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Zhönu Senge + (Zhönu Senge is counted as the second of th … Zhönu Senge is counted as the second of the “Nine Incomparable Lions,” patriarchs of the Drukpa Kagyu tradition. He was born into a prominent Drukpa family – his paternal uncle was Darma Sengge Sanggye Won, the first of the Nine Incomparable Lions and the student of Tsangpa Gyare, who founded the Drukap tradition. He served as the third abbot of Ralung Monastery.ed as the third abbot of Ralung Monastery.)
Vanessa Zuisei Goddard + (Zuisei is a writer and lay Zen teacher bas … Zuisei is a writer and lay Zen teacher based in Playa del Carmen in the south of Mexico. Zuisei lived and trained full time at Zen Mountain Monastery from 1995 to 2018, and was a monk for fourteen of those years. In 2018 she received ''shiho'' or dharma transmission (empowerment to teach) from Geoffrey Shugen Arnold Roshi, and after a short stint in New York City, moved back to Mexico, where she is originally from, and began teaching virtually.She has served as the Teachings Editor at the Buddhist journal ''Tricycle'', and her dharma writing has been featured there as well as in ''Lion's Roar'', ''Buddhadharma'', and ''Parabola''. Her books include ''Still Running: The Art of Meditation in Motion'' and the children's book ''Weather Any Storm''. As Ocean Mind Sangha's Guiding Teacher, Zuisei continues to welcome students for group and private teaching. ([https://www.oceanmindsangha.org/zuisei-goddard Source Accessed April 25, 2024])i-goddard Source Accessed April 25, 2024]))
Anne Ansermet + ([Anne Ansermet] grew up in Geneva, alongsi … [Anne Ansermet] grew up in Geneva, alongside a father [Ernest Ansermet] totally absorbed by music, where she met Ravel, de Falla, Stravinsky, [and] Ramuz. Having become a nurse, she converted to Catholicism, then married and lived in Paris, where she discovered the misery of the suburbs. After a divorce and two remarriages, she lived in Zurich and in the South of France. A few years later, she returned to Rolle with her son and established very close relationships with her father, accompanying him on his concert tours, developing a very rich intellectual exchange with him. Then she left for India, became a Buddhist, and returned to Switzerland to settle at the Buddhist Center of Mont-Pèlerin, before settling in Rolle. ([https://www.plansfixes.ch/films/anne-ansermet/ Adapted from Source Feb 16, 2021])Anne was instrumental in helping to establish Rabten Choeling (formerly Tharpa Choeling) , one of the first Tibetan Buddhist monasteries to be established in the West after the exodus of Tibetans into India. At the age of 70, Anne was drawn to Buddhism and even traveled to India to be ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It was the hard work of Anne and her group that allowed the ordained and lay people in Tharpa Choeling to live a life of study and contemplation without having to worry about their material needs. ([https://www.dorjeshugden.com/places/rabten-choeling-switzerland/ Adapted from Source Feb 16, 2021])erland/ Adapted from Source Feb 16, 2021]))
C.W. "Sandy" Huntington + ([C. W. "Sandy"] Huntington was known forem … [C. W. "Sandy"] Huntington was known foremost for his work in Mahayana Buddhist thought, in particular the Madhyamaka philosophy of India and Tibet. More recently, he published a novel, Maya (Wisdom Publications 2015), set in India in the 1970s, and wrote an article, “The Triumph of Narcissism: Theravāda Buddhist Meditation in the Marketplace,” critiquing certain psychotherapeutic models of teaching and understanding vipassanā meditation found in the West today.* Until his death, Huntington served as a professor of religious studies at Hartwick College, in Oneonta, New York, where he won both the Margaret L. Bunn Award for Excellence in Teaching (2004) and the Teacher/Scholar Award (2019). Before teaching at Hartwick, Huntington worked at the University of Michigan, his alma mater, as well as Denison College and Antioch University’s Buddhist Studies in India program, based in Bodh Gaya.As a doctoral student, Huntington was guided at the University of Michigan by Luis Gómez, himself a beloved and prolific scholar of Indian Buddhist thought. During this time, Huntington traveled to India to study Sanskrit and Tibetan with the great masters of the day, returning many times over his career. On one such visit, he translated Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra with Geshé Namgyal Wangchen, later published as The Emptiness of Emptiness (Hawaii University Press 1989), a pioneering text in Buddhist philosophy. Huntington went on to work closely with fellow scholars on topics of hermeneutics and methodology in the study of Buddhist philosophy, asking scholars to look not only at what the texts mean, but what presuppositions and attitudes were influencing their own interpretations and understandings. ([https://www.buddhistdoor.net/news/buddhist-scholar-cw-sandy-huntington-dies-aged-71 Source Accessed May 26, 2021])ies-aged-71 Source Accessed May 26, 2021]))
Isidro Gordi + ([Isidro Gordi] was born in Mollet del Vall … [Isidro Gordi] was born in Mollet del Vallés (Barcelona) in 1954. A pacifist from a very young age, he was one of the first conscientious objectors in Spain, which is why he suffered exile from 1973 to 1977. During this time he traveled throughout Europe, landing for a long period of time in Greece, whose culture and customs captivated him and aroused his “appetite for the East”. He returned to Spain thanks to the pardon granted after Franco's death.Nostalgic for the Greek islands, in 1979, he settled in Menorca where his first encounter with a Tibetan Master, Lama Orgyen, an expert in Buddhist rituals, took place with whom he took refuge. From those days he became a student of Tibetan Buddhism, a tireless seeker of the teaching that will already be an integral part of his life. Together with his wife, Marta Moll, became one of the pioneers of Buddhism in Spain, deploying its dissemination work through Ediciones Amara , a publishing house specializing in Buddhist philosophy.In Menorca, in 1980, he created the Dharma Institute under the guidance of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, a resident of England and abbot at the time of the Manjushri Institute. His wish was to establish a study center where the Buddhist Dharma could be made known with rigor and seriousness. Determined to have the best means to do so, Isidro invites Venerable Geshe Tamding Gyatso as Master resident in Menorca(1927-2002) exiled at that time in India. After a long legal process, Geshe Tamding Gyatso arrived on the island in 1987. That endearing old man would not only become the Master of the Heart of Isidro and Marta, but also almost a grandfather to his children Shanti and Amara who practically saw him daily. During twelve very intense years Isidro received the nectar of the Dharma from the mouth of Geshe Tamding Gyatso , who was one of the most learned Geshes of the famous Ganden monastery. ([https://escuelalaicadebudismoymeditacion.es/index.php/quienes-somos/isidro-gordi Source Accessed Mar 19, 2021])sidro-gordi Source Accessed Mar 19, 2021]))
