Keenan, J.

Keenan, J. on the DRL

Professors

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

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Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

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Rab Jyung

About

Other Biographical info:

Links

Wiki Pages

• Keenan, J. on the DRL
• Keenan, J. on the LIB
• Keenan, J. on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

John P. Keenan is Professor Emeritus of Religion at Middlebury College and vicar of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Scarborough, Maine. He has published translations and studies in Yogacara Buddhism, and has employed Mahayana Buddhist philosophy in works including The Meaning of Christ: A Mahayana Theology and The Letter of James: Everyday Practice for Everyday Christians.

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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Full Name

John Peter Keenan
John P. Keenan

Affiliation

Associate Professor of Religion at Middlebury College in Vermont.

Education

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1980.

Other Information

His studies have focused on Indian Mahāyāna and its translation into China.

Publications

He is the translator of several major Yogācāra texts: Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra, Mahāyānasaṃgraha, Buddhabhūmyupadeśa, and Karmasiddhiprakarana. His publications include The Realm of Awakening and The Meaning of Christ: A Mahāyāna Theology.

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.

Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion.