Lai, W.

Lai, W. on the DRL

Professors Emeritus • Authors of English Works

English Phonetics	Whalen Lai
Chinese Script	黎惠倫

Alternate names

• Li Huilun

Dates

Birth:	1944/07/08

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Primary Affiliation (Workplace)

University of California, Davis

PhD University

Harvard University

Education

Ph.D., Harvard University (1975). Dissertation: "The Awakening of Faith in Mahayana (Ta-ch'eng ch'i-hsin lun) - A Study of the Unfolding of Sinitic Mahayana Motifs." B.A., International Christian University, Tokyo

Biographical Information

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. (Source Accessed Jan 20, 2020)

Publications

Selected Publications

Books:

• Book co-edited with Lewis Lancaster, Early Ch’an in China and Tibet. (Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1983).

• Book co-authored with Michael von Brueck, Buddhismus und Christentum: Geschichte, Konfrontation, Dialog. Munich: Beck, 1997.

• Partial translation into English, Christianity and Buddhism: A Multicultural History of their Dialogue. New York: Orbia, 2001.

• Encyclopedia Entries in Encyclopedia of Monasticism, ed. William M. Johnston (Chicago London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000).

• Entries on: “Images: Buddhist,” “Conversion/Initiation: Buddhist,” “Scholasticism: Buddhist Spiritual Ladders,” “Master/Disciple: Buddhist,” “Governance: Buddhist,” “Hierocrat: Buddhist,” “Prophethood: Japanese Buddhist,” “Charities/Social Service: Buddhist,” “Gnostic Cosmogony: Buddhist,” “Sacred Topography: Buddhist,” “Intercession for the Dead,” “Economic Justice: Buddhist.”

• Encyclopedia Entries on. “Chinese Buddhism,” “Chinese Myth,” “Hui Shih,” “Kung-sun Lung,” “Ma-tsu Tao-i.” In Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy, ed. Antonio Cua (New York: Routledge, 2003).

• The whole China section in Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, ed. Oliver Leaman (London-New York: Routledge, 2002).

Essays or Chapters in Books

• 1984. "Symbolism of Evil in China: The K'ung-chia Myth Analyzed." History of Religions, 23, 4:316-3 43.

• 1985. "Ma-tsu Tao-i and the Unfolding of Southern Zen." Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, (Special Volume for Heinrich Dumoulin) 12, 4:173-192.

• 1985 (Paper). "The One-Legged and the Three-Legged." Asian Cultural Studies, (International Christian University, Tokyo) 3, A:67–80.

• 1986 (Paper). "Dating the Hsiang-fa Chüeh-i Ching." Annual Memoirs of Otani University Shin Buddhist Comprehensive Research Institute, 4:61–91.

• 2004. “The Earth Mother Scripture: Unmasking the Neo-Archaic.…” Beyond Primitivism: Indigenous Religious Traditions and Modernity, ed. Jacob Olupona (New York: Routledge), pp. 200–213.

• 2004. “The Origin of Ming Buddhist Schism.” Heterodoxy in Late Imperial China, ed. Kwang-Ching Liu and Richard Shek (Honolulu : University of HawaiiPress), pp. 109–135.

• 2003. “The Century of the Holy Man in Chinese History (316-439): The Death of Hsuan-Kao,” In Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, (Special section: “In Memory of Masatoshi Nagatomi”) Third series, 5:143–161.

Links

Wiki Pages

• Lai, W. on the DRL
• Lai, W. on the LIB
• Lai, W. on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

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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What is Buddha-nature?
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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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Full Name

Whalen Lai
Whalen W. Lai

Affiliation

Professor and Director of the Religious Studies Program, University of California-Davis, California.

Other Information

He specializes in Chinese philosophy and East Asian Buddhism and has published numerous works in various academic journals and collections.

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.