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Alex Wayman + (Wayman joined Columbia in 1966 as a visiti … Wayman joined Columbia in 1966 as a visiting associate professor of religion. In 1967, he was appointed professor of Sanskrit in the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures, a position he held until his retirement in 1991. During his tenure, Wayman taught classes in classical Sanskrit, Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit, Indian and Tibetan Religions and the history of astrology.While at Columbia, he was a member of the administrative committee of the Southern Asian Institute. He also served as senior editor of The Buddhist Traditions Series (with 30 volumes to date) published by Motilal Banarsidass in Delhi, India.Wayman authored 12 books, including ''Buddhist Tantric Systems'', ''Untying the Knots in Buddhism'', ''Enlightenment of Vairocana'', and ''A Millennium of Buddhist Logic''. He co-authored a translation of the 3rd-century Buddhist scripture ''Lion's Roar of Queen Shrimala'' with his wife, Hideko. Her knowledge of Chinese and Japanese sources complemented his research and translation of Sanskrit and Tibetan sources.An honorary volume, titled ''Researches in Indian and Buddhist Philosophy (essays in honor of Prof. Alex Wayman)'', edited by Ram Karan Sharma, was published in 1993 to commemorate the many years that Wayman devoted to scholarly research on Indian topics. ([https://lists.h-net.org/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-asia&month=0411&week=b&msg=Mjh17lJ%2B2gHmOKM2On16yg&user=&pw= Source Accessed Aug 10, 2020])]2B2gHmOKM2On16yg&user=&pw= Source Accessed Aug 10, 2020])])
William E. Deal + (William E. Deal holds a joint appointment … William E. Deal holds a joint appointment in Cognitive Science and Religious Studies at Case Western Reserve University. He is Severance Professor of the History of Religion in the Department of Religious Studies and Professor of Cognitive Science and Chair of the Department of Cognitive Science. He has served as Associate Director for Digital Humanities at the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences, is past Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, and served for several years as Director of CWRU's Asian Studies Program. He was the founding director of the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence. Dr. Deal received an A.B. in Religion (magna cum laude) and an A.M. in Asian Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. He received his Ph.D. in Religion from Harvard University in 1988. At CWRU, Dr. Deal teaches courses that focus on theory and interpretation in the academic study of religion, the cognitive science of religion and ethics, comparative religious ethics, and East Asian religious and ethical traditions. His scholarship includes numerous articles, chapters, and book reviews on methodology in the academic study of religion, religion and ethics, and Japanese Buddhism. He is co-author of the books A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism (Wiley Blackwell) and Theory for Religious Studies (Routledge) and author of Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan (Oxford University Press).ly Modern Japan (Oxford University Press).)
William Magee + (William Magee received a Ph.D. in History … William Magee received a Ph.D. in History of Religions from the University of Virginia in 1998.Magee was the author of several books and articles including ''The Nature of Things: Emptiness and Essence in the Geluk World'', and is co-author of ''Fluent Tibetan: A Proficiency-Oriented Learning System''. He was an Associate Professor at Dharma Drum Buddhist College in Jinshan, Taiwan. He is currently teaching at Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon.Magee served as Vice-President of the UMA Institute for Tibetan Studies. ([https://uma-tibet.org/author-magee.html Source Accessed April 1, 2020])'''OBITUARY FROM 22 FEBRUARY, 2023''' (by Paul Hackett on H-Buddhism):It is with great sadness that I must inform you that William Magee passed away at his home in Portland (OR) last night, peacefully, and in the company of his friends and family.Known as “Bill” to his friends and colleagues alike, Bill Magee began his studies of the Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy in the mid-1980s with the ven. Geshe Jampel Thardo, for whom he subsequently served as translator. Shortly afterward, Bill entered the Ph.D. program of studies in Tibetan Buddhism at the University of Virginia under Jeffrey Hopkins, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1998, writing his dissertation on the subject of “nature” (svabhāva / prakṛti) in the thought of Nāgārjuna, Candrakīrti, and Tsong-kha-pa. Over the years, Bill taught at the Namgyal Institute in Ithaca, New York, at Dharma Drum Buddhist College in Jinshan, Taiwan, and at Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon. He is perhaps most well-known, however, for teaching the Summer Tibetan Language Intensive courses at the University of Virginia from 1988 to 2000, during which time he taught the fundamentals of the Tibetan language to hundreds of students, many of whom would go on to pursue advanced studies in the field.Bill was renown for jovial disposition and his kindness and generosity toward others, routinely opening his home to students and monks alike, and with his wife, Rabia, generously cared for, fed, and housed any and all who appeared at their door.Even after retiring from teaching the summer language intensives at UVa, throughout the years that followed, Bill’s passion for the Tibetan language remained, and during the COVID pandemic, Bill used his personal funds to revive the Dharma Farm institute (thedharmafarm.net) and began offering free classes online in Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy.Bill continued to translate and publish research on Buddhist philosophy, authoring several works on the thought of Jamyang Shepa (1648-1721), and publishing them freely online under the auspices of Jeffrey Hopkins’s UMA Institute (uma-tibet.org).Bill is survived by his wife (Rabia), his son (Tristan), and his daughter (Meri). He was 72 years old. his daughter (Meri). He was 72 years old.)
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. 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]))
Wumen Huikai + (Wumen Huikai. (J. Mumon Ekai; K. Mumun Hye … Wumen Huikai. (J. Mumon Ekai; K. Mumun Hyegae 無門慧開) (1183-1260). In Chinese, "Gateless, Opening of Wisdom"; Chan master in the Linji zong; author of the eponymous ''Wumen guan'' ("Gateless Checkpoint"), one of the two most important collections of Chan gong'an (J. kōan; K. kongan). A native of Hangzhou prefecture in present-day Zhejiang province, Huikai was ordained by the monk "One Finger" Tianlong (d.u.), who also hailed from Hangzhou (see also Yizhi Chan). Wumen later went to the monastery of Wanshousi in Jiangsu province to study with Yuelin Shiguan (1143-1217), from whom Huikai received the ''wu gong'an'' of Zhao zhou Congshen; Huikai is said to have struggled with this gong’an for six years. In 1218, Huikai traveled to Baoyinsi on Mt. Anji, where he succeeded Yuelin as abbot. He subsequently served as abbot at such monasteries as Tianningsi, Pujisi, Kaiyuansi, and Baoningsi. In 1246, Huikai was appointed as abbot of Huguo Renwangsi in Hangzhou prefecture, and it is here that the Japanese Zen monk Shinichi Kakushin studied under him. Emperor Lizong (r. 1224–1264) invited Huikai to provide asermon at the Pavilion of Mysterious Virtue in the imperial palace and also to pray for rain. In honor of his achievements, the emperor bestowed upon him a golden robe and the title Chan master Foyan (Dharma Eye). (Source: "Wumen Huikai." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 1002. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)tp://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.))
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]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.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]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] 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).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.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])====notes====1. Wriggins, Sally (27 November 2003). The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang (1 ed.). Washington DC: Westview press (Penguin). ISBN 978-0813365992. 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. 3. Wriggins, Sally (27 November 2003). The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang. New York: Westview (Penguin). ISBN 978-0813365992. 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. 32. See Eli Franco, "Xuanzang's proof of idealism." Horin 11 (2004): 199-212. 33. "Heart Sutra Buddhism". Vincent's Calligraphy. Retrieved 16 March 2017. "Heart Sutra Buddhism". Vincent's Calligraphy. Retrieved 16 March 2017.)
Yang Wenhui + (Yang Wenhui. (J. Yō Bunkai; K. Yang Munhoe … Yang Wenhui. (J. Yō Bunkai; K. Yang Munhoe 楊文會) (1837-1911). Chinese Buddhist layman at the end of the Qing dynasty, renowned for his efforts to revitalize modern Chinese Buddhism. A native of Anhui province, Yang fled from the Taiping Rebellion to Hangzhou prefecture. In 1862, he serendipitously acquired a copy of the ''Dasheng qixin lun'' ("Awakening of Faith According to the Mahāyāna") and became interested in Buddhism. In 1878, he traveled to England, where he served at the Chinese Embassy in London, befriending the Japanese Buddhist scholar Nanjō Bun’yū (1849-1927), who helped him to acquire Chinese Buddhist texts that had been preserved in Japan. After his return to China, Yang established a publishing press called the Jingling Kejing Chu and published more than three thousand Buddhist scriptures. In 1893, Anagārika Dharmapāla visited Yang in Shanghai. In 1894, Yang and the British missionary Timothy Richard translated the ''Dasheng qixin lun'' into English. In 1907, the Jingling Kejing Chu began to publish primers of Buddhism in various languages. In 1910, Yang also founded the Fojiao Yanjiu Hui (Buddhist Research Society), where he regularly lectured until his death in 1911. (Source: "Yang Wenhui." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 1022. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)tp://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.))
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.)
