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Tulku Yeshi Rinpoche is a Dzogchen master and the reincarnation of Dzogchen Gyaltsab Thodo Rinpoche. He was recognized by Kyabje Trulshig Rinpoche. He has received teachings from over forty masters representing all five schools of Tibetan Buddhism, Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug and Shiji (or Chod). Tulku Yeshi has authored fifteen books on subjects of Tibetan Buddhism and culture. He also writes novels, poetry for mind training and how to enjoy life.
Currently he lives at Sakya Monastery and works on Dharma activities both here in Seattle and across the US. He has dedicated himself in service of H.H. Dagchen Rinpoche, Sakya Monastery and Phuntsok Phodrang. (Source: [https://84000.co/about-translators-html/ 84000]) +
Born 1937, Dr. T. R. Sharma retired as a Reader in Sanskrit from SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, after teaching for 41 years. He was actively associated with PG teaching as well as research activities of the Department of Sanskrit and Buddhist Studies. More than a dozen scholars have obtained [their] Ph.D. under his supervision. He has visited a number of countries to present research papers in international conferences. He was a visiting professor in National Taiwan University, Taipei, in 1993-94, teaching Indian culture and civilization, Upanishads and Buddhist philosophy. He has ten books concerning Buddhism and Indology in general to his credit, two of which have been awarded by the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan and Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Sansthan. He has also been honoured by the Sanskrit Academy, Delhi, for his contribution to Sanskrit studies. ([https://www.amazon.in/Some-Facets-Buddhism-T-Sharma/dp/8178541157 Source Accessed Apr 6, 2021]) +
Rago Choktrul Tupten Shedrup Gyatso (Wyl. ''rag mgo mchog sprul thub bstan bshad sgrub rgya mtsho'') (1879–1972) — a prolific author of the Palyul tradition.
<h5>Texts</h5>
Vines of Amṛta: A Prayer to the Lineage of the Bodhicaryāvatāra (''spyod 'jug brgyud pa'i gsol 'debs bdud rtsi'i 'khri shing''). English translation: [https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/rago-choktrul-tupten-shedrup-gyatso/bodhicaryavatara-lineage-prayer Vines of Amṛta: A Prayer to the Lineage of the Bodhicaryāvatāra], translated by Adam Pearcey, 2019.
The Short Commentary on the Tantra of Twenty-one Homages to Tara called The Treasure Vase of Benefit and Happiness (''sgrol ma phyag 'tshal nyer gcig rgyud kyi 'grel chung phan bde'i gter bum mchog sbyin''). English translation: [https://www.tibetanbuddhistaltar.org/tag/21-homages-to-tara/ The Short Commentary on the Twenty-One Homages to Tara called The Treasure Vase of Benefit and Happiness], translated by Khenpo Tenzin Norgey, 2004.
Lute of Lotus Flowers: A Concise Fulfillment for the Female Practice of the Queen of Great Bliss, from the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse ([https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:MW21957 ''klong chen snying gi thig le las/ yum bka' bde chen rgyal mo'i skong bsdus pad+ma'i rgyud mangs'']) ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Rago_Choktrul_Tupten_Shedrup_Gyatso Source Accessed Feb 9 2023]) +
Turrell Verl "Terry" Wylie (August 20, 1927 – August 25, 1984) was an American scholar, Tibetologist, sinologist and professor known as one of the 20th century's leading scholars of Tibet. He taught as a professor of Tibetan Studies at the University of Washington and served as the first chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Literature. Wylie founded the Tibetan Studies program at the University of Washington, the first of its kind in the United States, setting a major precedent for future programs and research in the field. His system for rendering the Tibetan language in Latin script, known as Wylie transliteration, is the primary system used for transcribing Tibetan in academic and historical contexts. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turrell_V._Wylie Source Accessed Feb 5, 2025]) +
Tai Situ Rinpoche, the Twelfth Tai Situpa, Pema Donyö Nyinché (Tib. པདྨ་དོན་ཡོད་ཉིན་བྱེད་, Wyl. pad+ma don yod nyin byed) was born in 1954, in Dergé, Eastern Tibet, and recognized as the reincarnation of the previous Tai Situpa, Pema Wangchok Gyalpo, by the Sixteenth Karmapa. At the age of eighteen months he was brought to his monastic seat, Palpung Monastery, and enthroned there by the Karmapa according to tradition.
Due to the changing political situation in Eastern Tibet, he was taken to Tsurphu Monastery in Central Tibet, at the age of five. It was there that he performed his first Red Crown Ceremony, assisted by Ninth Sangyé Nyenpa Rinpoche. He stayed in Tsurphu Monastery for one year and then left Tibet with his attendants for Bhutan. Later, he went to Sikkim, to Rumtek Monastery, where he remained under the care of the Sixteenth Karmapa and received his formal religious training. He also received important transmissions from many great masters, notably Kalu Rinpoche, the Ninth Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Saljay Rinpoche, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, the late Drikung Khenpo Konchok, and the late Khenpo Khedup.
At the age of twenty-two, Situ Rinpoche assumed responsibility for founding his own new monastic seat, Sherab Ling Monastery, close to the Tibetan community of Bir, in Northern India. In 1980 he made his first tour to Europe, and has since traveled widely in North America, Europe and South-East Asia.
In 1992, Tai Situ Rinpoche recognized the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, and enthroned him at Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet. He has become Orgyen Trinlé Dorje's main teacher in the Mahamudra lineage. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Tai_Situ_Rinpoche Source Accessed April 12, 2020]) +
'''Short Biography:'''<br>
Mitra Tyler Dewar met [[Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche]] in 1997, just one year after beginning his journey of practicing the dharma. Through an auspicious coincidence, he learned the Tibetan alphabet that summer and soon after formed the conviction to serve the dharma through translating Tibetan into English. He became a formal student of Rinpoche's in 1998 and began translating for Rinpoche's organizations, Nalandabodhi and Nitartha Institute, in 2000. In 2001 he became the regular translator for Acharya Sherab Gyaltsen Negi at Nalandabodhi Seattle. From that point onward, Tyler has traveled extensively with The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche on Rinpoche's teaching tours, translating for the Tibetan segments of Rinpoche's teachings and occasionally presenting aspects of Rinpoche's teachings himself. In 2003 Nalandabodhi welcomed Acharya Tashi Wangchuk as a resident teacher; Tyler served as Acharya's oral interpreter and also worked closely with Acharya on the translation of several texts from the philosophical and intuitive traditions of Indian and Tibetan Buddhadharma. Tyler has served as a secretary in the Office of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche for the past seven years, and has thus felt enriched by the opportunity to support Rinpoche's teaching activity from many perspectives.
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.
Born in Hachinohe, Japan, Tōru Tomabechi (苫米地等流) graduated in Buddhist Studies at the University of Kyoto in 1989. From 1995 to 2000 he was Assistant at the Dept. of Oriental Languages and Cultures, University of Lausanne. From 2001 to 2002 he was Research Fellow at the same Department. He obtained the Imprimatur for his doctoral thesis, Étude du Pañcakrama, from the University of Lausanne in 2006. Tōru Tomabechi worked at the Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia (IKGA), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna. He participated in a research project on the epistemological school of Buddhism in India and Tibet. He is also working on two Sanskrit commentaries on the ''Pañcakrama''—the ''Pañcakramapañjikā'' by Samayavajra and the ''Pañcakramatātparyapañjikā Kramakaumudī'' by Abhayākaragupta—using manuscripts newly available from China, and on other tantric texts.
Currently he is a member of the International Institute for Digital Humanities, Tokyo. ([https://www.tantric-studies.uni-hamburg.de/people/dr-toru-tomabechi.html Source Accessed Apr 14, 2020]) +
U
Udbhaṭasiddhisvāmin was the author of the ''Viśeṣastava''. The text was composed in India in Sanskrit and was translated into Tibetan in the eighth century by Sarvājñādeva, Ma Rinchen Chok (rma rin chen mchog), and Kawa Peltsek (ska ba dpal brtsegs). The work appears to survive only in Tibetan translation. +
Ueda Yoshifumi (1904-1993) was Professor at Chikushi Gakuen, Fukuoka, Japan, and Professor Emeritus at Nagoya University, Nagoya. He edited the Shin Buddhism Translation series at Hongwanji International Center, Kyoto. Prof. Ueda Yoshifumi contributed the essay "Freedom and Necessity in Shinran's Concept of Karma" to ''Living in Amida’s Universal Vow'', edited by Alfred Bloom. He is also the author, along with Dennis Hirota, of ''Shinran: An Introduction to His Thought'' (Kyoto: Hongwanji International Center, 1989). ([http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/Ueda-Yoshifum.aspx Source Accessed and Amended July 7, 2020]) +
