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- Saddhāloka Bhikkhu + (Venerable Saddhāloka was born in Germany i … Venerable Saddhāloka was born in Germany in 1938. His mother passed away at his age of two; he then grew up in the loves of his father and paternal grandparents. Since childhood, he already had the character of a nature lover; he honoured the life of every creature around such as leaves, grass, and small animals like birds, livestock, and poultry. Being studious, he read a lot of books at a young age, especially the books concerning the Buddha's teachings.</br></br>In 1964, he was officially ordained as a novice (sāmaṇera) of the Theravāda tradition in the United Kingdom. His preceptor (upajjhāya) was a Sri Lankan master, Venerable Saddhātissa. He studied Buddhism in England for two years, then continued his study at Buddhist Centre in Canada for one year. Later, he went to Thailand to acquire more knowledge of Buddhist doctrine and some languages, Thai, Pāli, and Sanskrit, in order to study Buddhism directly from authentic scriptures. He also had a chance to practice meditation. He was staying in Thailand for a couple of years and was fully ordained as a bhikkhu there in 1967 with Venerable Buddhadāsa as his preceptor.</br></br>In 1969, he made up his decision to go to China to continue his studies, however he was not granted an entry visa at that time, so that he kept staying in Hong Kong. While being in Hong Kong, he taught Buddhism and treated patients with Chinese herbal medicines.</br></br>During 1970s, Venerable Saddhāloka translated Buddhist texts from Chinese language into English for a Buddhist magazine, Visakhapūjā. Some of his works are known as: The Question of Deva, The Discourse on the Foundation of Mindfulness (Chu Ching Nien), The Twelve Kings of Birth and Death: A Dialogue Between And Ha-Shan Shih-te (B.E. 2509 - 2516), v.v...</br></br>From 1982 to 1997, Venerable Saddhāloka, having compassion for the Vietnamese boatpeople being desperate and hopeless in closed camps and detention centers, did not mind long roads going back and forth to the centers with heavy loads of foods, beverages, medicines, books, etc. Everyday he got up in the early morning at three o’ clock to prepare then bring the goods to the people in needs. With bare-feet and shaved-head, on sunny or raining days, he patiently kept his routine, visiting the suffering people. In hot afternoons in summer seasons, his brown robes got wet with sweats, but his gentle smiles were always blown on his lips. For 16 years long, he was not only taking his great care of material needs for the detained refugees but also concerning about their spiritual practice, helping them learning the Buddha’s teachings and preserving Vietnamese culture. Therefore, Vietnamese boatpeople in Hong Kong affectionately call him as "Thay Tay Duc." ([https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/saddhaloka.pdf Source Accessed Aug 10, 2021])dhaloka.pdf Source Accessed Aug 10, 2021]))
- Venerable Sarah Thresher + (Venerable Sarah Thresher (Tenzin Yiwong) w … Venerable Sarah Thresher (Tenzin Yiwong) was born in London, England in 1960, and earned her Bachelor's degree in 1982. Shortly afterwards, she met the Buddha's teachings at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, where she took refuge with Lama Thubten Yeshe. Since then, she has studied with many great masters and was ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1986.</br></br>After working as an editor for Wisdom Publications for nine years, she began teaching in 1992 and since then has taught in countries around the world. More recently, as Resident Teacher of Land of Medicine Buddha, she helped organize the highly successful visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Mountain View, California in 2001. At the request of her teacher, Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche, she now travels and teaches full-time throughout the world.</br></br>Ven. Sarah's experiential way of presenting the Buddhist path stimulates inward reflection and introduces new ways of perceiving that can guite literally revolutionize our lives. The goal is a deepening of wisdom and compassion, a relaxed open heart, a peaceful mind, and a more realistic view of ourselves.</br></br>Ven. Sarah is currently teaching in Mongolia. ([https://lamrim.com/vensarah/ultimatehealing.html Source Accessed Jan 16, 2025])ealing.html Source Accessed Jan 16, 2025]))
- Sogan Tulku Pema Lodoe Rinpoche + (Venerable Sogan Rinpoche (Tulku Pema Lodoe … Venerable Sogan Rinpoche (Tulku Pema Lodoe) was born in 1964 in the Golok region of Amdo, in eastern Tibet. At the age of seventeen he went to Bayan Monastery to start his formal spiritual training. Later, he was recognized by H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama as the 6th Sogan Rinpoche and as a young man was enthroned at Awo Sera Monastery in East Kham (Serta), which he founded during his first incarnation as Sogan Rinpoche. He is also the head of Bayan Monastery in Golok. He assumed responsibility there at the direction of his root guru, Khenpo Munsel, a Dzogchen master and teacher in Tibet throughout most of the twentieth century and a chief disciple of Khenpo Ngag Chung. </br></br>Rinpoche has studied with many great masters of all four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. After many years of study, pilgrimage and solitary retreat, Rinpoche left Tibet to continue his studies in India. While there, he studied extensively with prominent teachers and spent several years in retreat.</br></br>Rinpoche travels throughout North America and in Europe to teach Buddhism. For many years he has taught in the SF Bay region where Tupten Osel Choling is based. In 2012, his students in northern Italy founded Tupten Osel Ling, another dharma center under his spiritual guidance.</br></br>In 2004 Rinpoche established The Sogan Foundation (TSF), a secular non-profit organization which funded the construction of a science and technology facility for high school students in Golok, Tibet. Kunsel Kyetsal opened its doors for the first time in 2007. TSF’s second project has been constructing a basic water system for a community of elderly nomads located near Bayan Monastery. This job was completed during the summer of 2010. For the first time, residents can obtain clear, filtered water and are spared a difficult trek to an open spring which is susceptible to contamination. Rinpoche established The Sogan Foundation with the intent that continuing far into the future, the organization will serve as a vehicle for alleviating the suffering of the poor and the marginalized. </br>([https://taramandala.secure.retreat.guru/teacher/venerable-sogan-rinpoche/ Source Accessed July 26, 2024])-rinpoche/ Source Accessed July 26, 2024]))
- Venerable Thubten Kunga + (Venerable Thubten Kunga grew up bi-cultura … Venerable Thubten Kunga grew up bi-culturally as the daughter of a Filipino immigrant in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC.</br></br>She received a BA in Sociology from the University of Virginia and an MA from George Mason University in Public Administration before working for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Refugees, Population, and Migration for seven years. She also worked in a psychologist’s office and a community-building non-profit organization.</br></br>Venerable Kunga met Buddhism in college during an anthropology course and knew it was the path she had been looking for, but did not begin seriously practicing until 2014. She was affiliated with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington and the Guyhasamaja FPMT center in Fairfax, VA.</br></br>Realizing that the peace of mind experienced in meditation was the true happiness she was looking for, she traveled to Nepal in 2016 to teach English and took refuge at Kopan Monastery.</br></br>Shortly thereafter she attended the Exploring Monastic Life retreat at the Abbey and felt she had found a new home, returning a few months later to stay as a long-term guest, followed by anagarika (trainee) ordination in July 2017 and novice ordination in May 2019. ([https://sravastiabbey.org/community-member/venerable-thubten-kunga/ Source Accessed May 17, 2023])bten-kunga/ Source Accessed May 17, 2023]))
- Tamás Agócs + (Vice Rector & Director of Research Institute of East and West, Dharma Gate Budapest Buddhist University, Hungary. ([http://www.undv.org/vesak2013/en/iabu_exco.php Source Accessed Jan 19, 2022]))
- Virginia Blum + (Virginia Blum is the resident translator a … Virginia Blum is the resident translator at Drong Ngur Jangchubling Buddhist Center, and has been translating and interpreting the Dharma since 2006 assisting Buddhist teachers around the world. Virginia is fluent in both Tibetan and Spanish and has been engaged in Buddhist meditation and study since 1999. She has studied Tibetan language in a number of immersive programs, including a two-year translation training program at Songsten Library in Dehradun, India, the Tibetan Summer Intensive Training at Rangjung Yeshe in Kathmandu, Nepal, as well as the Tibetan Language Intensive Training Course at the University of Virginia. She regularly participates in extended meditation retreats of both Tibetan and Theravada Buddhist traditions and is currently participating in The Community Dharma Leader Training Program at Spirit Rock Insight Meditation Center. ([https://dnjus.org/resident-translator/ Source Accessed June 24, 2021])ranslator/ Source Accessed June 24, 2021]))
- Weijing + (Weijing was one of the few Chinese monks t … Weijing was one of the few Chinese monks that figured prominently in the translation activities of the Song, "who never visited India, but was trained in Buddhism and Sanskrit at the Institute for the Transmission of the Dharma in the Song capital" (Tansen Sen, ''Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade'' [Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield 2016], 127). A native of Jinling (present-day Nanjing), "Weijing is noted to have shown tremendous talent in learning and understanding Sanskrit texts. Within a year [after arriving at the Institute], he was ordained and began participating in the translation projects as a translator-scribe" (Sen, 128). Furthermore, "many of Dharmapāla's translations were completed with the help of Weijing. Both Dharmapāla and Weijing are also credited with comiling the Sanskrit-Chinese dictionary ''Jingyou Tianzhu ziyuan'' 景祐天 竺字源 (Phrase Book of Indian Words [Complied during the] Jingyou [Period])" (Sen, 128).ied during the] Jingyou [Period])" (Sen, 128).)
- Wiesiek Mical + (Wiesiek has been translating Buddhist text … Wiesiek has been translating Buddhist texts for 84000 as member of the Dharmachakra Translation Committee since 2010; and in 2020 formally joined 84000 as an Associate Translator. Having begun learning Sanskrit in 1975, in his native Poland, Wiesiek continued at the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London. From 2004 to 2010, he taught Sanskrit at Rangjung Yeshe Institute (University of Kathmandu) in Nepal, where he has lived since 2005. His experience with the Dharma began in 1979 and still continues today. ([https://84000.co/about/team Source Accessed June 16, 2021])about/team Source Accessed June 16, 2021]))
- William Edelglass + (William teaches on the history of Western … William teaches on the history of Western philosophy, non-Western philosophy, and contemporary thought. His courses often engage disciplines outside of philosophy, including literature and art, the cognitive and behavioral sciences, Asian studies, religious studies, and environmental studies. Recent courses have included: Hegel’s ''Phenomenology'' of Spirit; Antigone and Philosophy; Understanding Happiness: Philosophy, Religion, Science; Emptiness and Form: Philosophical and Literary Expressions of the Dharma; The Genealogy of Race; Moral Theory and Contemporary Science; Critical Theory From Marx to Nancy Fraser; Environmental Philosophy; Interdisciplinary Seminar on Climate Change; Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Attention, Mindfulness, and Contemplation; Heidegger’s ''Being and Time''; Philosophy of Place; and Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics.<br> William has published widely in Buddhist philosophy, environmental philosophy, and 20th-century European philosophy. Recent projects include work on: phenomenology and climate ethics; rethinking faith and reason in Indian Buddhism; Buddhism and human dignity; the limits of language; deep time; and happiness and the science of meditation. His work has been supported by grants from the Templeton Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He currently serves as chair of the board of directors of the International Association of Environmental Philosophy and co-editor of the journal Environmental Philosophy. William is also co-editor of Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings (Oxford University Press, 2009), the Oxford Handbook of World Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2011), and Facing Nature: Levinas and Environmental Thought. William also serves on the editorial boards for a number of journals. For more on his scholarly work, see a recent interview William did with 3:AM Magazine and another with Insight Journal, or this conversation with William on the Imperfect Buddha Podcast. ([https://www.marlboro.edu/live/profiles/16-william-edelglass Source Accessed May 7, 2020])ssed May 7, 2020]))
- Xuanzang + (Xuanzang [ɕɥɛ̌n.tsâŋ] (Chinese: 玄奘; fl. c. … Xuanzang [ɕɥɛ̌n.tsâŋ] (Chinese: 玄奘; fl. c. 602 – 664) was a Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator who travelled to India in the seventh century and described the interaction between Chinese Buddhism and Indian Buddhism during the early Tang dynasty.[1][2]</br></br>During the journey he visited many sacred Buddhist sites in what are now Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. He was born in what is now Henan province around 602, from boyhood he took to reading religious books, including the Chinese classics and the writings of ancient sages.</br></br>While residing in the city of Luoyang (in Henan in Central China), Xuanzang was ordained as a ''śrāmaṇera'' (novice monk) at the age of thirteen. Due to the political and social unrest caused by the fall of the Sui dynasty, he went to Chengdu in Sichuan, where he was ordained as a bhikṣu (full monk) at the age of twenty. He later travelled throughout China in search of sacred books of Buddhism. At length, he came to Chang'an, then under the peaceful rule of Emperor Taizong of Tang, where Xuanzang developed the desire to visit India. He knew about Faxian's visit to India and, like him, was concerned about the incomplete and misinterpreted nature of the Buddhist texts that had reached China.[3]</br></br>He became famous for his seventeen-year overland journey to India (including Nalanda), which is recorded in detail in the classic Chinese text ''Great Tang Records on the Western Regions'', which in turn provided the inspiration for the novel ''Journey to the West'' written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming dynasty, around nine centuries after Xuanzang's death.[4] </br></br>During Xuanzang's travels, he studied with many famous Buddhist masters, especially at the famous center of Buddhist learning at Nalanda. When he returned, he brought with him some 657 Sanskrit texts. With the emperor's support, he set up a large translation bureau in Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), drawing students and collaborators from all over East Asia. He is credited with the translation of some 1,330 fascicles of scriptures into Chinese. His strongest personal interest in Buddhism was in the field of Yogācāra (瑜伽行派), or Consciousness-only (唯識).</br></br>The force of his own study, translation and commentary of the texts of these traditions initiated the development of the Faxiang school (法相宗) in East Asia. Although the school itself did not thrive for a long time, its theories regarding perception, consciousness, karma, rebirth, etc., found their way into the doctrines of other more successful schools. Xuanzang's closest and most eminent student was Kuiji (窺基) who became recognized as the first patriarch of the Faxiang school. Xuanzang's logic, as described by Kuiji, was often misunderstood by scholars of Chinese Buddhism because they lack the necessary background in Indian logic.[32] Another important disciple was the Korean monk Woncheuk.</br></br>Xuanzang was known for his extensive but careful translations of Indian Buddhist texts to Chinese, which have enabled subsequent recoveries of lost Indian Buddhist texts from the translated Chinese copies. He is credited with writing or compiling the ''Cheng Weishi Lun'' as a commentary on these texts. His translation of the Heart Sutra became and remains the standard in all East Asian Buddhist sects; as well, this translation of the Heart Sutra was generally admired within the traditional Chinese gentry and is still widely respected as numerous renowned past and present Chinese calligraphers have penned its texts as their artworks.[33] He also founded the short-lived but influential Faxiang school of Buddhism. Additionally, he was known for recording the events of the reign of the northern Indian emperor, Harsha. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanzang Source Accessed Feb 5, 2020])</br></br>====notes====</br>1. Wriggins, Sally (27 November 2003). The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang (1 ed.). Washington DC: Westview press (Penguin). ISBN 978-0813365992.<br></br>2. Upinder Singh (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education. p. 563. ISBN 9788131716779.<br></br>3. Wriggins, Sally (27 November 2003). The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang. New York: Westview (Penguin). ISBN 978-0813365992.<br></br>4. Cao Shibang (2006). "Fact versus Fiction: From Record of the Western Regions to Journey to the West". In Wang Chichhung (ed.). Dust in the Wind: Retracing Dharma Master Xuanzang's Western Pilgrimage. p. 62. Retrieved 2 February 2014.<br></br>32. See Eli Franco, "Xuanzang's proof of idealism." Horin 11 (2004): 199-212.<br></br>33. "Heart Sutra Buddhism". Vincent's Calligraphy. Retrieved 16 March 2017. "Heart Sutra Buddhism". Vincent's Calligraphy. Retrieved 16 March 2017.)
- Yeo Puay Huei + (Yeo Puay Huei is the director of Kasih Hos … Yeo Puay Huei is the director of Kasih Hospice and founding member of Losang Dragpa Buddhist Society (an affiliate of FPMT) in Malaysia. She is a long-time student of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and has edited a number of Dharma books both for Lama Thubten Zopa and Geshe Tenzin Zopa.r Lama Thubten Zopa and Geshe Tenzin Zopa.)
- Yeshe Tsogyal + (Yeshe Tsogyal was the principal consort of … Yeshe Tsogyal was the principal consort of Guru Padmasambhava. She was Vajravarahi in human form and also an emanation of Tara and Buddhalochana.</br>She was born as a princess in the clan of Kharchen. According to some accounts her father was called Namkha Yeshe and her mother was Gewa Bum. In other histories, such as the Zanglingma and the biography revealed by Taksham Nüden Dorje, her father is named as Kharchen Palgyi Wangchuk, who is otherwise said to have been her brother. Yet another version names her father as Tökar Lek and her mother as Gyalmo Tso.</br></br>She became the consort of King Trisong Detsen before being offered to Guru Rinpoche as a mandala offering during an empowerment. She specialized in the practice of Vajrakilaya and experienced visions of the deity and gained accomplishment. In Nepal, she paid a ransom for Acharya Salé and took him as her spiritual consort. Through the power of her unfailing memory, she collected all the teachings given by Guru Rinpoche in Tibet and concealed them as terma. At the end of her life, it is said, she flew through the air and went directly to Zangdokpalri. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Yeshe_Tsogyal Rigpa Wiki])index.php?title=Yeshe_Tsogyal Rigpa Wiki]))
- Yoke Meei Choong + (Yoke Meei Choong 宗玉媺 currently teaches as … Yoke Meei Choong 宗玉媺 currently teaches as an Associate Professor in the Department of Buddhist Studies at Fo Guang University, Taiwan. Her research combines Buddhist philological study with the historical study of Buddhist thought. Her interest lies mainly in the derivation, adaptation and development of Mahāyāna concepts or thought from the ideas of mainstream Buddhism. Her chief publications include "''Nirvāṇa'' and ''Tathatā'' in Yogācāra Texts: The Bodhisattva’s Adaptation of the ''Śrāvaka''-Path", "To Realize or Not to Realize the Supreme Truth: A Change of the Conception of Realization”, “On the Interpretation of ''na śūnyatayā śūnya''", and a book, ''Zum Problem der Leerheit'' (śūnyatā) ''in der Prajñāpāramitā''. (Source: ''A Distant Mirror'', about the authors, 529) Distant Mirror'', about the authors, 529))
- Yunmen Wenyan + (Yúnmén Wényǎn (Chinese: 雲門文偃; Pinyin: Yúnm … Yúnmén Wényǎn (Chinese: 雲門文偃; Pinyin: Yúnmén Wényǎn; Romanji: Ummon Bun'en; 862 or 864 – 949 CE), was a major Chinese Chan master in Tang-era China. He was a dharma-heir of Xuefeng Yicun.</br></br>Yunmen founded the Yunmen school, one of the five major schools of Chán (Chinese Zen). The name is derived from Yunmen monastery of Shaozhou where Yunmen was abbot. The Yunmen school flourished into the early Song Dynasty, with particular influence on the upper classes, and eventually culminating in the compilation and writing of the ''Blue Cliff Record''.</br></br>The school would eventually be absorbed by the Linji school later in the Song. The lineage still lives on to this day through Chan Master Hsu Yun (1840–1959). ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yunmen_Wenyan Source Accessed July 15, 2021])men_Wenyan Source Accessed July 15, 2021]))
- Thich Nhat Hanh + (Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spi … Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, renowned for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. A gentle, humble monk, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called him “an Apostle of peace and nonviolence” when nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Exiled from his native Vietnam for almost four decades, Thich Nhat Hanh has been a pioneer bringing Buddhism and mindfulness to the West, and establishing an engaged Buddhist community for the 21st Century. Read his biography [https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/biography/ here].rg/about/thich-nhat-hanh/biography/ here].)
- Richard Baker + (Zentatsu Richard Baker (born March 30, 193 … Zentatsu Richard Baker (born March 30, 1936), born Richard Dudley Baker, is an American Soto Zen master (or roshi), the founder and guiding teacher of Dharma Sangha—which consists of Crestone Mountain Zen Center located in Crestone, Colorado and the Buddhistisches Studienzentrum (Johanneshof) in Germany's Black Forest. As the American Dharma heir to Shunryu Suzuki, Baker assumed abbotship of the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC) shortly before Suzuki's death in 1971. He remained abbot there until 1984 . . . Baker was instrumental in helping the San Francisco Zen Center to become one of the most successful Zen institutions in the United States. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zentatsu_Richard_Baker Source Accessed Nov 23, 2020])chard_Baker Source Accessed Nov 23, 2020]))
- Zhaozhou Congshen + (Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn (Chinese: 趙州從諗; Wade-Gil … Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn (Chinese: 趙州從諗; Wade-Giles: Chao-chou Ts'ung-shen; Japanese: Jōshū Jūshin) (778–897) was a Chán (Zen) Buddhist master especially known for his "paradoxical statements and strange deeds".</br></br>Zhaozhou became ordained as a monk at an early age. At the age of 18, he met Nánquán Pǔyuàn (南泉普願 748–835; J: Nansen Fugan), a successor of Mǎzǔ Dàoyī (709–788; J. Baso Do-itsu), and eventually received the Dharma from him. When Nanquan asked Zhaozhou the koan "What is the Way?", the two had a dialogue, at the height of which Zhaozhou attained enlightenment. Zhaozhou continued to practice under Nanquan until the latter's death.</br></br>Subsequently, Zhaozhou began to travel throughout China, visiting the prominent Chan masters of the time before finally, at the age of eighty, settling in Guānyīnyuàn (觀音院), a ruined temple in northern China. There, for the next 40 years, he taught a small group of monks.</br></br>Zhaozhou is sometimes touted as the greatest Chan master of Tang dynasty China during a time when its hegemony was disintegrating as more and more regional military governors (jiédùshǐ) began to assert their power. Zhaozhou's lineage died out quickly due to the many wars and frequent purges of Buddhism in China at the time, and cannot be documented beyond the year 1000.</br></br>Many koans in both the ''Blue Cliff Record'' and ''The Gateless Gate'' concern Zhaozhou, with twelve cases in the former and five in the latter being attributed to him. He is, however, probably best known for the first koan in ''The Gateless Gate'':</br></br>A monk asked Chao-chou, "Has the dog Buddha-nature or not?" Chao-chou said, "Wu."</br>([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhaozhou_Congshen Source Accessed July, 15, 2021])_Congshen Source Accessed July, 15, 2021]))
- Norman Fischer + (Zoketsu Norman Fischer is an American poet … Zoketsu Norman Fischer is an American poet, writer, and Soto Zen priest, teaching and practicing in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Dharma heir of Sojun Mel Weitsman, from whom he received Dharma transmission in 1988. Fischer served as co-abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center from 1995–2000, after which he founded the Everyday Zen Foundation in 2000, a network of Buddhist practice group and related projects in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Fischer has published more than twenty-five books of poetry and non-fiction, as well as numerous poems, essays and articles in Buddhist magazines and poetry journals. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoketsu_Norman_Fischer Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020])man_Fischer Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020]))
- Vanessa Zuisei Goddard + (Zuisei is a writer and lay Zen teacher bas … Zuisei is a writer and lay Zen teacher based in Playa del Carmen in the south of Mexico. Zuisei lived and trained full time at Zen Mountain Monastery from 1995 to 2018, and was a monk for fourteen of those years. In 2018 she received ''shiho'' or dharma transmission (empowerment to teach) from Geoffrey Shugen Arnold Roshi, and after a short stint in New York City, moved back to Mexico, where she is originally from, and began teaching virtually.</br></br>She has served as the Teachings Editor at the Buddhist journal ''Tricycle'', and her dharma writing has been featured there as well as in ''Lion's Roar'', ''Buddhadharma'', and ''Parabola''. Her books include ''Still Running: The Art of Meditation in Motion'' and the children's book ''Weather Any Storm''. </br></br>As Ocean Mind Sangha's Guiding Teacher, Zuisei continues to welcome students for group and private teaching. ([https://www.oceanmindsangha.org/zuisei-goddard Source Accessed April 25, 2024])i-goddard Source Accessed April 25, 2024]))
- Isidro Gordi + ([Isidro Gordi] was born in Mollet del Vall … [Isidro Gordi] was born in Mollet del Vallés (Barcelona) in 1954. A pacifist from a very young age, he was one of the first conscientious objectors in Spain, which is why he suffered exile from 1973 to 1977. During this time he traveled throughout Europe, landing for a long period of time in Greece, whose culture and customs captivated him and aroused his “appetite for the East”. He returned to Spain thanks to the pardon granted after Franco's death.</br></br>Nostalgic for the Greek islands, in 1979, he settled in Menorca where his first encounter with a Tibetan Master, Lama Orgyen, an expert in Buddhist rituals, took place with whom he took refuge. From those days he became a student of Tibetan Buddhism, a tireless seeker of the teaching that will already be an integral part of his life. Together with his wife, Marta Moll, became one of the pioneers of Buddhism in Spain, deploying its dissemination work through Ediciones Amara , a publishing house specializing in Buddhist philosophy.</br></br>In Menorca, in 1980, he created the Dharma Institute under the guidance of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, a resident of England and abbot at the time of the Manjushri Institute. His wish was to establish a study center where the Buddhist Dharma could be made known with rigor and seriousness. Determined to have the best means to do so, Isidro invites Venerable Geshe Tamding Gyatso as Master resident in Menorca(1927-2002) exiled at that time in India. After a long legal process, Geshe Tamding Gyatso arrived on the island in 1987. That endearing old man would not only become the Master of the Heart of Isidro and Marta, but also almost a grandfather to his children Shanti and Amara who practically saw him daily. During twelve very intense years Isidro received the nectar of the Dharma from the mouth of Geshe Tamding Gyatso , who was one of the most learned Geshes of the famous Ganden monastery. ([https://escuelalaicadebudismoymeditacion.es/index.php/quienes-somos/isidro-gordi Source Accessed Mar 19, 2021])sidro-gordi Source Accessed Mar 19, 2021]))
- Dharma Publishing Staff + ([http://dharmapublishing.com/about/our-fou … [http://dharmapublishing.com/about/our-founder/ About Tarthang Tulku]</br></br>Keenly aware of Tibet’s irreparable loss and willing to do everything possible to sustain the precious heritage of the Land of Snows, Dharma Publishing has worked to realize three principle goals: preservation of Tibetan texts and art, publication of works in Western languages that communicate the meaning and value of the Dharma, and distribution of texts to monks and scholars of the Tibetan Community.</br></br>It is our hope that, even if the lineages do not survive in their traditional form, the texts and the knowledge they contain will be available for future generations. Although civilizations rise and fall, perhaps the day will come when this precious enlightened knowledge can once more be fully applied for the benefit of all sentient beings. ([http://dharmapublishing.com/about/ Source Accessed August 26, 2015])m/about/ Source Accessed August 26, 2015]))
- Gene Smith + ([https://www.tbrc.org/#!footer/about/genes … [https://www.tbrc.org/#!footer/about/genesmith Founder of TBRC, now BDRC]</br>*[https://84000.co/obituary-of-e-gene-smith/ Obituary on 84000]</br>*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/01/AR2011010102390.html Obituary in Washington Post]</br>*[http://digitaldharma.com/home Documentary film about his life and work: Digital Dharma]</br>''[https://www.tbrc.org/#!footer/about/genesmith Biography from BDRC]:'' </br></br>E. Gene Smith (BDRC Founder and Senior Research Scholar) was born in Ogden, Utah in 1936. He studied at a variety of institutions of higher education in the United States: Adelphi College, Hobart College, University of Utah, and the University of Washington in Seattle.</br></br>In 1959, the Rockefeller Foundation, seeing the opportunity to promote Tibetan studies, funded the establishment of nine centers of excellence worldwide, one of which was at the University of Washington.</br></br>Under the auspices of the Rockefeller grant to the Far Eastern and Russian Institute, nine Tibetans were brought to Seattle for teaching and research, including the Ven. Deshung Rinpoche Kunga Tenpai Nyima, the tutor to the Sakya Phuntsho Phodrang. Smith had the good fortune to study Tibetan culture as well as Buddhism with Deshung Rinpoche and the rest of the Tibetan teachers in Seattle from 1960 to 1964. He lived with the Sakya family for five years. He spent the summer of 1962 travelling to the other Rockefeller centers in Europe to meet with the Tibetan savants there.</br></br>In 1964 he completed his Ph.D. qualifying exams and travelled to Leiden for advanced studies in Sanskrit and Pali. In 1965 he went to India under a Foreign Area Fellowship Program (Ford Foundation) grant to study with living exponents of all of the Tibetan Buddhist and Bonpo traditions.</br></br>He began his studies with Geshe Lobsang Lungtok (Ganden Changtse), Drukpa Thoosay Rinpoche and Khenpo Noryang, and H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He decided to remain in India to continue serious study of Tibetan Buddhism and culture. He travelled extensively in the borderlands of India and Nepal. In 1968 he joined the Library of Congress New Delhi Field Office. He then began a project which was to last over the next two and a half decades: the reprinting of the Tibetan books which had been brought by the exile community or were with members of the Tibetan-speaking communities in Sikkim, Bhutan, India, and Nepal.</br></br>He became field director of the Library of Congress Field Office in India in 1980 and served there until 1985 when he was transferred to Indonesia. He stayed in Jakarta running the Southeast Asian programs until 1994 when he was assigned to the LC Middle Eastern Office in Cairo.</br></br>In February 1997 he took early retirement from the U.S. Library of Congress to become a consultant to the Trace Foundation for the establishment of the Himalayan and Inner Asian Resources (HIAR) library.</br></br>In December 1999 he and a group of friends established the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center in Cambridge.</br></br>He passed away on December 16, 2010. (Source Accessed on June 30, 2020), 2010. (Source Accessed on June 30, 2020))
- Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu + (Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu (born Osbert John S. Moor … Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu (born Osbert John S. Moore; 25 June 1905 – 8 March 1960) was a British Theravada Buddhist monk and translator of Pali literature.</br></br>Born in Cambridge, Osbert was the only child of biologist John Edmund Sharrock Moore and Heloise Moore (née Salvin). He was named after Heloise's father, the naturalist Osbert Salvin. He studied modern languages at Exeter College, Oxford. He helped a friend to run an antiques shop before joining the army at the outbreak of World War II, joining the anti-aircraft regiment before being transferred to the Intelligence Corps officer-cadet training camp. He was posted to a camp on the Isle of Man to help oversee Italian internees.</br></br>In 1944 he was posted to Italy serving as an intelligence officer interrogating spies and saboteurs. During this period he discovered Buddhism via Julius Evola's ''The Doctrine of Awakening'', a Nietzschean interpretation of Buddhism. This work had been translated by his friend Harold Edward Musson, also an intelligence officer serving in Italy.</br></br>After the war Moore joined the Italian section of the BBC. Moore and Musson, who shared a flat in London, were quite disillusioned with their lives and left to Sri Lanka in 1949 to become Buddhist monks. On 24 April 1949 they received the novice (samanera) ordination or going forth, ''pabbajjā'', from Ñāṇatiloka at the Island Hermitage. In 1950 they received their bhikkhu ordination at Vajirarama Temple Colombo. Ñāṇamoli spent almost his entire monk life of eleven years at the Island Hermitage.</br></br>After having been taught the basics of Pali by Nyanatiloka Mahathera, Ñāṇamoli acquired a remarkable command of the Pali language and a wide knowledge of the canonical scriptures within a comparatively short time. He is remembered for his reliable translations from the Pali into English, mostly of abstruse texts such as the Nettippakaraṇa which are considered difficult to translate. He also wrote essays on aspects of Buddhism. By 1956 he had translated ''Visuddhimagga'' into English and got it published as ''The Path of Purification''. He also compiled ''The Life of the Buddha'', a reliable and popular biography of the Buddha based on authentic records in the Pali Canon. His notes with his philosophical thoughts were compiled by Nyanaponika Thera and published as ''A Thinker's Note Book''.</br></br>His handwritten draft translation of the Majjhima Nikaya was typed out after his death and edited by Bhikkhu Khantipalo, and partly published as ''A Treasury of the Buddha's Discourses'' and then edited again by Bhikkhu Bodhi and published as ''Middle Length Discourse of the Buddha'' and published by Wisdom Publications in 1995. Other draft translations, edited and published after his death, are ''The Path of Discrimination'' (''Paṭisambhidāmagga'') and ''Dispeller of Delusion'' (''Sammohavinodanī''). ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%91%C4%81%E1%B9%87amoli_Bhikkhu Source Accessed May 18, 2021])oli_Bhikkhu Source Accessed May 18, 2021]))
- Āryadeva + (Āryadeva (3rd century), a disciple of Nāgā … Āryadeva (3rd century), a disciple of Nāgārjuna, is a central figure in the development of early Indian Madhyamaka philosophy. Āryadeva’s Hundred Verses Treatise (Bai lun) was one of the three basic texts of the Chinese Madhyamaka school founded by the central Asian monk Kumārajīva (b. 344–d. 413), which accordingly was called the Sanlun (Jpn. Sanron), or “three-treatise” school. According to the biography that Kumārajīva translated into Chinese, Āryadeva was born into a South Indian Brahmin family, became Nāgārjuna’s disciple, was renowned for his skill in debate, and was murdered by a student of a defeated teacher. Candrakīrti (b. c. 570–d. 650), in his commentary on Āryadeva’s major work, the Four Hundred Verses (Catuḥśataka), reports that Āryadeva was born on the island of Sinhala (Sri Lanka) as a king’s son, renounced his royal status, became a monk, and traveled to South India, where he studied with Nāgārjuna. Some scholars suggest that Āryadeva is the elder deva mentioned in the Mahāvaṃsa and Dīpavaṃsa chronicles of early Sri Lankan religious history. Āryadeva did not write commentaries on Nāgārjuna’s works but, rather, wrote autonomous treatises that defended Madhyamaka beliefs against its Buddhist and non-Buddhist critics. He devotes the first eight chapters to explaining ethical behavior and such practices as generosity, which form the basis for the bodhisattva’s accumulation of merit (puṇya). The latter eight chapters refute wrong views about the independent existence of external phenomena and the self, defending the Madhyamaka philosophy of emptiness and the dependently arisen nature of all things. The Catuḥśataka presents the path to the attainment of buddhahood as structured around these two requisites of merit and knowledge (jñāna). As an introduction to the practices of a bodhisattva, the Catuḥśataka prepares the ground for Śāntideva’s later (c. 8th-century) and more extensive treatment in Introduction to the Practices of a Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryāvatāra). Apart from some fragments of the Catuḥśataka, none of the works the Chinese and Tibetan canons attributed to Āryadeva survive in Sanskrit. [https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393521/obo-9780195393521-0065.xml From Oxford Bibliogrpahies ]</br></br>[https://www.academia.edu/39006061/%C4%80ryadeva_full_version_ See Tillemans article on Āryadeva] appearing in the forthcoming 2022 Routledge Handbook of Indian Buddhist Philosophy (McClintock, Edelglass, and Pierre-Julien Harter).ock, Edelglass, and Pierre-Julien Harter).)
- Śavaripa + (Śavaripa was a hunter. In order to convinc … Śavaripa was a hunter. In order to convince him to abandon his wrong livelihood, the bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteśvara took the form of a hunter himself and killed one hundred deer (which he magically created) with a single arrow. When Śavaripa asked to learn this skill, the bodhisattva told him that he must first give up eating meat. Avalokiteśvara eventually taught Śavaripa how to meditate on love and compassion, granting Śavaripa and his wife a vision of hell, where they saw themselves burning for the sin of killing animals. When Śavaripa asked how they could be saved from this fate, the bodhisattva taught him about the law of karma and that through protecting rather than taking life, he could achieve liberation. Śavaripa meditated for</br>twelve years and entered the bodhisattva path, awaiting the advent of Maitreya. (Source: Lopez Jr., Donald S. ''Seeing the Sacred in Samsara: An Illustrated Guide to the Eighty-Four Mahāsiddhas''. Boulder: Shambhala Publications, 2019: p. 53.)der: Shambhala Publications, 2019: p. 53.))
- Lama Rod Owens + (https://www.lamarod.com/about Author of The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors and Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger and co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation.)
- Apang Terton Choying Dorje + ('''Apang Terchen Orgyen Trinlé Lingpa (189 … '''Apang Terchen Orgyen Trinlé Lingpa (1895-1945)'''</br></br>Choktrul Lozang Tendzin of Trehor studied with the lord Kunga Palden and the Chö</br>master Dharma Seng-gé, and Apang Terchen in turn studied with Lozang Tendzin.</br>Apang Terchen, also known as Orgyen Trinlé Lingpa, was renowned as the rebirth of</br>Rigdzin Gödem. He was reputed to have been conceived in the following way: Traktung</br>Dudjom Lingpa focused his enlightened intent while resting in the basic space</br>of timeless awareness, whereupon Apang Terchen's mother experienced an intense</br>surge of delight. This caused all ordinary concepts based on confusion to be arrested</br>in her mind for a short time, and it was then that Apang Terchen was conceived in her</br>womb.2 From that moment on, his mother constantly had dreams that were amazing</br>omens. For example, she found herself among groups of dakinis enjoying the splendor</br>of ganachakras, or being bathed by many dakas and dakinis, or dwelling in pavilions</br>of light, illuminating the entire world with her radiance.</br></br>The child was born one morning at dawn, in the area of Serta in eastern Tibet, his</br>mother having experienced no discomfort. Her dwelling was filled with [2.188a] and</br>surrounded by light, as though the sun were shining brightly. There were also pavilions</br>of light, and a fragrance pervaded the entire area, although no one could tell</br>where it came from. Everyone saw numerous amazing signs on the child's body, such</br>as a tuft of vulture feathers adorning the crown of his head.3 The mother's brother,</br>Sönam Dorjé, asked, "What will become of this boy who has no father? How shameful</br>it would be if people saw these feathers!"4 But although he cut the feather tuft</br>off the child's head several times, it grew back on its own, just as before. This upset</br>Sönam Dorjé even more, and he berated his sister angrily, saying on numerous occasions,</br>"How could your child have no father? You must tell me who he is!" His</br>sister retorted, "With the truth of karma as my witness, I swear I have never lain with</br>a flesh-and-blood man of this world. This pregnancy might be a result of my own</br>karma." She became so extremely depressed that her fellow villagers couldn't bear it</br>and used various means to bring a halt to her brother's inappropriate behavior.</br></br>From an early age, this great master, Apang Terchen, felt an innate and unshakable</br>faith in Guru Rinpoché and had a clear and natural knowledge [2.188b] of the ''vajra guru'' </br>mantra and the Seven-Line Supplication. He learned how to read and write</br>simply upon being shown the letters and exhibited incredible signs of his spiritual potential</br>awakening. For example, his intelligence, which had been developed through</br>training in former lifetimes, was such that no one could compete with him. As he</br>grew up, he turned his attention toward seeking the quintessential meaning of life.</br>He studied at the feet of many teachers and mentors, including the Nyingtik master</br>Gyatsok Lama Damlo and Terchen Sogyal, studying many of the mainstream traditions</br>of the sutras and tantras, especially those of the kama and terma.</br></br>The most extraordinary lord of his spiritual family was Trehor Drakar Tulku,5</br>with whom he studied for a long time, receiving the complete range of empowerments,</br>oral transmissions, and pith instructions of the secret Nyingtik cycles of utter lucidity.</br>He went to solitary ravines throughout the region, making caves and overhangs</br>on cliffs his dwelling places, taking birds and wild animals as his companions, and</br>relying on the most ragged clothing and meager diet. He planted the victory banner</br>of spiritual practice, meditating for a long period of time. He was graced by visions of</br>an enormous array of his personal meditation deities, [2.189a] including Tara, Avalokiteshvara,</br>Mañjushri, Sarasvati, and Amitayus. He was not content to leave the</br>true nature of phenomena an object of intellectual speculation, and his realization</br>progressed in leaps and bounds.</br></br>Apang Terchen bound the eight classes of gods and demons — including such spirits</br>as Nyenchen Tanglha, Ma Pomra, and Sergyi Drong-ri Mukpo6 — to his service.</br>He communicated directly with Tsiu Marpo, the white form of Mahakala, Ganapati,</br>and other protective deities, like one person conversing with another, and enjoined</br>them to carry out his enlightened activities. So great was his might that he also bound</br>these protective deities to his service, causing lightning to strike and so forth, so that</br>those who had become his enemies were checked by very direct means, before years,</br>months, or even days had passed.</br></br>Notably, he beheld the great master of Orgyen in a vision and was blessed as the</br>regent of Guru Padmakara's three secret aspects. On the basis of a prophecy he received</br>at that time, Apang Terchen journeyed to amazing holy sites, such as Draklha</br>Gönpo in Gyalrong, Khandro Bumdzong in the lowlands of eastern Tibet, and Dorjé</br>Treldzong in Drakar, where he revealed countless terma caches consisting of teachings,</br>objects of wealth, and sacred substances. He revealed some of them in secret,</br>others in the presence of large crowds. In these ways, he revealed a huge trove of profound</br>termas. [2.189b] Those revealed publicly were brought forth in the presence of</br>many fortunate people and in conjunction with truly incredible omens, which freed</br>all present from the bonds of doubt and inspired unshakable faith in them. Apang</br>Terchen's fame as an undisputed siddha and tertön resounded throughout the land, as</br>though powerful enough to cause the earth to quake. His terma teachings are found</br>in the numerous volumes of his collected works and include ''The Hidden Treasure of Enlightened Mind: The Thirteen Red Deities'', </br>practices focusing on the Three Roots, cycles concerning guardian deities and the </br>principle of enlightened activity, and his large instruction manual on Dzogchen teachings.</br></br>Apang Terchen's students, from Dartsedo in the east, to Repkong in Amdo to the</br>north, to the three regions of Golok and other areas, included mentors who nurtured</br>the teachings and beings, masters such as those known as the "four great illuminators</br>of the teachings," the "four vajra ridgepoles,11 the "four named Gyatso," the "great</br>masters, the paired sun and moon," and Jangchub Dorjé (the custodian of Apang</br>Terchen's termas).7 He also taught important political figures who exerted great</br>influence over the people of their areas, including the "four great chieftains of the</br>region of Dza in the north," [2.190a] that is, Getsé Tsering Dorjé of Dza in the northern</br>reaches of eastern Tibet, Gönlha of Akyong in Golok, Mewa Namlo of the Mé</br>region of Golok, and the chieftain of Serta in Washul. Apang Terchen's students also</br>included countless monks, nuns, villagers, and lay tantric practitioners. He transmitted</br>his own termas and the great Nyingtik cycles of the Dzogchen teachings, and so</br>numerous were those he guided that he truly embodied the enlightened activity of</br>one who held sway over the three realms. In these times of spiritual degeneration, he</br>alleviated problems caused by disease, famine, border wars, and civil unrest. In such</br>ways, Apang Terchen rendered great service to the land of Tibet. His kindness to the</br>Tibetan people as a whole was truly extraordinary, for he worked to ensure a glorious</br>state of peace and well-being.</br></br>During a pilgrimage to Jowo Yizhin Norbu, the statue of the lord Shakyamuni in</br>Lhasa, Apang Terchen paid respect to many tens of thousands of ordained members</br>of the sangha, sponsoring ganachakras, making offerings, and offering meals, tea,</br>and donations at such monastic centers as Sera, Drepung, and Ganden. He sponsored</br>the gilding of statues in these centers and in such ways strove to reinforce his positive</br>qualities. Everyone could see that no matter how many avenues he found to extend</br>generosity, his resources of gold, silver, and other valuables [2.190b] continued to</br>increase, as though he had access to a treasure mine.</br></br>Among his heart children and intimate students were his sons, Gyurmé Dorjé,</br>Wangchen Nyima, and Dotrul Rinpoché; his daughter, Tare Lhamo; and the custodian</br>of his termas, Jangchub Dorjé. Until recently, Tare Lhamo lived in eastern Tibet,</br>maintaining the teachings.8</br></br>Thus did Apang Terchen benefit beings with his incredible compassion and activities.</br>As his life was nearing an end, he remarked, "For the sake of the teachings and</br>of beings, I must enter the bloodline of the glorious Sakya school." This fearless lion's</br>roar proved to be his last testament, spoken with an unobscured awareness of past,</br>present, and future. He then manifested incredible miracles and departed for the</br>great palace of Pema Ö.</br></br></br>Source: Richard Barron translation of Nyoshul Khenpo, A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage, Padma Publications, 2005, pages 488-491., Padma Publications, 2005, pages 488-491.)
- Richard D. McBride, II + ('''Biography:''' Richard was raised in Los … '''Biography:'''</br>Richard was raised in Los Angeles, California, and served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Korea Pusan Mission from 1988 to 1990. He double majored in Asian Studies and Korean at BYU, graduating in 1993, and later earned a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures (with emphasis on Korean and Chinese Buddhism and early Korean History) at UCLA in 2001. He was a Fulbright Senior Researcher at Dongguk University in Korea from 2007 to 2008, He taught in the History Department at BYU-Hawaii from 2008 to 2018. His wife of 17 years, Younghee Yeon McBride, passed away from pancreatic cancer in February 2018. They are the parents of two sons, David and Sean. Prof. McBride began teaching at BYU in the fall 2018 semester.</br></br>'''Research Interests:'''</br>Prof. McBride has broad research interests. He is interested in and has published broadly on Korean Buddhist literature, particularly Buddhist spells and incantations (dharani and mantra). He is also interested Buddhist narrative literature, such as is found in the Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, ca. 1285); traditional historiography, such as the Samguk sagi (compiled in 1146); as well as strange tales and ghost stories, which have long been popular genres for East Asians. Prof. McBride is also a scholar of the history and society of the early Korean state of Silla (ca. 300-935), particularly the hwarang (flower boys) organization. ([https://hum.byu.edu/directory/richard-mcbride-ii Source Accessed Aug 2, 2023])d-mcbride-ii Source Accessed Aug 2, 2023]))
- Hubert Decleer + ('''In Memoriam: Hubert Decleer (1940–2021) … '''In Memoriam: Hubert Decleer (1940–2021)'''</br>:by Andrew Quintman</br></br>With great sadness, we share news that our incomparable teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend Hubert Decleer passed away peacefully on Wednesday, August 25. He was at his home with his wife, the poet Nazneen Zafar, in Kathmandu, Nepal, near the Swayambhū Mahācaitya that had been his constant inspiration for nearly five decades. His health declined rapidly following a diagnosis of advanced-stage lung cancer in May, but he remained lucid and in high spirits and over the past weeks he was surrounded by family members and close friends. Through his final hours, he maintained his love of Himalayan scholarship and black coffee, and his deep and quiet commitment to Buddhist practice.</br></br>Hubert’s contributions to the study of Tibetan and Himalayan traditions are expansive, covering the religious, literary, and cultural histories of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and India. For nearly thirty-five years he directed and advised the School for International Training’s program for Tibetan Studies, an undergraduate study-abroad program that has served as a starting point for scholars currently working in fields as diverse as Anthropology, Art History, Education, Conservation, History, Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Public Policy. The countless scholars he inspired are connected by the undercurrent of Hubert's indelible "light touch" and all the subtle and formative lessons he imparted as a mentor and friend.</br></br>Hubert embodied a seemingly inexhaustible curiosity that spanned kaleidoscopic interests ranging from Chinese landscapes to Netherlandish still lifes, medieval Tibetan pilgrimage literature to French cinema, 1940s bebop to classical Hindustani vocal performance. With legendary hospitality, his home, informally dubbed “The Institute,” was an oasis for scholars, former students, artists, and musicians, who came to share a simple dinner of daal bhaat or a coffee on the terrace overlooking Swayambhū. The conversations that took place on that terrace often unearthed a text or image or reference that turned out to be the missing link in the visitor's current research project. When not discussing scholarship, Hubert inspired his friends to appreciate the intelligence and charm of animals—monkeys and crows especially—or to enjoy the marvels of a blossoming potted plum tree. His attentiveness to the world around him generated intense sensitivity and compassion. He was an accomplished painter and a captivating storyteller, ever ready with accounts of the artists’ scene in Europe or his numerous overland journeys to Asia. The stories from long ago flowed freely and very often revealed some important insight about the present moment, however discrete. </br></br>Hubert François Kamiel Decleer was born on August 22, 1940, in Ostend, Belgium. In 1946, he spent three months in Switzerland with a group of sixty children whose parents served in the Résistance. He completed his Latin-Greek Humaniora at the Royal Atheneum in Ostend in 1958, when he was awarded the Jacques Kets National Prize for biology by the Royal Zoo Society of Antwerp. He developed a keen interest in the arts, and during this period he also held his first exhibition of oil paintings and gouaches. In 1959 he finished his B.A. in History and Dutch Literature at the Regent School in Ghent. Between 1960 and 1963 he taught Dutch and History at the Hotel and Technical School in Ostend, punctuated by a period of military service near Köln, Germany in 1961–62. The highlight of his military career was the founding of a musical group (for which he played drums) that entertained officers’ balls with covers of Ray Charles and other hits of the day. </br></br>In 1963 Hubert made the first of his many trips to Asia, hitchhiking for thirteen months from Europe to India and through to Ceylon. Returning to Belgium in 1964, he then worked at the artists’ café La Chèvre Folle in Ostend, where he organized fortnightly exhibitions and occasional cultural events. For the following few years he worked fall and winter for a Belgian travel agency in Manchester and Liverpool, England, while spending summers as a tour guide in Italy, Central Europe, and Turkey. In 1967 he began working as a guide, lecturer, and interpreter for Penn Overland Tours, based in Hereford, England. In these roles he accompanied groups of British, American, Australian, and New Zealand tourists on luxury overland trips from London to Bombay, and later London to Calcutta—excursions that took two and a half months to complete. He made twenty-six overland journeys in the course of fourteen years, during which time he also organized and introduced local musical concerts in Turkey, Pakistan, India, and later Nepal. He likewise accompanied two month-long trips through Iran with specialized international groups as well as a number of overland trips through the USSR and Central Europe. In between his travels, Hubert wrote and presented radio scenarios for Belgian Radio and Television (including work on a prize-winning documentary on Nepal) and for the cultural program Woord. The experiences of hospitality and cultural translation that Hubert accumulated on his many journeys supported his work as a teacher and guide; he was always ready with a hint of how one might better navigate the awkward state of being a stranger in a new place. </br></br>With the birth of his daughter Cascia in 1972, Hubert’s travels paused for several years as he took a position tutoring at the Royal Atheneum in Ostend. He also worked as an art critic with a coastal weekly and lectured with concert tours of Nepalese classical musicians, cārya dancers, and the musicologist and performer Michel Dumont.</br></br>In 1975, during extended layovers between India journeys, Hubert began a two-year period of training in Buddhist Chinese at the University of Louvain with pioneering Indologist and scholar of Buddhist Studies Étienne Lamotte. He recalled being particularly moved by the Buddhist teachings on impermanence he encountered in his initial studies. He also worked as a bronze-caster apprentice and assistant to sculptor—and student of Lamotte—Roland Monteyne. He then resumed his overland journeying full time, leading trips from London to Kathmandu. These included annual three-month layovers in Nepal, where he began studying Tibetan and Sanskrit with local tutors. He was a participant in the first conference of the Seminar of Young Tibetologists held in Zürich in 1977. In 1980 he settled permanently in Kathmandu, where he continued his private studies for seven years. During this period he also taught French at the Alliance Française and briefly served as secretary to the Consul at the French Embassy in Kathmandu. </br></br>It was during the mid 1980s that Hubert began teaching American college students as a lecturer and fieldwork consultant for the Nepal Studies program of the School for International Training (then known as the Experiment in International Living) based in Kathmandu. In 1987 he was tasked with organizing SIT’s inaugural Tibetan Studies program, which ran in the fall of that year. Hubert served as the program’s academic director, a position he would hold for more than a decade. Under his direction, the Tibetan Studies program famously became SIT’s most nomadic college semester abroad, regularly traveling through India, Nepal, Bhutan, as well as western, central, and eastern Tibet. It was also during this period that Hubert produced some of his most memorable writings in the form of academic primers, assignments, and examinations. In 1999 Hubert stepped down as academic director to become the program’s senior faculty advisor, a position he held until his death.</br></br>Hubert taught and lectured across Europe and the United States in positions that included visiting lecturer at Middlebury College and Numata visiting faculty member at the University of Vienna. </br></br>Hubert’s writing covers broad swaths of geographical and historical territory, although he paid particular attention to the Buddhist traditions of Tibet and Nepal. His research focused on the transmission history of the Vajrabhairava tantras, traditional narrative accounts of the Swayambhū Purāṇa, the sacred geography of the Kathmandu Valley (his 2017 lecture on this topic, “Ambrosia for the Ears of Snowlanders,” is recorded here), and the biographies of the eleventh-century Bengali monk Atiśa. His style of presenting lectures was rooted in his work as a musician and lover of music—he prepared meticulously to be sure his talks were rhythmic, precise, and yet had an element of the spontaneous. One of his preferred mediums was the long-form book review, which incorporated new scholarship and original translations with erudite critiques of subjects ranging from Buddhist philosophy to art history and Tibetan music. His final publication, a forthcoming essay on an episode contained in the correspondence of the seventeenth-century Jesuit António de Andrade (translated by Michael Sweet and Leonard Zwilling in 2017), uses close readings of Tibetan historical sources and paintings to complicate and contextualize Andrade’s account of his mission to Tibet. This exemplifies the spirit and method of his review essays, which demonstrate his deep admiration of published scholarship through a meticulous consideration of the work and its sources, often leading to new discoveries. </br></br>In addition to Hubert’s published work, some of his most endearing and enduring writing has appeared informally, in the guise of photocopied packets intended for his students. Each new semester of the SIT Tibetan Studies program would traditionally begin with what is technically called “The Academic Director’s Introduction and Welcome Letter.” These documents would be mailed out to students several weeks prior to the program, and for most other programs they were intended to inform incoming participants of the basic travel itinerary, required readings, and how many pairs of socks to pack. The Tibetan Studies welcome letter began as a humble, one-page handwritten note, impeccably penned in Hubert’s unmistakable hand. </br></br>Hubert’s welcome letters evolved over the years, and they eventually morphed into collections of three or four original essays covering all manner of subjects related to Tibetan Studies, initial hints at how to approach cultural field studies, new research, and experiential education, as well as anecdotes from the previous semester illustrating major triumphs and minor disasters. The welcome letters became increasingly elaborate and in later years regularly reached fifty pages or more in length. The welcome letter for fall 1991, for example, included chapters titled “Scholarly Fever” and “The Field and the Armchair, and not ‘Stage-Struck’ in either.” By spring 1997, the welcome letter included original pieces of scholarship and translation, with a chapter on “The Case of the Royal Testaments” that presented innovative readings of the Maṇi bka’ ’bum. Only one element was missing from the welcome letter, a lacuna corrected in that same text of spring 1997, as noted by its title: Tibetan Studies Tales: An Academic Directors’ Welcome Letter—With Many Footnotes.</br></br>Hubert was adamant that even college students on a study-abroad program could undertake original and creative research, either for assignments in Dharamsala, in Kathmandu or the hilly regions of Nepal, or during independent-study projects themselves, which became the capstone of the semester. Expectations were high, sometimes seemingly impossibly high, but with just the right amount of background information and encouragement, the results were often triumphs. </br></br>Hubert regularly spent the months between semesters, or during the summer, producing another kind of SIT literature: the “assignment text.” These nearly always included extensive original translations of Tibetan materials and often extended background essays as well. They would usually end with a series of questions that would serve as the basis for a team research project. For fall 1994 there was “Cultural Neo-Colonialism in the Himalayas: The Politics of Enforced Religious Conversion”; later there was the assignment on the famous translator Rwa Lotsāwa called “The Melodious Drumsound All-Pervading: The Life and Complete Liberation of Majestic Lord Rwa Lotsāwa, the Yogin-Translator of Rwa, Mighty Lord in Magic Intervention.” There were extended translations of traditional pilgrimage guides for the Kathmandu Valley, including texts by the Fourth Khamtrul and the Sixth Zhamar hierarchs, for assignments where teams of students would race around the valley rim looking for an elusive footprint in stone or a guesthouse long in ruins that marked the turnoff of an old pilgrim’s trail. For many students these assignments were the first foray into field work methods, and Hubert's careful guidance helped them approach collaborations with local experts ethically and with deep respect for diverse forms of knowledge. </br></br>One semester there was a project titled “The Mystery of the IV Brother Images, ’Phags pa mched bzhi” focused on the famous set of statues in Tibet and Nepal and based on new Tibetan materials that had only just come to light. Another examined the “The Tibetan World ‘Translated’ in Western Comics.” Finally, there was a classic of the genre that examined the creative nonconformity of the Bhutanese mad yogin Drugpa Kunleg in light of the American iconoclast composer and musician Frank Zappa: “A Dose of Drugpa Kunleg for the post–1984 Era: Prolegomena to a Review Article of the Real Frank Zappa Book.”</br></br>Frank Zappa was, indeed, another of Hubert’s inspirations and his aforementioned review included the following passage: “If there’s one thing I do admire in FZ, it is precisely these ‘highest standards’ and utmost professional thoroughness that does not allow for any sloppiness (in the name of artistic freedom or spontaneous freedom)…. At the same time, each concert is really different, [and]…appears as a completely spontaneous event.” Hubert’s life as a scholar, teacher, and mentor was a consummate illustration of this highest ideal. </br></br>Hubert is survived by his wife Nazneen Zafar; his daughter Cascia Decleer, son-in-law Diarmuid Conaty, and grandsons Keanu and Kiran Conaty; his sister Annie Decleer and brother-in-law Patrick van Calenbergh; his brother Misjel Decleer and sister-in-law Martine Thomaere; his stepmother Agnès Decleer, and half-brother Luc Decleer. A traditional cremation ceremony at the Bijeśvarī Vajrayoginī temple near Swayambhū is planned for Friday.</br></br>Benjamin Bogin, Andrew Quintman, and Dominique Townsend</br></br>Portions of this biographical sketch draw on the introduction to [[Himalayan Passages]]: Newar and Tibetan Studies in Honor of Hubert Decleer (Wisdom Publications, 2014))
- Tyler Dewar + ('''Short Biography:'''<br> Mitra Tyl … '''Short Biography:'''<br></br>Mitra Tyler Dewar met [[Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche]] in 1997, just one year after beginning his journey of practicing the dharma. Through an auspicious coincidence, he learned the Tibetan alphabet that summer and soon after formed the conviction to serve the dharma through translating Tibetan into English. He became a formal student of Rinpoche's in 1998 and began translating for Rinpoche's organizations, Nalandabodhi and Nitartha Institute, in 2000. In 2001 he became the regular translator for Acharya Sherab Gyaltsen Negi at Nalandabodhi Seattle. From that point onward, Tyler has traveled extensively with The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche on Rinpoche's teaching tours, translating for the Tibetan segments of Rinpoche's teachings and occasionally presenting aspects of Rinpoche's teachings himself. In 2003 Nalandabodhi welcomed Acharya Tashi Wangchuk as a resident teacher; Tyler served as Acharya's oral interpreter and also worked closely with Acharya on the translation of several texts from the philosophical and intuitive traditions of Indian and Tibetan Buddhadharma. Tyler has served as a secretary in the Office of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche for the past seven years, and has thus felt enriched by the opportunity to support Rinpoche's teaching activity from many perspectives.</br></br>In terms of his formative dharma training, Tyler completed two dathuns (month-long intensive meditation retreats) in the late 90s and resided for one year, 1997-1998, at Gampo Abbey Monastery in Nova Scotia, Canada, practicing intensively, participating in several study curricula, and attending lengthy seminars by Ani Pema Chödrön on Mind Training. He has attended Nitartha Institute's summer program since 1999 and has been a faculty member since 2000, translating for such courses as Collected Topics, Abhidharma, Mind Only, and Madhyamaka. He attended his first Nalandabodhi Sangha Retreat in 2001 and has been in attendance ever since.</br></br>Two books of Tyler's translations have been published by [[Snow Lion Publications]]: [[Trainings in Compassion]]: Manuals on the Meditation of Avalokiteshvara (2004) and [[The Karmapa's Middle Way]]: Feast for the Fortunate (2008), a translation of a major philosophical work by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje.hical work by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje.)
- Yin Shun + ((Master) Yin Shun (印順導師, Yìnshùn Dǎoshī) ( … (Master) Yin Shun (印順導師, Yìnshùn Dǎoshī) (5 April 1906 – 4 June 2005) was a well-known Buddhist monk and scholar in the tradition of Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism. Though he was particularly trained in the Three Treatise school, he was an advocate of the One Vehicle (or Ekayāna) as the ultimate and universal perspective of Buddhahood for all, and as such included all schools of Buddha Dharma, including the Five Vehicles and the Three Vehicles, within the meaning of the Mahāyāna as the One Vehicle. Yin Shun's research helped bring forth the ideal of "Humanistic" (human-realm) Buddhism, a leading mainstream Buddhist philosophy studied and upheld by many practitioners. His work also regenerated the interests in the long-ignored Āgamas among Chinese Buddhist society and his ideas are echoed by Theravadin teacher Bhikkhu Bodhi. As a contemporary master, he was most popularly known as the mentor of Cheng Yen (Pinyin: Zhengyan), the founder of Tzu-Chi Buddhist Foundation, as well as the teacher to several other prominent monastics.<br> Although Master Yin Shun is closely associated with the Tzu-Chi Foundation, he has had a decisive influence on others of the new generation of Buddhist monks such as Sheng-yen of Dharma Drum Mountain and Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan, who are active in humanitarian aid, social work, environmentalism and academic research as well. He is considered to be one of the most influential figures of Taiwanese Buddhism, having influenced many of the leading Buddhist figures in modern Taiwan. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_Shun Source Accessed July 10, 2020])ed July 10, 2020]))
- Klaus-Dieter Mathes + ( *[http://www.univie.ac.at/cirdis/index.ph … </br>*[http://www.univie.ac.at/cirdis/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=67&lang=en Tibetology at CIRDIS]</br></br>'''Bio:'''</br>:Venerable Yuen Hang Memorial Trust Professor in Buddhist Studies at the University of Hong Kong.</br></br>Klaus-Dieter Mathes is a professor of Buddhist studies at the University of Hong Kong. His current research deals with exclusivism, inclusivism, and tolerance in Mahāyāna Buddhism. He obtained his Ph.D. from Marburg University in 1994 with a study of the Yogācāra text Dharmadharmatāvibhāga (published in 1996 in the series Indica et Tibetica). From 1993 to 2001 he served as the director of the Nepal Research Centre and the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project in Kathmandu. Before joining the University of Hong Kong in August 2023 he was the head of the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna, where with his team he hosted the 2014 conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. He has organized and given presentations at many other conferences and symposiums, and has served as the chairman of the board of trustees of the Numata Professional Chair for Buddhist Studies, University of Vienna.</br></br>His major publications include A Direct Path to the Buddha Within: Gö Lotsāwa's Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga (Wisdom, 2008), A Fine Blend of Mahāmudrā and Madhyamaka: Maitrīpa's Collection of Texts on Non-conceptual Realization (Amanasikāra) (Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2015), and Maitrīpa: India's Yogi of Nondual Bliss (Shambhala, 2021). He is also a regular contributor to the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, and is the co-editor of the Vienna Series for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies.</br></br>'''Current Ongoing Research:'''</br>*[http://www.univie.ac.at/mahamudra/index.php?article_id=11 Emptiness of Other (gzhan stong) in Tibetan Mahamudra Traditions of the 15th and 16th Centuries]</br>ibetan Mahamudra Traditions of the 15th and 16th Centuries] )
- Collett Davis Cox + (== Full Name == Collett Davis Cox == Affi … == Full Name ==</br>Collett Davis Cox</br></br>== Affiliation ==</br>University of Washington, Professor<br></br>'''Education'''<br></br>B.A. Religion. Carleton College, Northfield, MN. 1972<br></br>M.A. Columbia University, New York; 1976, M.Phil. 1974<br></br>Ph.D. Columbia University. 1983<br></br></br>== Other Information ==</br>'''Contact Information:'''<br></br>M246 Gowen Hall <br></br>Box 353521<br></br>Seattle, WA 98195-3521<br></br>(206) 543-4965; Fax (206) 685-4268<br></br>collett@u.washington.edu<br></br>http://faculty.washington.edu/collett/<br></br>[http://depts.washington.edu/asianll/people/faculty/collett.html University webpage]<br></br></br>'''Research & Teaching Fields'''<br></br>Sanskrit, Pali, Indian Buddhism, Indian philosophy, religious studies<br></br></br>'''Recent publications:'''<br></br>[[Collett Cox]]. "[[From Category To Ontology: The Changing Role Of Dharma In Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma]]." [[Journal of Indian Philosophy]], 32, no. 5-6 (2004): 543-597</br></br>== Publications ==Journal of Indian Philosophy]], 32, no. 5-6 (2004): 543-597 == Publications ==)
- Saigyō + (A Japanese Buddhist poet of the late Heian … A Japanese Buddhist poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods, especially famous for his many waka poems, a traditional style of Japanese poetry; his dharma name literally means "Traveling West," presumably referring to the direction of the pure la n d of Amitābha. Born as Satō Norikiyo into a family of the warrior class, he served during his youth as a guard for the retired emperor Toba (r. 1107-1123) before becoming a monk at the age of twenty-two. Although relatively little is known about his life, Saigyō seems to have traveled around the country on pilgrimage before eventually settling in relative seclusion on Kōyasan, the headquarters of the Shingonshū. Virtually all of his poems are written in the thirty-one-syllable waka form favored at court and cover most of the traditional topics addressed in such poems, including travel, reclusion, cherry blossoms, and the beauty of the moon in the night sky. His poetry also reflects the desolation and despondency that Japanese of his time may have felt was inevitable during the degenerate age of the dharma (J. ''mappō''; C. ''mofa''). Saigyō's ''Sankashū'' ("Mountain Home Collection") includes some fifteen hundred poems written in the course of his career; ninety-four of these poems were included in the imperially sponsored waka collection, the ''Shinkokinshū'' ("New Collection of Ancient and Modern Times"), compiled in 1205, making him one of Japan’s most renowned and influential poets. (Source: "Saigyō." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 738. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)tp://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.))
- Bhikshu Heng Ch'ien + (A diligent, student and cultivator, Dharma … A diligent, student and cultivator, Dharma Master Heng Ch'ien has been one of the foremost students to sit at the feet of the Venerable Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua. He studied the Dharma Blossom Sutra for over five years, and has been explaining it for more than four. His understanding of the Sutra is deep and comprehensive, and his lectures have made the Sutra's principles clear and easy to understand. ([http://www.dharmasite.net/vbs28/28_7.htm Adapted from Source Oct 1, 2022])28_7.htm Adapted from Source Oct 1, 2022]))
- Judith Amtzis + (A long term student of the Dharma, Judith … A long term student of the Dharma, Judith met both Holiness Pema Norbu Rinpoche and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche in 1976, and has lived in Asia since then, primarily in Kathmandu, Nepal. On the request of Holiness Penor Rinpoche, she collaborated with Khenpo Sonam Tsewang of Namdroling Monastery in Mysore to translate the Liberation Story of Namcho Migyur Dorje, the terton who discovered the treasures that make up the core of the Palyul tradition. This biography is entitled ''The All-Pervading Melodious Sound of Thunder'', and was written by the first Karma Chagme Rinpoche. ([http://levekunst.com/team_member/judith-amtzis/ Adapted from Source July 20, 2022])mtzis/ Adapted from Source July 20, 2022]))
- Ann Helm + (A long–term student of Chogyam Trungpa Rin … A long–term student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Ann joined the Nalanda Translation Committee in 1986. She studied Tibetan at Naropa University, mainly with Dzigar Kongtrul, and she taught Tibetan and Foundations of Buddhism at Naropa from 1991-2004. After 30 years in Boulder, Ann lived as a retreatant for eight years at Padma Samye Ling, the monastery in upstate New York of Khenchen Palden Sherab and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal. From 1997 to 2014, she translated primarily with Ringu Tulku and for Dharma Samudra, the Khenpo Brothers’ publication group. In 2014 Ann moved to Portland, Oregon, where she continues her Buddhist practice and study under the guidance of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. ([http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/Ann_Helm Source Accessed Sept 9, 2020])hp/Ann_Helm Source Accessed Sept 9, 2020]))
- Chogye Trichen Rinpoche + (A modern Tibetan biography is available on … A modern Tibetan biography is available on [https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=W1KG17214 BDRC W1KG17214 ]: bco brgyad khri chen rin po che'i mdzad rnam mdor bsdus. Edited by Yon tan bzang po (P5949). Kathmandu, Nepal: Sachen International, 2008. </br></br>His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, Ngawang Khyenrab Thupten Lekshe Gyatso, is the most senior Sakya Lama and the head of the Tsar sub-school of Sakya tradition. His Eminence is a renowned tantric master, a dedicated practitioner, an outstanding scholar, an eloquent poet, and embodies the wisdom, spirit and activities of the holy Dharma. His Eminence is a master of masters as most Tibetan Buddhist lineage holders are his disciples. Amongst these disciples are His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, and His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin, Ngawang Kunga, and His Eminence is regarded as the definitive authority on Kalacakra Tantra. In addition to His Eminence's stature among Tibetan lamas, the late King Birendra of Nepal awarded His Eminence "Gorkha Dakshin Babu", a tribute which has never been awarded to a Buddhist monk in Nepal before.</br></br>Born in 1919 in the Tsang province of Central Tibet into the Zhalu Kushang family of the Che clan, a lineage descended from the clear light gods, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous Chogye Rinpoche of Nalendra Monastery by the 13th Dalai Lama, Thupten Gyatso. Many auspicious and marveleous signs accompanied His Eminence's birth. His Eminence is the 26th patriarch of Phenpo Nalendra Monastery, North of Lhasa. Founded by Rongton Sheja Kunrig (1367-1449), Nalendra is one of the most important Sakya monasteries in Tibet. Wondrously, each generation of the Kushang family has produced no less than four sons, most of who have served as throne holders of many important monasteries including Nalendra, Zhalu and Ngor.</br></br>The name "Kushang" meaning 'royal maternal uncle' derived from the fact that many daughters from the family were married to numerous Sakya throne holders, one of whom, Drogon Chagna, was supreme ruler of Tibet, who succeeded Chogyal Phakpa.</br></br>The name "Chogye" means 'Eighteen' and comes from the time of Khyenrab Choje, the 8th abbot of Nalendra who also belonged to the aristocratic Kushang family. Khyenrab Choje, a great teacher possessing the direct lineage of Kalacakra received from Vajrayogini, was invited to be the abbot of Nalendra by Sakya Trizin Dagchen Lodro Gyaltsen (1444-1495). Khyenrab Choje visited the Emperor of China who was greatly impressed by the tantric scholar from Tibet and bestowed on him 'eighteen' precious gifts. From Khyenrab Choje the lineage of Chogye Rinpoches began.</br></br>At the age of twelve His Eminence was officially enthroned at the Phenpo Nalendra Monastery. In these early years he studied intensively all the basic liturgies and rituals of Nalendra Monastery. His two main root Gurus were the 4th Zimwog Tulku, Ngawang Tenzin Thrinley Norbu Palzangpo, the other main incarnate lama of Nalendra Monastery, and Dampa Rinpoche Shenphen Nyingpo of Ngor Ewam. From these two great teachers His Eminence recieved all the major and minor teachings of Sakya such as the two Lamdre Traditions, the Greater and Lesser Mahakalas, the Four Tantras, the Thirteen Golden Dharmas, Kalacakra, etc. His Eminence completed extensive studies in all major fields of study taught in Lord Buddha's teachings. His Eminence becomes a master in both Sutrayana and Mantrayana teachings. His Eminence is also a great scholar of literature, poetry, history and Buddhist metaphysics and a highly accomplished poet. ([https://www.yuloling.com/khacho-yulo-ling/spiritual-leaders/his-eminence-chogye-trichen-rinpoche.html Source Accessed June 16, 2020])poche.html Source Accessed June 16, 2020]))
- Aaron K. Koseki + (Aaron K. Koseki received his PhD in Buddhi … Aaron K. Koseki received his PhD in Buddhist Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1977 under the supervision of Minoru Kiyota. His dissertation is entitled "Chi-tsang's Ta-ch'eng-hsüan-lun: The Two Truths and the Buddha-Nature." Some of his articles include: "Prajñāpāramitā and the Buddhahood of the Non-Sentient World: The San-Lun Assimilation of Buddha-Nature and Middle Path Doctrine," ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies'' 3/1 (1980), "Later Mādhyamika in China: Some Current Perspectives on the History of Chinese Prajñāpāramitā Thought," ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies'' 5/2 (1982), "Chi-tsang's ''Sheng-man pao-k'u'': The True Dharma Doctrine and the Bodhisattva Ideal," ''Philosophy East and West'' 34, no. 1, (1984), "The concept of practice in San Lun thought: Chi-tsang and the 'concurrent insight' of the Two Truths," ''Philosophy East and West'' 31, no. 4, (1981), and a review of Minoru Kiyota's book ''Shingon Buddhism: Theory and Practice'', ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies'' 1/2 (1979).ociation of Buddhist Studies'' 1/2 (1979).)
- Emily Bower + (Acharya Emily Bower started meditating and … Acharya Emily Bower started meditating and studying with the Shambhala community in 1987 in Berkeley, California. She went on to live on staff at Karme Chöling for three years, and then moved to Boston, Massachusetts to work as a book editor specializing in Buddhism, yoga, and other spiritual traditions.</br></br>She worked for Shambhala Publications for a total of ten years. She is fortunate to have been able to work on books with many spiritual teachers, including Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.</br></br>She lives and works now in Los Angeles as a book editor and publishing consultant, and is a co-founder of Dharma Spring, a curated online Buddhist bookshop, launching in 2017. She is an editor for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, an international non-profit initiative to translate all of the Buddha’s words into modern languages and to make them available to everyone, free of charge.</br></br>In her service as a senior teacher in the Shambhala community, she leads both extended retreats and weekend programs. She especially enjoys presenting on themes that bring practical application to our wisdom traditions. ([https://shambhalaonline.org/acharya-emily-bower/ Source Accessed Mar 18, 2022])mily-bower/ Source Accessed Mar 18, 2022]))
- David Kittay + (Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia Un … Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University. (BU JD, CU PhD). Dr. Kittay specializes in teaching courses on Buddhism and on Eastern and Western philosophy, most recently, “Technology, Religion, Future,” “Interpreting Buddhist Yoga,” "Law and Religion," and "Reincarnation, Simulation, Resurrection." He is the translator of The Vajra Rosary Tantra (Wisdom Publications, forthcoming 2019), Alaṃkakalaśa’s word commentary on the Vajra Rosary Tantra, and, with Professor Lozang Jamspal, Pha Dampa Sangs rgyas's One Hundred Spiritual Instructions to the Dingri People (Ladakh Ratnashridipika Press, 2011), the Elucidation of the Intention Tantra, The Questions of the Four Goddesses Tantra and Tsong Khapa's commentary on it, The Vajra Intuition Compendium Tantra, with Tsong Khapa's commentary, and the Later Tantra (these being the first complete English translations of the Explanatory Tantras of the Guhyasamāja under the Noble Tradition, and (under a grant from 84000,Translating the Words of the Buddha) The Symphony of Dharma Sūtra, along with other publications about Buddhism, religion, and law. He regularly lectures at Tibet House US, where he serves on the Board, and at Do Ngak Kunphen Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center, at Columbia, and worldwide, and is the President of the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York. He also writes and lectures on the subject of compassionate lawyering, and has served as a trial and civil rights lawyer, federal bankruptcy trustee and a receiver for the Securities Exchange Commission. He is currently Director and Professor of Philosophy at the Harlem Clemente Course for the Humanities, teaching humanities to economically disadvantaged people in Harlem.</br></br>Dr. Kittay's current primary research interests are Buddhist philosophy and tantra, hermeneutic yoga, and consciousness studies. ([https://religion.columbia.edu/content/david-kittay Source: Columbia University, Accessed July 27, 2024])umbia University, Accessed July 27, 2024]))
- Adzom Gyalse Rikzin Gyurme Dorje + (Adzom Gyalse Gyurme Dorje (Tib. ཨ་འཛོམ་རྒྱ … Adzom Gyalse Gyurme Dorje (Tib. ཨ་འཛོམ་རྒྱལ་སྲས་འགྱུར་མེད་རྡོ་རྗེ་, Wyl. a 'dzom rgyal sras 'gyur med rdo rje) aka Agyur Rinpoche (Wyl. a 'gyur rin po che) (1895-1969) — the third son and student of Adzom Drukpa. He was recognized by Jamgön Kongtrul as an emanation of Orgyen Terdak Lingpa.</br></br>Adzom Gyalse Gyurme Dorje was the third son and student of Adzom Drukpa Drodul Pawo Dorje. His mother was Tashi Lhamo (Tib. bkra shis lha mo), the daughter of a popular merchant named Budo (Tib. bum dos), who became Adzom Drukpa’s spiritual wife at the recommendation of Jamgön Kongtrul. While regarded as the incarnation of several eminent master, Adzom Gyalse was recognised as the incarnation of Minling Terchen Gyurme Dorje. Adzom Drukpa oversaw the spiritual education of Adzom Gyalse and transmitted to him especially his own terma treasures and the teachings of the Great Perfection such as the Longchen Nyingtik and the Chetsün Nyingtik. These in turn became also the main focus of Adzom Gyalse’s study and practice. Thus Adzom Gyalse rose to become of the main holders of the lineage and transmission of the Great Perfection teachings.</br></br>Adzom Gyalse took over the legacy of his father and became responsible for, the by his father in 1886 established, Adzom Gar (Tib. A ’dzom gar).[2] Unlike his father, Adzom Gyalse took monastic ordination and remained a monk throughout his entire life. He further developed and expanded Adzom Gar and became its main teacher and holder. While Adzom Gyalse had the potential to become a great tertön he decided to focused instead on the preservation and continuation of existing practices and teachings.</br></br>In 1958, Adzom Gyalse was arrested and put in prison where he gave teachings to his fellow inmates. He passed away in 1969 with many miraculous signs, and left a letter predicting the date and place of his future rebirth and the names of his future parents. In accordance with this letter, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche recognised a child born in Bhutan in 1980 as the reincarnation of Adzom Gyalse Gyurme Dorje. This child became a monk at Shechen Monastery and received numerous teachings and initiations from Khyentse Rinpoche. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Adzom_Gyalse_Gyurme_Dorje Source Accessed Sep 30, 2022])yurme_Dorje Source Accessed Sep 30, 2022]))
- Damchö Diana Finnegan + (After a career as a journalist based in Ne … After a career as a journalist based in New York and Hong Kong, Damchö Diana Finnegan ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1999. In 2009, she received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a thesis on gender and ethics in Sanskrit and Tibetan narratives about Buddha’s direct female disciples in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. </br> </br>After completing her dissertation she worked closely with the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, serving as co-editor on various publications, including ''Interconnected: Embracing Life in a Global Society'' and ''The Heart Is Noble: Changing the World from the Inside Out''. </br></br>In 2007, she co-founded Dharmadatta Nuns’ Community (Comunidad Dharmadatta), a community of Spanish-speaking Buddhist nuns, based first in India and later in Mexico. Together with the other Dharmadatta nuns, she leads a large Latin American community with a commitment to gender and environmental justice as part of its spiritual practice. </br></br>At the same time, Damchö continues to participate in academic circles, presenting at conferences, editing books, and engaging in various research projects. The most recent publication on which she collaborated, a translation from Sanskrit and Tibetan of the manual for conferring full ordination to women, is forthcoming from Hamburg University’s Numata Center for Buddhist Studies. </br> </br>Damchö has served as a board member of Maitripa College since its founding in 2005. ([https://maitripa.org/damcho-diana-finnegan/ Source Accessed Sep 23, 2021])a-finnegan/ Source Accessed Sep 23, 2021]))
- Rinso Ed Sattizahn + (After meeting Suzuki Roshi in 1970, Rinso … After meeting Suzuki Roshi in 1970, Rinso Ed Sattizahn lived at Tassajara from 1973 to 1977. He spent the next five years at City Center, serving as Zen Center's Vice President and President. From 1983 to 2000 Ed held various executive positions in the microcomputer software industry and developed familiarity with how the world works. In 2003, he served as Shuso (Head Student) at Green Gulch Farm, and in the same year co-founded Vimala Sangha in Mill Valley with Lew Richmond. Vimala Sangha is named after Vimalakirti, the famous householder disciple of the Buddha, and is dedicated to the practice of householder Zen in the tradition of Suzuki Roshi. Ed received Lay Entrustment in 2005, was ordained as a Zen priest in 2010, and received Dharma Transmission in 2012, all from Lew Richmond. Ed previously served on the Zen Center Board for six years (2006-2011) and as board chair for three years (2009-2011). In March 2014, Ed became Abiding Abbot at City Center, and in March 2019 stepped into the role of Central Abbot. He remains the guiding teacher at Vimala Sangha Mill Valley. ([https://www.sfzc.org/teachers/rinso-ed-sattizahn Source Accessed August 13, 2020])attizahn Source Accessed August 13, 2020]))
- Albion M. Butters + (Albion M. Butters (Masters of Theological … Albion M. Butters (Masters of Theological Studies, Harvard Divinity School; Fulbright scholar, India; Ph.D., History of Religion, Columbia University) has a specialization in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. As an Academy of Finland Research Fellow, he is currently engaged in a study on ideological aspects of "Campus Carry" in Texas, focusing in particular on fear and affect, power, and intersections between gun culture and religiosity.</br></br>Butters is the editor of Studia Orientalia Electronica, an online peer-reviewed imprint of the Studia Orientalia journal (est. 1917, Finnish Oriental Society). His multidisciplinary research interests include questions of identity and meaning-making, shifting ideologies (religious and secular), and the integration of spiritual themes in popular culture. Forthcoming is his monograph titled Spi-Fi: Spiritual Fiction in Comics, which examines the significance of stories and art for identity construction and personal transformation; supported by the Kone Foundation, this research project was inspired by Butters’ involvement as one of the creators of the graphic novel Mandala (Dark Horse Comics, 2014). ([https://utu.academia.edu/AlbionButters Source Academia.edu])ia.edu/AlbionButters Source Academia.edu]))
- Allison Choying Zangmo + (Allison Choying Zangmo is Anyen Rinpoche's … Allison Choying Zangmo is Anyen Rinpoche's personal translator and a longtime student of both Rinpoche and his root lama, Kyabje Tsara Dharmakirti. She has either translated or collaborated with Rinpoche on all of his books. She lives in Denver, Colorado.</br></br>She has received empowerments, transmissions and upadesha instructions in the Longchen Nyingthig tradition from Khenchen Tsara Dharmakirti Rinpoche, as well as others of his main students, such as Khenpo Tashi from Do Kham Shedrup Ling. She also received an unusually direct lineage of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje’s chod from the realized chodpa Lama Damphel.</br></br>After moving to the US with Anyen Rinpoche, she received many other empowerments, transmissions and upadesha instructions in the Secret Mantryana tradition from eminent masters such as Taklong Tsetrul Rinpoche, Padma Dunbo, Yangtang Rinpoche, Khenpo Namdrol, Denpai Wangchuk, and Tulku Rolpai Dorje.</br></br>Allison Choying Zangmo works diligently for both Orgyen Khamdroling and the Phowa Foundation, as well as composing books and translations of traditional texts & sadhanas with Anyen Rinpoche, and spending a portion of each year in retreat. Although she never had any wish to teach Dharma in the west, based on encouragement by Anyen Rinpoche, Tulku Rolpai Dorje and Khenpo Tashi, she began teaching the dharma under Anyen Rinpoche's guidance in 2017. ([https://orgyenkhamdroling.org/rinpoche/allison Source: Orgyen Khamdroling])/rinpoche/allison Source: Orgyen Khamdroling]))
- Sermey Khensur Lobsang Tharchin Rinpoche + (Also known as Geshe Lobsang Tharchin (1921 … Also known as Geshe Lobsang Tharchin (1921 - 2004). Full Obituary: http://www.acidharma.org/directors/kr_passing.html</br></br>(Sermey Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tharchin) Khensur Rinpoche first came to the United States in April 1972; he continued to live and teach here for more than 30 years. He was one of the most senior Tibetan Buddhist masters to bring the holy teachings of Tibetan Buddhism to the west.</br></br>Sermey Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tharchin was born in Lhasa, Tibet in 1921. He entered the Mey College of Sera Monastery at an early age and proceeded through the rigorous 25 year program of Buddhist monastic and philosophical studies. Upon successful completion of the public examination by the best scholars of the day, Rinpoche was awarded the highest degree of Hlarampa Geshe with honors. In 1954, he entered the Gyumed Tantric College, completed its course of study under strict monastic discipline, and shortly afterwards attained a high-ranking administrative position.In 1959, Rinpoche escaped to India along with His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, and tens of thousands of other Tibetans. Actively involved in Tibetan resettlement, he compiled a series of textbooks for a Tibetan curriculum to be used in refugee schools and also taught in Darjeeling, Simla, and Mussoorie.</br></br>In 1972, Khen Rinpoche was chosen by H.H. the Dalai Lama to come to the United States to participate in a project involving the translation of Buddhist scriptures. Upon its completion, he was invited to serve as the Abbot of Rashi Gempil Ling Temple in New Jersey, a position that he held until his passing, on December 1, 2004. In 1975 Rinpoche founded the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center in Washington D.C., with a branch in New Jersey, as well as, the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Press. Over the years he has offered a vast range of Buddhist teachings.</br></br>In 1991, Khen Rinpoche was asked by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to serve as Abbot of Sera Mey monastery in south India. After a brief appointment there, he returned to the United States, where he continued to teach and direct a number of projects dedicated to the restoration of Sera Mey Monastery in India and to the flourishing of the Mahayana Buddhist Dharma in the West unitl his passing in December of 2004. [http://mstcdharma.org/teachers-history-of-center/ Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center of Washington, DC]Sutra and Tantra Center of Washington, DC])
- Jay Goldberg + (Also known as Ngawang Samten, Lama Jay Gol … Also known as Ngawang Samten, Lama Jay Goldberg is a translator of “The Beautiful Ornament of the Three Visions”, “Mo, Tibetan Divination System”, “The Sage’s Intent”, “The Sutra of Recollecting the Three Jewels” (with commentary by Khenpo Appey) and many translations of sadhanas and rituals. He is a long-time Dharma practitioner who lived in India for 17 years, including 14 years as a monk in Rajpur as a disciple of His Holiness Sakya Trizin. H.E. Jetsun Kushok says of Jay Goldberg: “He is a longtime student of His Holiness Sakya Trizin and has been my personal translator. He is an excellent Sakyapa now practicing in daily life.” Lama Jay Goldberg is the practice director at Sakya Dechen Ling, HE Jetsun Kushok Chimey Luding’s center in the Bay area.</br>([https://tsechennamdrolling.wordpress.com/recent/ Source Accessed September 19, 2015])cent/ Source Accessed September 19, 2015]))
- Amgön Rinpoche + (Amgön Rinpoche (1853-1945) was a renowned … Amgön Rinpoche (1853-1945) was a renowned hermit and yogin at Drikung Til, celebrated for his miraculous powers and eccentric behavior. Popular stories credit him with the ability to transform himself into a young monk and travel instantly to Lhasa. Known for his unconventional conduct, he refused offerings from those who brought them while requesting gifts from empty-handed visitors, and plastered his cell walls with paper money, which he refused to recognize as having value. His seemingly bizarre actions often carried pointed spiritual lessons—when the monastery's disciplinarian called him crazy, Amgön Rinpoche retorted that building a sumptuous residence was the true madness. According to his biography, his disruptive behavior was motivated by tantric practice, particularly teachings from the Hevajra Tantra. Fellow master Drupwang Tseten Rinpoche defended him, stating, "He is not crazy. It is a sign of his having achieved siddhis . . . This is not like ordinary madness." (Source: DiValerio, ''The Holy Madmen of Tibet'', 226)alerio, ''The Holy Madmen of Tibet'', 226))
- André Chédel + (André Chédel, born in Neuchâtel in 1915 an … André Chédel, born in Neuchâtel in 1915 and died in Le Locle in 1984, was a self-taught Swiss philosopher and researcher, writer, orientalist and journalist.</br></br>The only child of a family from Le Locle, he had a great interest in Eastern languages and civilizations from a very young age. He first studied as an autodidact and then in Paris at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, at the School of Oriental Languages and at the Sorbonne between 1936 and 1939.</br></br>Fascinated by the East and interested in philosophical, spiritual and religious ideas, in 1944 he composed an anthology of Eastern religious and sacred texts, then several essays, in particular ''Judaism and Christianity: the bases of an agreement between Jews and Christians, towards a spiritualist religion'' (1951), ''For a secular humanism'' (1963), ''On the threshold of Solomon's temple: reflections on Freemasonry'' (1977) and finally ''The absolute, this research: analysis of monotheistic religions'' (1980). His literary activity is rich, varied and accessible. Among other things, he also wrote a novel, ''The Rise to Carmel'' (1958), a collection of short stories ''Contes et portraits'' (1958), a set of short texts ''Vagabondages: evocations and reflections'' (1974), as well as various travel stories.</br></br>At the same time, he translated numerous texts into French, in particular works in Russian (''La Russie face à l'Occident'' by Dostoyevsky in 1945, ''Les Nouvelles'' by Anton Chekhov in 1959), in ancient Greek (''Les Perses d' Eschyle'' in 1946), in Arabic (''Choice of Tales from the Arabian Nights'' in 1949), in Sanskrit (''Bhagavad-Gîtâ'' in 1971 ). In addition, he wrote several prefaces.</br></br>In addition to his abundant publications, André Chédel was also a freelance journalist and collaborated with numerous daily newspapers and reviews: the Journal de Genève, the Gazette de Lausanne, L'Essor (of which he was the head from 1950 to 1952), L'Impartial, La Revue de Suisse, La Vie protestante, and others.</br></br>André Chédel was a Freemason, a member of the Swiss Grand Lodge Alpina.</br></br>He finally received several prizes and distinctions, he is notably Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa from the University of Neuchâtel in 1962. From the French Academy, he received the Louis-Paul-Miller Prize in 1972 for his book ''Vers l'Universalité''. ([https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Ch%C3%A9del Source Accessed Apr 7, 2022])_Ch%C3%A9del Source Accessed Apr 7, 2022]))
- Andy Wistreich + (Andy was born in England in 1950. Now reti … Andy was born in England in 1950. Now retired from paid employment, he spent most of his career as a teacher in further education in England. He gained a masters degree in education in 2000 and went on to work for the UK higher and further education funding councils providing support services for the educational use of the Internet. In 1980 he began to practise Buddhism, taking refuge, lay vows and bodhisattva vows with Geshe Jampa Tekchog.</br></br>During the eighties, Andy was spiritual programme coordinator at Manjushri London Centre (now Jamyang), taking teachings from Geshe Wangchen, Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and others. He began to teach Buddhism and lead short retreats at the centre in 1982. He took a series of empowerments and undertook some short solitary retreats during that period. After moving to Somerset, England in 1989, Andy continued teaching on ''Bodhicaryavatara'', Gom Rim, Lo Rig, Śamatha, Introduction to Tantra and Discovering Buddhism modules at Jamyang Leeds.</br></br>Having first taken the Kalacakra Empowerment in Madison, Wisconsin, USA in 1981, Andy developed an ongoing enthusiasm for study and practice of Kalacakra, with a strong wish to support Kalacakra practitioners with materials, teachings, retreats etc. In 1998 he and David Reigle set up the International Kalacakra Network for that purpose, and the network has become a major source of information, and support for practice by means of the internet.</br></br>Since retiring in July 2007, Andy has undertaken a year of retreats in two FPMT retreat centres. Having now emerged from those retreats he plans to dedicate the rest of his life to studying, practising and teaching the Dharma. He is available to teach a wide range of texts and topics from sutra and tantra, as well as to lead retreats. ([https://fpmt.org/wp-content/uploads/teachers/touring/pdf/Andy_Wistreich_bio.pdf Apadted from Source Mar 26, 2025])bio.pdf Apadted from Source Mar 26, 2025]))