Prabhubhai Bhikhabhai Patel + ([Prabhubhai Bhikhabhai Patel] belonged to … [Prabhubhai Bhikhabhai Patel] belonged to a peasant family of Kunabi caste and was born at Sarpor-Pardi of the district of Surat in 1906. He had one sister and five brothers, he himself being the fourth. His father was Sri Bhikhabhai and mother Srimati Benabai. His education began at the village school of Satem andthence he was sent with his nephew Sri Govindaji Bhulabhai Patel, now a Homeopathic Physician atNavasari, to the Central Boarding School of Supa. It was a village middle school. After his reading up to Matriculation came the call of Mahatma Gandhi for triple boycott of schools and colleges, Government Law Courts and foreign cloths. This was in 1919. Having given up school he joined a National School at Surat and from that time till his death he used to put on ''khaddar'' [homespun cotton cloth of India].After two years in 1921 he went to the Gujarat Vidyapith, the National University founded by Mahatma Gandhi, and plunged deep in Congress ideology. There he came under the influence of such leaders and thinkers as Principal A. T. Gidwani, Acharya J. B. Kripalani, Kaka Kalelkar and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, andProf. Dharmananda Kausambi. The last-named teacher impressed upon him the glory of the ancient lore ofIndia.Prabhubhai then come to Visva-bharati, Santiniketan with some other students from that part of the country. Indeed, it was owing to his personal influence that at that time a good number of Gujarati students came to Santiniketan and joined the different departments of Visva-bharati. In due time Prabhubhai was admitted to the Yidya-bhavana, the Research Department of the institution of which I was then the Principal. I had there the good fortune of teaching students coming not only from the different parts of the country, but also from such distant lands as Japan and Germany.As a student Prabhubhai endeared himself to all his teachers and inmates of the Asrama including our revered Gurudeva, Rabindranath. He was very intelligent and promising. In the Vidya-bhavana he was one of those students who studied under my personal guidance and I felt fortunate and proud to have him as a pupil. His subject of study here was Buddhism with special reference to its Tibetan and Chinese sources.Here in Yisva-bharati he lived for more than seven years and made it almost his permanent home. Once again come the call from Mahatma Gandhi, and Prabhubhai left his studies for the time being in order to serve his motherland and courted arrest and was imprisoned. This proved too much for him, for after two years of jail life he came out a total wreck in health. His robust constitution broke down and he developed hemiplagia from a little strain in his spine. Best of India's doctors, physicians, surgeons and specialists in nature-cure could do no better than giving some temporary relief. He removed to the house of his nephew Dr. G. B. Patel, already referred to, at Navasari. He was now a complete invalid, crippled and confined to his wheel-chair and bed, but his mind was clear till the end which came on the 30th December, 1942. He was taken to his village home where he breathed his last after an agony of red sores and now lies buried in his family land. He remained unmarried after the divorce from his wife with whom he was married at a very tender age according to the social custom prevailing there at the time. (Vidhushekhara Bhattacharya, foreword to ''Cittavisuddhiprakarana of Aryadeva'', vi–vii)tavisuddhiprakarana of Aryadeva'', vi–vii))
Daogong + ([The] ''Ratnarāśī'' was translated by [the … [The] ''Ratnarāśī'' was translated by [the] monk named Daogong, in Liangzhou, about 700 km. ESE of Dunhuang on the main road, in modem day Gansu province, right at the end of the fourth or at the very beginning of the fifth century. . . . [. . . ] [T]here are no biographies of Daogong, and we know next to nothing about him.[2] It is not clear if the ''Karuṇapuṇḍarika'' attributed to him is attributed correctly, but this seems to be the less likely conclusion. It seems even less likely that the ''Aṣṭasāhasrika Prajñāpāramitā'' translation is to be accepted as his.While we may know little about the man, the time and place in which Daogong lived certainly placed him in the middle of one of the most productive, even explosive, periods in Chinese Buddhist history. The monk-translators listed as contemporaries or near contemporaries of Daogong, and residing in the same region, are Fazhong, Sengqietuo, and Dharmakṣema. (Silk, "The Origins and Early History of the Mahāratnakūṭa," 671–72)<h5>Notes</h5>2. This was, I have lately noticed, also the conclusion of Bagchi 1927:211. As far as I can tell from the relevant indices, Daogong is not mentioned in the Chinese dynastic histories either.ot mentioned in the Chinese dynastic histories either.)
Tsechokling Yeshe Gyaltsen + ([https://bo.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%BD%A1%E … [https://bo.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%BD%A1%E0%BD%BC%E0%BD%84%E0%BD%A6%E0%BC%8B%E0%BD%A0%E0%BD%9B%E0%BD%B2%E0%BD%93%E0%BC%8B%E0%BD%A1%E0%BD%BA%E0%BC%8B%E0%BD%A4%E0%BD%BA%E0%BD%A6%E0%BC%8B%E0%BD%A2%E0%BE%92%E0%BE%B1%E0%BD%A3%E0%BC%8B%E0%BD%98%E0%BD%9A%E0%BD%93%E0%BC%8B You can read a short Tibetan biography on the Bo Wiki here]. First Tsechokling Yongdzin Tulku, Yeshe Gyeltsen (yongs 'dzin ye shes rgyal mtshan, 1713-1793) was an important scholar of the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism and was a tutor of the 8th Dalai Lama Jampel Gyatsho (1758-1804).He received his education in the monastery Trashilhünpo. In 1756 he founded the monastery Trashi Samtenling (bkra shis bsam gtan gling).One of his most famous works is The Necklace of Clear Understanding, An Elucidation of Mind and Mental Factors (Tib. སེམས་དང་སེམས་བྱུང་གི་ཚུལ་གསལ་པར་སྟོན་པ་བློ་གསལ་མགུལ་རྒྱན་, Wyl. sems dang sems-byung gi tshul gsal-par ston-pa blo gsal mgul rgyan). A commentary on the Abhidharma topic of the mind and mental factors. This Tibetan text has been translated into English by Herbert Guenther & Leslie S. Kawamura, in a text entitled Mind in Buddhist Psychology. ([https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/Yongdzin_Yeshe_Gyeltsen Source: Encyclopedia of Buddhism])Six printings of his collected works (each in 19 or 25 volumes, depending on the printing, and [[Yongs 'dzin ye shes rgyal mtshan gyi gsung 'bum|32 volumes in modern book print]]) are cataloged on [https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:WA1022 BDRC.org].ary.bdrc.io/show/bdr:WA1022 BDRC.org].)
Gene Smith + ([https://www.tbrc.org/#!footer/about/genes … [https://www.tbrc.org/#!footer/about/genesmith Founder of TBRC, now BDRC]*[https://84000.co/obituary-of-e-gene-smith/ Obituary on 84000]*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/01/AR2011010102390.html Obituary in Washington Post]*[http://digitaldharma.com/home Documentary film about his life and work: Digital Dharma]''[https://www.tbrc.org/#!footer/about/genesmith Biography from BDRC]:'' E. Gene Smith (BDRC Founder and Senior Research Scholar) was born in Ogden, Utah in 1936. He studied at a variety of institutions of higher education in the United States: Adelphi College, Hobart College, University of Utah, and the University of Washington in Seattle.In 1959, the Rockefeller Foundation, seeing the opportunity to promote Tibetan studies, funded the establishment of nine centers of excellence worldwide, one of which was at the University of Washington.Under the auspices of the Rockefeller grant to the Far Eastern and Russian Institute, nine Tibetans were brought to Seattle for teaching and research, including the Ven. Deshung Rinpoche Kunga Tenpai Nyima, the tutor to the Sakya Phuntsho Phodrang. Smith had the good fortune to study Tibetan culture as well as Buddhism with Deshung Rinpoche and the rest of the Tibetan teachers in Seattle from 1960 to 1964. He lived with the Sakya family for five years. He spent the summer of 1962 travelling to the other Rockefeller centers in Europe to meet with the Tibetan savants there.In 1964 he completed his Ph.D. qualifying exams and travelled to Leiden for advanced studies in Sanskrit and Pali. In 1965 he went to India under a Foreign Area Fellowship Program (Ford Foundation) grant to study with living exponents of all of the Tibetan Buddhist and Bonpo traditions.He began his studies with Geshe Lobsang Lungtok (Ganden Changtse), Drukpa Thoosay Rinpoche and Khenpo Noryang, and H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He decided to remain in India to continue serious study of Tibetan Buddhism and culture. He travelled extensively in the borderlands of India and Nepal. In 1968 he joined the Library of Congress New Delhi Field Office. He then began a project which was to last over the next two and a half decades: the reprinting of the Tibetan books which had been brought by the exile community or were with members of the Tibetan-speaking communities in Sikkim, Bhutan, India, and Nepal.He became field director of the Library of Congress Field Office in India in 1980 and served there until 1985 when he was transferred to Indonesia. He stayed in Jakarta running the Southeast Asian programs until 1994 when he was assigned to the LC Middle Eastern Office in Cairo.In February 1997 he took early retirement from the U.S. Library of Congress to become a consultant to the Trace Foundation for the establishment of the Himalayan and Inner Asian Resources (HIAR) library.In December 1999 he and a group of friends established the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center in Cambridge.He passed away on December 16, 2010. (Source Accessed on June 30, 2020), 2010. (Source Accessed on June 30, 2020))
Khenchen Dazer + (he was from Rahor, a branch of Dzogchen mo … he was from Rahor, a branch of Dzogchen monastery founded by the Third Dzogchen Rinpoche in Gyalrong near Dergé. He was a student of Pöpa Tulku. He escaped from Tibet together with his former classmate Rahor Khenpo Tupten and went together with him to Sikkim via Bhutan.He taught at Namdroling in South India, where he also compiled a collection of prayers and liturgies used in Nyingma rituals, and eventually returned to Tibet, where he taught at the Shri Singha Shedra at Dzogchen Monastery. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Khenpo_Daw%C3%A9_%C3%96zer Source Accessed on January 24, 2024])'''Read more: ''':Marilyn Silverstone, 'Five Nyingmapa Lamas in Sikkim', Kailash: A Journal of Himalayan Studies, 1973, vol. 1.1:Nyoshul Khenpo, A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems, Padma Publishing, 2005, p. 480'''Writings:'''*དོན་རྣམ་འགྲེལ་པ་ལུང་རིགས་དོ་ཤལ་, don rnam 'grel pa lung rigs do shal (Necklace of Scripture and Reasoning: A Commentary on Mipham Rinpoche's Sword of Wisdom for Thoroughly Ascertaining Reality, ཤེས་རབ་རལ་གྲི་དོན་རྣམ་ངེས) (composed in 1982): https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:MW1KG4451*ཆོས་སྤྱོད་བསྡུས་པ་ཕན་བདེའི་དགའ་སྟོན་, chos spyod bsdus pa phan bde'i dga' ston (editor)yod bsdus pa phan bde'i dga' ston (editor))
Linda Lojda + (is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of … is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Vienna. Her teaching areas include Asian Art in Viennese Collections and Ritual Art of the Tibetan Bön tradition. She is co-editor of the exhibition catalogue ''Bön: Geister aus Butter: Kunst und Ritual des alten Tibet'', with Deborah Klimburg-Salter, and Charles Ramble.Wien: Museum für Völkerkunde 2013, and also of the first volume of the papers from the 20th conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art entitled ''Changing Forms and Cultural Identity: Religious and Secular Iconographies'', edited by Deborah Klimburg-Salter, and Linda Lojda. Turnhout: Brepols 2014. ([https://brill.com/display/book/9789004307438/B9789004307438_001.xml Source Accessed Aug 1, 2023])7438_001.xml Source Accessed Aug 1, 2023]))
Eduard Huber + (Édouard Huber, actually Eduard Huber (born … Édouard Huber, actually Eduard Huber (born August 12, 1879 in Grosswangen, Switzerland; † January 6, 1914 in Vĩnh Long, Vietnam), was a Swiss language scholar, archaeologist, sinologist and Indochina researcher. He was a professor of Indochinese philology and temporarily taught at the Sorbonne in Paris. ([https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edouard_Huber Source Accessed Apr 28, 2021])ouard_Huber Source Accessed Apr 28, 2021]))
Édouard Chavannes + (Émmanuel-Édouard Chavannes (5 October 1865 … Émmanuel-Édouard Chavannes (5 October 1865 – 29 January 1918) was a French sinologist and expert on Chinese history and religion, and is best known for his translations of major segments of Sima Qian's ''Records of the Grand Historian'', the work's first ever translation into a Western language.Chavannes was a prolific and influential scholar, and was one of the most accomplished Sinologists of the modern era notwithstanding his relatively early death at age 52 in 1918. A successor of 19th century French sinologists Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat and Stanislas Julien, Chavannes was largely responsible for the development of Sinology and Chinese scholarship into a respected field in the realm of French science. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_Chavannes Source Accessed Apr 21, 2022])d_Chavannes Source Accessed Apr 21, 2022]))
Étienne Lamotte + (Étienne Paul Marie Lamotte (21 November 19 … Étienne Paul Marie Lamotte (21 November 1903 – 5 May 1983) was a Belgian priest and Professor of Greek at the Catholic University of Louvain, but was better known as an Indologist and the greatest authority on Buddhism in the West in his time. He studied under his pioneering compatriot Louis de La Vallée-Poussin and was one of the few scholars familiar with all the main Buddhist languages: Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan. His first published work was his PhD thesis: ''Notes sur le Bhagavad-Gita'' (Paris, Geuthner, 1929). In 1953, he was awarded the Francqui Prize in Human Science.He is also known for his French translation of the ''Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa'' (Chinese: 大智度論, English: ''Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom''), a text attributed to Nāgārjuna. Lamotte felt that the text was most likely composed by an Indian bhikkhu from the Sarvāstivāda tradition, who later became a convert to Mahāyāna Buddhism. Lamotte's translation was published in five volumes but unfortunately remains incomplete, since his death put an end to his efforts.In addition to the ''Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa'', Lamotte also composed several other important translations from Mahāyāna sūtras, including the ''Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra'', and the ''Vimalakīrtisūtra''. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_Lamotte Source Accessed Sep 30, 2022])nne_Lamotte Source Accessed Sep 30, 2022]))
Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu + (Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu (born Osbert John S. Moor … Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu (born Osbert John S. Moore; 25 June 1905 – 8 March 1960) was a British Theravada Buddhist monk and translator of Pali literature.Born in Cambridge, Osbert was the only child of biologist John Edmund Sharrock Moore and Heloise Moore (née Salvin). He was named after Heloise's father, the naturalist Osbert Salvin. He studied modern languages at Exeter College, Oxford. He helped a friend to run an antiques shop before joining the army at the outbreak of World War II, joining the anti-aircraft regiment before being transferred to the Intelligence Corps officer-cadet training camp. He was posted to a camp on the Isle of Man to help oversee Italian internees.In 1944 he was posted to Italy serving as an intelligence officer interrogating spies and saboteurs. During this period he discovered Buddhism via Julius Evola's ''The Doctrine of Awakening'', a Nietzschean interpretation of Buddhism. This work had been translated by his friend Harold Edward Musson, also an intelligence officer serving in Italy.After the war Moore joined the Italian section of the BBC. Moore and Musson, who shared a flat in London, were quite disillusioned with their lives and left to Sri Lanka in 1949 to become Buddhist monks. On 24 April 1949 they received the novice (samanera) ordination or going forth, ''pabbajjā'', from Ñāṇatiloka at the Island Hermitage. In 1950 they received their bhikkhu ordination at Vajirarama Temple Colombo. Ñāṇamoli spent almost his entire monk life of eleven years at the Island Hermitage.After having been taught the basics of Pali by Nyanatiloka Mahathera, Ñāṇamoli acquired a remarkable command of the Pali language and a wide knowledge of the canonical scriptures within a comparatively short time. He is remembered for his reliable translations from the Pali into English, mostly of abstruse texts such as the Nettippakaraṇa which are considered difficult to translate. He also wrote essays on aspects of Buddhism. By 1956 he had translated ''Visuddhimagga'' into English and got it published as ''The Path of Purification''. He also compiled ''The Life of the Buddha'', a reliable and popular biography of the Buddha based on authentic records in the Pali Canon. His notes with his philosophical thoughts were compiled by Nyanaponika Thera and published as ''A Thinker's Note Book''.His handwritten draft translation of the Majjhima Nikaya was typed out after his death and edited by Bhikkhu Khantipalo, and partly published as ''A Treasury of the Buddha's Discourses'' and then edited again by Bhikkhu Bodhi and published as ''Middle Length Discourse of the Buddha'' and published by Wisdom Publications in 1995. Other draft translations, edited and published after his death, are ''The Path of Discrimination'' (''Paṭisambhidāmagga'') and ''Dispeller of Delusion'' (''Sammohavinodanī''). ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%91%C4%81%E1%B9%87amoli_Bhikkhu Source Accessed May 18, 2021])oli_Bhikkhu Source Accessed May 18, 2021]))
Āryadeva + (Āryadeva (3rd century), a disciple of Nāgā … Āryadeva (3rd century), a disciple of Nāgārjuna, is a central figure in the development of early Indian Madhyamaka philosophy. Āryadeva’s Hundred Verses Treatise (Bai lun) was one of the three basic texts of the Chinese Madhyamaka school founded by the central Asian monk Kumārajīva (b. 344–d. 413), which accordingly was called the Sanlun (Jpn. Sanron), or “three-treatise” school. According to the biography that Kumārajīva translated into Chinese, Āryadeva was born into a South Indian Brahmin family, became Nāgārjuna’s disciple, was renowned for his skill in debate, and was murdered by a student of a defeated teacher. Candrakīrti (b. c. 570–d. 650), in his commentary on Āryadeva’s major work, the Four Hundred Verses (Catuḥśataka), reports that Āryadeva was born on the island of Sinhala (Sri Lanka) as a king’s son, renounced his royal status, became a monk, and traveled to South India, where he studied with Nāgārjuna. Some scholars suggest that Āryadeva is the elder deva mentioned in the Mahāvaṃsa and Dīpavaṃsa chronicles of early Sri Lankan religious history. Āryadeva did not write commentaries on Nāgārjuna’s works but, rather, wrote autonomous treatises that defended Madhyamaka beliefs against its Buddhist and non-Buddhist critics. He devotes the first eight chapters to explaining ethical behavior and such practices as generosity, which form the basis for the bodhisattva’s accumulation of merit (puṇya). The latter eight chapters refute wrong views about the independent existence of external phenomena and the self, defending the Madhyamaka philosophy of emptiness and the dependently arisen nature of all things. The Catuḥśataka presents the path to the attainment of buddhahood as structured around these two requisites of merit and knowledge (jñāna). As an introduction to the practices of a bodhisattva, the Catuḥśataka prepares the ground for Śāntideva’s later (c. 8th-century) and more extensive treatment in Introduction to the Practices of a Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryāvatāra). Apart from some fragments of the Catuḥśataka, none of the works the Chinese and Tibetan canons attributed to Āryadeva survive in Sanskrit. [https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393521/obo-9780195393521-0065.xml From Oxford Bibliogrpahies ][https://www.academia.edu/39006061/%C4%80ryadeva_full_version_ See Tillemans article on Āryadeva] appearing in the forthcoming 2022 Routledge Handbook of Indian Buddhist Philosophy (McClintock, Edelglass, and Pierre-Julien Harter).ock, Edelglass, and Pierre-Julien Harter).)
Śaṃkarasvāmin + (Śaṃkarasvāmin. (T. Bde byed bdag po; C. Sh … Śaṃkarasvāmin. (T. Bde byed bdag po; C. Shangjieluozhu; J. Shökarashu; K. Sanggallaju 商羯羅主) (c. sixth Century CE). Sanskrit proper name of an Indian philosopher and logician, who was a student of the Indian logician Dignāga. Śaṃkarasvāmin is credited with the authorship of the ''Nyāyapraveśa'', or "Primer on Logic," which became an important work in many Asian schools. Some have argued, based on the Tibetan tradition, that the ''Nyāyapraveśa'' was actually written by Śaṃkarasvāmin's teacher Dignāga, and that the recension translated into Chinese is a version that Śaṃkarasvāmin later edited. The ''Nyāyapraveśa'' provides an introduction to the logical system of Dignāga, covering such subjects as valid and invalid methods of proof, methods of refutation, perception, erroneous perception, inference, and erroneous inference. Although Śaṃkarasvāmin's work was not as extensive, detailed, or original Dignāga's, it proved to be popular within the tradition, as attested by its extensive commentarial literature, including exegeses by non-Buddhists. Large parts of the work survive in the original Sanskrit. (Source: "Śaṃkarasvāmin." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 755. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)tp://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.))
Śikṣānanda + (Śikṣānanda. (C. Shichanantuo; J. Jisshanan … Śikṣānanda. (C. Shichanantuo; J. Jisshananda; K. Silch'anant'a 實叉難陀) (652-710). A monk from Khotan (C. Yutian), who was an important translator of Buddhist texts into Chinese during the Tang dynasty. The Empress Wu Zetian (r. 690-705) invited Śikṣānanda to the Chinese Capital of Luoyang, asking him to bring from Khotan its Sanskrit recension of the ''Avataṃsakasūtra'' (alt. ''Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra''; C. ''Dafangguang Fo huayan jing''), which was longer and more comprehensive than the sixty-roll version then in use in China, which had previously been translated by the Indian monk Buddhabhadra (359-429). Śikṣānanda arrived in Luoyang in 695 and supervised a translation team in rendering this Khotanese recension into Chinese; his team included Bodhiruci (693-727), Yijing (635-713), and Wǒnch'ǔk (613-696). Śikṣānanda and his team finished their translation in 699, after four years of work, in a total of eighty rolls. The translation that Śikṣānanda supervised is typically called within the tradition the "new" (xin) translation, in contrast to Buddhabhadra's "old" translation. (Li Tongxuan's commentary to Śikṣānanda's new rendering of the text is, for example, called the ''Xin Huayan jing lun''; see ''Huayan jing helun''.) Śikṣānanda continued with his translation projects until 705, when he returned to Khotan to care for his aged mother. Some thirteen other translations are attributed to him, including the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'' and several shorter dhāraṇī sūtras, as well as a version of the ''Dasheng qixin lun'' ("Awakening of Faith According to the Mahāyāna"). Emperor Zhongzong (r. 705-710) invited Śikṣānanda to return once again to China in 708, but he died of illness in 710 at the age of fifty-nine without beginning any new translation work. It is reported that after his cremation, his tongue remained untouched by flames—an indication of his remarkable erudition. (Source: "Śikṣānanda." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 820. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)tp://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.))
Śrīmitra + (Śrīmitra—literally meaning ‘lucky friend’ … Śrīmitra—literally meaning ‘lucky friend’ was a Śramaṇa of western origin [Kucha] who was the heir apparent of a king of that country. He, however, gave up his kingdom to his younger brother and became a Śramaṇa. He came to China in the Yun-Kia period A.D. 307–12, under the western Tsin dynasty and translated 3 works at Kin-khan (Nanking) under the reign of Yuen-ti, A.D. 317–322 and died at the age of eighty in the Hhien-Khan period, A.D. 335–342. The works are ''Mahāhhishekarāddhidhāraṇi-sūtra'', ''Mahāmayūri-Vidyārāgnī'' and in two Fascimulae (Nanjio: ''Catalogue'', ii, 36, pp. 397–98). (Puri, ''Buddhism in Central Asia'', 115n91; see also Nanjio, ''A Catalogue of the Chinese Translation of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka'', appendix 2, no. 36, 397–98. http://www.kanji.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~wittern/data/nanjio-catalog.pdf.)u.ac.jp/~wittern/data/nanjio-catalog.pdf.))
Śākya Lodro + (Śākya blo gros, Tibetan translator, ca. 10 … Śākya blo gros, Tibetan translator, ca. 10th-11th Century A.D. *''Byaṅ chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'' (Tibetan translation of ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''), in Tg, vol. la 1b1-40a7 (with Dharmaśrībhadra and Rin chen bzaṅ po). Bca*''Brgya lṅa bcu pa źes bya ba'i bstod pa'' (Tibetan translation of ''Śatapañcāśatka''), Tg bstod tshogs ka 110a3-116a5.*''Brgya lṅa bcu pa źes bya ba'i bstod pa'i ’grel pa'', Tg bstod tshogs ka 116a5-178a1. ([https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/index.php?page=person&bid=2&vid=&entity=106 Source Accessed Aug 31, 2021])amp;vid=&entity=106 Source Accessed Aug 31, 2021]))
Śāntideva + (Śāntideva (late 7th to mid-8th century CE) … Śāntideva (late 7th to mid-8th century CE) was a Buddhist monk, philosopher, and poet whose reflections on the overall structure of Buddhist moral commitments reach a level of generality and theoretical power that is hard to find elsewhere in Indian thought. His writings were immensely influential in the development of the Tibetan religious tradition. Though Śāntideva repeatedly denied that he had said anything original, his two major works may nevertheless represent the single most significant contribution of the Buddhist tradition to the global enterprise of ethical theory. And some of Śāntideva’s poetic passages exhibit an emotional and rhetorical power that gives them a claim to be included among the greatest achievements of world literature. (Source: [https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/shantideva/ The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]) The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]))
Śīladharma + (Śīladharma. (C. Shiluodamo/Jiefa; J. Shira … Śīladharma. (C. Shiluodamo/Jiefa; J. Shiradatsuma/Kaihō; K. Siradalma/Kyebǒp 尸羅達摩/戒法) (d.u., fl. c. eighth-ninth centuries). A translator-monk from Khotan (C. Yutian), who stayed at the monastery of Longxingsi in Beiting (present-day Inner Mongolia), during the Tang dynasty. Wukong (d. 812), a Chinese pilgrim who spent some forty years sojourning in India and Central Asia, arrived in Beiting in 789 with several Sanskrit manuscripts of Indian scriptures. Wukong asked Śīladharma to collaborate with him in translating two of the sūtras he brought back with him into Chinese: the ''Daśabhūmikasūtra'' (''Foshuo shidi jing'') and the ''Pariṇāmacakrasūtra'' (''Huixianglun jing''). Upon completing the translations, Śīladharma accompanied Wukong to the Tang capital of Chang'an in 790, where they had an audience at the imperial court, after which Śīladharma returned to his home country. (Source: "Śīladharma." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 822. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)tp://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.))
Ǔich'ǒn + (Ǔich'ǒn. (C. Yitian) (1055-1101). Korean p … Ǔich'ǒn. (C. Yitian) (1055-1101). Korean prince, monk, and bibliophile, and putative founder of the Ch’ōnt’ae chong (C. Tiantai zong) in Korea. Ǔich'ǒn was born the fourth son of the Koryǔ king Munjong (r. 1047-1082). In 1065, Ǔich'ǒn was ordained by the royal preceptor (wangsa) Kyǒngdǒk Nanwǒn (999-1066) at the royal monastery of Yǒngt’ongsa in the Koryǒ capital of Kaesǒng. Under Nanwǒn, Ǔich'ǒn studiedthe teachings of the ''Avatamsakasūtra'' and its various commentaries. In 1067, at the age of twelve, Ǔich'ǒn was appointed 'saṃgha overseer' (K. sǔngt’ong; C. sengtong). Ǔich'ǒn is known on several occasions to have requested permission from his royal father to travel abroad to China, but the king consistently denied his request. Finally, in 1085, Ǔich'ǒn secretly boarded a Chinese trading ship and traveled to the mainland against his father’s wishes. Ǔich'ǒn is said to have spent about fourteen months abroad studying under various teachers. His father sent his friend and colleague Nakchin (1045-1114) after Ǔich'ǒn, but they ended up studying together with the Huayan teacher Jingyuan (1011-1088) of Huiyinsi in Hangzhou. Ǔich'ǒn and Nakchin returned to Korea in 1086 with numerous texts that Ǔich'ǒn acquired during his sojourn in China. While residing as the abbot of the new monastery of Hǔngwangsa in the capital, Ǔich'ǒn devoted his time to teaching his disciples and collecting works from across East Asia, including the Khitan Liao kingdom. He sent agents throughout the region to collect copies of the indigenous writings of East Asian Buddhists, which he considered to be the equal of works by the bodhisattva exegetes of the imported Indian scholastic tradition. A large monastic library known as Kyojang Togam was established at Hǔngwangsa to house the texts that Ǔich'ǒn collected. In 1090, Ǔich'ǒn published a bibliographical catalogue of the texts housed at Hǔngwangsa, entitled ''Sinp'yǒn chejong kyojang ch’ongnok'' ('Comprehensive Catalogue of the Doctrinal Repository of All the Schools'), which lists some 1,010 titles in 4,740 rolls. The Hǔngwangsa collection of texts was carved on woodblocks and titled the ''Koryǒ sokchanggyǒng'' ("Koryǒ Supplement to the Canon"), which was especially important for its inclusion of a broad cross section of the writings of East Asian Buddhist teachers. (The one exception was works associated with the Chan or Sǒn tradition, which Ǔich'ǒn refused to collect because of their "many heresies.") Unfortunately, the xylographs of the supplementary canon were burned during the Mongol invasion of Koryǒ in 1231, and many of the works included in the collection are now lost and known onlythrough their reference in Ǔich'ǒn’s catalogue. In 1097, Ǔich'ǒn was appointed the founding abbot of the new monastery of Kukch’ǒngsa (named after the renowned Chinese monastery of Guoqingsi on Mt. Tiantai). There, he began to teach Ch'ǒnt’ae thought and practice and is said to have attracted more than athousand students. Ǔich'ǒn seems to have seen the Tiantai/Ch’ǒnt’ae synthesis of meditation and doctrine as a possible means of reconciling the Sǒn and doctrinal (kyo) traditions in Korea. Ǔich'ǒn’s efforts have subsequently been regarded as the official foundation of the Ch’ǒnt’ae school in Korea; however, it seems Ǔich'ǒn was not actually attempting to start a new school, but merely to reestablish the study of Ch’ǒnt’ae texts in Korea. He was awarded the posthumous title of state preceptor (K. kuksa; C. Guoshi) Taegak (Great Enlightenment). (Source: "Ǔich'ǒn." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 935–36. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)tp://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.))
Khöndung Asanga Vajra Rinpoche + (༧འཁོན་གདུང་ཨ་སངྒ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཆོག་ནི་ས་སྐྱ་ག … ༧འཁོན་གདུང་ཨ་སངྒ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཆོག་ནི་ས་སྐྱ་གོང་མའི་གདུང་བརྒྱུད་ཕུན་ཚོགས་ཕོ་བྲང་སྐྱབས་མགོན་གོང་མ་འཇིགས་བྲལ་བདག་ཆེན་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཡི་རིགས་རུས་སུ་འཁྲུངས་པ་དང་ཡུམ་ཕྱོགས་སྔར་འགྱུར་རྙིང་མའི་བླ་མ་སྐྱབས་རྗེ་ཁམས་སྤྲུལ་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་ཚ་བོ་སུ་འཁྲུངས་ཡོད་པར་ཡིན་ནོ།།His Eminence Khöndung Asanga Vajra Rinpoche is the son of H.E.Khöndung Ani Vajra Sakya Rinpoche, the second son of the Phuntsok Phodrang family and Dagmo Chimey la. He is also the youngest grandson of the His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Dorjechang Rinpoche and therefore a direct descendant of the unbroken Khön lineage which dates back to 1073. His Eminence is also the grandson of H.E. Garje Khamtrul Rinpoche, a highly realized and accomplished Nyingmapa master on his mother’s side. ([https://www.asangasakya.com/about/ Source Accessed Feb 24, 2022]).com/about/ Source Accessed Feb 24, 2022]))
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu + (Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff) is a … Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff) is an American Buddhist monk of the Kammatthana (Thai Forest) Tradition. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1971 with a degree in European Intellectual History, he traveled to Thailand, where he studied meditation under Ajaan Fuang Jotiko, himself a student of the late Ajaan Lee. He ordained in 1976 and lived at Wat Dhammasathit, where he remained following his teacher's death in 1986. In 1991 he traveled to the hills of San Diego County, USA, where he helped Ajaan Suwat Suvaco establish Metta Forest Monastery (Wat Mettavanaram). He was made abbot of the Monastery in 1993. ([https://www.dhammatalks.org/index.html Source Accessed Aug 7, 2020])g/index.html Source Accessed Aug 7, 2020]))

Pari Lobzang Rapsal + (A well known scholar of the Dge lugs tradi … A well known scholar of the Dge lugs tradition from Bla brang bkra' shis 'khil in Amdo. The place of his birth was Dpa' ri. He was a teacher of the 13th Dalai Lama and a close friend of the Zhwa dmar pa. He famously criticized Mipam Rinpoche's commentary to the ninth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'', ''The Ketaka Gem'' (''Nor bu ke ta ka''). ''The Ketaka Gem'' (''Nor bu ke ta ka'').)

Cole, A. + (Alan Cole is the author of a number of boo … Alan Cole is the author of a number of books in the field of Religious/Buddhist Studies, including ''Mothers and Sons in Chinese Buddhism'' (Stanford University Press 1998), ''Text as Father: Paternal Seductions in Early Mahayana Buddhist Literature'' (University of California Press 2005), ''Fathering Your Father: The Zen of Fabrication in Tang Buddhism'' (University of California Press 2009), ''Fetishizing Tradition: Desire and Reinvention in Buddhist and Christian Narratives'' (SUNY Press, 2015), and, most recently, ''Patriarchs on Paper: A Critical History of Medieval Chan Literature'' (University of California Press, 2016). He was Professor of Religious Studies at Lewis & Clark College from 2006–2012 and Visiting Professor of Philosophy at National University of Singapore from 2013–2014. ([https://independent.academia.edu/ColeAlan/CurriculumVitae Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020])CurriculumVitae Source Accessed Jul 21, 2020]))
Rawlinson, A. + (Andrew Rawlinson was a war baby (b.1943) a … Andrew Rawlinson was a war baby (b.1943) and lived in 17 different places by the time he was six. He got hit early on: Elvis, Jelly Roll Morton, Samuel Johnson, John Keats, Jack Kerouac, Cezanne, Pollock. And Zeus. He added philosophy and Indian traditions to rock’n’roll, jazz and literature. He was a scholar at Cambridge and did a Ph.D on the ''Lotus Sūtra'' at the University of Lancaster. He taught Buddhism for 20 years and put on a course on Altered States of Consciousness at Berkeley and Santa Barbara. He is the author of ''The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers on Eastern Traditions'' (Open Ciourt, 1997) and ''The Hit: Into the Rock’n’Roll Universe and Beyond'' (99 Press, 2014). ([https://explore.scimednet.org/index.php/events/event/the-hit-derangement-and-revelation/ Source Accessed May 19, 2020])revelation/ Source Accessed May 19, 2020]))
Candrākaragupta + (Candrākaragupta, often referred to in Tibetan as the Scholar with a Golden Umbrella (paN+Di ta gser gdugs can) was an Indian Buddhist scholar known for his sādhana practice of Mañjuśrī in the form of prajñācakra (''shes rab 'khor lo).)
