Cole, A.

Cole, A. on the DRL

Professors

Alan Cole

English Phonetics	Alan Cole

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

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Month
Gender
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Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
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Animal
Rab Jyung

About

PhD University

University of Michigan

Education

Ph.D. Buddhist Studies

Biographical Information

Alan Cole received his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Michigan in 1994. He then taught mainly at Lewis & Clark College (1994-2013). He retired early, in 2013, in order to spend more time writing, and in the hope of regaining a sense of freedom that academia had, slowly but surely, eaten into. This choice seems to have been fruitful since he recently published two new books -- Fetishizing Tradition: Desire and Reinvention in Buddhist and Christian Narratives (SUNY, 2015), and Patriarchs on Paper: A Critical History of Medieval Chan Literature (UCal Press, 2016) -- both of which lay out new and creative ways to think about old problems in Buddhism and Christianity. (Source Accessed June 5, 2019)

Links

Wiki Pages

• Cole, A. on the DRL
• Cole, A. on the LIB
• Cole, A. on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

Expand to see this person's philosophical positions on Buddha-nature.

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
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All beings have Buddha-nature
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If "Qualified", explain:
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Which Wheel Turning
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Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
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Zhentong vs Rangtong
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Promotes how many vehicles?
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Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
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What is Buddha-nature?
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Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
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Causal nature of the vajrapāda
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State University of New York

Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true.

Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana).

Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature.

The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena.

Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana.