Shahar, M.

Shahar, M. on the DRL

Authors of English Works • Professors

English Phonetics	Meir Shahar

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://www.tau.ac.il/~mshahar/

About

Primary Affiliation (Workplace)

Department of East Asian Studies, Tel Aviv University

PhD University

Harvard University

Education

Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, 1992 B.A. Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Biographical Information

Meir Shahar received his undergraduate degree from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. After studying Chinese in Taipei, he went on to pursue graduate studies in the United States, receiving his PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University in 1992. Meir Shahar is currently Professor of Chinese Studies at the Department of East Asian Studies, Tel Aviv University.

Meir Shahar’s research interests include the interplay of Chinese religion and Chinese literature, Chinese martial-arts history, Chinese esoteric Buddhism, and the impact of Indian mythology on the Chinese pantheon of divinity.

Meir Shahar is the author of Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature (Harvard University Asia Center, 1998); Oedipal God: the Chinese Nezha and his Indian Origins (University of Hawaii Press, 2015); and the Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts (University of Hawaii Press, 2008), which has been translated into several languages including Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, and Polish. He is the co-editor (with Robert Weller) of Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China (University of Hawaii Press, 1996); the co-editor (with John Kieschnick) of India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought (The University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013); and the co-editor (with Yael Bentor) of Chinese and Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism (Brill, 2017). He is currently researching the Horse King (also known as the Horse God), who has been the tutelary deity of Chinese horses, donkeys, and mules.

Meir Shahar’s Hebrew-Language publications include The Chinese Religion (הדת הסינית) (1998) and a translation of Wu Cheng’en’s Monkey and the Magic Gourd (קוף ודלעת הקסמים), with drawings by Noga Zhang Shahar (נגה ג'אנג שחר). (Source Accessed June 18, 2020)

Links

Wiki Pages

• Shahar, M. on the DRL
• Shahar, M. on the LIB
• Shahar, M. 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

Meir Shahar

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.