Magee, W.

Magee, W. on the DRL

Professors • Translators

Bill Albert Magee

English Phonetics	William Magee
Sort Name	Magee

Dates

Birth:	1949
Death:	2023

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Contact information

Website:	https://uma-tibet.org/author-magee.html

About

Primary Affiliation (Workplace)

Maitripa College

Secondary Affiliation

UMA Institute for Tibetan Studies

PhD University

University of Virginia

Education

Ph.D. University of Virginia, Department of Religious Studies, 1998. Dissertation: “Tradition and Innovation in the Consequence School: Svabhāva in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism.”

Biographical Information

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. (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.

Curriculum Vitae

https://uma-tibet.org/bod/cv/magee_cv.pdf

Links

Wiki Pages

• Magee, W. on the DRL
• Magee, W. on the LIB
• Magee, 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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William Albert Magee

Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain.

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.