. His family escaped from Tibet in 1958 and eventually resettled in Darjeeling, India. After Kangyur Rinpoche passed away in 1975, Pema Wangyal Rinpoche and his family settled in Dordogne, France.
Under the guidance of Kyabje Kangyur Rinpoche, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, and other great masters of Tibetan Buddhism, Pema Wangyal Rinpoche has studied extensively and spent many years in retreat.
Dedicated to continuing the activities of his teachers and aspiring to fulfil their wishes, Pema Wangyal Rinpoche has shaped the organization’s activities for more than three decades. With his intimate knowledge of the needs of the Tibetan community in exile, as well as Himalayan communities in need, he has continuously cared for the needs of Tibetan people with the help of international donors. Rinpoche frequently travels to Asia to oversee educational, cultural and development projects.
Rinpoche has been active as a teacher since 1975, giving teachings at the request of Dharma groups and institutions around the world, making the teachings accessible in the form of seminars, courses, and providing students with individual guidance. Since 1980, Rinpoche has been guiding the traditional three-year intensive practise and study retreats in France. In 2000, Rinpoche established the ‘parallel retreats’ as an alternative to the three-year retreat, allowing Buddhist practioners with families to follow a cycle of teachings similar to that of an intensive retreat.
Pema Wangyal Rinpoche’s longstanding concern with the preservation of rare texts has led him to initiate many projects centred on the conservation and restoration of ancient manuscripts, their calligraphic or computer transcription and reprinting. He also supervises the translation and preservation work of the Padmakara Translation Group in France. ([http://www.songtsen.org/chanteloube/EN/tchrs_pema_wangyal_rinpoche.php Source Accessed June 28, 2022])
Wayman joined Columbia in 1966 as a visiting associate professor of religion. In 1967, he was appointed professor of Sanskrit in the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures, a position he held until his retirement in 1991. During his tenure, Wayman taught classes in classical Sanskrit, Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit, Indian and Tibetan Religions and the history of astrology.
While at Columbia, he was a member of the administrative committee of the Southern Asian Institute. He also served as senior editor of The Buddhist Traditions Series (with 30 volumes to date) published by Motilal Banarsidass in Delhi, India.
Wayman authored 12 books, including ''Buddhist Tantric Systems'', ''Untying the Knots in Buddhism'', ''Enlightenment of Vairocana'', and ''A Millennium of Buddhist Logic''. He co-authored a translation of the 3rd-century Buddhist scripture ''Lion's Roar of Queen Shrimala'' with his wife, Hideko. Her knowledge of Chinese and Japanese sources complemented his research and translation of Sanskrit and Tibetan sources.
An honorary volume, titled ''Researches in Indian and Buddhist Philosophy (essays in honor of Prof. Alex Wayman)'', edited by Ram Karan Sharma, was published in 1993 to commemorate the many years that Wayman devoted to scholarly research on Indian topics. ([https://lists.h-net.org/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-asia&month=0411&week=b&msg=Mjh17lJ%2B2gHmOKM2On16yg&user=&pw= Source Accessed Aug 10, 2020])] +
Weijing was one of the few Chinese monks that figured prominently in the translation activities of the Song, "who never visited India, but was trained in Buddhism and Sanskrit at the Institute for the Transmission of the Dharma in the Song capital" (Tansen Sen, ''Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade'' [Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield 2016], 127). A native of Jinling (present-day Nanjing), "Weijing is noted to have shown tremendous talent in learning and understanding Sanskrit texts. Within a year [after arriving at the Institute], he was ordained and began participating in the translation projects as a translator-scribe" (Sen, 128). Furthermore, "many of Dharmapāla's translations were completed with the help of Weijing. Both Dharmapāla and Weijing are also credited with comiling the Sanskrit-Chinese dictionary ''Jingyou Tianzhu ziyuan'' 景祐天 竺字源 (Phrase Book of Indian Words [Complied during the] Jingyou [Period])" (Sen, 128). +
Lai Wai-lun was born on July 8, 1944 in Canton, People's Republic China. He is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Davis. He was a Fellow of the United Board of Xian Higher Education from 1964–1968 at Harvard University, Yenching, a Kent Fellow from 1969–1974, and he is a member of the Society for the Study of Chinese Religions at the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions. ([https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/WhalenLai.html Source Accessed Jan 20, 2020]) +
Professor Waldron teaches courses on the South Asian religious traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, Tibetan religion and history, comparative psychologies and philosophies of mind, and theory and method in the study of religion. His publications focus on the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism and its dialogue with modern thought. Professor Waldron has been at Middlebury College since 1996. His monograph, ''The Buddhist Unconscious: The Ālaya-vijñāna in the Context of Indian Buddhist Thought'', was published by RoutledgeCurzon in 2003. ([http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/igs/faculty/node/25351 Source Accessed April 15, 2020]) +
