Mather, R.

Mather, R. on the DRL

English Phonetics	Richard B. Mather

Dates

Birth:	1913/11/11
Death:	2014/11/28
Place of birth:	Baoding, China

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 Minnesota

Education

Ph.D. in Chinese literature, University of California, Berkeley (1949). Dissertation: "The Doctrine of Non-Duality in the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra." B.A. Princeton University

Biographical Information

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.
      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. (Source Accessed May 11, 2020)

Links

Wiki Pages

• Mather, R. on the DRL
• Mather, R. on the LIB
• Mather, R. 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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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.