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Indian scholiast and major translator of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese during the Liu Song period (420–479). Born in central India to a brāhmaṇa family, he is said to have studied in his youth the five traditional Indian sciences, as well as astronomy, calligraphy, mathematics, medicine, and magic. He was converted to Buddhism and began systematically to study Buddhist texts, starting with the Abhidharma and proceeding through the most influential Mahāyāna texts, such as the ''Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra'' and ''Avataṃsakasūtra''. Around 435, he departed from Sri Lanka for China, arriving in Guangzhou by sea. In China, he devoted himself to teaching and translating Buddhist scriptures, carrying out most of his translations of Mahāyāna and mainstream Buddhist texts while residing in Qiyuansi in Jiankang and Xinsi in Jingzhou. He translated a total of fifty-two scriptures in 134 rolls, including the ''Saṃyuktāgama'' and the ''Prakaranapāda'' [śāstra], both associated with the Sarvāstivāda school, such seminal Mahāyāna texts as the ''[[Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra]]'' and the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra''. In the ''Lengqie shizi ji'', a Chan genealogical history associated with the Northern school (Bei zong) of the early Chan tradition, Guṇabhadra is placed before Bodhidharma in the Chan patriarchal lineage, perhaps because of his role in translating the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'', an important scriptural influence in the early Chan school. (Source: "Guṇabhadra." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 336. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27) +
Gunaprabha (Skt. Guṇaprabha; Tib. ཡོན་ཏན་འོད་, Yönten Ö; Wyl. yon tan 'od) — an Indian master of the Vinaya tradition born in the seventh century and a disciple of Vasubandhu. According to one tradition, he is counted as one of the ‘Two Supreme Ones’—great commentators on the Buddha’s teachings. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Gunaprabha Source Accessed Aug 14, 2025]) +
Gunavarman. (C. Qiunabamo; J. Gunabatsuma; K. Kunabalma 求那跋摩) (367–431 CE). A Kashmiri monk who was an important early translator of Buddhist vinaya and bodhisattva preceptive materials into Chinese. He was a prince of Kubhā, who was ordained at the age of twenty and eventually became known as a specialist in the Buddhist canon (trepiṭaka). Upon his father's death, he was offered the throne, but refused, and instead embarked on travels throughout Asia to preach the dharma, including to Java, where he helped to establish the Buddhist tradition. Various miracles are associated with the places he visited, such as fragrance wafting in the air when he meditated and a dragon-like creature who was seen ascending to heaven in his presence. In 424 CE, Guṇavarman traveled to China and was invited by Emperor Wen of the Liu Song dynasty to come to the capital in Nanjing. Upon his arrival, a monastery was built in his honor and Guṇavarman lectured there on various sūtras. During his sojourn in China, he translated some eighteen rolls of seminal Buddhist texts into Chinese, including the ''Bodhisattvabhūmi'', and several other works associated with the bodhisattvaśīla, the Dharmaguptaka vinaya (Sifen lü), and monastic and lay precepts. Guṇavarman was a central figure in founding the order of nuns (bhikṣunī) in China and he helped arrange the ordination of several Chinese nuns whose hagiographies are recorded in the Biqiuni zhuan. (Source: "Guṇavarman." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 337–38. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Gwendolyn McKee Bays was a professor of French literature as well as a scholar of Buddhism and Eastern mysticism, writing and translating several books on the subject. She was the author of ''The Orphic Vision'' and translator of the book, ''The Voice of the Buddha'' from the original French. ([https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/atlanta/name/gwendolyn-bays-obituary?pid=164933470 Source Accessed Aug 25, 2021]) +
Gwenola Le Serrec is a former expert in the protection of the environment, writer, and translator. She is now essentially a meditator and lover of nature and music. ([https://www.instagram.com/gwenola_leserrec/?hl=en Adapted from Source Jan 3, 2022]). She has translated the ninth chapter on wisdom of the commentary on the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''
by Khenpo Kunzang Palden with Patrick Carré and Christian Bruyat — ''Perles d'Ambroisie'', ''Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'i tshig 'grel 'jam dbyangs zhal lung bdud rtsi thig pa'' and other works with the Padmakara Translation Group. +
Gyalse Lhaje, also known as Chokdrup Gyalpo, was the second son of the Tibetan prince Mutik Tsenpo. He came to be considered the subsequent rebirth of his grandfather, Dharma King Trisong Deutsen. +