Paul Williams (b. 1950) is Emeritus Professor of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy at the University of Bristol, England. Until his retirement in 2011 he was also director for the University's Centre for Buddhist Studies, and is a former President of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies.<br> Williams studied at the University of Sussex's School of African & Asian Studies where he graduated with a first class BA in 1972. He then went on to study Buddhist Philosophy at Wadham College, University of Oxford, where he was awarded his DPhil in 1978. His main research interests are Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy, Mahayana Buddhism, and Medieval philosophical and mystical thought.<br> Williams was a Buddhist himself for many years but has since converted to Roman Catholicism, an experience he wrote about in his book ''The Unexpected Way'' and in an article, "On Converting from Buddhism to Catholicism – One Convert's Story." He is now a professed lay member of the Dominican Order. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Williams_(Buddhist_studies_scholar) Source Accessed April 16, 2020]) +
Jeff Wilson is an ordained minister in the Hongwanji-ha tradition of Shin Buddhism and a professor of religious studies and East Asian studies at Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Ontario. He has published pioneering research on the history of same-sex wedding ceremonies in North America and is the author of ''Buddhism of the Heart'' and ''Mindful America''. ([https://www.lionsroar.com/the-path-of-gratitude/ Source Accessed Nov 12, 2019]) +
Joe Bransford Wilson is Associate Professor of Asian Philosophy and Religion at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies (specializing in Tibetan Buddhism) from the University of Virginia in 1984. He is the author of ''Translating Buddhism from Tibetan'', as well as number of articles dealing with Indian and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. His current research focuses on Yogācāra in Tibet and historiographic issues underlying Buddhist histories of philosophy. ([https://www.thlib.org/encyclopedias/literary/genres/genres-book.php#!book=/studies-in-genres/c1/ Source Accessed Jul 22, 2020]) +
X
Xuanzang [ɕɥɛ̌n.tsâŋ] (Chinese: 玄奘; fl. c. 602 – 664) was a Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator who travelled to India in the seventh century and described the interaction between Chinese Buddhism and Indian Buddhism during the early Tang dynasty.[1][2]
During the journey he visited many sacred Buddhist sites in what are now Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. He was born in what is now Henan province around 602, from boyhood he took to reading religious books, including the Chinese classics and the writings of ancient sages.
While residing in the city of Luoyang (in Henan in Central China), Xuanzang was ordained as a ''śrāmaṇera'' (novice monk) at the age of thirteen. Due to the political and social unrest caused by the fall of the Sui dynasty, he went to Chengdu in Sichuan, where he was ordained as a bhikṣu (full monk) at the age of twenty. He later travelled throughout China in search of sacred books of Buddhism. At length, he came to Chang'an, then under the peaceful rule of Emperor Taizong of Tang, where Xuanzang developed the desire to visit India. He knew about Faxian's visit to India and, like him, was concerned about the incomplete and misinterpreted nature of the Buddhist texts that had reached China.[3]
He became famous for his seventeen-year overland journey to India (including Nalanda), which is recorded in detail in the classic Chinese text ''Great Tang Records on the Western Regions'', which in turn provided the inspiration for the novel ''Journey to the West'' written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming dynasty, around nine centuries after Xuanzang's death.[4]
During Xuanzang's travels, he studied with many famous Buddhist masters, especially at the famous center of Buddhist learning at Nalanda. When he returned, he brought with him some 657 Sanskrit texts. With the emperor's support, he set up a large translation bureau in Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), drawing students and collaborators from all over East Asia. He is credited with the translation of some 1,330 fascicles of scriptures into Chinese. His strongest personal interest in Buddhism was in the field of Yogācāra (瑜伽行派), or Consciousness-only (唯識).
The force of his own study, translation and commentary of the texts of these traditions initiated the development of the Faxiang school (法相宗) in East Asia. Although the school itself did not thrive for a long time, its theories regarding perception, consciousness, karma, rebirth, etc., found their way into the doctrines of other more successful schools. Xuanzang's closest and most eminent student was Kuiji (窺基) who became recognized as the first patriarch of the Faxiang school. Xuanzang's logic, as described by Kuiji, was often misunderstood by scholars of Chinese Buddhism because they lack the necessary background in Indian logic.[32] Another important disciple was the Korean monk Woncheuk.
Xuanzang was known for his extensive but careful translations of Indian Buddhist texts to Chinese, which have enabled subsequent recoveries of lost Indian Buddhist texts from the translated Chinese copies. He is credited with writing or compiling the ''Cheng Weishi Lun'' as a commentary on these texts. His translation of the Heart Sutra became and remains the standard in all East Asian Buddhist sects; as well, this translation of the Heart Sutra was generally admired within the traditional Chinese gentry and is still widely respected as numerous renowned past and present Chinese calligraphers have penned its texts as their artworks.[33] He also founded the short-lived but influential Faxiang school of Buddhism. Additionally, he was known for recording the events of the reign of the northern Indian emperor, Harsha. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanzang Source Accessed Feb 5, 2020])
====notes====
1. Wriggins, Sally (27 November 2003). The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang (1 ed.). Washington DC: Westview press (Penguin). ISBN 978-0813365992.<br>
2. Upinder Singh (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education. p. 563. ISBN 9788131716779.<br>
3. Wriggins, Sally (27 November 2003). The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang. New York: Westview (Penguin). ISBN 978-0813365992.<br>
4. Cao Shibang (2006). "Fact versus Fiction: From Record of the Western Regions to Journey to the West". In Wang Chichhung (ed.). Dust in the Wind: Retracing Dharma Master Xuanzang's Western Pilgrimage. p. 62. Retrieved 2 February 2014.<br>
32. See Eli Franco, "Xuanzang's proof of idealism." Horin 11 (2004): 199-212.<br>
33. "Heart Sutra Buddhism". Vincent's Calligraphy. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
Y
Kosho Yamamoto was a scholar of Buddhist Studies. He is the author/translator of numerous works, including ''The Udumbara: Tales from the Buddhist Japan'' (1959), ''The Buddha: An Appreciation of His Life and Teaching'' (1961), ''An Introduction to Shin Buddhism'' (1965), ''The Life of the Buddha Through Gandhara Sculptures'', and ''The Kyogyoshinsho, or The 'Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Attainment' '' (1975), among many others. He is perhaps known most for his complete English translation of Dharmakṣema's version of the ''Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' (1973-75). In 1967 he traveled to Europe (including Spain, The Netherlands, Germany and the U.K.) to meet with prominent members of the Buddhist community at that time (such as Christmas Humphreys and Maurice Walshe in England). He wrote a book about his observations that same year, entitled ''Buddhism in Europe''. While his translation of the ''Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' has been criticized for its various imperfections, his work was indeed historic and pioneering, influencing a generation of scholars who studied the text. +
Philip Boas Yampolsky (October 20, 1920 – July 28, 1996) was an eminent translator and scholar of Zen Buddhism and a former Director of the C. V. Starr East Asian Library of Columbia University. A scholar of Chinese and Japanese religious traditions and a specialist in Zen studies, Yampolsky was known for his translations of canonical Zen writings, which were used as textbooks in both graduate and undergraduate Asian studies courses in American universities. His style was regarded as highly analytical.
Yampolsky’s translations included the ''Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch'' (1967) and ''The Zen Master Hakuin: Selected Writings'' (1971), both published by Columbia University Press. Yampolsky's last books before his death, ''Selected Writings of Nichiren'' and ''Letters of Nichiren'', translated and elucidated the writings of the 13th century Buddhist intellectual and reformer whose thoughts inspired religious and political movements that remain active in Japan to this day. These books were published by Columbia University Press in 1990 and 1996.
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Yampolsky Source Accessed July 14, 2021]) +
Yijing. (J. Gijō; K. Ǔijǒng 義淨) (635-713). Chinese Buddhist monk and pilgrim. Ordained at the age of twenty, Yijing dreamed of following in the footsteps of the renowned pilgrims Faxian and Xuanzang. He eventually set out for India in 671 via the Southern maritime route. After visiting the major Indian pilgrimage sites (see mahāsthāna), Yijing traveled to the monastic university at Nālandā, where he remained for the next ten years. On his return trip to China, Yijing stopped at Śrīvijaya (Palembang in Sumatra) to continue his studies. He praised the monks there for their high level of learning, describing them as primarily Hīnayāna in affiliation. It was in Śrīvijaya that he began to compose his record of his travels, the ''Nanhai jigui neifa zhuan'', which remains an important source on the practice of Buddhism in the many regions where he traveled and for understanding the various nikāya affiliations of the period. It was also during his time in Śrīvijaya that Yijing began his translation of the massive ''Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya''. When he ran out of paper and ink, he made a brief trip back to China in 689 to retrieve more writing supplies and then returned to Śrīvijaya. After a thirty=year sojourn overseas, Yijing finally returned to China in 695 with some four hundred Sanskrit texts and three hundred grains of the Buddha's relics (''śarīra''). Yijing was warmly welcomed in the capital of Luoyang by Empress Wu Zetian, who appointed him to the monastery of Foshoujisi. Later, from 695 to 699, Yijing participated in Śikṣānanda's new translation of the ''Avataṃsakasūtra'' and devoted the next decade or so to the translation of the scriptures that he had brought back with him from India. In addition to the ''Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya'', his translations also include several important Yogācāra treatises and tantras. His writings also include a collection of the biographies of renowned East Asian Buddhist pilgrims to India, the Da Tang xiyu qiufa gaoseng zhuan. (Source: "Yijing." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 1028. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