Baumer, C. + (Christoph Baumer is a Swiss scholar and ex … Christoph Baumer is a Swiss scholar and explorer. From 1984 onwards, he has conducted explorations in Central Asia, China and Tibet, the results of which have been published in numerous books, scholarly publications and radio programs. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoph_Baumer Wikipedia])edia.org/wiki/Christoph_Baumer Wikipedia]))
Gruber, E. + (ELMAR R. GRUBER, PhD, was born in Vienna, … ELMAR R. GRUBER, PhD, was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1955. He is a psychologist, an independent scholar and freelance popular-science writer, as well as a scientific advisor for radio and television in Europe. He is the author of twenty books that have been published in fifteen languages throughout the world. A longtime practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, he is a student of Drikung Chetsang Rinpoche.is a student of Drikung Chetsang Rinpoche.)
Pearlman, E. + (Ellen Pearlman has been a Buddhist practit … Ellen Pearlman has been a Buddhist practitioner for over 30 years under Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and has studied with Buddhist teachers in India, Sikhim, Burma, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Europe, Latin America, and North America. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Source: ([https://www.scribd.com/author/229965933/Ellen-Pearlman# SCRIBD])/author/229965933/Ellen-Pearlman# SCRIBD]))
Brambilla, F. + (Filippo Brambilla is a PhD candidate at th … Filippo Brambilla is a PhD candidate at the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies of the University of Vienna. He is currently writing his dissertation on Tshogs gnyis rgya mtsho (1880–1940), a late Jo nang scholar whose philosophical works are characterized by a distinctive approach that reconciles typically rang stong positions with more orthodox Jo nang views. Filippo’s PhD thesis will include a complete edition and translation of Tshogs gnyis rgya mtsho’s Illuminating Light (''Rab gsal snang''). Recently, Filippo also started working as a researcher in the FWF funded project “Emptiness of Other (gZhan stong) in the Early Jo nang Tradition.” He holds a BA and an MA in Languages and Cultures of Eastern Asia, with specialization in Chinese language and culture, from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Filippo has also spent long periods of study and research in China and Eastern Tibet. (Source: [https://conference.tsadra.org/session/empty-of-true-existence-yet-full-of-qualities-tshogs-gnyis-rgya-mtsho-1880-1940-on-buddha-nature/ Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia])ddha-nature/ Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia]))
Watt, J. + (Jeff Watt (Wikipedia), one of the leading … Jeff Watt (Wikipedia), one of the leading scholars of Himalayan art, acquired his prodigious knowledge of Buddhist, Bon and Hindu iconography from a longtime study of Buddhism and Tantra. As a teenager, he studied with Dezhung Rinpoche (Seattle, Wash.) and Sakya Trizin (Dehradun, India), dropping out of school at seventeen to take monastic vows from the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. For the next eleven years, Watt trained intensively in India, Canada and the U.S., with teachers such as Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, and Sakya Jetsun Chimey. In 1985 he gave back his monastic ordinations but continued to study and to translate sacred Tibetan and Sanskrit texts, along with completing numerous traditional retreats over years of periodic isolated practice, much of it in the rugged mountains of British Columbia, Canada. He is the Director and Chief Curator of Himalayan Art Resources (HAR), a website and 'virtual museum' featuring upwards of 100,000 images with detailed descriptions, making it the most comprehensive resource for Himalayan 'style' art and iconography in the world. He has worked on HAR since April 1998 at which time there were 625 images in total (Tibetan paintings only). Source: ([https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=1769 Himalayan Art Resources])rg/search/set.cfm?setID=1769 Himalayan Art Resources]))
Everest, Tsering + (Lama Tsering Everest was one of the main s … Lama Tsering Everest was one of the main students of Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, who recognized her as an emanation of Tara and a holder of the Red Tara lineage.Born in the U.S.A., Lama Tsering has served Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche as his translator for more than 11 years. After completing a three year retreat in 1995, she was ordained as a lama and recognized by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche as a holder of the Red Tara lineage, authorized to give teachings and empowerments. In the same year she was invited to teach in Brazil where she moved to shortly after.She teaches and conducts retreats in many cities across Brazil, Chile, New Zealand and Australia as well as returning each year to fulfill the requests of her students in North America.Lama Tsering is the resident lama and director of Chagdud Gonpa Odsal Ling in São Paulo and is currently coordinating the construction of Odsal Ling's temple in Cotia, Brasil, along with her husband Lama Padma Norbu. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Lama_Tsering_Everest Rigpa Wiki])hp?title=Lama_Tsering_Everest Rigpa Wiki]))
Ramakrishna, B.M. + (PROF. M.R. BHAT was a well known Samskrta … PROF. M.R. BHAT was a well known Samskrta scholar, teacher, poet and astrologer, who retired in 1974 as the Head of Sanskrit Department of Hindu College, Delhi University. He had served the cause of Samskrta learning and Indian culture for more than half a century. Prof. Bhat edited with translation classical works like the Brhat Samhita of Varahamihira (2 Volumes), Horasarah of Prthuyasas, Prasnajnanam of Bhattotpala. Author of Fundamentals of Astrology. Prof. Bhat had revised the translation of Uttara-kalamrtam, and Phaladipika. He was the founder-editor of the Sanskrit _English Journal Amrtavani and had contributed a large number of articles on oriental learning and culture of various journals and periodicals. In recognition of his erudition and devotion to oriental learning and culture Prof, Bhat was conferred the titles Vidyabhaskara, Vidyasagara and Kavitacatura. Prof. Bhat died in 1990. Source: ([https://www.mlbd.in/products/brhat-samhita-of-varahamihira-vol-1-with-english-translation-exhaustive-notes-and-literary-comments-m-r-bhat-9788120800984-8120800982?_pos=2&_sid=bc2a5917e&_ss=r Motilal Banarsidass])amp;_sid=bc2a5917e&_ss=r Motilal Banarsidass]))
