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Khenpo David Karma Choephel studied Buddhist philosophy at the Vajra Vidya Institute in Namo Buddha, Nepal, and Sarnath, India. He currently serves as Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche’s main English-language translator, and also translates for the Gyalwang Karmapa and the Kagyu Monlam.
His published translations include ''Ngondro for Our Current Day'' by the Gyalwang Karmapa, ''Heart of the Dharma'' by Khenchen Trangu Rinpoche, ''Jewels from the Treasury, Vasubandhu’s Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma'', with commentary by the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje, all published by KTD Publications; and ''Vivid Awareness: The Mind Instructions of Khenpo Gangshar'' by Thrangu Rinpoche, published by Shambhala Publications. His most recent translation, ''The Torch of True Meaning: Instructions and the Practice Text for the Mahamudra Preliminaries'' by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye and the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje, was taught by the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, ''A Collection of Commentaries on The Four-Session Guru Yoga'', Compiled by the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, both published by KTD Publications. ([http://www.ktdpublications.com/david-karma-choephel/ Source Accessed Feb 12, 2020]) +
Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University. (BU JD, CU PhD). Dr. Kittay specializes in teaching courses on Buddhism and on Eastern and Western philosophy, most recently, “Technology, Religion, Future,” “Interpreting Buddhist Yoga,” "Law and Religion," and "Reincarnation, Simulation, Resurrection." He is the translator of The Vajra Rosary Tantra (Wisdom Publications, forthcoming 2019), Alaṃkakalaśa’s word commentary on the Vajra Rosary Tantra, and, with Professor Lozang Jamspal, Pha Dampa Sangs rgyas's One Hundred Spiritual Instructions to the Dingri People (Ladakh Ratnashridipika Press, 2011), the Elucidation of the Intention Tantra, The Questions of the Four Goddesses Tantra and Tsong Khapa's commentary on it, The Vajra Intuition Compendium Tantra, with Tsong Khapa's commentary, and the Later Tantra (these being the first complete English translations of the Explanatory Tantras of the Guhyasamāja under the Noble Tradition, and (under a grant from 84000,Translating the Words of the Buddha) The Symphony of Dharma Sūtra, along with other publications about Buddhism, religion, and law. He regularly lectures at Tibet House US, where he serves on the Board, and at Do Ngak Kunphen Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center, at Columbia, and worldwide, and is the President of the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York. He also writes and lectures on the subject of compassionate lawyering, and has served as a trial and civil rights lawyer, federal bankruptcy trustee and a receiver for the Securities Exchange Commission. He is currently Director and Professor of Philosophy at the Harlem Clemente Course for the Humanities, teaching humanities to economically disadvantaged people in Harlem.
Dr. Kittay's current primary research interests are Buddhist philosophy and tantra, hermeneutic yoga, and consciousness studies. ([https://religion.columbia.edu/content/david-kittay Source: Columbia University, Accessed July 27, 2024]) +
David Kittelstrom is a senior editor at Wisdom Publications, where he has worked since 1993, and staff editor for The Library of Tibetan Classics, Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, Teachings of the Buddha, and Classics of Indian Buddhism series. He is not himself a translator but has had the good fortune to work closely with many. ([http://conference-wp.tsadra.org/2017-conference/2017-speakers/ Source]) +
David Landis Barnhill is the former Director of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. He is the translator of ''Basho's Journey: The Literary Prose of Matsuo Basho'' (2005), ''Basho's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Basho'' (2004), and the coeditor (with Roger S. Gottlieb) of ''Deep Ecology and World Religions: New Essays on Sacred Ground'' (2001), all published by SUNY Press. +
David Lazar Friedmann (b. Amsterdam 26.2.1903 — d. London 11.4.1984) was a Dutch Buddhist scholar and Art Historian in the U.K. He was born into a Jewish family engaged in the diamond trade. After school in Amsterdam he studied Sanskrit for three years at Utrecht (under Caland), then the history of religion, Sanskrit and Indian art and archaeology at Leiden (under Vogel). He earned his Ph.D. in 1936 from Leiden. After a year of further studies at Oxford (under Johnston), he became Lecturer in Buddhist Studies at Leiden in 1938. As a jew he was dismissed after German occupation in 1940, but continued to teach clandestinely. Leaving the country in 1941, he joined the Netherlands Information Bureau in New York, writing and lecturing on the history and culture of the Netherlands, India, and Indonesia. From 1946-50 he served as Professor at the University of Indonesia in Batavia/Jakarta, and he taught Sanskrit, Buddhist philosophy, and Indian art. From 1950 he was Lecturer and from 1959 he was a Reader at S.O.A.S. in London, and also taught at King’s College. He retired in 1970, but continued lecturing. He was married to Helène (d. 1976), a ceramic artist of Russian-Jewish origin, and had two daughters.
