Schopen, G.

Schopen, G. on the DRL

Professors Emeritus

English Phonetics	Gregory Schopen

Dates

Birth:	1947

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 Language:	English
Translates from:	Sanskrit; Tibetan; Chinese
Translates to:	English

Primary Affiliation (Workplace)

University of California, Los Angeles; Deptartment of Asian Languages and Cultures

Biographical Information

Gregory Schopen's work focuses on Indian Buddhist monastic life and early Mahāyāna movements. By looking beyond the Pali Canon in favor of less commonly used sources such as the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya and Indian Buddhist inscriptions, his numerous scholarly works have shifted the field away from Buddhism as portrayed through its own doctrines toward a more realistic picture of the actual lives of Buddhists, both monastic and lay. In this sense, he has seriously challenged many assumptions and myths about Buddhism that had been long perpetuated in earlier Western scholarship. In 1985 he received the MacArthur Fellowship for his work in the field of History of Religion. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015. Four volumes of his collected articles have been published by the University of Hawai'i Press: Buddhist Nuns, Monks, and Other Worldly Matters (2014), Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India (2005), Buddhist Monks and Business Matters (2004), and Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks (1999). (Source Accessed October 21, 2019)

Links

Wiki Pages

• Schopen, G. on the DRL
• Schopen, G. on the LIB
• Schopen, G. 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?
Position:
Notes:
All beings have Buddha-nature
Position:
If "Qualified", explain:
Notes:
Which Wheel Turning
Position:
Notes:
Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
Position:
Notes:
Zhentong vs Rangtong
Position:
Notes:
Promotes how many vehicles?
Position:
Notes:
Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
Position:
Notes:
What is Buddha-nature?
Position:
Notes:
Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
Position:
Notes:
Causal nature of the vajrapāda
Position:

Full Name

Gregory Schopen

Education

M.A. McMaster University, 1975
Ph.D. Australia National University, 1979

Affiliation

Gregory Schopen is professor of Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Buddhist studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Professor Gregory Schopen (MA McMaster University, 1975; PhD ANU, 1979) has taught at the Universities of Michigan, Washington, Indiana, Texas, Stanford, and California. He was awarded a prestigious MacArthur “genius” fellowship (1985-1990) in recognition of his work in Buddhist Studies, which has been described as “Unquestionably the freshest, most exciting scholarship to have emerged in the field in half a century.” Professor Schopen’s numerous publications include:

• Bones, Stones and Buddhist Monks. University of Hawai’i Press, 1997.
• Buddhist Monks and Business Matters. University of Hawai’i Press, 2004.
• Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India. University of Hawai’i Press, 2005.
  

Source

Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion.

Vinaya refers to the corpus of Buddhist teachings on moral discipline and precepts and is one of the three canonical sets of teachings alongside Sūtra and Abhidharma. It also refers to the monastic tradition which has been passed down since the Buddha's time until our time.

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.