Venerable Gyalten Mindrol met the Dharma through her father when she was ten years old and came to Tibetan Buddhism at the age of seventeen. She joined the FPMT family in her mid-twenties, first attending Basic Program courses with Geshe Tsulga at Kurukulla Center in Boston and Ven. George Churinoff at Land of Medicine Buddha in California. She has also received numerous teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, Choden Rinpoche, Geshe Lhundub Sopa Rinpoche, and Gyume Khensur Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche, as well as Ven. Sarah Thresher and Ven. Robina Courtin. She joined the staff of FPMT International Office as editor working in educational materials development in 2005, and later that year took novice ordination with Choden Rinpoche. She has led Nyung Ne fasting retreats at Land of Medicine Buddha and currently visits a prison near Vancouver, WA, as well as offering "Discovering Buddhism" courses as part of Maitripa College’s Jokhang program. She has been a student of Yangsi Rinpoche at Maitripa College since 2006. ([https://dharmafriendship.org/teachers/ Source Accessed Apr 14, 2022]) +
Gyalwa Yang Gönpa Gyaltsen Pal (Tib. ཡང་དགོན་པ་རྒྱལ་མཚན་དཔལ་, Wyl. yang dgon pa rgyal mtshan dpal) (1213-1258 or 1287) was a great yogin of the Drukpa Kagyü school and one of the foremost disciples of Gyalwa Götsangpa (1189-1258). He also studied with Godrakpa (1181-1261), who is considered the first great non-sectarian master of Tibet, Drikung Chenga Rinpoche (1175-1255) of the Drikung Kagyü school, Sakya Pandita (1182-1251), and Sangye Repa, and other masters. He is known as one of the 'three victorious ones', the other two being his teacher Gyalwa Götsangpa and Gyalwa Lorepa. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Yang_Gönpa Rigpawiki]) +
Gyamarwa Changchub Drak (Wyl. rgya dmar ba byang chub grags) was an important scholar born in the late eleventh or early twelfth century. He studied Madhyamika, Pramana and other philosophical topics with Khyung Rinchen Drak and Kangpa She'u Lodrö, and soon became an expert. From Lhajé Dawé Özer, he received many pith instructions related to the secret mantra from the lineage of Ancient Translations, and from Lhopa Könchok Pal he received instructions on mind training. As a result of his studies, he gained a reputation for excellent scholarship; and, in addition, he was also a holder of the lineage of pith instructions. In places such as Nyangro and Tölung, Sethang and elsewhere, he taught Madhyamika, Pramana, the treatises of Maitreya and other topics. His students included Chapa Chökyi Senge, Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa, Phagmodrupa Dorje Gyalpo, Chokro Chökyi Gyaltsen, Shyang Bal Tsepa, Kyilkhar Lhakhangwa and many other learned scholars. Chapa Chökyi Sengé, in particular, said that it was from Gyamarwa that he learned all the various tenets of Madhyamika and Pramana.
Writings:<br>
Gyamarwa’s writings included commentaries on the Pramanasamuccaya and Madhyamaka Two Truths, and many original treatises, including summaries of Pramana and Middle Way philosophy. Recently discovered works include ''Ascertaining the Nature Itself in the Middle Way'' (''dbu ma’i de kho na nyid gtan la dbab pa''), which was found in a volume in the Nechu temple at Drepung Monastery, ''Summary of the Bodhicharyavatara'' (''spyod 'jug bsdus don''), and his clear explanation of the meaning of the text of the ''Bodhisattvacharyavatara''. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Gyamarwa_Changchub_Drak Source Accessed Feb 8, 2023]) +
Gyurme Avertin began his study of the Tibetan language in 1997. He spent two years following the Tibetan program at Langues’O University in Paris. He then went to Nepal in 1999 to study at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute, before making his way to Bir in northern India, where he studied at Dzongsar Shedra. He regularly interprets for teachers visiting Rigpa centres and at the Rigpa Shedra East. (2014 Translation & Transmission Conference Program) +
Gyurme Tsewang Tenpel was one of the four sons of Chogyur Lingpa's daughter Könchok Paldrön. He was recognized as the rebirth of his mother's brother, Tsewang Drakpa, the oldest son of Chogyur Lingpa, and so he became known as Tersey Tulku, "the Emanation of the Treasure-revealer's Son." He was instrumental in the transmission of grandfather's Treasures to many of last generation of lineage holders, such as the late Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, who was his nephew, and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. +
György Kara earned a Ph.D. from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary in 1961, and a doctorate of philology degree from Leningrad State University in 1975. His research interests include Mongol and Inner Asian studies; languages and cultures, including Old Turkic, Tibetan, Manchu, Evenki, Khitan and Altaic philology; history of writing systems; Altaic linguistics; Mongol literature and folklore. He regularly teaches classical Mongol, Mongol literature and folklore, and the history of Mongol writing systems.
In 2011, Professor Kara was honored at the 54th annual Permanent International Altaistic Conference (PIAC); he received the PIAC gold medal in honor of his lifetime achievements in Altaic Studies. ([https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/awards/honoree/6436.html Source Accessed Mar 16, 2021]) +
Gérard Busquet, 82 ans, a été réalisateur de documentaires et courts-métrages au Bangladesh (1965-1971), correspondant de l’Agence France Presse à Dhaka (1971-1975), correspondant du Figaro pour l’Asie du Sud à Delhi (1975-1977). Il est l’auteur de nombreux livres sur l’Asie du Sud : À l’écoute de l’Inde (Transboréal, 2013) ; Tableaux du Rajasthan, avec Carisse Beaune-Busquet (Arthaud/Flammarion, 2003) ; Le tombeau de l’éléphant d’Asie, avec M. Cohen (éditions Chandeigne, 2002), prix du Petit Gaillon 2002… et traducteur de divers ouvrages en anglais. ([https://revue-ultreia.com/contributeurs/gerard-busquet/ Source Accessed April 6, 2023]) +
Gönpo Tseten was born in 1906 in Amdo, an eastern province of Tibet, into a family heritage of ngakpas. At the age of seven he was sent to Sangchen Mingye Ling, a Nyingmapa monastery. At the age of 15, having shown great promise as a future teacher, he studied with Kargi Tertön and accomplished the preliminary practices of Tibetan Buddhism.
At Sangchen Mingye Ling, Gönpo Tseten continued his Dharma studies and the traditional Tibetan arts and sciences. It was at this time that he began to display great skill in drawing, painting, and sculpture. In 1925, at the age of 18, he completed two images of Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara, each standing over six feet high.
About the age of twenty he married and had a son, Pema Rigdzin. He then undertook a journey of twenty days in order to study for a year with the Tertön Choling Tuching Dorje, a disciple of Dodrupchen Rinpoche.
After this, he studied with the great Dzogchen master Khenchen Thubten Chöpel, who was also a guru of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Khenpo Jikmé Phuntsok, and the Sixth Dzogchen Rinpoche. During that time he received the complete transmission of the Rinchen Terdzö—he later received it twice more from Dilgo Khyentse around 1950 and 1978. Later, the ngakpa Gönpo Tsering taught him Tu, the art of overcoming enemies. This was essential since his gompa in Amdo needed protection from surrounding afflictions, including ruthless bandits and wild animals. After this, he studied sutra and tantra, including the Yönten Dzö, at Sukchen Tago Gompa in Golok, which was established by the First Dodrupchen Rinpoche in 1799. (Full bio available at [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=G%C3%B6npo_Tseten_Rinpoche Rigpa Wiki]) +
Götsangpa Gönpo Dorje (Tib. རྒོད་ཚང་པ་མགོན་པོ་རྡོ་རྗེ་, Wyl. rgod tshang pa mgon po rdo rje) (1189-1258) was a mahasiddha of the Drukpa Kagyü school, well known for his songs of realization and said to have been an emanation of Milarepa. He was born in southern Tibet, but moved to Central Tibet, where he met his main teachers Tsangpa Gyaré Yeshe Dorje and Sangye Ön. Following his studies, he travelled from one isolated hermitage to another, never staying in the same place twice. He founded the branch of the Drukpa Kagyü school known as the Upper Drukpa (སྟོད་འབྲུག་, stod 'brug). His students included Orgyenpa Rinchen Pal. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Götsangpa_Gönpo_Dorje Rigpawiki]) +
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The Seventh Dzogchen Rinpoche, Jikmé Losel Wangpo (Tib. འཇིགས་མེད་བློ་གསལ་དབང་པོ་, Wyl. 'jigs med blo gsal dbang po) (b.1964) was born in Sikkim, into the Lakar family, as the son of Tsewang Paljor and Mayum Tsering Wangmo. Jikmé Losel Wangpo was recognized by Kyabjé Dodrupchen Rinpoche as the seventh in the line of Dzogchen Rinpoches, which began with the great 17th century master Dzogchen Pema Rigdzin. From an early age, he received teachings from many of the greatest Tibetan masters of the last generation, including Kyabjé Dudjom Rinpoche and Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. After his initial studies with his tutor Dzogchen Khenpo Rahor Thubten, he went to Dharamsala, where his education was closely supervised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and he spent seven years at the Buddhist School of Dialectics before graduating with the degree of Rabjampa.