Friedman took great care supervising his students and published himself very little. Among his students were Lohuizen-De Leeuw, D. Killingley, and Rita Gupta.
Publications: Diss. [Sthiramati:] Madhyāntavibhāgaṭīkā. Analysis of the Middle Path and the Extremes. 143 p. Utrecht 1937 (translated). ([https://whowaswho-indology.info/2099/friedman-david-lazar/ Adapted from Source June 29, 2023]) +
David Robert Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism.
He is a prolific author, whose essays and books have been translated into many languages. His articles appear regularly in the pages of major journals such as ''Tikkun'' and Buddhist magazines including ''Tricycle'', ''Lion's Roar'', and ''Buddhadharma'', as well as in a variety of scholarly journals. Many of his writings, as well as audio and video talks and interviews, are available on the web. He is on the advisory boards of Buddhist Global Relief, the Clear View Project, Zen Peacemakers, and the Ernest Becker Foundation.
David lectures nationally and internationally on various topics, focusing primarily on the encounter between Buddhism and modernity: what each can learn from the other. He is especially concerned about social and ecological issues. A popular recent lecture is "Healing Ecology: A Buddhist Perspective on the Eco-crisis", which argues that there is an important parallel between what Buddhism says about our personal predicament and our collective predicament today in relation to the rest of the biosphere. You can hear David's podcast interview with Wisdom Publications here. Presently he is offering workshops on "Transforming Self, Transforming Society" and on ''Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Precipice'', which is also the title of a new book forthcoming in early 2019. He also leads meditation retreats.
Loy is a professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy. His BA is from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and he studied analytic philosophy at King’s College, University of London. His MA is from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and his PhD is from the National University of Singapore. His dissertation was published by Yale University Press as ''Nonduality: A Study in Comparative Philosophy''. He was senior tutor in the Philosophy Department of Singapore University (later the National University of Singapore) from 1978 to 1984. From 1990 until 2005, he was professor in the Faculty of International Studies, Bunkyo University, Chigasaki, Japan. In January 2006, he became the Besl Family Chair Professor of Ethics/Religion and Society with Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, a visiting position that ended in September 2010. In April 2007, David Loy was visiting scholar at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. From January to August 2009 he was a research scholar with the Institute for Advanced Study, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. From September through December 2010 he was in residence at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, with a Lenz Fellowship. In November 2014, David was a visiting professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands. In January through April 2016, David was visiting Numata professor of Buddhism at the University of Calgary. ([https://www.davidloy.org/ Source Accessed Sep 17, 2021])
D. Max Moerman is Professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures. He is Co-Chair of the Columbia University Seminar in Buddhist Studies and an Associate Director of the Columbia Center for Buddhism and Asian Religions. He holds an A.B. from Columbia College and a Ph.D. from Stanford University. His research interests are in the visual and material culture of Japanese religions. ([https://barnard.edu/profiles/d-max-moerman Source Accessed Nov 29, 2023]) +
David L. McMahan is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania, where he teaches classes on Asian religion and philosophy.
His research is on the interface of Buddhism and modernity, including its interactions with science, psychology, literature, romanticism, and transcendentalism.
His latest book is on the ways that Buddhist and Buddhist-derived meditation is understood and practiced in different cultural and historical contexts, ancient and modern.
He has also written on ancient Buddhist literature in India. +
David Michie is the internationally best-selling author of ''The Dalai Lama's Cat'' series of novels, as well as non-fiction titles including ''Why Mindfulness is Better than Chocolate'', ''Hurry Up and Meditate'', ''Buddhism for Busy People'' and ''Buddhism for Pet Lovers''. His books are available in 26 languages in over 40 different countries.
David is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer and coach on mindfulness and meditation. He has extensive experience presenting to a wide variety of different audiences around the world.
In 2015 he established Mindful Safaris, leading groups to Africa – where he was born and brought up – encouraging people to visit unexplored places, outer and inner, through a combination of daily game viewing trips and mindfulness sessions.
David’s blog on mindfulness and related subjects at www.davidmichie.com attracts a global audience of thousands of visitors each week. ([https://davidmichie.com/about-david-michie/ Source Accessed Apr 6, 2021]) +
David Molk studied Tibetan language at Venerable Geshe Rabten's Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in Mont-Pelerin, Switzerland. Since 1987 he has interpreted and translated for many Tibetan lamas. He lives in Big Sur, California. +
David Need is Lecturing Fellow of Religion at Duke University. He has taught at Duke since 1999, primarily in Religious Studies. He developed the ICS gateway class and taught it from 2005–2012. His academic expertise is in Asian Religions and in Literature and Religion, with a focus on poetics, ritual, and meditation systems.
In addition to scholarly articles, he has published three books — two are translations and essays on Rainer Maria Rilke, the third is a selection of his own poetry, including a long poem set alongside the Gospel of Mark.
===Current Research Interests===
* Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke
* Non-dual awareness and poetics
* Influence of Buddhism on 20th Century American Poetry
* Women's Religious Experience & Poetics +
David Patt received his PhD in Buddhist Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is the author of ''A Strange Liberation: Tibetan Lives in Chinese Hands''. He recently served as executive director of the Dzogchen Foundation. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/david-patt/ Wisdom Experience]) +
David R. Brockman, Ph.D., is a nonresident scholar for the Baker Institute’s Religion and Public Policy Program. He is also an adjunct professor at both Texas Christian University and Southern Methodist University, where he teaches various courses in religion and religious studies.
From 2010 to 2012, Brockman served as the project director for the World Conference of Associations of Theological Institutions. He is the author several books, including “Dialectical Democracy through Christian Thought: Individualism, Relationalism, and American Politics” (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2013) and “No Longer the Same: Religious Others and the Liberation of Christian Theology” (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2011). His forthcoming publication, “Educating For Pluralism, or Against It? Lessons from Texas and Quebec on Teaching Religion in Public Schools,” will appear in Religion & Education.
Brockman holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Southern Methodist University. He received a Master of Theological Studies degree from the Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University and his bachelor’s degree in English and education from the University of Texas at Arlington. ([https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/david-r-brockman/ Source Accessed Nov 25, 2019]) +
David Cummiskey teaches courses on biomedical ethics, philosophy of law, and seminars on moral theory, contemporary liberalism, and Buddhist philosophy. His research and publications focus on Kantian and consequentialist approaches to moral philosophy, political philosophy, and intercultural ethics and bioethics. His most recent articles discuss the relationship between Buddhist and Kantian ethics, and Buddhist environmental ethics and political philosophy. He is currently working on a series of articles that develop the relationships among Buddhist perfectionism, emergent conceptions of agency, compatibilist conceptions of free will, Kantian accounts of self-constitution, and Humean constructivism. ([https://www.bates.edu/faculty-expertise/profile/david-r-cummiskey/ Source Accessed May 18, 2021]) +
David Ross Komito is a professor of Asian Philosophy and author on the subjects of Mādhyamaka Buddhist philosophy, meditation and the psychology of religion.
Komito received his B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, his M.A. in Religious Studies, M.S. in Counseling and Ph.D. in Tibetan Studies from Indiana University, Bloomington. From 1986 through 1990 he was Dean of John F. Kennedy University's Graduate School for the Study of Human Consciousness. Since 1987 has lectured at San Francisco Zen Center, Finding the Path to Liberation Buddhist Center and other Buddhist centers in the Western USA. After teaching at John F. Kennedy University and the University of San Francisco, he created the Religious Studies Program at Eastern Oregon University. Since retiring from Eastern Oregon University he has been teaching part-time in the Philosophy Department of Portland State University, Oregon.
He is married to the thanka artist Kayla Komito and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Komito Source Accessed Mar 7, 2025]) +
[https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Topic_of_the_week/Post-21 Please see Ruegg's obituary here].
David Seyfort Ruegg (New York, 1931) was an eminent Buddhologist with a long career, extending from the 1950s to the present. His specialty was Madhyamaka philosophy, a core doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism.
Ruegg graduated from École des Hautes Etudes in 1957 with degrees in historical science and Sanskrit. He published his thesis "Contributions à l'histoire de la philosophie linguistique indienne" ("Contributions to the History of Indian Linguistic Philosophy") in 1959. He received a second doctorate in linguistics from the Sorbonne in Paris, where his thesis was "La théorie du tathâgatagarbha et du gotra : études sur la sotériologie et la gnoséologie du bouddhisme" ("The Theory of Gotra and Tathâgatagarbha: A Study of the Soteriology and Gnoseology of Buddhism"), with a second half thesis on Bu Rin chen grub's approach to tathâgatagarbha. In 1964 he joined the faculty of the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient, where he researched the history, philology and philosophy of India, Tibet and Buddhism.
