Mathes, K.

Mathes, K. on the DRL

Authors of English Works • Authors of German Works • Professors • Translators

Klaus-Dieter Mathes

English Phonetics	Klaus-Dieter Mathes

 

Dates

Birth:	1958/04/05
Place of birth:	Manheim, Germany

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Contact information

Website:	http://www.tantric-studies.uni-hamburg.de/people/klaus-dieter-mathes/

About

Primary Language:	German; English
Translates from:	Tibetan; Sanskrit
Translates to:	English; German

Primary Affiliation (Workplace)

Universität Wien

Secondary Affiliation

Universität Hamburg; Rangjung Yeshe Institute; CIRDIS; IABS; IATS

PhD University

Marburg University

Education

PhD from Marburg University (Germany) with a study of one of the five treatises of Maitreya, the Dharmadharmatāvibhāga.

Biographical Information

• Tibetology at CIRDIS

Bio:

Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes is the Head of the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna. His current research deals with Tibetan Madhyamaka, Yogācāra and the interpretations of Buddha-nature in the 15th and 16th centuries. Klaus-Dieter Mathes was born in Mannheim (Germany) as the son of the businessman Kurt Mathes and the accountant Christel Mathes, née Gerner. He attended the Volksschule Wendelstein in the 1960s and graduated from the Pirckheimer Gymnasium in Nuremberg in 1977, after which he performed basic military service for one year and then began to study math and physics at the University of Erlangen.

From 1980-1984 he lived in the Himalayas and studied Buddhism, later obtaining a master's degree in Tibetology from the University of Bonn and then a Doctorate from Marburg in 1994 with a study of the Yogācāra text Dharmadharmatāvibhāga (published in 1996 in the series Indica et Tibetica). He served as the director of the Nepal Research Centre and the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project in Kathmandu from 1993 to 2001. He was then a lecturer and visiting professor variously at the University of Hamburg, Vienna, and EPHE, Paris, until his current appointment in March 2010 as full Professor of Tibetology and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna. In 2014 he and his team hosted the IABS meeting in Vienna and has organized and presented at many other conferences and symposiums.

His publications include A Direct Path to the Buddha Within. Gö Lotsawa's Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga (Wisdom, 2008), A Fine Blend of Mahāmudrā and Madhyamaka. Maitrīpa's Collection of Texts on Non-conceptual Realization (Amanasikāra) (Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2015). The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in India and Tibet (SUNY, 2019). He is also a regular contributor to the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies.

Current Ongoing Research:

• Emptiness of Other (gzhan stong) in Tibetan Mahamudra Traditions of the 15th and 16th Centuries

Links

Wiki Pages

• Mathes, K. on the DRL
• Mathes, K. on the LIB
• Mathes, K. on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes is the Head of the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna. His current research deals with Tibetan Madhyamaka, Yogācāra and the interpretations of Buddha-nature in the 15th and 16th centuries. Klaus-Dieter Mathes was born in Mannheim (Germany) as the son of the businessman Kurt Mathes and the accountant Christel Mathes, née Gerner. He attended the Volksschule Wendelstein in the 1960s and graduated from the Pirckheimer Gymnasium in Nuremberg in 1977, after which he performed basic military service for one year and then began to study math and physics at the University of Erlangen.

From 1980-1984 he lived in the Himalayas and studied Buddhism, later obtaining a master's degree in Tibetology from the University of Bonn and then a Doctorate from Marburg in 1994 with a study of the Yogācāra text Dharmadharmatāvibhāga (published in 1996 in the series Indica et Tibetica). He served as the director of the Nepal Research Centre and the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project in Kathmandu from 1993 to 2001. He was then a lecturer and visiting professor variously at the University of Hamburg, Vienna, and EPHE, Paris, until his current appointment in March 2010 as full Professor of Tibetology and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna. In 2014 he and his team hosted the IABS meeting in Vienna and has organized and presented at many other conferences and symposiums.