Hakuju Ui (1882-1963) was a Doctor of Literature, Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo, Member of the Japanese Bachelor's College, and an Indian Philosophy, Buddhist History, and Buddhist Literature Research Expert.<br> In 1894, he joined Cao Dongzong and later graduated from Imperial University of Tokyo in 1909. From 1913 to 1917, he went to the UK, Germany, and India to study. In 1919, he was a lecturer at the University of Tokyo. In 1923, he was a professor at Northeastern Imperial University. In 1930, he was a professor at Tokyo Imperial University and received a doctorate in literature. In 1945, he was elected as a member of the Japanese Academy of Sciences and was awarded the honorary professor of the University of Tokyo. In 1953, he received the Cultural Medal. He was fluent in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan, and has contributed greatly to the study of Buddhist history. His main works include: ''Buddhist Thought Research'' (Yanbo Bookstore, 1943), ''Pan Buddhism'' (2 volumes, Yanbo Bookstore, 1947-1949), ''Buddhist Classic History'' (Dongcheng Publishing House, 1957), ''Vietnamese and Contradiction Bodhisattva Index'' (Suzuki Academic Foundation, 1961), ''Study on Western Region Buddhist Scriptures - Brief Introduction to Dunhuang Yishu'' (Yanbo Bookstore, 1969), ''Tibetan Buddhist Scriptures'' (Masterpieces Press, 1970) Year), and ''Translation of History Studies'' (Yanbo Bookstore, 1971). ([https://list.wiki/Ui_Hakuju Accessed and Adapted from List.Wiki July 6, 2020]) +
Ulrich Pagel, PhD (1993) in Buddhist Studies (London) is Reader in the Languages and Religions of Tibet and Central Asia at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He has published on Mahāyāna Buddhism (1994, 2006, 2007) and more recently in the field of vinaya studies (2012). Since 1999, he serves as head of the International Tibetan Archives Preservation Trust. ([https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Tibetan-Iconometry-Century-Studies/dp/9004180141/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1609888460&refinements=p_27%3AUlrich+Pagel&s=books&sr=1-1 Source Accessed Jan 5, 2021]) +
Ulrich Schneider was a German scholar specializing in Indian studies (Indology), particularly Buddhism. He was the author of ''Der Buddhismus: Eine Einführung'' (''Buddhism: An Introduction''), which became a notable work in German Buddhist studies and went through multiple editions.
Schneider was honored with a Festschrift (commemorative volume) titled ''Hinduismus und Buddhismus: Festschrift für Ulrich Schneider'', edited by Harry Falk, indicating his significant contributions to the field of Indian religions and his recognition among fellow scholars.
His work ''Der Buddhismus: Eine Einführung'' covered topics including the history and current state of research, as well as the cultural-geographical context of Buddhism.
Schneider began his career as a Pāli and Buddhist scholar, but later became a many-sided Indologist who even wrote on the Veda. +
Dr. Hab. Ulrich Timme Kragh is a scholar of Asian languages and cultures. He holds two separate MA degrees in Tibetan studies and Indology (University of Copenhagen, 1998 and 2016), the PhD degree with a thesis on early Buddhist theories of karma and causality (University of Copenhagen, 2004), and a Habilitation degree with a study on a medieval Tibetan anchorite community (Adam Mickiewicz University, 2018). He has conducted research projects in classical and medieval Asian studies at Harvard University (2004-2007), Geumgang University (2008-2010), Leiden University (2011-2013), the Australian National University (2014-2015), the University of Copenhagen (2014-2016), and Adam Mickiewicz University (2016-2021). He has taught at Florida State University (2007-2008) and the University of Sydney (2014). His research employs methods of philology, theory of history, literary theory, and gender studies, and is mostly concerned with various topics in the Buddhist and Jain traditions in India, Tibet, and China. He is engaged in a metahistorical analysis of classical and medieval Indian, Persian, Tibetan, and Chinese theories of historical narrative in comparison to Western ideas of narrative and story, and the humanist application of these theories to the study of pre-modern and modern Asian history writing. He is currently a visiting scholar at the Apabhramsha Sahitya Academy in Jaipur, India. ([https://independent.academia.edu/UlrichTimmeKragh Source Accessed Aug 13, 2025]) +
Since 1965 at the age of twenty-two, Ulrich von Schroeder studies Buddhist art and culture as an independent scholar. The results of his numerous field trips are published in several monumental volumes. Learn more at [https://www.visualdharma.com/bsit.html Visual Dharma Publications] or [https://shop.garudabooks.ch/en/tags/ulrich-von-schroeder/ Garuda Books].
[https://independent.academia.edu/UlrichvonSchroeder Source: Academia.edu Accessed May 23, 2025]. +
Ulrike Roesler received her PhD in Indian Studies from the University of Münster (Germany) with a thesis on the notion of "light" in the Vedas. For more than a decade she has been teaching Indian and Tibetan Studies as well as Buddhist Studies at the universities of Marburg, Freiburg, and Oxford. Her research interests include Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, the history of the Tibetan Kadam school, and Tibetan biographical and narrative literature. Her German translation and study of Potowa Rinchen Sal's ''Dharma Exemplified (Dpe chos)'' was published by Reichert Verlag (Weisbaden) in 2011. With Linda Covill and Sarah Shaw, she coedited ''Lives Lived, Lives Imagined: Biography in the Buddhist Traditions'' (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2010). (Source: [https://books.google.com/books?id=B68aCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT918&lpg=PT918&dq=Ulrike+Roesler+received+her+PhD+in+Indian+Studies+from+the+University+of+M%C3%BCnster+(Germany)+with+a+thesis+on+the+notion+of+%22light%22+in+the+Vedas.&source=bl&ots=MWXJJre-DW&sig=ACfU3U0oqRUrOgdcIk9dgYb82jAVXyqQdQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSs6jojd3rAhWomeAKHTpUCPkQ6AEwAXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Ulrike%20Roesler%20received%20her%20PhD%20in%20Indian%20Studies%20from%20the%20University%20of%20M%C3%BCnster%20(Germany)%20with%20a%20thesis%20on%20the%20notion%20of%20%22light%22%20in%20the%20Vedas.&f=false "About the Contributors," ''Stages of the Buddha's Teachings: Three Key Texts'', Wisdom Publications, 2015]) +
Used for the author when a text is of unknown authorship. +
Unrai Wogihara, also known as Ogiwara Unrai, was a Japanese scholar and editor specializing in Buddhist texts, particularly those related to Mahayana Buddhism and the Yogacara school.
Here are some key points about his work:
* He edited and published several important Buddhist texts, including the ''Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra'', for which he corrected many errors and included the commentary of Haribhadra.
* Wogihara edited the ''Bodhisattvabhūmi'', a part of the ''Yogācārabhūmi'', which is a comprehensive treatise on the path of the bodhisattva.
* He also worked on the ''Abhisamayalankaraloka'', another significant text in Mahayana Buddhism, and corrected its text in his edition.
*Additionally, he edited the ''Abhidharmakośavyākhyā'', a commentary on the ''Abhidharmakośa'', a foundational text of the Sarvastivada school of Buddhism.
Wogihara's contributions are significant in the field of Buddhist studies, particularly for his meticulous editing and commentary on key Mahayana and Yogacara texts. +
Upasika Chihmann, whose lay name was P. C. Lee, was a translator and a devout lay follower of Buddhism. She is best known for her translations of Buddhist texts, particularly those within the Mahayana tradition. One of her notable works is the translation of ''The Four Buddhist Books in Mahayana'', which includes Amitabha's forty-eight vows. Her other publications include ''The Vows of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra Sutra''. +
Urban Hammar defended his doctoral thesis, "Studies in the Kālacakra Tantra: A History of the Kālacakra Tantra in Tibet and a Study of the Concept of the Ādibuddha, the Fourth Body of the Buddha, and the Supreme Unchanging," in 2005. He is now working on a text by one of the disciples of Dolpo-pa on the history of Kālacakra Tantra. Hammar is affiliated with the Department of History of Religions at Stockholm University and teaches Tibetan at the Department of Oriental Languages. (Source: ''As Long as Space Endures'', 476) +
Urmila Agarwal is an author and researcher known for her work in the fields of Indian culture, philosophy, and art.
Urmila Agarwal, along with her husband Satya P. Agarwal, has authored several books. One of their notable works is an easy-to-read version of the "Anu-Gita," a part of the Mahabharata that had not been presented in a simple form to the general public before.
Their research and writing often involve collaborations and studies conducted in various locations, including the USA. For instance, they were associated with Alan Watts and conducted research on Buddhism and related topics starting from 1953.
The Agarwals have also written extensively on the concept of ''Lokasamgraha'' (the good of the world), which shares similarities with ''Sarvodaya''. Their first book on this topic, ''The Social Role of the Gita: How and Why'', was published in 1993.
Urmila Agarwal has a particular interest in the sculptural and artistic heritage of India. She has written about the sculptural wealth of North Indian temples, focusing on the socio-economic and religious aspects of these temples during the early medieval period (9th to 13th centuries AD). Her works reflect a deep engagement with Indian philosophy, culture, and art, making her a significant contributor to the field of Indian studies. +
