Gimello, R.

Gimello, R. on the DRL

Professors Emeritus

Robert M. Gimello

English Phonetics	Robert M. Gimello

Dates

Birth:	1942

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

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Month
Gender
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Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
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Rab Jyung

About

Primary Affiliation (Workplace)

University of Notre Dame, Department of Theology

PhD University

Columbia University

Education

Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University, 1976; M.A. in Chinese, Seton Hall University, 1965; B.A. in English & Asian Studies, Seton Hall University, 1964

Biographical Information

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. (Source Accessed June 12, 2019)

Curriculum Vitae

Robert M. Gimello 詹密羅 Brief Curriculum Vitae (November 2018)

Specialist in the history of E. Asian religions. Chief research and teaching interests: the history of Buddhism in E. Asia (particularly China, but also Korea and Japan); theology of religions; comparative mysticism; philosophy of religion; religion and visual culture.

Formal Education:

• B.A. in English & Asian Studies, Seton Hall University, 1964
• M.A. in Chinese, Seton Hall University, 1965
• Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University, 1976
• Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Tokyo, 1979

Academic Appointments:

• Columbia University, Preceptor & Associate in E. Asian Languages & Civilizations, 1969-71
• Dartmouth College, Department of Religion: Lecturer, 1971-75
• King's College, University of London, Faculty of Theology: Visiting Lecturer, 1974
• University of California at Santa Barbara, Department of Religious Studies:
• Assistant Professor, 1976-79 , Associate Professor, 1979-81
• University of Arizona:
• Professor of Oriental Studies and Head of the Department of Oriental Studies, 1981-1987
• Professor of East Asian Studies and Religious Studies, 1987-2000
• Acting Associate Dean of the College of Humanities, 1991-1993
• Acting Head of the Departments of French & Italian and East Asian Studies 1997-98
• Head of the Department of French and Italian, 1998-99
• Professor Emeritus of East Asian Studies, 2001-
• Chinese Institute of Buddhist Studies (Zhonguo Foxue Yanjiusuo 中國佛學研究所 — Taipei): Visiting Professor, 1992
• Ruprecht-Karl Universität Heidelberg, Sinologisches Seminar: Visiting Professor, 1994
• Eötvös Loránd University (Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem), Budapest: Visiting Professor of Chinese Studies, Summer 2000
• The Charles University (Universitas Carolina/Univerzity Karlovy), Prague: Visiting Professor of Chinese Studies, Summer 2002
• Harvard University, Dept. of East Asian Languages & Civilizations: Visiting Professor, 1999–2006
• Seoul National University, Visiting Professor: Winter 2006
• University of Notre Dame, Research Prof. of Theology & E Asian Languages & Cultures: 2006-
• Stanford University, Shinnyo-en 真如苑 Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies: Spring-Summer 2010

• Major fellowships and grants from, among others, the US Department of Education, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Japan Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation.

• Extensive research travel in Asia; guest lecturer at numerous institutions in the US and abroad.

• Recipient (twice) of the University of Arizona "Award for Superior Teaching."

• Former President of the Society for the Study of Chinese Religions (1989 to 1991); service on numerous professional boards, committees, etc.

Some Recent Publications:

• "Icon and Incantation: The Goddess Zhunti 准提 and the Rôle of Images in the Occult Buddhism of China," in Images in Asian Religions: Texts and Contexts, edited by Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2004): 225-256.

• Entry on "Enlightenment" in The Encyclopedia of Buddhism, edited by Robert E. Buswell. New York: Macmillan, Thompson, Gale, 2004.

• "Echoes of the Dìlùn 地論 (Asaṅga's Treatise on the Ten Stages of the Bodhisattva Path) in the Thought of Ŭisang 義湘," in Jiron shisō no keisei to hen'yō 地論思想の形成と変容 (The Formation and Transformation of the Thought of the Treatise on the Stages), ed. by the Geumgang University Center for the Study of Buddhist Culture 金剛大學校佛教文化研究所. Tokyo: Kokusho kankōkai 国書刊 行会, 2010. (Note: A Korean translation of this book, including a Korean translation of my article, was separately published in Seoul by Geumgang University Press, also in 2010.)

• Avataṃsaka Buddhism in East Asia: Origins and Adaptations of a Visual Culture, coedited with Frédéric Girard (Paris) and Imre Hamar (Budapest). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2012.

• "A Depth of Otherness: Buddhism and Benedict XVI's Theology of Religions," in Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI, edited by John C. Cavadini (Notre Dame, Indian: University of Notre Dame Press, 2012): 114-141.

• "Shijian yu chushijian "huaijing": Wutaishan "shensheng" foshan de youlai" 世间与出世间'坏境'： 五台山与'神圣'佛山的由来 ('Environments' Worldly and Otherworldly: Wutaishan and the Origin of a 'Sacred' Buddhist Mountain), Fayin 法音 (Voice of the Dharma) July, 2104 (#359), 29-32.

• "Huayan 華嚴 and Mijiao 密教: Affinities of Doctrine and Practice," Huayan Xuebao 華嚴學報 (Journal of Huayan Studies — Taiwan), No. 8 (2015), 57-103.

Forthcoming:

• A Design for Liberation: An Annotated Translation, with Commentary, of the Inaugural Text of the Korean Huayan 華嚴 (Hwaŏm) Tradition — Ŭisang's 義湘 Diagram of the Realm of Truth According to the One Vehicle (Ilsŭng pŏpkyedo 一乘法界圖). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, forthcoming in 2019.

• "Intimations of Presence in the Religion of Emptiness: A Proposed Focus for Buddhist-Christian Dialogue," in Evangelization as Interreligious Dialogue, ed. by John C. Cavadini and Donald Wallenfang. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, forthcoming in 2019.

• "On the Mutual Entailment of the 'Not-Awake' 不覺 and the 'Awake' 覺 Natures of the Mind in the Thought of Fǎzàng 法藏: An Analysis of Selected Passages from Dàshèng qǐxìn lùn yìjì 大乘起信論義記," Dongya foxue pinglun 东亚佛学评论 (Review of East Asian Buddhist Studies) no. 3, 2019. (Source Accessed June 12, 2019)

Links

Wiki Pages

• Gimello, R. on the DRL
• Gimello, R. on the LIB
• Gimello, R. on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

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Expand to see this person's philosophical positions on Buddha-nature.

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
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All beings have Buddha-nature
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If "Qualified", explain:
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Which Wheel Turning
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Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
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Zhentong vs Rangtong
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Promotes how many vehicles?
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Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
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Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
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Causal nature of the vajrapāda
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The esoteric Buddhist tradition which developed as a syncretic system involving deity worship, use of mantras, physical energy, and mystical practices. It is also known as the mantra tradition and the tantric school as a result of being based on texts known as tantras.

A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to Buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have Bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses.

Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true.

Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana).

Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature.

The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena.

Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana.