Robert Mayer
PersonType | Category:Authors of English Works Category:Professors Emeritus |
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MainNamePhon | Robert Mayer |
bio | Robert Mayer joined the Oriental Institute in 2002, where he holds the posts of University Research Lecturer and Research Officer. He completed his BA (Hons) at Bristol, and his PhD at Leiden. His first job was Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Wales, followed by a Visiting Chair in Tibetology at the Humboldt University of Berlin from 1999 to 2001, and after a year in the Anthropology Department at Kent, he came to Oxford in October 2002. He has also twice been a Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College. He is a specialist in the rNying ma school of Tibetan Buddhism, and has published a number of books, monographs and articles, over twenty of them since 2006 for the current REF period, and mostly together with his wife and co-worker, Dr Cathy Cantwell. One of his goals is to clarify the early rNying ma period by studying the Dunhuang texts in context. Another goal is to improve the standards of philology and critical editing within Tibetan Studies. A third goal is to preserve, protect and describe the few surviving witnesses of the once much more plentiful ‘Ancient Tantra Collection’, or rNying ma’i rgyud ‘bum. A researcher by vocation, he and his wife Dr Cathy Cantwell have designed and directed several large research projects, mainly funded by the AHRC. However, he also occasionally teaches and takes graduate students, particularly if their interests overlap with his. Source: Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies |
associatedwebsite | https://www.ames.ox.ac.uk/people/robert-mayer |
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Full Name[edit]
Robert Mayer
Affiliation[edit]
University of Oxford, Research Officer, and Member of the Buddhist Studies Unit: Oriental Institute / Wolfson College
Other Information[edit]
Click here for a short bio at bodyhealthreligion.org.uk
Position: Research Officer, and Member of the Buddhist Studies Unit
Faculty / College Address: Oriental Institute / Wolfson College
Email: robert dot mayer at orinst dot ox dot ac dot uk
Research Interests:
- Early rNying ma tantric tradition
- Critically editing old Tibetan texts
- Dunhuang tantric texts
Current Projects:
- A Critical Edition of the Thabs-kyi zhags-pa padmo 'phreng-ba and a Comparative Study of its Commentary (AHRC)
- A Comparative Study of the Earliest Bon and Buddhist Phur pa traditions (AHRC)
Courses Taught:
- Early Tantric Traditions in Tibet (Lecture series, 2007-2008)
- Early Bon Tantric Literature (Ka ba nag po)
Recent Publications:
Books:
- (with Cathy Cantwell) 2007 The Kīlaya Nirvāna Tantra and the Vajra Wrath Tantra: two texts from the Ancient Tantra Collection, Vienna, The Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. vi, 289 pages, plus editions of texts on cd (529 pages).
- (with Cathy Cantwell) In press Early Tibetan Documents on Phur pa from Dunhuang, Vienna, The Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. (Output of our recently completed AHRC project, A Detailed Study of the Complete Dunhuang Phur-pa Materials, 2004-2007.)
- 1996. A Scripture of the Ancient Tantra Collection. The Phur-pa bcu-gnyis. Oxford and Gartmore: Kiscadale.
Electronic Publications:
- (with Cathy Cantwell and Michael Fischer) The Rig'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu Edition of the rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum: An Illustrated Inventory, CSAC (University of Kent) in association with The British Library (2002-3). Over 1600 pages, http://ngb.csac.anthropology.ac.uk/Title_page_main.html.
Book Chapters and Refereed Journal Articles:
- (with Cathy Cantwell) "The creation and transmission of a textual corpus in the twentieth century: the 'Chi med srog thig", in Jean-Luc Achard, Anne Chayet, Françoise Robin, Cristina Scherrer-Schaub (eds) in press, Publishing and Editing: the evolution and future of writing in Tibet. Munich: Indus Verlag, Collectanea Himalayica.
- (with Cathy Cantwell) "The Dunhuang Thabs kyi zhags pa padma 'phreng Manuscript: a source for understanding the transmission of Mahayoga in Tibet. A progress report". To appear in Kapstein and Imaeda, eds, OTDO monograph series.
- (with Cathy Cantwell) "Continuity and Change in Tibetan Mahayoga Ritual: Some Evidence from the Tabzhag (Thabs zhags) Manuscript and other Dunhuang Texts", in Cabezón, José (ed.) 2009, Tibetan Ritual, New York, OUP.
- (with Cathy Cantwell) "The Dunhuang Phur pa Corpus: A Survey", and "Why did the Phur pa tradition become so prominent in Tibet?", in Almogi, Orna, ed. 2009 Contributions to Tibetan Buddhist Literature. PIATS 2006: Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Königswinter 2006. Beiträge zur Zentralasienforschung 14. Halle: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies (pp. 248-276 and 277-314).
- (with Cathy Cantwell) "Enduring myths: smrang, rabs and ritual in the Dunhuang texts on Padmasambhava", in Pommaret, Françoise and Jean-Luc Achard (eds) 2008 Tibetan Studies in Honor of Samten Karmay, Revue d'Etudes Tibétaines (Langues et Cultures de l'Aire Tibétaines, CNRS, Paris), Vol.15, November 2008: 289-312.
- "Asuras' Caves in Buddhism, and some other themes in early Buddhist tantras reminiscent of the later Padmasambhava legends", Issue 3 of Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, 2007.
- Textual Criticism of the Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum Tradition. In Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Praxis, Ron Davidson and C. Wedemeyer (eds), Brill, Leiden, 2006: 95-121.
- (with Jean-Luc Achard, Cathy Cantwell, Michael Kowalewski) "The sGang steng rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum manuscript from Bhutan", Revue d'Etudes Tibétaines (Langues et Cultures de l'Aire Tibétaines, CNRS, Paris), Special Edition, Vol.11, June 2006. ISSN:1768-2959.
- (with Cathy Cantwell) "A Dunhuang Phurpa Consecration Rite: IOL Tib J 331.II's Consecrations Section", in Matthew Kapstein and Sam van Schaik (eds) Chinese and Tibetan Tantra at Dunhuang, in Special edition of Studies in Central and East Asian Religions, Brill, Leiden [in press].
- 'Pelliot tibétain 349: A Dunhuang Tibetan Text on rDo rje Phur pa'. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies (JIABS) 2004, 27(1):129-164.
- The Figure of Mahesvara/Rudra in the rNying-ma-pa Tantric Tradition. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies (JIABS) 21(2): 271-310, 1998.
- Caskets of Treasures and Visions of Buddhas. In Indian Insights: Buddhism, Brahmanism and Bhakti, ed. S. Hamilton & P. Connolly, pp.137-152. London: Luzac Oriental, 1997.
- Were the gSar-ma-pa polemicists justified in rejecting some rNying-ma-pa Tantras? In Tibetan Studies, vol.1, ed. H.Krasser, M.Torsten Much, E.Steinkellner, H.Tauscher. Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1997.
- The Sa-skya Pandita, the White Panacea, and Clerical Buddhism's Current Credibility Crisis. Tibet Journal 22(3): 79-105, 1997.
- Scriptural Revelation in India and Tibet: Indian Precursors of the gTer-ma tradition. Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Fagernes 1992, ed. Per Kvaerne. Oslo: Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning, 1994.
- (with Cathy Cantwell) A Dunhuang Manuscript on Vajrakilaya. Tibet Journal 19(1): 54-67, 1994.
- Contributions to Tibetan Medical Paintings : Illustrations to the Blue Beryl Treatise of Sangye Gyamtso (1653-1705), ed. Yuri Parfionovitch, Fernand Meyer, and Gyurme Dorje. 2 vols. New York: Abrams, 1992.
- Observations on the Tibetan Phur-pa and the Indian Kila. Buddhist Forum vol. 2, ed. T.Skorupski. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1991.
- Tibetan Phur-pas and Indian Kilas. Tibet Journal 15 (1): 3-41, 1990