Yijing + (Yijing. (J. Gijō; K. Ǔijǒng 義淨) (635-713). … Yijing. (J. Gijō; K. Ǔijǒng 義淨) (635-713). Chinese Buddhist monk and pilgrim. Ordained at the age of twenty, Yijing dreamed of following in the footsteps of the renowned pilgrims Faxian and Xuanzang. He eventually set out for India in 671 via the Southern maritime route. After visiting the major Indian pilgrimage sites (see mahāsthāna), Yijing traveled to the monastic university at Nālandā, where he remained for the next ten years. On his return trip to China, Yijing stopped at Śrīvijaya (Palembang in Sumatra) to continue his studies. He praised the monks there for their high level of learning, describing them as primarily Hīnayāna in affiliation. It was in Śrīvijaya that he began to compose his record of his travels, the ''Nanhai jigui neifa zhuan'', which remains an important source on the practice of Buddhism in the many regions where he traveled and for understanding the various nikāya affiliations of the period. It was also during his time in Śrīvijaya that Yijing began his translation of the massive ''Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya''. When he ran out of paper and ink, he made a brief trip back to China in 689 to retrieve more writing supplies and then returned to Śrīvijaya. After a thirty=year sojourn overseas, Yijing finally returned to China in 695 with some four hundred Sanskrit texts and three hundred grains of the Buddha's relics (''śarīra''). Yijing was warmly welcomed in the capital of Luoyang by Empress Wu Zetian, who appointed him to the monastery of Foshoujisi. Later, from 695 to 699, Yijing participated in Śikṣānanda's new translation of the ''Avataṃsakasūtra'' and devoted the next decade or so to the translation of the scriptures that he had brought back with him from India. In addition to the ''Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya'', his translations also include several important Yogācāra treatises and tantras. His writings also include a collection of the biographies of renowned East Asian Buddhist pilgrims to India, the Da Tang xiyu qiufa gaoseng zhuan. (Source: "Yijing." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 1028. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)tp://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.))
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche + (Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (born 1975) is a T … Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (born 1975) is a Tibetan teacher and master of the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. He has authored two best-selling books and oversees the Tergar Meditation Community, an international network of Buddhist meditation centers.As the head of the Tergar Meditation Community, Mingyur Rinpoche supports groups of students in more than thirty countries, leading workshops around the world for new and returning students every year. [https://tergar.org/about/mingyur-rinpoche/ Learn more at https://tergar.org/]Mingyur Rinpoche was born in Nepal in 1975, the youngest of four brothers. His mother is Sönam Chödrön, a descendant of the two Tibetan kings Songtsen Gampo and Trisong Deutsen. His brothers are Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche, and his nephews are Phakchok Rinpoche and the reincarnation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, known popularly as Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche. From the age of nine, his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, taught him meditation, passing on to him the most essential instructions of the Dzogchen and Mahamudra traditions.At the age of eleven, Mingyur Rinpoche began studies at Sherab Ling Monastery in northern India, the seat of Tai Situ Rinpoche. Two years later, Mingyur Rinpoche began a traditional three-year retreat at Sherab Ling. At age twenty, Mingyur Rinpoche became the functioning abbot of Sherab Ling. At twenty-three, he received full monastic ordination. During this time, Mingyur Rinpoche received important Dzogchen transmissions from Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche. At the age of nineteen, he enrolled at Dzongsar Institute, where, under the tutelage of the renowned Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk, he studied the primary topics of the Buddhist academic tradition, including Middle Way philosophy and Buddhist logic.In 2007, Mingyur Rinpoche completed the construction of Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya, India, which will serve large numbers of people attending Buddhist events at this sacred pilgrimage site, serve as an annual site for month-long Karma Kagyu scholastic debates, and serve as an international study institute for the Sangha and laity. The institute will also have a medical clinic for local people.Mingyur Rinpoche has overseen the Kathmandu Tergar Osel Ling Monastery, founded by his father, since 2010. He also opened a shedra (monastic college) at the monastery.In June 2011, Mingyur Rinpoche left his monastery in Bodhgaya to begin a period of extended retreat. Rinpoche left in the middle of the night, taking nothing with him, but leaving a farewell letter. He spent four years as a wandering yogi... After continuing with his retreat for four years, he later returned to his position as abbot. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongey_Mingyur_Rinpoche Source Accessed June 27, 2022])r_Rinpoche Source Accessed June 27, 2022]))
Zaya Pandita + (Zaya Pandita or Namkhaijamts (1599–1662) w … Zaya Pandita or Namkhaijamts (1599–1662) was a Buddhist missionary priest and scholar of Oirat origin who is the most prominent Oirat Buddhist scholar. Among his accomplishments is the invention of the Clear Script.Zaya Pandita was the fifth son of Babakhan, a minor Khoshut prince. After Babakhan converted to Tibetan Buddhism in the early 17th century, he, like many other Oirat princes, wished for one of his sons to enter the Buddhist clergy. In pursuit of his wish, Babakhan chose Zaya to become a śrāmaṇera ("novice monk"). In 1615, Zaya journeyed to Lhasa where he would study and practice Buddhism, including study under the guidance of the Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen, 4th Panchen Lama.In 1638, Zaya Pandita left Tibet at the direction of the Panchen Lama to conduct missionary work among the Mongols. One year later in 1640, he assisted Erdeni Batur, Khun Taiyishi of the Choros (Oirats) tribe, in assembling a pan-Mongol conference between the Oirat and the Khalkha Mongols. The purpose of the conference was to encourage the formation of a united Mongolian front against potential external enemies, such as the Kazakhs, Manchus, and Russians and to settle all internal matters peacefully. The conference produced a code, which provided protection from foreign aggression to both the Oirat and the Khalkha and guaranteed the free movement of people throughout Mongol land.When not engaged in diplomacy between the Oirat and the Khalkha, Zaya Pandita spread Tibetan Buddhism to the Oirats, the Khalkha and even the Kalmyk people in far away Russia. In furtherance of his missionary work, Zaya Pandita composed a new alphabet, based on the traditional Mongolian alphabet, called "Clear script" (''todo bichig'') to transcribe the Oirat language as it is pronounced. By doing so, Zaya Pandita eliminated the ambiguities of the traditional Mongolian alphabet.From the time Zaya Pandita developed the Clear Script in 1648 until his death in 1662, he translated approximately 186 Buddhist texts from Tibetan language to the Oirat language while still serving the religious needs of the Oirat tribes in Dzungaria.The todo bichig script is still used by Oirats in Xinjiang with slight revisions, and is taught alongside standard classical written Mongolian in that region. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaya_Pandita Source Accessed Oct 6, 2023])According to Fredrick Liland, "The Oirat scholar Zaya Pandita (1599-1662) according to his biography made a new translation of the BCA. Zaya Pandita was influential in spreading the Buddhist faith also among the Kalmyks, a Mongolian people who migrated to the shore of the Caspian Sea in the 17th Century. He is said to have translated a large number of texts into the Oirat/Kalmyk language, so it is quite likely that the BCA was among these. The translation of Zaya Pandita has however not been found. (Source: Liland, Fredrik. "Later Editions and Translations." In "The Transmission of the Bodhicaryāvatāra: The History, Diffusion, and Influence of a Mahāyāna Buddhist Text," 49–58. MA thesis, University of Oslo, 2009.)–58. MA thesis, University of Oslo, 2009.))
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".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.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.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.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'':A monk asked Chao-chou, "Has the dog Buddha-nature or not?" Chao-chou said, "Wu."([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhaozhou_Congshen Source Accessed July, 15, 2021])_Congshen Source Accessed July, 15, 2021]))
Zhönu Senge + (Zhönu Senge is counted as the second of th … Zhönu Senge is counted as the second of the “Nine Incomparable Lions,” patriarchs of the Drukpa Kagyu tradition. He was born into a prominent Drukpa family – his paternal uncle was Darma Sengge Sanggye Won, the first of the Nine Incomparable Lions and the student of Tsangpa Gyare, who founded the Drukap tradition. He served as the third abbot of Ralung Monastery.ed as the third abbot of Ralung Monastery.)
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.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''. 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]))
C.W. "Sandy" Huntington + ([C. W. "Sandy"] Huntington was known forem … [C. W. "Sandy"] Huntington was known foremost for his work in Mahayana Buddhist thought, in particular the Madhyamaka philosophy of India and Tibet. More recently, he published a novel, Maya (Wisdom Publications 2015), set in India in the 1970s, and wrote an article, “The Triumph of Narcissism: Theravāda Buddhist Meditation in the Marketplace,” critiquing certain psychotherapeutic models of teaching and understanding vipassanā meditation found in the West today.* Until his death, Huntington served as a professor of religious studies at Hartwick College, in Oneonta, New York, where he won both the Margaret L. Bunn Award for Excellence in Teaching (2004) and the Teacher/Scholar Award (2019). Before teaching at Hartwick, Huntington worked at the University of Michigan, his alma mater, as well as Denison College and Antioch University’s Buddhist Studies in India program, based in Bodh Gaya.As a doctoral student, Huntington was guided at the University of Michigan by Luis Gómez, himself a beloved and prolific scholar of Indian Buddhist thought. During this time, Huntington traveled to India to study Sanskrit and Tibetan with the great masters of the day, returning many times over his career. On one such visit, he translated Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra with Geshé Namgyal Wangchen, later published as The Emptiness of Emptiness (Hawaii University Press 1989), a pioneering text in Buddhist philosophy. Huntington went on to work closely with fellow scholars on topics of hermeneutics and methodology in the study of Buddhist philosophy, asking scholars to look not only at what the texts mean, but what presuppositions and attitudes were influencing their own interpretations and understandings. ([https://www.buddhistdoor.net/news/buddhist-scholar-cw-sandy-huntington-dies-aged-71 Source Accessed May 26, 2021])ies-aged-71 Source Accessed May 26, 2021]))
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.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.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]))
Prabhubhai Bhikhabhai Patel + ([Prabhubhai Bhikhabhai Patel] belonged to … [Prabhubhai Bhikhabhai Patel] belonged to a peasant family of Kunabi caste and was born at Sarpor-Pardi of the district of Surat in 1906. He had one sister and five brothers, he himself being the fourth. His father was Sri Bhikhabhai and mother Srimati Benabai. His education began at the village school of Satem andthence he was sent with his nephew Sri Govindaji Bhulabhai Patel, now a Homeopathic Physician atNavasari, to the Central Boarding School of Supa. It was a village middle school. After his reading up to Matriculation came the call of Mahatma Gandhi for triple boycott of schools and colleges, Government Law Courts and foreign cloths. This was in 1919. Having given up school he joined a National School at Surat and from that time till his death he used to put on ''khaddar'' [homespun cotton cloth of India].After two years in 1921 he went to the Gujarat Vidyapith, the National University founded by Mahatma Gandhi, and plunged deep in Congress ideology. There he came under the influence of such leaders and thinkers as Principal A. T. Gidwani, Acharya J. B. Kripalani, Kaka Kalelkar and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, andProf. Dharmananda Kausambi. The last-named teacher impressed upon him the glory of the ancient lore ofIndia.Prabhubhai then come to Visva-bharati, Santiniketan with some other students from that part of the country. Indeed, it was owing to his personal influence that at that time a good number of Gujarati students came to Santiniketan and joined the different departments of Visva-bharati. In due time Prabhubhai was admitted to the Yidya-bhavana, the Research Department of the institution of which I was then the Principal. I had there the good fortune of teaching students coming not only from the different parts of the country, but also from such distant lands as Japan and Germany.As a student Prabhubhai endeared himself to all his teachers and inmates of the Asrama including our revered Gurudeva, Rabindranath. He was very intelligent and promising. In the Vidya-bhavana he was one of those students who studied under my personal guidance and I felt fortunate and proud to have him as a pupil. His subject of study here was Buddhism with special reference to its Tibetan and Chinese sources.Here in Yisva-bharati he lived for more than seven years and made it almost his permanent home. Once again come the call from Mahatma Gandhi, and Prabhubhai left his studies for the time being in order to serve his motherland and courted arrest and was imprisoned. This proved too much for him, for after two years of jail life he came out a total wreck in health. His robust constitution broke down and he developed hemiplagia from a little strain in his spine. Best of India's doctors, physicians, surgeons and specialists in nature-cure could do no better than giving some temporary relief. He removed to the house of his nephew Dr. G. B. Patel, already referred to, at Navasari. He was now a complete invalid, crippled and confined to his wheel-chair and bed, but his mind was clear till the end which came on the 30th December, 1942. He was taken to his village home where he breathed his last after an agony of red sores and now lies buried in his family land. He remained unmarried after the divorce from his wife with whom he was married at a very tender age according to the social custom prevailing there at the time. (Vidhushekhara Bhattacharya, foreword to ''Cittavisuddhiprakarana of Aryadeva'', vi–vii)tavisuddhiprakarana of Aryadeva'', vi–vii))
Daogong + ([The] ''Ratnarāśī'' was translated by [the … [The] ''Ratnarāśī'' was translated by [the] monk named Daogong, in Liangzhou, about 700 km. ESE of Dunhuang on the main road, in modem day Gansu province, right at the end of the fourth or at the very beginning of the fifth century. . . . [. . . ] [T]here are no biographies of Daogong, and we know next to nothing about him.[2] It is not clear if the ''Karuṇapuṇḍarika'' attributed to him is attributed correctly, but this seems to be the less likely conclusion. It seems even less likely that the ''Aṣṭasāhasrika Prajñāpāramitā'' translation is to be accepted as his.While we may know little about the man, the time and place in which Daogong lived certainly placed him in the middle of one of the most productive, even explosive, periods in Chinese Buddhist history. The monk-translators listed as contemporaries or near contemporaries of Daogong, and residing in the same region, are Fazhong, Sengqietuo, and Dharmakṣema. (Silk, "The Origins and Early History of the Mahāratnakūṭa," 671–72)<h5>Notes</h5>2. This was, I have lately noticed, also the conclusion of Bagchi 1927:211. As far as I can tell from the relevant indices, Daogong is not mentioned in the Chinese dynastic histories either.ot mentioned in the Chinese dynastic histories either.)
Gene Smith + ([https://www.tbrc.org/#!footer/about/genes … [https://www.tbrc.org/#!footer/about/genesmith Founder of TBRC, now BDRC]*[https://84000.co/obituary-of-e-gene-smith/ Obituary on 84000]*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/01/AR2011010102390.html Obituary in Washington Post]*[http://digitaldharma.com/home Documentary film about his life and work: Digital Dharma]''[https://www.tbrc.org/#!footer/about/genesmith Biography from BDRC]:'' 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.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.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.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.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.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.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.In December 1999 he and a group of friends established the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center in Cambridge.He passed away on December 16, 2010. (Source Accessed on June 30, 2020), 2010. (Source Accessed on June 30, 2020))
Khenchen Dazer + (he was from Rahor, a branch of Dzogchen mo … he was from Rahor, a branch of Dzogchen monastery founded by the Third Dzogchen Rinpoche in Gyalrong near Dergé. He was a student of Pöpa Tulku. He escaped from Tibet together with his former classmate Rahor Khenpo Tupten and went together with him to Sikkim via Bhutan.He taught at Namdroling in South India, where he also compiled a collection of prayers and liturgies used in Nyingma rituals, and eventually returned to Tibet, where he taught at the Shri Singha Shedra at Dzogchen Monastery. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Khenpo_Daw%C3%A9_%C3%96zer Source Accessed on January 24, 2024])'''Read more: ''':Marilyn Silverstone, 'Five Nyingmapa Lamas in Sikkim', Kailash: A Journal of Himalayan Studies, 1973, vol. 1.1:Nyoshul Khenpo, A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems, Padma Publishing, 2005, p. 480'''Writings:'''*དོན་རྣམ་འགྲེལ་པ་ལུང་རིགས་དོ་ཤལ་, don rnam 'grel pa lung rigs do shal (Necklace of Scripture and Reasoning: A Commentary on Mipham Rinpoche's Sword of Wisdom for Thoroughly Ascertaining Reality, ཤེས་རབ་རལ་གྲི་དོན་རྣམ་ངེས) (composed in 1982): https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:MW1KG4451*ཆོས་སྤྱོད་བསྡུས་པ་ཕན་བདེའི་དགའ་སྟོན་, chos spyod bsdus pa phan bde'i dga' ston (editor)yod bsdus pa phan bde'i dga' ston (editor))
Étienne Lamotte + (Étienne Paul Marie Lamotte (21 November 19 … Étienne Paul Marie Lamotte (21 November 1903 – 5 May 1983) was a Belgian priest and Professor of Greek at the Catholic University of Louvain, but was better known as an Indologist and the greatest authority on Buddhism in the West in his time. He studied under his pioneering compatriot Louis de La Vallée-Poussin and was one of the few scholars familiar with all the main Buddhist languages: Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan. His first published work was his PhD thesis: ''Notes sur le Bhagavad-Gita'' (Paris, Geuthner, 1929). In 1953, he was awarded the Francqui Prize in Human Science.He is also known for his French translation of the ''Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa'' (Chinese: 大智度論, English: ''Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom''), a text attributed to Nāgārjuna. Lamotte felt that the text was most likely composed by an Indian bhikkhu from the Sarvāstivāda tradition, who later became a convert to Mahāyāna Buddhism. Lamotte's translation was published in five volumes but unfortunately remains incomplete, since his death put an end to his efforts.In addition to the ''Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa'', Lamotte also composed several other important translations from Mahāyāna sūtras, including the ''Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra'', and the ''Vimalakīrtisūtra''. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_Lamotte Source Accessed Sep 30, 2022])nne_Lamotte Source Accessed Sep 30, 2022]))
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.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.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.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.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''.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]))
Śaṃkarasvāmin + (Śaṃkarasvāmin. (T. Bde byed bdag po; C. Sh … Śaṃkarasvāmin. (T. Bde byed bdag po; C. Shangjieluozhu; J. Shökarashu; K. Sanggallaju 商羯羅主) (c. sixth Century CE). Sanskrit proper name of an Indian philosopher and logician, who was a student of the Indian logician Dignāga. Śaṃkarasvāmin is credited with the authorship of the ''Nyāyapraveśa'', or "Primer on Logic," which became an important work in many Asian schools. Some have argued, based on the Tibetan tradition, that the ''Nyāyapraveśa'' was actually written by Śaṃkarasvāmin's teacher Dignāga, and that the recension translated into Chinese is a version that Śaṃkarasvāmin later edited. The ''Nyāyapraveśa'' provides an introduction to the logical system of Dignāga, covering such subjects as valid and invalid methods of proof, methods of refutation, perception, erroneous perception, inference, and erroneous inference. Although Śaṃkarasvāmin's work was not as extensive, detailed, or original Dignāga's, it proved to be popular within the tradition, as attested by its extensive commentarial literature, including exegeses by non-Buddhists. Large parts of the work survive in the original Sanskrit. (Source: "Śaṃkarasvāmin." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 755. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)tp://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.))
Ǔich'ǒn + (Ǔich'ǒn. (C. Yitian) (1055-1101). Korean p … Ǔich'ǒn. (C. Yitian) (1055-1101). Korean prince, monk, and bibliophile, and putative founder of the Ch’ōnt’ae chong (C. Tiantai zong) in Korea. Ǔich'ǒn was born the fourth son of the Koryǔ king Munjong (r. 1047-1082). In 1065, Ǔich'ǒn was ordained by the royal preceptor (wangsa) Kyǒngdǒk Nanwǒn (999-1066) at the royal monastery of Yǒngt’ongsa in the Koryǒ capital of Kaesǒng. Under Nanwǒn, Ǔich'ǒn studiedthe teachings of the ''Avatamsakasūtra'' and its various commentaries. In 1067, at the age of twelve, Ǔich'ǒn was appointed 'saṃgha overseer' (K. sǔngt’ong; C. sengtong). Ǔich'ǒn is known on several occasions to have requested permission from his royal father to travel abroad to China, but the king consistently denied his request. Finally, in 1085, Ǔich'ǒn secretly boarded a Chinese trading ship and traveled to the mainland against his father’s wishes. Ǔich'ǒn is said to have spent about fourteen months abroad studying under various teachers. His father sent his friend and colleague Nakchin (1045-1114) after Ǔich'ǒn, but they ended up studying together with the Huayan teacher Jingyuan (1011-1088) of Huiyinsi in Hangzhou. Ǔich'ǒn and Nakchin returned to Korea in 1086 with numerous texts that Ǔich'ǒn acquired during his sojourn in China. While residing as the abbot of the new monastery of Hǔngwangsa in the capital, Ǔich'ǒn devoted his time to teaching his disciples and collecting works from across East Asia, including the Khitan Liao kingdom. He sent agents throughout the region to collect copies of the indigenous writings of East Asian Buddhists, which he considered to be the equal of works by the bodhisattva exegetes of the imported Indian scholastic tradition. A large monastic library known as Kyojang Togam was established at Hǔngwangsa to house the texts that Ǔich'ǒn collected. In 1090, Ǔich'ǒn published a bibliographical catalogue of the texts housed at Hǔngwangsa, entitled ''Sinp'yǒn chejong kyojang ch’ongnok'' ('Comprehensive Catalogue of the Doctrinal Repository of All the Schools'), which lists some 1,010 titles in 4,740 rolls. The Hǔngwangsa collection of texts was carved on woodblocks and titled the ''Koryǒ sokchanggyǒng'' ("Koryǒ Supplement to the Canon"), which was especially important for its inclusion of a broad cross section of the writings of East Asian Buddhist teachers. (The one exception was works associated with the Chan or Sǒn tradition, which Ǔich'ǒn refused to collect because of their "many heresies.") Unfortunately, the xylographs of the supplementary canon were burned during the Mongol invasion of Koryǒ in 1231, and many of the works included in the collection are now lost and known onlythrough their reference in Ǔich'ǒn’s catalogue. In 1097, Ǔich'ǒn was appointed the founding abbot of the new monastery of Kukch’ǒngsa (named after the renowned Chinese monastery of Guoqingsi on Mt. Tiantai). There, he began to teach Ch'ǒnt’ae thought and practice and is said to have attracted more than athousand students. Ǔich'ǒn seems to have seen the Tiantai/Ch’ǒnt’ae synthesis of meditation and doctrine as a possible means of reconciling the Sǒn and doctrinal (kyo) traditions in Korea. Ǔich'ǒn’s efforts have subsequently been regarded as the official foundation of the Ch’ǒnt’ae school in Korea; however, it seems Ǔich'ǒn was not actually attempting to start a new school, but merely to reestablish the study of Ch’ǒnt’ae texts in Korea. He was awarded the posthumous title of state preceptor (K. kuksa; C. Guoshi) Taegak (Great Enlightenment). (Source: "Ǔich'ǒn." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 935–36. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)tp://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.))

Bubor Tashi Gyamtso + (Served as Khenpo at Kathok during the time of the sixth drung rabs of Rdo rje 'od zer.)

Rawlinson, A. + (Andrew Rawlinson was a war baby (b.1943) a … Andrew Rawlinson was a war baby (b.1943) and lived in 17 different places by the time he was six. He got hit early on: Elvis, Jelly Roll Morton, Samuel Johnson, John Keats, Jack Kerouac, Cezanne, Pollock. And Zeus. He added philosophy and Indian traditions to rock’n’roll, jazz and literature. He was a scholar at Cambridge and did a Ph.D on the ''Lotus Sūtra'' at the University of Lancaster. He taught Buddhism for 20 years and put on a course on Altered States of Consciousness at Berkeley and Santa Barbara. He is the author of ''The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers on Eastern Traditions'' (Open Ciourt, 1997) and ''The Hit: Into the Rock’n’Roll Universe and Beyond'' (99 Press, 2014). ([https://explore.scimednet.org/index.php/events/event/the-hit-derangement-and-revelation/ Source Accessed May 19, 2020])revelation/ Source Accessed May 19, 2020]))
Watt, J. + (Jeff Watt (Wikipedia), one of the leading … Jeff Watt (Wikipedia), one of the leading scholars of Himalayan art, acquired his prodigious knowledge of Buddhist, Bon and Hindu iconography from a longtime study of Buddhism and Tantra. As a teenager, he studied with Dezhung Rinpoche (Seattle, Wash.) and Sakya Trizin (Dehradun, India), dropping out of school at seventeen to take monastic vows from the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. For the next eleven years, Watt trained intensively in India, Canada and the U.S., with teachers such as Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, and Sakya Jetsun Chimey. In 1985 he gave back his monastic ordinations but continued to study and to translate sacred Tibetan and Sanskrit texts, along with completing numerous traditional retreats over years of periodic isolated practice, much of it in the rugged mountains of British Columbia, Canada. He is the Director and Chief Curator of Himalayan Art Resources (HAR), a website and 'virtual museum' featuring upwards of 100,000 images with detailed descriptions, making it the most comprehensive resource for Himalayan 'style' art and iconography in the world. He has worked on HAR since April 1998 at which time there were 625 images in total (Tibetan paintings only). Source: ([https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=1769 Himalayan Art Resources])rg/search/set.cfm?setID=1769 Himalayan Art Resources]))
Davenport, J. + (John Davenport is a water resources develo … John Davenport is a water resources development specialist with wide experience as an aid consultant in South and East Asia and Tibet, including for the Tibetan government-in-exile. He is currently the team leader of the ADB supported Western Basins Water Resources Management Project in Herat, Afghanistan. He has served as vice president of Deer Park Buddhist Center near Madison, Wisconsin. He lives in Eugene, Oregon. Source: ([https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/john-davenport/ Wisdom Publications])thor/john-davenport/ Wisdom Publications]))
Buddhajñānapāda + (Jñānapāda (autonym: Buddhajñāna, also refe … Jñānapāda (autonym: Buddhajñāna, also referred to as Buddhaśrījñāna, *Buddhajñānapāda, *Śrījñānapāda; fl. c. 770–820 CE), was one of the most influential figures of mature Indian esoteric Buddhism. He is remembered first and foremost as the founder of the earlier of the two most important exegetical schools of the Guhyasamājatantra (→BEB I, Guhyasamāja), but he was also very likely a guru of some note in the Pāla court, the dominant power in East India at the time, and the first warden of the famous Vikramaśīla monastery. (Source: [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/search?s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopedia-of-buddhism&search-go=&s.q=J%C3%B1%C4%81nap%C4%81da Brill Encyclopedia of Buddhism Online])ap%C4%81da Brill Encyclopedia of Buddhism Online]))
Everest, Tsering + (Lama Tsering Everest was one of the main s … Lama Tsering Everest was one of the main students of Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, who recognized her as an emanation of Tara and a holder of the Red Tara lineage.Born in the U.S.A., Lama Tsering has served Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche as his translator for more than 11 years. After completing a three year retreat in 1995, she was ordained as a lama and recognized by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche as a holder of the Red Tara lineage, authorized to give teachings and empowerments. In the same year she was invited to teach in Brazil where she moved to shortly after.She teaches and conducts retreats in many cities across Brazil, Chile, New Zealand and Australia as well as returning each year to fulfill the requests of her students in North America.Lama Tsering is the resident lama and director of Chagdud Gonpa Odsal Ling in São Paulo and is currently coordinating the construction of Odsal Ling's temple in Cotia, Brasil, along with her husband Lama Padma Norbu. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Lama_Tsering_Everest Rigpa Wiki])hp?title=Lama_Tsering_Everest Rigpa Wiki]))
Ramakrishna, B.M. + (PROF. M.R. BHAT was a well known Samskrta … PROF. M.R. BHAT was a well known Samskrta scholar, teacher, poet and astrologer, who retired in 1974 as the Head of Sanskrit Department of Hindu College, Delhi University. He had served the cause of Samskrta learning and Indian culture for more than half a century. Prof. Bhat edited with translation classical works like the Brhat Samhita of Varahamihira (2 Volumes), Horasarah of Prthuyasas, Prasnajnanam of Bhattotpala. Author of Fundamentals of Astrology. Prof. Bhat had revised the translation of Uttara-kalamrtam, and Phaladipika. He was the founder-editor of the Sanskrit _English Journal Amrtavani and had contributed a large number of articles on oriental learning and culture of various journals and periodicals. In recognition of his erudition and devotion to oriental learning and culture Prof, Bhat was conferred the titles Vidyabhaskara, Vidyasagara and Kavitacatura. Prof. Bhat died in 1990. Source: ([https://www.mlbd.in/products/brhat-samhita-of-varahamihira-vol-1-with-english-translation-exhaustive-notes-and-literary-comments-m-r-bhat-9788120800984-8120800982?_pos=2&_sid=bc2a5917e&_ss=r Motilal Banarsidass])amp;_sid=bc2a5917e&_ss=r Motilal Banarsidass]))
Gregory, P. + (Peter N. Gregory taught at Smith College f … Peter N. Gregory taught at Smith College from 1999 until 2014. After receiving his doctorate in East Asian languages and civilizations from Harvard University in 1981, he taught in the Program for the Study of Religion at the University of Illinois for 15 years. He has also served as the president and executive director of the Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values since 1984, and in that capacity he has directed two publication series with the University of Hawaii Press: "Studies in East Asian Buddhism" and "Classics in East Asian Buddhism."Gregory's research has focused on medieval Chinese Buddhism, especially the Chan and Huayan traditions during the Tang and Song dynasties, on which he has written or edited seven books, including ''Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism'' (1991). He is currently completing a translation of a ninth-century Chinese Buddhist text on the historical and doctrinal origins of the Chan tradition.After coming to Smith, Gregory's research and teaching became increasingly concerned with Buddhism in America, on which he produced a film, ''The Gate of Sweet Nectar: Feeding Hungry Spirits in an American Zen Community'' (2004), and co-edited a book, ''Women Practicing Buddhism: American Experiences'' (Wisdom Publications, 2007). ([https://www.smith.edu/academics/faculty/peter-gregory Source Accessed June 13, 2019])er-gregory Source Accessed June 13, 2019]))
Thonden, Lobsang + (Tibetan Scholar, Calligrapher, Government … Tibetan Scholar, Calligrapher, Government Official, and Author who appeared in Seven Years in Tibet and several other films. He published the early and popular Modern Tibetan Language books in the 1980s, as well as ''Learn to Speak Tibetan and Hindi'' and ''English for Beginners'' (''dbyin ji'i skad yig slob tshul gom pa dang po''). He spent time as a resident scholar at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and interacted with western scholars and translators there. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Losang_Thonden Source Accessed May 20, 2020])ang_Thonden Source Accessed May 20, 2020]))
Yangsi Rinpoche + (Yangsi Rinpoche (President) was recognized … Yangsi Rinpoche (President) was recognized as the reincarnation of Geshe Ngawang Gendun, a renowned scholar and practitioner from Western Tibet, at the age of six. Rinpoche trained in the traditional monastic system for over 25 years, and practiced as a monk until the age of 35.In 1995 he graduated with the highest degree of Geshe Lharampa from Sera Je Monastery in South India. He then completed his studies at Gyume Tantric College, and, in 1998, having the particular wish to benefit Western students of the Buddhadharma, Rinpoche came to the West to teach and travel extensively throughout America and Europe.Rinpoche served as a resident teacher at Deer Park Buddhist Center in Madison, Wisconsin for five years, and is currently the Spiritual Director of Ganden Shedrup Ling Buddhist Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Spiritual Director of Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle, Washington.He founded Maitripa College in 2005 in Portland, Oregon. Rinpoche is the author of Practicing the Path: A Commentary on the Lamrim Chenmo, published in 2003 by Wisdom Publications.Rinpoche teaches in English, and is admired wherever he travels for his unique presentation of the Dharma, his interest in and enthusiasm for Western culture, and his evident embodiment of the wisdom and compassion of the Buddhist path. When not in the classroom at Maitripa College, during academic year breaks and for special events, Yangsi Rinpoche travels widely, representing Maitripa College at conferences and giving teachings around the world. [https://maitripa.org/yangsi-rinpoche/ Source]ps://maitripa.org/yangsi-rinpoche/ Source])
Apang Terton Choying Dorje + ('''Apang Terchen Orgyen Trinlé Lingpa (189 … '''Apang Terchen Orgyen Trinlé Lingpa (1895-1945)'''Choktrul Lozang Tendzin of Trehor studied with the lord Kunga Palden and the Chömaster Dharma Seng-gé, and Apang Terchen in turn studied with Lozang Tendzin.Apang Terchen, also known as Orgyen Trinlé Lingpa, was renowned as the rebirth ofRigdzin Gödem. He was reputed to have been conceived in the following way: TraktungDudjom Lingpa focused his enlightened intent while resting in the basic spaceof timeless awareness, whereupon Apang Terchen's mother experienced an intensesurge of delight. This caused all ordinary concepts based on confusion to be arrestedin her mind for a short time, and it was then that Apang Terchen was conceived in herwomb.2 From that moment on, his mother constantly had dreams that were amazingomens. For example, she found herself among groups of dakinis enjoying the splendorof ganachakras, or being bathed by many dakas and dakinis, or dwelling in pavilionsof light, illuminating the entire world with her radiance.The child was born one morning at dawn, in the area of Serta in eastern Tibet, hismother having experienced no discomfort. Her dwelling was filled with [2.188a] andsurrounded by light, as though the sun were shining brightly. There were also pavilionsof light, and a fragrance pervaded the entire area, although no one could tellwhere it came from. Everyone saw numerous amazing signs on the child's body, suchas a tuft of vulture feathers adorning the crown of his head.3 The mother's brother,Sönam Dorjé, asked, "What will become of this boy who has no father? How shamefulit would be if people saw these feathers!"4 But although he cut the feather tuftoff the child's head several times, it grew back on its own, just as before. This upsetSönam Dorjé even more, and he berated his sister angrily, saying on numerous occasions,"How could your child have no father? You must tell me who he is!" Hissister retorted, "With the truth of karma as my witness, I swear I have never lain witha flesh-and-blood man of this world. This pregnancy might be a result of my ownkarma." She became so extremely depressed that her fellow villagers couldn't bear itand used various means to bring a halt to her brother's inappropriate behavior.From an early age, this great master, Apang Terchen, felt an innate and unshakablefaith in Guru Rinpoché and had a clear and natural knowledge [2.188b] of the ''vajra guru'' mantra and the Seven-Line Supplication. He learned how to read and writesimply upon being shown the letters and exhibited incredible signs of his spiritual potentialawakening. For example, his intelligence, which had been developed throughtraining in former lifetimes, was such that no one could compete with him. As hegrew up, he turned his attention toward seeking the quintessential meaning of life.He studied at the feet of many teachers and mentors, including the Nyingtik masterGyatsok Lama Damlo and Terchen Sogyal, studying many of the mainstream traditionsof the sutras and tantras, especially those of the kama and terma.The most extraordinary lord of his spiritual family was Trehor Drakar Tulku,5with whom he studied for a long time, receiving the complete range of empowerments,oral transmissions, and pith instructions of the secret Nyingtik cycles of utter lucidity.He went to solitary ravines throughout the region, making caves and overhangson cliffs his dwelling places, taking birds and wild animals as his companions, andrelying on the most ragged clothing and meager diet. He planted the victory bannerof spiritual practice, meditating for a long period of time. He was graced by visions ofan enormous array of his personal meditation deities, [2.189a] including Tara, Avalokiteshvara,Mañjushri, Sarasvati, and Amitayus. He was not content to leave thetrue nature of phenomena an object of intellectual speculation, and his realizationprogressed in leaps and bounds.Apang Terchen bound the eight classes of gods and demons — including such spiritsas Nyenchen Tanglha, Ma Pomra, and Sergyi Drong-ri Mukpo6 — to his service.He communicated directly with Tsiu Marpo, the white form of Mahakala, Ganapati,and other protective deities, like one person conversing with another, and enjoinedthem to carry out his enlightened activities. So great was his might that he also boundthese protective deities to his service, causing lightning to strike and so forth, so thatthose who had become his enemies were checked by very direct means, before years,months, or even days had passed.Notably, he beheld the great master of Orgyen in a vision and was blessed as theregent of Guru Padmakara's three secret aspects. On the basis of a prophecy he receivedat that time, Apang Terchen journeyed to amazing holy sites, such as DraklhaGönpo in Gyalrong, Khandro Bumdzong in the lowlands of eastern Tibet, and DorjéTreldzong in Drakar, where he revealed countless terma caches consisting of teachings,objects of wealth, and sacred substances. He revealed some of them in secret,others in the presence of large crowds. In these ways, he revealed a huge trove of profoundtermas. [2.189b] Those revealed publicly were brought forth in the presence ofmany fortunate people and in conjunction with truly incredible omens, which freedall present from the bonds of doubt and inspired unshakable faith in them. ApangTerchen's fame as an undisputed siddha and tertön resounded throughout the land, asthough powerful enough to cause the earth to quake. His terma teachings are foundin the numerous volumes of his collected works and include ''The Hidden Treasure of Enlightened Mind: The Thirteen Red Deities'', practices focusing on the Three Roots, cycles concerning guardian deities and the principle of enlightened activity, and his large instruction manual on Dzogchen teachings.Apang Terchen's students, from Dartsedo in the east, to Repkong in Amdo to thenorth, to the three regions of Golok and other areas, included mentors who nurturedthe teachings and beings, masters such as those known as the "four great illuminatorsof the teachings," the "four vajra ridgepoles,11 the "four named Gyatso," the "greatmasters, the paired sun and moon," and Jangchub Dorjé (the custodian of ApangTerchen's termas).7 He also taught important political figures who exerted greatinfluence over the people of their areas, including the "four great chieftains of theregion of Dza in the north," [2.190a] that is, Getsé Tsering Dorjé of Dza in the northernreaches of eastern Tibet, Gönlha of Akyong in Golok, Mewa Namlo of the Méregion of Golok, and the chieftain of Serta in Washul. Apang Terchen's students alsoincluded countless monks, nuns, villagers, and lay tantric practitioners. He transmittedhis own termas and the great Nyingtik cycles of the Dzogchen teachings, and sonumerous were those he guided that he truly embodied the enlightened activity ofone who held sway over the three realms. In these times of spiritual degeneration, healleviated problems caused by disease, famine, border wars, and civil unrest. In suchways, Apang Terchen rendered great service to the land of Tibet. His kindness to theTibetan people as a whole was truly extraordinary, for he worked to ensure a gloriousstate of peace and well-being.During a pilgrimage to Jowo Yizhin Norbu, the statue of the lord Shakyamuni inLhasa, Apang Terchen paid respect to many tens of thousands of ordained membersof the sangha, sponsoring ganachakras, making offerings, and offering meals, tea,and donations at such monastic centers as Sera, Drepung, and Ganden. He sponsoredthe gilding of statues in these centers and in such ways strove to reinforce his positivequalities. Everyone could see that no matter how many avenues he found to extendgenerosity, his resources of gold, silver, and other valuables [2.190b] continued toincrease, as though he had access to a treasure mine.Among his heart children and intimate students were his sons, Gyurmé Dorjé,Wangchen Nyima, and Dotrul Rinpoché; his daughter, Tare Lhamo; and the custodianof his termas, Jangchub Dorjé. Until recently, Tare Lhamo lived in eastern Tibet,maintaining the teachings.8Thus did Apang Terchen benefit beings with his incredible compassion and activities.As his life was nearing an end, he remarked, "For the sake of the teachings andof beings, I must enter the bloodline of the glorious Sakya school." This fearless lion'sroar proved to be his last testament, spoken with an unobscured awareness of past,present, and future. He then manifested incredible miracles and departed for thegreat palace of Pema Ö.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:'''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.'''Research Interests:'''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)''':by Andrew QuintmanWith 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.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.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. 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. 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. 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.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. 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.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. 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. 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. 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.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. 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. 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.”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. 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.Benjamin Bogin, Andrew Quintman, and Dominique TownsendPortions of this biographical sketch draw on the introduction to [[Himalayan Passages]]: Newar and Tibetan Studies in Honor of Hubert Decleer (Wisdom Publications, 2014))
Elliot Sperling + ('''Obituary: Elliot Sperling (1951-2017)'' … '''Obituary: Elliot Sperling (1951-2017)''' by Tenzin Dorjee. (''HIMALAYA''. Volume 37, Number 1, pp 149-150)Professor Elliot Sperling’s death was a colossal tragedy byevery measure. He was only 66 years old, and he exudedlife, health, and purpose—the antithesis of death. Afterretiring from a long professorship at Indiana Universityin 2015, where he was director of the Tibetan Studiesprogram at the department of Central Eurasian Studies,Sperling moved back to his native New York. He bought anapartment in Jackson Heights, where he converted everywall into meticulously arranged bookshelves—only thewindows were spared. He was clearly looking forward toa busy retirement, living in what was basically a librarypretending to be an apartment.Sperling was the world’s foremost authority on historicalSino-Tibetan relations. For his landmark work “on the political, religious, cultural, and economic relations betweenTibet and China from the fourteenth through seventeenthcenturies,” he was awarded a MacArthur genius grant atthe age of 33.1He accumulated a compact but enduring body of work that defined and shaped Tibetan studiesover the last three decades. No less important, he was alsoa phenomenal teacher, storyteller, entertainer, whiskey connoisseur (he delighted in teaching us how to enjoythe peaty Scotch whiskies), and a passionate advocate forTibetan and Uyghur causes.Through his seminal writings on Tibet’s relations withChina during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, hebecame arguably the first historian to use both Chineselanguage archives and Tibetan language sources extensively, bringing to light the separation and independence thatcharacterized the relationship between the two nations.Until he came along, most Western academics viewedTibet through Chinese eyes, largely because they couldnot access Tibetan sources. Sperling, fluent in Tibetan aswell as Chinese, upended the old Sino-centric narrativeand transformed the field. Roberto Vitali, who organized afestschrift for Sperling in 2014, writes that Sperling’s work“will stay as milestones” in Tibetan studies.2 His writingshave become so central to the field that any scholar whowrites a paper about historical Sino-Tibetan relations cannot do so without paying homage to Sperling’s work. He is,so to speak, the Hegel of Sino-Tibetan history.One can imagine the joy many of us felt when ProfessorSperling chose to make his home in Jackson Heights, thesecond (if unofficial) capital of the exile Tibetan world—after Dharamsala, India. We saw him at demonstrations atthe Chinese consulate, art openings at Tibet House, poetrynights at Little Tibet restaurant, and sometimes at dinnerparties in the neighborhood. At every gathering, he heldcourt as the intellectual life of the party. His friends andstudents bombarded him with questions on topics rangingfrom art to politics to linguistics, for his erudition wasnot limited to history alone. Unfailingly generous andeloquent, he supplied the most intriguing, insightful andexhaustive answers to every question. Each conversationwith him was a scholarly seminar. Among the circle ofTibetan activists and artists living in New York City,Sperling quickly fell into a sort of second professorship, anunderground tenure without the trappings of university.We weren’t about to let him retire so easily.Some of Professor Sperling’s most influential early worksinclude: The 5th Karma-pa and Some Aspects of the RelationshipBetween Tibet and the Early Ming (1980); The 1413 MingEmbassy to Tsong-ka-pa and the Arrival of Byams-chen chos-rjeShakya ye-shes at the Ming Court (1982); Did the Early MingEmperors Attempt to Implement a ‘Divide and Rule’ Policy inTibet? (1983); and The Ho Clan of Ho-chou: A Tibetan Family inService to the Yuan and Ming Dynasties (1990) among others.One of my personal favorites in his corpus is The 5th Karmapa and Some Aspects of the Relationship Between Tibet and theEarly Ming. In this text, Sperling argues that in the earlyyears following the collapse of the Mongol Yuan dynasty in1367, the Ming rulers of China adopted a non-expansionistforeign policy, displaying greater interest in drawing clearboundaries to keep the ‘barbarians’ out of China thanin expanding its boundaries to encroach into non-Mingterritories. Ming China was initially conceived more asan inward-looking state than an outward-looking empire,partly in critique of the ruthless expansionism of theirpredecessors, the Mongol Yuan rulers. In fact, Sperlingquotes from the very proclamation carried by the firstmission that Ming Taitsu, or the Hongwu Emperor, sent toTibet::Formerly, the hu people [i.e. the Mongols] usurped:authority in China. For over a hundred years caps:and sandals were in reversed positions. Of all:hearts, which did not give rise to anger? In recent:years, the hu rulers lost hold of the government….:Your Tibetan state is located in the western lands.:China is now united, but I am afraid that you have:still not heard about this. Therefore this proclamation [is sent].3 Sperling goes on to write that this “first mission is acknowledged by Chinese records to have met with nosuccess,” and that necessitated the dispatching of a secondmission.4In ''Did the Early Ming Emperors Attempt to Implement a “Divide and Rule” Policy in Tibet?''5Sperling defies decades of conventional wisdom with a bold argument when he writes::The Chinese court was never, in fact, able to mount:a military expedition beyond the Sino-Tibetan:frontier regions. This fact becomes strikingly:obvious as one glances through both Tibetan and:Chinese sources for the period in question…. Unable:to protect its embassies or even to retaliate against:attacks on them, China was hardly in a position to:manifest the kind of power needed to implement a:policy of “divide and rule” in Tibet.For many Tibetans who care about seemingly inconsequential details of the murky Sino-Tibetan relations from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries, a historical period that has become a domain of highly charged information battles between Dharamsala and Beijing, Sperling’s writings are like a constellation of bright lamps illuminating the tangled web of Sino-Tibetan history. He excavated critical pieces of Tibet’s deep past from the forbidding archives of antiquity, arranged them in a coherent narrative, and virtually placed in our hands several centuries of our own history.Elliot Sperling’s academic stature would have allowedhim to be an ivory tower intellectual. Instead, he choseto be a true ally of the Tibetan people and an unwaveringchampion of Tibetan freedom. While he studied withTaktser Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama’s elder brother, hemaintained lifelong friendships with the people he metin Dharamsala: Tashi Tsering (the preeminent Tibetanhistorian), Jamyang Norbu (the rebel intellectual andaward-winning author), Peter Brown (the ‘AmericanKhampa’ and a brother in the Tibetan struggle). Sperlingjoined many of us in the trenches of activism, alwaysencouraging us to embark on bigger and bolder advocacycampaigns for Tibet. Speaking in his Bronx-accentedTibetan, he told us that if only Tibetans studied our historymore seriously, we would be able to believe that Tibet willbe free again.A sharp and fearless critic of Beijing, Sperling neitherminced his words nor censored his writings under fear ofbeing banned from China. Even when he taught in Beijingfor a semester, where he developed a close friendship withthe Tibetan poet Woeser, he successfully avoided the trapof self-censorship that has neutered so many scholars in our time.6While railing against Beijing’s atrocities in Tibet, he managed to be critical of Dharamsala’s excessively conciliatory stance toward Beijing.7His provocative critiques of the Tibetan leadership sometimes made us uncomfortable, but that was exactly the impact he was seeking as a teacher who cared deeply about Tibet: to awaken and educate us by pushing us into our discomfort zone. “Having a teacher like Sperling was a bit like having access to a genius, a father, and some sort of bodhi all in one,” says Sara Conrad, a doctoral student at Indiana University who studied with Sperling for many years. “A walking encyclopedia, I felt I could learn a lot just being near him—and he took every opportunity to teach me. I benefited learning from him about Tibet and Tibetan of course, but also about parenthood and morality, music and comedy. In terms of academia he told me I must be able to live with myself after I write, and therefore it is always best to be honest.”In recent years, Sperling took up the case of Ilham Tohti,the Uyghur intellectual sentenced to life imprisonmentby Beijing. He played a key role in raising Tohti’s profileas a prisoner of conscience, nominating him for humanrights awards. He took Tohti’s daughter, Jewher, underhis wing and oversaw her wellbeing and education. InJewher’s own words, Elliot Sperling became “like a secondfather” to her. His friendship with Ilahm Tohti and Jewherexemplified the compassion and generosity with which hetreated everyone. Sure, he made his mark in this world as ascholar, but his monumental intellect was matched by hisunbounded kindness, altruism, and humanity.“Professor Sperling was the moral compass of Tibetan studies,” said fellow historian Carole McGranahan at Sperling’s March 11 memorial in New York. His untimely deathhas left an abyss in our hearts and a chasm in the world of Tibetology. Christophe Besuchet, a fellow activist, remarked that it is “as if a whole library had burned down.”Even so, it is worth remembering that Sperling has already done far more than his fair share of good in the world, and he deserves a rest (or a break, if you consider it from a Buddhist perspective). In the course of 66 years, he lived multiple lifetimes—as a taxi driver, hippie, scholar, mentor, activist, father—each one more productive and meaningful than the last. He has engraved his spirit so deeply in the lives of so many of us that, in a way, he is still alive. And while one library has burned down, there are thousands of libraries where his words still live and breathe.''Endnotes'' 1. MacArthur Foundation, <https://www.macfound.org/fellows/236/> (accessed 6 March 2017).2. Roberto Vitali, “For Elliot from a Friend,” InternationalAssociation for Tibetan Studies. Also see Trails of the TibetanTradition: Papers for Elliot Sperling, edited by Roberto Vitali(Amnye Machen Institute: 2014).3. Elliot Sperling, “5th Karmapa and Some Aspects ofthe Relationship Between Tibet and the Early Ming,” inMichael Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi, eds., Tibetans Studiesin Honour of Hugh Richardson, Warminster, 1980 (publishedin translation as Shiboling, “Wushi Gamaba yiji Xizanghe Mingchu de guanxi yaolue,” in Guowai Zangxue yanjiuyiwenji, vol. 2, Lhasa, 1987), pp.279-289.4. Ibid.5. Elliot Sperling, “Divide and Rule Policy in Tibet,” inErnst Steinkellner, ed., Contributions on Tibetan Language,History and Culture. Proceedings of the Csoma de KorosSymposium Held at Velm-Vienna, Austria, 13-19 September1981, Vienna, 1983, pp.339-356.6. See Tsering Woeser, “A Chronicle of Elliot Sperling,”in Trails of the Tibetan Tradition: Papers for Elliot Sperling,Roberto Vitali eds., (published by Amnye Machen Institute,2014).7. He has criticized the Dalai Lama’s ‘Middle WayApproach’ to dealing with China as too conciliatory. Seehis article Self-Delusion, <http://info-buddhism.com/SelfDelusion_Middle-Way-Approach_Dalai-Lama_Exile_CTA_Sperling.html#f1>.'''Tenzin Dorjee''' is a writer, activist, and a researcher at TibetAction Institute. His monograph The Tibetan NonviolentStruggle: A Strategic and Historical Analysis was publishedin 2015 by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.His writings have been published in various forums includingGlobal Post, Courier International, Tibetan Review, TibetTimes, and the CNN blog. He is a regular commentatoron Tibet-related issues for Radio Free Asia, Voice ofAmerica, and Voice of Tibet. He served as the ExecutiveDirector of Students for a Free Tibet from 2009 to 2013.An earlier version of this obituary was published in theHuffington Post <https://www.huffpost.com/entry/remembering-elliot-sperling-personal-reflections-on_b_5899c990e4b0985224db59cb>.t-sperling-personal-reflections-on_b_5899c990e4b0985224db59cb>.)
Dewar, T. + ('''Short Biography:''' Mitra Tyl … '''Short Biography:''' 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.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.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.)
Sarvajñamitra + (''Sarvajñamitra'' was a famous Buddhist mo … ''Sarvajñamitra'' was a famous Buddhist monk of Kashmir, described by ''Kalhaṇa'' as one 'who set himself as another ''Jina'' (''Buddha'')'. He lived in a monastery, called ''Kayyavihāra'', founded by ''Kayya'', the king of ''Lāta'' owing allegiance to king ''Lalitāditya'' of Kashmir (701–738 A.D.)[31]. Thus, ''Sarvajñamitra'' would appear to have lived in the later half of the 8th century. He was a worshipper of ''Tārā'' and was known for his generousness. ''Tārānātha'' gives the following biographical account of ''Sarvajñamitra'':He was an extra-(marital) son of a king of Kashmir (probably the contemporary of king ''Lalitāditya'' or his predecessor). When still a baby he was carried away by a vulture when his mother had left him on the terrace, herself having gone to pluck flowers. The baby was taken to a peek of Mount ''Gandhola'' in Nalanda. There he was received by some ''Pandits'' under whose protection he grew-up and became a monk well-versed in the ''Piṭakas''. He propitiated the goddess ''Tārā'' by whose favour he received enormous wealth which he distributed among the needy. At last when he had nothing left to donate he left towards the South fearing that he would have to send the suppliants back without giving alms to them which would be against his wishes. On his journey to the South he met an old blind ''brāhmaṇa'' led by his son. He was going to Nalanda to implore aid from ''Sarvajñāmitra'', about whose generosity he had heard a lot.''Sarvajñāmitra'' told him that he was the same person but had exhausted all his wealth. Hearing this the ''brāhmaṇa'' heaved an afflictive sigh with which ''Sarvajñāmitra'' felt boundless compassion for him and decided to get money for him anyhow. While searching for money he found a king named ''Saraṇa'' who was passionately attached to false views. This king wanted to purchase 108 men for offering them to sacrificial fire. He had already procured 107 men and was in search of one more. ''Sarvajñāmitra'' sold himself for the gold equal to the weight of his body. He gave this gold to the ''brāhmaṇa'' who returned happy.''Sarvajñāmitra'' was put in the royal prison. The other prisoners were overpowered by grief seeing that the number was complete and their death was quire [quite?] near. When fire was kindled, they started wailing. Again. the great ''Ācārya'' felt boundless compassion and he earnestly prayed to the goddess ''Tārā''. The goddess flowed a stream of nectar over the fire and people could see rains coming down only on the fire. When the fire was extinguished the place turned to be a lake. Seeing this wonderful event, the king was filled with admiration for the ''Ācārya''. The prisoners were released with rewards.The ''Ācārya'' after the lapse of a long time, wished to be at his birth place. So he prayed to the goddess. He was asked to catch hold of the corner of her clothes and shut the eyes. When he re-opened his eyes he found himself in a beautiful land in front of a magnificent palace. He could not recognise this place and asked the goddess why she had not taken him to Nalanda. She told him that this was his real birth place. He stayed in Kahemir [Kashmir?] and founded a big temple of goddess ''Tārā''. ''Tārānātha'' further states that he was a disciple of ''Süryagupta'' or ''Ravigupta''[32]. The same tradition is found with minor variations in the commentary on the ''Sragdharāstotra'' by ''Jinarakṣita''[33].''Sragdharāstotra'' is a hymn containing 37 verses which ''Sarvajñamitra'' wrote in praise of goddess ''Tārā''. '' 'Sragdharā' '' is an epithet of ''Tārā'' which means 'wearer of the wreath' or 'the garland bringer' and it is also the name of the metre in which the hymn was written. ''Bstan—'gyur'' contains three translations of the text. The hymn, with its commentary and two Tibetan versions, is edited by S. C. Vidyabhusana in ''Bibliotheca'' series, 1908.Besides '' 'Sragdharāstotra' '' other texts attributed to ''Sarvajñamitra'' are all in praise of goddess ''Tārā'', viz., 1. ''Devītarākuvākyādhyesana nāma stotra'' 2. ''Āryatārāsādhanā'', and 3. ''Aṣṭabhayatrānatārosādhanā''[34]. (Kaul, ''Buddhist Savants of Kashmir'', 19–21)ādhanā''[34]. (Kaul, ''Buddhist Savants of Kashmir'', 19–21))
Klaus-Dieter Mathes + ( *[http://www.univie.ac.at/cirdis/index.ph … *[http://www.univie.ac.at/cirdis/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=67&lang=en Tibetology at CIRDIS]'''Bio:''':Venerable Yuen Hang Memorial Trust Professor in Buddhist Studies at the University of Hong Kong.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.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.'''Current Ongoing Research:'''*[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]ibetan Mahamudra Traditions of the 15th and 16th Centuries] )
Jamyang Zhepai Dorje + (1708. founds bkra shis 'khyil rgyal rabs l … 1708. founds bkra shis 'khyilrgyal rabs lo tshigs shes bya mang 'dus mkhas pa'i spyi nor (p. 357)1668. To Dbus and enters 'Bras-spungs Sgo-mang.1674. Final ordination from 5th DL.1676. Enters Rgyud Smad.1680. Meditates at Ri-bo Dge-'phel.1690. Becomes bla-ma [abbot] of 'Bras-spungs Sgo-mang.Attempts to make peace between the Sde-srid and Lha-bzang Khan.1709. Founds the Bkra-shis-'khyil Monastery with the patronage of Ju-nang Dpon.1720. Granted title PaNDi-ta-e-rti-no-min-han by the Gong-ma Khang-shis Rgyal-po.Year of death 1721 or 1722 (according to Ming mdzod); dates according to Tshad ma'i 'byung khungs: 1648-1722.Gsung-'bum in 15 volumes.ungs: 1648-1722. Gsung-'bum in 15 volumes.)
Kunga Namgyal + (4th embodiment of the zur mang drung pa line.)
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.))
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. 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.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.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.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.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]))
Khenchen Appey Rinpoche + (A more detailed biography is available her … A more detailed biography is available here: https://www.khenpoappey.org/en/khenpo-appey-rinpocheand here: http://internationalbuddhistacademy.org/biography-of-our-founder-khenchen-appey-rinpoche/<big>'''An Introduction to Khenpo Appey Foundation'''</big> Khenpo Appey Foundation (KAF) was established in 2010 to honor the most Venerable Khenchen Appey Rinpoche (1927-2010), an eminent, recognized, and humble Tibetan Buddhist scholar and practitioner who dedicated his life exclusively to the propagation of the Buddhadharma. The foundation was established by Mdm Doreen Goh, a devoted follower and sponsor of Khenchen Appey Rinpoche. Inspired by Khenchen Appey Rinpoche’s vision, KAF is a non-profit organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of Buddhist study and practice. KAF’s primary aim is to extend the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion as widely as possible, in order to benefit all beings.<big>'''Short Biography'''</big> Khenpo Appey was born in Kusé in the kingdom of Dergé in 1927. He studied at Serjong Monastery and later at the Kham-jé shedra at Dzongsar Monastery.At the age of nine he became a monk at Serjong Monastery, where a year later he received his first teachings from Gapa Khenpo Jamgyal, also known as Khenpo Jamyang Gyaltsen.For nine years, from the age of 14 to 23, at Serjong Shedra, Khenpo Appey studied ‘the thirteen classical texts’ based on Khenpo Shenga’s famous annotation commentaries. During his last two years at the shedra he studied with Khenpo Dragyab Lodrö who later became the fifth khenpo at Dzongsar Shedra and wrote a commentary on the ninth chapter of the Bodhicharyavatara. After his nine years of intensive study at Serjong Shedra, Khenpo Appey went to the shedra at Dzongsar Monastery, where he was able to continue his studies under Khenpo Dragyab Lodrö for another year. He also studied with Dezhung Ajam Rinpoche.He went to see Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö in Sikkim in 1957. He then returned to Tibet and spent time at Ngor Monastery, but left in 1959 when Tibet was lost. He went to see Jamyang Khyentse who was ill in Sikkim. After Jamyang Khyentse passed away, in accordance with his final wishes, he began to teach Sogyal Rinpoche, giving him instruction on the Bodhicharyavatara in the Palace Monastery in the presence of Jamyang Khyentse's kudung.Later, while Sogyal Rinpoche was attending school in Kalimpong, Khenpo Appey spent one or two years in retreat in a small village in Sikkim. He was later requested to tutor Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. For this purpose, he founded the Sakya College in Barlow Ganj, Mussoorie, on 19th December 1972, the anniversary of Sakya Pandita. In the first year, there were only seven students. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche studied there for five years. From 1972 to 1985, Khenpo Appey worked full time to look after the college and was responsible for teachings the classes, supervising the administration and raising funds.In 2001 he established the International Buddhist Academy in Boudhanath, Nepal. He passed away in Nepal on Tuesday 28th December, 2010.Source: [http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Khenpo_Appey Rigpawiki]10. Source: [http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Khenpo_Appey Rigpawiki])
Kazhipa Drakpa Zhönu + (A student of Khenpo Drakpa Bum, Khenchen D … A student of Khenpo Drakpa Bum, Khenchen Dewa Pal, Lopön Tukjé Palzang, Lopön Chöden Palzang, etc. A teacher of Joden Khenpo Sönam Drakpa, Butön Rinchen Drup, Zhangtön Sönam Drak, etc. Kadam master; important figure in the transmission lineage of both the kha che tradition of the vinaya and the gzhung pa transmission of the lam rim. ([https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:P2130 Source Accessed Feb 8, 2023])ow/bdr:P2130 Source Accessed Feb 8, 2023]))
A. Charles Muller + (A. Charles Muller (born September 19, 1953 … A. Charles Muller (born September 19, 1953) is an academic specializing in Korean Buddhism and East Asian Yogacara, having published numerous books and articles on these topics. He is a resident of Japan, currently teaching at Musashino University. He is one of the earliest and most prolific developers of online research resources for the field of Buddhist Studies, being the founder and managing editor of the online Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, the CJKV-English Dictionary, and the H-Buddhism Scholars Information Network, along with having digitized and published numerous reference works.Muller's academic study of Buddhism began as an undergraduate at Stony Brook University, where he majored in Religious Studies under the guidance of Sung Bae Park, a specialist in Seon and Korean Buddhism. After graduating, he spent two years studying in Japan, after which he spent one year in the graduate program in Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. In 1988, he left UVa to return to Stony Brook, where he completed a PhD in Comparative literature, once again with Sung Bae Park as his principal advisor. He also studied Christian Theology with Peter Manchester, Islam with William Chittick, and Postmodern literary criticism with Michael Sprinker and Hugh Silverman. His dissertation, "Hamhŏ Kihwa: A Study of His Major Works," was accepted in 1993, after which he spent six months in Korea as a research associate at the Academy of Korean Studies, before taking up an academic position in Japan, at Toyo Gakuen University.From 1994 to 2008, Muller taught courses in philosophy and religion at Toyo Gakuen University, during which time he published numerous books and articles on Korean Buddhism, Zen, East Asian Yogacara, and Confucianism. While active in numerous academic organizations such as the American Academy of Religion and the Japanese Association for Indian and Buddhist Studies, he also became known as one of leading figures in the creation of online research resources. In 1995, he set up his web site called Resources for East Asian Language and Thought (still in active service today), featuring online lexicons, indexes, bibliographies, and translations of classical texts. In 1996, he started the Budschol listserv for the academic study of Buddhism, which would, in 2000, become part of H-Net, under the name of H-Buddhism, the central internet organ for communication among scholars of Buddhism. He also initiated two major dictionary projects, the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism and the CJKV-E Dictionary, which have become basic reference works for the field of Buddhist and East Asian studies, subscribed to by universities around the world. His work in the area of online reference works and digitization led him into the field of Digital Humanities, with his principal area of expertise lying in the handling of literary documents using XML and XSLT. In 2008, Muller was invited to join the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Tokyo, where he taught courses in Digital Humanities, Chinese Philosophy, and Korean Philosophy and Religion. He retired from UTokyo in March 2019 and moved to Musashino University, where he is director of the Institute of Buddhist culture and teaches courses in Buddhist Studies. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Charles_Muller Source Accessed July 21, 2021])les_Muller Source Accessed July 21, 2021]))