From 1966-1972 Ruegg occupied the Chair of Languages and Cultures of India and Tibet at Leiden University. His predecessor was [[Jan Willem de Jong]] and his successor was Tilmann Vetter. He has since become associated with the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Ruegg was president of the International Association for Buddhist Studies (IABS) from 1991 to 1999. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Seyfort_Ruegg Source Accessed Aug 5, 2020]) +
David Llewellyn Snellgrove (29 June 1920 – 25 March 2016) was a British Tibetologist noted for his pioneering work on Buddhism in Tibet as well as his many travelogues. Snellgrove was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and educated at Christ's Hospital near Horsham in West Sussex. He went on to study German and French at Southampton University. In 1941 he was called up to do his military service as a member of the Royal Engineers. He attended the Officers Cadet Training Unit in the Scottish seaside town of Dunbar, and was commissioned as an infantry officer. Thereafter he attended various intelligence courses and further training at the War Office in London, from where he requested a posting to India.
Snellgrove arrived in Bombay in June 1943, and travelled cross-country to Calcutta. He was stationed at Barrackpore, some way up the Hooghly River. A few months after beginning his posting he contracted malaria and was sent to the military hospital at Lebong, just north of Darjeeling. It was while he was at Lebong that he began his future life's calling by purchasing some books about Tibet by Charles Bell as well as a Tibetan Grammar and Reader.
Snellgrove returned to Darjeeling, from where he sometimes went on leave to Kalimpong. On one of these visits he took a young Tibetan into his personal employ in order to have someone with whom to practice speaking Tibetan. He also travelled in the small Himalayan state of Sikkim, and on one such visit he met Sir Basil Gould, who was then the British Representative for Tibet.[2] Inspired to work in Tibet, in 1946 after he left the Army he sat the entrance exams for the Indian Civil Service. This was the first time the exams had been held since the start of the war, and the last time they were ever held. Although he passed the exams, he was not able to take up an appointment in India. Having already begun to study Tibetan, he resolved to find a university where he could further his studies. However, as no university offered courses in Tibetan at that time he was convinced by Sir Harold Bailey that a sound knowledge of Sanskrit and Pali would be beneficial, so he gained entry to Queens' College, Cambridge in October 1946. While at Cambridge, he converted to Roman Catholicism, in part through the influence of his friend Bede Griffiths.
In 1950, after having completed his studies at Cambridge, he was invited to teach a course in elementary Tibetan at the School of Oriental and African Studies University of London.[3] He was Professor of Tibetan at SOAS until his retirement in 1982.
Snellgrove's research subsequent to his retirement was focused increasingly upon the art history of South East Asia. He died on 25 March 2016 in Pinerolo, Italy. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Snellgrove Source Accessed Feb 14, 2020])
David Tuffley is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & Socio-Technical Studies at Griffith University in Australia.
David writes on a broad range of interests; from Anthropology, Psychology, Ancient and Modern History, Linguistics, Rhetoric, Comparative Religions, Philosophy, Architectural History, Environments and Ecosystems. +
David Wellington Chappell (1940–2004) was a professor of Buddhist studies whose specialties were Chinese Buddhist traditions (esp. Tiantai) and interreligious dialogue. After receiving a B.A. from Mount Allison University and a B.D. from McGill University, he completed a Ph.D. in the history of religions at Yale University. His subsequent teaching career included three decades as a professor of religion at the University of Hawaii, where he founded the journal Buddhist-Christian Studies in 1981, edited it through 1985, then helped found the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies in 1987. His publications include Buddhist and Taoist Practice in Medieval Chinese Society, T'ien-t'ai Buddhism: An Outline of the Fourfold Teachings, Buddhist Peace Work: Creating Cultures of Peace, and Unity in Diversity: Hawaii's Buddhist Communities.
After retiring from the University of Hawaii, he taught comparative studies at Soka University of America and was actively engaged in Buddhist-Muslim dialogue in Asia, Europe, and North America. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_W._Chappell Source Accessed June 14, 2023]) +
David Welsh is a mitra in the Triratna Buddhist Community, and teaches and practises Buddhism atthe Oslo Buddhist Centre. He is a Master’s student in the History of Religion at the University ofOslo, and a Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology. ([https://www.academia.edu/5112350/Brain_Hacking_and_Mind_Upgrades_Buddhism_of_the_Future_Book_Review_ Source Accessed Sep 29, 2022]) +