His publications include A Direct Path to the Buddha Within: Gö Lotsawa´s Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga (Wisdom, 2008) and A Fine Blend of Mahāmudrā and Madhyamaka: Maitrīpa's Collection of Texts on Non-conceptual Realization (Amanasikāra) (Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2015). His latest work, The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in India and Tibet (coedited with Michael Sheehy) was published by SUNY Press in 2019. He is also a regular contributor to the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies.

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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Recordings

• Mathes teaching the Uttaratantrashastra at Rigpa Shedra East 2009

Publications

Further List of Publications

• 2013c "Clouds of Offerings to Lady G.yang ri—A Protector Practice by the First Yol mo Sprul sku Shākya bzang po (15th/16th Cent.)." In: Nepalica-Tibetica. Festgabe For Christoph Cüppers. Edited by Franz-Karl Ehrhard and Petra Maurer (Zentralasienforschung 28, 2). Andiast: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, vol. 2, 37-56.
• 2013b “bKa’ brgyud Mahāmudrā: “Chinese rDzogs chen” or the Techings of the Siddhas?” In: Tibet after Empire. Culture, Society and Religion between 850-1000. Proceedings of the Seminar Held in Lumbini, Nepal, March 2011. Edited by Christoph Cüppers, Robert Mayer and Michael Walter. Lumbini: Lumbini International Research Institute, 267-294.
• 2013a "Reality in Buddhism". In: Anne Runehov und Lluis Oviedo (eds.), Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religion. Dordrecht: Springer, 1958-1965.
• 2012 “The gzhan stong model of reality: Some more material on its origin, transmission and interpreation.” JIABS 34, 187-226
• 2011 "The Collection of 'Indian Mahāmudrā Works' (phyag chen rgya gzhung) Compiled by the Seventh Karma pa Chos grags rgya mtsho". In: Roger Jackson und Matthew Kapstein (eds.), Mahāmudrā and the Bka'-brgyud Tradition. PIATS 2006: Proceedings of the Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Königswinter 2006, (Zentralasienforschung 25). Andiast: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 89-130.
• 2010a "Maitrīpa´s Amanasikārādhāra (“A Justification of Becoming Mentally Disengaged”)". In: Journal of the Nepal Research Centre 13 (2009), 5-32.
• 2010b “The Principle of True Nature (dharmatā-yukti) as a Justification for Positive Descriptions of Reality in Mahāyāna Buddhism.” In: Logic and Belief in Indian Philosophy. Ed. by Piotr Balcerowicz (Warsaw Indological Studies, vol. 3). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 605-615.
• 2009a The Role of the Bodhicittavivaraṇa in the Mahāmudrā Tradition of the Dwags po bka’ brgyud (2009). URL: http://www.thlib.org/collections/texts/jiats/#jiats=/05/mathes/.
• 2009b “The “Succession of the Four Seals” (Caturmudrānvaya) Together with Selected Passages from Karopa´s Commentary.” In: Tantric Studies, vol. 1 (Centre for Tantric Studies, University of Hamburg), 89-130.
• 2008a “The Śrī-Śabarapādastotraratna of Vanaratna”. Bauddhasāhityastabakāvalī: Essays and Studies on Buddhist Sanskrit Literature Dedicated to Claus Vogel by Colleagues, Students, and Friends. Ed. by Dragomir Dimitrov, Michael Hahn, und Roland Steiner (Indica et Tibetica 36), 245-267.
• 2008b “Die Rolle des Laṅkāvatārasūtra im Wettstreit der verschiedenen Mahāyāna-Modelle der Realität”. XXX. Deutscher Orientalistentag Freiburg, 24.-28. September 2007. Ausgewählte Vorträge. Ed. by Rainer Brunner, Jens Peter Laut und Maurus Reinkowski. Online publication, August 2008. URL: http://orient.ruf.uni-freiburg.de/dotpub/mathes.pdf
• 2008 A Direct Path to the Buddha Within: Gö Lotsawa's Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga. Boston: Wisdom Publications
• 2007a "The Ontological Status of the Dependent (paratantra) in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the Vyākhyāyukti." In: Indica et Tibetica. Festschrift für Michael Hahn zum 65. Geburtstag von Freunden und Schülern überreicht. Ed. by Konrad Klaus and Jens-Uwe Hartmann. (Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde, vol. 66).Vienna: Arbeitskreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien, 323-339.
• 2007b "Can Sūtra Mahāmudrā be Justified on the Basis of Maitrīpa's Apratiṣṭhānavāda?" In: Pramāṇakīrtiḥ. Papers dedicated to Ernst Steinkellner on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Ed. by B. Kellner, H. Krasser, H. Lasic, M.T. Much, H. Tauscher. (Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde, vol. 70, no. 2). Vienna: Arbeitskreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien, 545-566.
• 2006 "Blending the Sūtras with the Tantras: The Influence of Maitrīpa and his Circle on the Formation of Sūtra Mahāmudrā in the Kagyu Schools". In: Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Praxis: Studies in its Formative Period 900-1400. Ed. by Ronald M. Davidson and Christian K. Wedemeyer (Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS, Oxford 2003, vol. 10/4). Leiden: Brill, 201-227.
• 2005 "'Gos Lo tsā ba gZhon nu dpal's Commentary on the Dharmatā Chapter of the Dharmadharmatāvibhāgakārikās". In: Studies in Indian Philosophy and Buddhism, University of Tokyo, vol. 12, 3-39.
• 2004 "Tāranātha's "Twenty-One Differences with regard to the Profound Meaning"— Comparing the Views of the Two gŹan stoṅ Masters Dol po pa and Śākya mchog ldan". In: Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 27, no. 2, 285-328.
• 2003a 'Gos Lo tsā ba gZhon nu dpal's Commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā (Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel bshad de kho na nyid rab tu gsal ba'i me long). Critically edited by Klaus-Dieter Mathes (Nepal Research Centre Publications, vol. 24). Stuttgart: Steiner Verlag.
• 2003b "Establishing the Succession of the Sakya Lamas of Näsar Gompa and Lang Gompa in Dolpo (Nepal)". In: Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens, vol. 47, 85-108.
• 2002 "'Gos Lo tsā ba gZhon nu dpal's Extensive Commentary on and Study of the Ratna-gotravibhāgavyākhyā." In: Religion and Secular Culture in Tibet. Tibetan Studies II. PIATS 2000, vol. 2, no. 2, Leiden: Brill, 79-96.
• 2001 "The High Mountain Valley of Nar (Manang) in the 17th Century according to Two Tibetan Autobiographies". In: Journal of the Nepal Research Centre, vol. 12 (2001), 167-194.
• 2000 "Tāranātha's Presentation of trisvabhāva in the gŹan stoṅ sñiṅ po". In: Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 195-223.
• 1999 "The Sacred Crystal Mountain in Dolpo. Beliefs and Pure Visions of Himalayan Pilgrims and Yogis". In: Journal of the Nepal Research Centre, vol. 11 (1999), 61-91.
• 1998 "Vordergründige und höchste Wahrheit im gźan stoṅ-Madhyamaka". In: Annäherung an das Fremde. XXVI. Deutscher Orientalistentag vom 25. bis 29.9. in Leipzig. Ed. by H. Preissler und H. Stein. ZDMG-Suppl. 11 (1998), 457-468.
• 1997 "The Golden Kanjur of Mustang". In: Abhilekh, vol. 15 (2054), 127-131.
• 1996 Unterscheidung der Gegebenheiten von ihrem wahren Wesen (Dharmadharmatā-vibhāga). Swisttal-Odendorf 1996 (Indica et Tibetica, vol. 26).

Reviews:

• 2007a Ehrhard, Franz-Karl, Die Statue und der Tempel des  rya Va-ti bzang-po. Ein Beitrag zu Geschichte und Geographie des tibetischen Buddhismus [Contributions to Tibetan Studies 2]. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2004. In: Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 50, 259-261.
• 2007b Keira, Ryusei, Mādhyamika and Epistemology. A Study of Kamalaśīla's Method for Proving the Voidness of All Dharmas [Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhis-muskunde 59]. Wien: Arbeitskreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien der Uni-versität Wien, 2004. In: Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 50, 77-80.
• 2006 Ludovic Viévard, Vacuité (Śūnyatā) et Compassion (Karuṇā) dans le Bouddhism Madhyamaka. Paris: 2002. In: Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 48, 155-160.
• 2001 Jean-Luc Achard, L'Essence Perlée du Secret: Recherches philologique et historiques sur l'origine de la Grande Perfection dans la tradition rNying ma pa. [Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études, Section des Sciences Religieuses 107]. Tournhout (Belgium) : Brepols Publishers, 1999. In: Journal of the Nepal Research Centre, vol. 12 (2001), 301-311.
• 2001 Cyrus Stearns, The Buddha from Dolpo: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen. New York: SUNY, 1999. In: Journal of the Nepal Research Centre, vol. 12 (2001), 311-319.
• 1999 Jürgen C. Aschoff, Annotated Bibliography of Tibetan Medicine (1789-1995). Kommentierte Bibliographie zur tibetischen Medizin (1789-1995). Ulm, Germany: Fabri Verlag & Dietikon, Switzerland: Garuda Verlag, 1996. In: Journal of the Nepal Research Centre, vol. 11 (1999), 203-205.
• 1999 Jürgen C. Aschoff & Rösing (eds.), Tibetan Medicine. "East Meets West, West Meets East". Proceedings of the International Symposium. University of Ulm/Germany, 19/20th July 1996. Ulm: Fabri Verlag, 1997. In: Journal of the Nepal Research Centre, vol. 11 (1999), 201-203.

Forthcoming:

• "Maitrīpa's Amanasikārādhāra ("A Justification of Becoming Mentally Dis-engaged")". (Forthcoming in Journal of the Nepal Research Centre, vol. 13)
• "The "Succession of the Four Seals" (Caturmudrānvaya) Together with Selected Passages from Karopa's Commentary". (Forthcoming in Tantric Studies, vol. 1)
• "The Principle of True Nature (dharmatā-yukti) as a Justification for Positive Descriptions of Reality in Mahāyāna Buddhism". (Forthcoming in Logic and Belief in Indian Philosophy. Warsaw Indological Studies, vol. 3 (2007), 127-139.
• "The Collection of Indian Mahāmudrā Works (Tib. phyag chen rgya gzhung) Compiled by the Seventh Karmapa Chos grags rgya mtsho". Forthcoming in the Proceedings of the 11th Conference of the IATS in Königswinter.
• "Exegetische Prinzipien des Madhyamaka und Yogācāra: Die hermeneutischen Traditionen der beiden Mahāyāna-Schulen im Vergleich". Forthcoming in Beihefte zu Saeculum.

International Association for Tibetan Studies

International Association for Tibetan Studies

This refers to a series of five texts that, according to the Tibetan tradition, Asaṅga received directly from Maitreya in the pure realm of Tuṣita.

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.

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).

Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā.

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.

State University of New York

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

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.

Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies

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.

The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa.

The reality or the objective state of things as they are. In the Buddhist context, it refers to the ultimate nature of things although what exactly suchness means would depend on the philosophical position of the specific schools. The Middle Way school, for instance, consider emptiness as the suchness of all things.

The Sakya tradition developed in the eleventh century in the Khön family of Tsang, which maintained an imperial-era lineage of Vajrakīla and which adopted a new teaching from India known as Lamdre.

According to the Yogācāra school, all phenomena can be divided into three natures or characteristics: the imaginary nature (parikalpitasvabhāva), the dependent nature (paratantrasvabhāva), and the perfect or absolute nature (pariniṣpannasvabhāva).

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