He is now the head of the newly established Dzogchen Monastery in Kollegal, in southern India, and since 1985 he has travelled widely giving teachings from the Dzogchen lineage in a direct and practical manner.
Recent Publication: [[Meditation for Modern Madness]] (Wisdom, 2024). ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dzogchen_Rinpoche Source Accessed September 12, 2024: Rigpa Wiki])
Dzogchen Rinpoche also has students all over the world who study and practice the Dzogchen lineage particularly the Dzogchen Khandro Nyingthig which was composed by the great 3rd Dzogchen Rinpoche, Ngedön Tendzin Zangpo. The international sangha support the charitable activity of Dzogchen Shri Senha Charitable Society (DSSCS), founded by Dzogchen Rinpoche in 1995. Shenpen, a network of organisations under the umbrella of DSSCS, dedicated to benefiting those in need without condition, has been established in America, Australia and throughout Europe. (Source: https://www.shenpenuk.org/seventh-dzogchen-rinpoche)
'''Previous Incarnations:'''
*1. [[The First Dzogchen Rinpoche]], [[Pema Rikzin]]
*2. [[The Second Dzogchen Rinpoche]], [[Gyurme Thekchok Tenzin]]
*3. [[The Third Dzogchen Rinpoche]], [[Ngedon Tendzin Zangpo]] (1759-92)
*4. [[The Fourth Dzogchen Rinpoche]], [[Migyur Namkhe Dorje]] (1793-?)
*5. [[The Fifth Dzogchen Rinpoche]], [[Thupten Chokyi Dorje]]
*6. [[The Sixth Dzogchen Rinpoche]], [[Jigdral Jangchup Dorje]]
*7. [[The Seventh Dzogchen Rinpoche]], [[Tenzin Jigdral Lhunpo]] (b. 1964) <br>
[http://www.dzogchenmonastery.org/dzogchen_rinpoches.html Source (Accessed June 13, 2012)]
Also see the [http://www.dzogchen.org.in/ official website of the Dzogchen Rinpoche].
Binks devoted much of his life to the study and teaching of religion. Before coming to Williams, he taught religion at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa., and served as a teaching assistant at Harvard, where he earned his Ph.D.
At Williams, he contributed greatly to the life of the college, both inside and outside the classroom. In the 20 years during which he chaired the Department of Religion, starting in 1967, rapid growth of departmental enrollments, followed by new faculty appointments, set the stage for the development of an exciting and rigorous introductory religion course that was both highly popular at Williams and emulated nationally.
An intellectual who cared deeply about his students, Binks was intensely curious about developments in the full range of liberal arts disciplines. “Almost immediately following his faculty appointment in the Department of Religion, it became apparent that Binks Little had the potential to become a significant leader in his department and in the college generally,” says John Chandler, Williams president, emeritus, who served as dean of the faculty and religion department chair when Binks joined Williams.
Binks was also the first-ever chair of the Committee of Undergraduate Life when it was conceived in the late 1960s. Under his leadership, the committee recommended and the college implemented major revisions of protocols governing residential life. He also paved the way for student membership on standing committees that, up until then, were strictly composed of faculty. “Binks had a great memory for students and a complete devotion to them,” says Mark C. Taylor, Cluett Professor of Humanities, emeritus.
Binks became a full professor in 1974. That year he was appointed the managing editor of the American Academy of Religion Dissertation Series, a publishing venture organized to make outstanding doctoral research in the study of religion readily available to the wider scholarly community.
Shortly before he retired from Williams, Binks participated for two years in an experimental faculty development program, mentoring second-year faculty across the academic divisions and coordinating and directing periodic seminars and conferences that addressed the myriad challenges faced by new faculty members.
Born in St. Louis, Mo., in 1932, Binks grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and Pasadena, Calif., and attended Deerfield Academy. He graduated from Princeton University in 1954 and earned a B.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1957, having spent the 1954-55 academic year at the University of Edinburgh. He earned a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1965. ([https://president.williams.edu/writings-and-remarks/articles-2/the-passing-of-professor-h-ganse-binks-little/ Source Accessed Apr 21, 2022])
Tulku Pema Rigtsal Rinpoche is the Supreme Head of Namkha Khyung Dzong Monastery in Humla, Nepal ("upper Dudjom lineage" known as Namkha Khyung Dzong, formerly based at Mount Kailash in Tibet). At the age of three he was recognized by Dudjom Rinpoche as the reincarnation of “Chimed Rinpoche,” who is the emanation of the Great Indian Siddha “Dampa Sangye” and spiritual head of the renowned Shedphel Ling Monastery in Ngari, Tibet. In 1985 he reconstructed the Namkha Khyung Dzong Monastery in Humla, Nepal, and has taught the 13 major philosophical texts (Shungchen Chusum) for 24 years. His religious guidance has inspired hundreds of ascetics and other practitioners in Tibet.
Rinpoche has studied the Vajrayana tradition of the Nyingma lineage from renowned spiritual masters: Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Dodrupchen Rinpoche, Penor Rinpoche, Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, Trulshik Rinpoche, and Domang Yangthang Rinpoche. ([https://rubinmuseum.org/events/event/mindfulness-meditation-with-tulku-pema-rigtsal-rinpoche-02-22-24/ Source Accessed January 23, 2024])
According to Rigpa Wiki: Tulku Pema Rigtsal gives teachings on the Dudjom Tersar Ngöndro, the ''The Words of My Perfect Teacher'', ''Bodhicharyavatara'', and the Richö, Nang Jang, Neluk Rangjung, and other Dudjom Tersar teachings, to the people of Humla and those from the Ngari part of Tibet.
Tulku Pema Rigtsal also holds Summer and Winter Dharma Teaching sessions every year for more than five hundred practitioners including monks, ngakpas (yogis) and nuns residing in Humla and Ngari, Tibet. Hundreds of hermits are practising in caves and solitary locations in Humla, Nepal and Ngari, Tibet under his instruction and guidance.
Among his writings, there are:
:a commentary on the Calling The Lama From Afar of Dudjom Rinpoche
:a biography of the Degyal Rinpoche (the first).
:his first book in Tibetan, entitled “Semkyi Sangwa Ngontu Phyungwa” (translated and published in English as [[The Great Secret of Mind]]).
Hajime Nakamura (中村 元, Nakamura Hajime, November 28, 1912 – October 10, 1999) was a Japanese Orientalist, Indologist, philosopher and academic of Vedic, Hindu, and Buddhist scriptures.
Nakamura was born in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. In 1943 he graduated from the Department of Literature at Tokyo Imperial University on a study on "The History of Early Vedanta Philosophy" under the supervision of Prof. Hakuju Ui. In 1943 he succeeded Prof. Ui and was appointed Associate Professor of Tokyo Imperial University.
He was a professor there from 1954 to 1973. After retiring from Tokyo University, he established Toho Gakuin (The Eastern Institute, Inc.) and lectured on philosophy to the general public.
Nakamura was an expert on Sanskrit and Pali, and among his many writings are commentaries on Buddhist scriptures. He is most known in Japan as the first to translate the entire Pali Tripitaka into Japanese. This work is still considered the definitive translation to date against which later translations are measured. The footnotes in his Pali translation often refer to other previous translations in German, English, French as well as the ancient Chinese translations of Sanskrit scriptures.
Because of his meticulous approach to translation he had a dominating and lasting influence in the study of Indic philosophy in Japan at a time when it was establishing itself throughout the major Japanese universities. He also indirectly influenced the secular scholastic study of Buddhism throughout Eastern and Southern Asia, especially Taiwan and Korea. Japan, Korea, Taiwan and recently China is the only area in which all major scriptural languages of Buddhism (Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit and Pali) are taught and studied by academics of Indic philosophy.
Nakamura was influenced by the Indian philosophy of Buddhism, Chinese, Japanese and Western thought. He made remarks on the problem of bioethics.
Nakamura published more than 170 monographs, both in Japanese and in Western languages, and over a thousand articles. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajime_Nakamura Source Accessed Sep 7, 2021])
Halvor Eifring, PhD (born 1960 in Norway) is the general secretary of Acem International and the head of Acem Norway. He learned Acem Meditation in 1976, became an instructor in 1979 and an initiator in 2001. He started Acem in Taiwan and has taught and lectured on Acem Meditation in 11 countries in Europe, Asia and America.
He has co-authored the book ''Acem Meditation: An Introductory Companion'' (with Dr. Are Holen) and written several articles on Acem Meditation and related topics. He is one of the editors of Acem's quarterly journal ''Dyade''.
Dr. Eifring is Professor of Chinese at the University of Oslo, Norway. He has published books and articles on Chinese language and literature and is currently leading a research project on the cultural history of meditation. He is married and lives in Oslo, Norway. ([https://acem.com/allobjects/acemperson/halvor_eifring Source Accessed May 19, 2021]) +
