McRae, John

McRae, John on the DRL

Authors of English Works • Professors

John R. McRae

English Phonetics	John R. McRae

Dates

Birth:	1947
Death:	2011

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

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Month
Gender
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Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
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Rab Jyung

About

PhD University

Yale University

Biographical Information

John R. McRae was a renowned expert on Chinese Chan who also possessed an extensive knowledge of the field of Buddhism in general. After getting a PhD at Yale University, he taught at Cornell and Indiana Universities before moving to Japan and teaching part-time at Komazawa University. As a specialist in East Asian Buddhism, he was especially interested in ideologies of spiritual cultivation and how they interact with their intellectual and cultural environments. His seminal work on Chinese Chan was The Northern School and the Formation of Early Chan Buddhism, (University of Hawai`i Press, 1986). This was later followed by Seeing through Zen: Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism, (University of California Press, 2003). He spent much of his career studying the life of the important Chan figure Shenhui (684–758), and was expecting to complete a manuscript on the topic before his untimely passing in October of 2011. John also completed a number of translations of Chinese Buddhist scriptural texts for the Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai's English translation series and served as Chair of the Publication Committee for the series until his passing.

For the DDB, John provided explanations for a number of terms derived from his research in Chinese Chan texts. (Source Accessed Nov. 27, 2019)

Links

Wiki Pages

• McRae, John on the DRL
• McRae, John on the LIB
• McRae, John 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

John R. McRae

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.