Gregory, P. + (Peter N. Gregory taught at Smith College f … Peter N. Gregory taught at Smith College from 1999 until 2014. After receiving his doctorate in East Asian languages and civilizations from Harvard University in 1981, he taught in the Program for the Study of Religion at the University of Illinois for 15 years. He has also served as the president and executive director of the Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values since 1984, and in that capacity he has directed two publication series with the University of Hawaii Press: "Studies in East Asian Buddhism" and "Classics in East Asian Buddhism."Gregory's research has focused on medieval Chinese Buddhism, especially the Chan and Huayan traditions during the Tang and Song dynasties, on which he has written or edited seven books, including ''Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism'' (1991). He is currently completing a translation of a ninth-century Chinese Buddhist text on the historical and doctrinal origins of the Chan tradition.After coming to Smith, Gregory's research and teaching became increasingly concerned with Buddhism in America, on which he produced a film, ''The Gate of Sweet Nectar: Feeding Hungry Spirits in an American Zen Community'' (2004), and co-edited a book, ''Women Practicing Buddhism: American Experiences'' (Wisdom Publications, 2007). ([https://www.smith.edu/academics/faculty/peter-gregory Source Accessed June 13, 2019])er-gregory Source Accessed June 13, 2019]))
Villarreal, C. + (Rice University PhD under Anne Klein in 20 … Rice University PhD under Anne Klein in 2015. Thesis: "To Know a Buddha: A Tibetan Contemplative History and Its Implications for Religious Studies". This dissertation examines the introduction, critique, and re-framing of other-emptiness (gzhan-stong) by Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292–1361), Tsongkhapa Lobsang Drakpa (1357–1419), and Jamgon Kongtrul (1813-1899) respectively. Each author's writings on emptiness were deeply informed by his own contemplative and visionary experiences. Such peak religious moments—along with historical, social, and textual context—must be considered seriously to provide the richest possible history of other-emptiness.From Academia.edu: I work to adapt traditional Buddhist teachings for the demands of modern life. (Want a free mini-course with some of my guided meditations and other resources for meditation? Here you go: https://clairevillarreal.teachable.com/p/essential-tools-for-meditation.) I've made trips to Thailand, India, and Nepal totaling over two years to study and meditate in traditional settings in those countries, with pilgrimage to Tibet. I began meditating daily in 1997 in the Theravada and Vajrayāna traditions, and my teachers include Anne Klein, PhD, Harvey Aronson, PhD, Lama Tenzin Samphel, and Kamalo Bhikkhu. I've spent two and a half months in various degrees of retreat in the Thai forest tradition, four months in group retreats in India and Nepal, and cumulatively over a year of solitary retreat since 2007. A former Programs Director for Dawn Mountain Center for Tibetan Buddhism and former board member for Compassionate Houston, I earned my doctorate in Religious Studies from Rice University with a dissertation and publications exploring contemplative ways of knowing and how they speak to the contemporary academic study of mysticism. These days I'm a member of the GenX dharma teachers community, and I recently received a grant from the Hemera Foundation to write and podcast about what Tibetan teachings on reincarnation can teach us about living well. ([https://rice.academia.edu/ClaireVillarreal Source])ice.academia.edu/ClaireVillarreal Source]))
Sūryagupta + (Sūryagupta, also known as Ravigupta, was a … Sūryagupta, also known as Ravigupta, was a Kashmiri adept that cured himself of leprosy and achieved realization through a series of pure vision encounters with Tārā. In the Tibetan tradition he is mostly known for his iconographic tradition for the ''Praises to the Twenty-One Tārās''.r the ''Praises to the Twenty-One Tārās''.)
Schneider, D. + (Tensho David Schneider began Zen practice … Tensho David Schneider began Zen practice in 1970 and was ordained as a Zen priest in 1977. He held the position of acharya (senior teacher) in the Shambhala International community from 1996 to 2019. He is coeditor with Kazuaki Tanahashi of Essential Zen, and author of Crowded by Beauty: The Life and Zen of Poet Philip Whalen. He lives in Cologne, Germany.([https://www.shambhala.com/authors/o-t/david-schneider.html Source: Shambhala Publications])ider.html Source: Shambhala Publications]))
Wangyal, Tenzin Rinpoche + (Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, a lama in the Bön … Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, a lama in the Bön tradition of Tibet, presently resides in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is the founder and director of Ligmincha Institute, an organization dedicated to the study and practice of the teachings of the Bön tradition. He was born in Amritsar, India, after his parents fled the Chinese invasion of Tibet. He received training from both Buddhist and Bön teachers, attaining the degree of Geshe, the highest academic degree of traditional Tibetan culture. He has been in the United States since 1991 and has taught widely in Europe and America. Source: ([https://www.shambhala.com/authors/u-z/tenzin-wangyal-rinpoche.html Shambhala Publications])yal-rinpoche.html Shambhala Publications]))
Cha, S. + (The Korean scholar Sangyeob Cha, who was b … The Korean scholar Sangyeob Cha, who was born in 1969, is Humanities Korea Professor at Geumgang Center for Buddhist Studies at Geumgang University (金剛大學校，甘フネ邙哥丑 Geumgang Daehakgyo) in South Korea and is the Head of the center’s research team for tathãgatagarbha studies. He received the MA degree in 1999 from Dongguk University (東國大學校，吾号邙計丑 Dongguk Daehakgyo) in Seoul, followed by the PhD degree in 2007 from the same institution with a dissertation on ''śamatha'' meditation practice, comparing the explanations given in Tsong kha pa's ''Lam rim chen mo'' with related explanations from Indian Yogācāra texts, particularly the YBh. This made him one of the first Tibetologists to be educated in South Korea. He joined the Geumgang Center for Buddhist Studies in 2007 as a researcher and was promoted to Professor in 2011.His research has mainly been concerned with meditation doctrines of the Yogācāra tradition in India and Tibet as represented in texts and Buddhist art, as well as the doctrine of buddha-nature (''tathāgatagarbha'') especially as found in the commentarial writings on the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' by the Tibetan scholar Rngog Bio ldan shes rab (1059-1109). (Source: The Foundation for Yoga Practitioners, page 239, footnote 428)oga Practitioners, page 239, footnote 428))
Thonden, Lobsang + (Tibetan Scholar, Calligrapher, Government … Tibetan Scholar, Calligrapher, Government Official, and Author who appeared in Seven Years in Tibet and several other films. He published the early and popular Modern Tibetan Language books in the 1980s, as well as ''Learn to Speak Tibetan and Hindi'' and ''English for Beginners'' (''dbyin ji'i skad yig slob tshul gom pa dang po''). He spent time as a resident scholar at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and interacted with western scholars and translators there. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Losang_Thonden Source Accessed May 20, 2020])ang_Thonden Source Accessed May 20, 2020]))
Yangsi Rinpoche + (Yangsi Rinpoche (President) was recognized … Yangsi Rinpoche (President) was recognized as the reincarnation of Geshe Ngawang Gendun, a renowned scholar and practitioner from Western Tibet, at the age of six. Rinpoche trained in the traditional monastic system for over 25 years, and practiced as a monk until the age of 35.In 1995 he graduated with the highest degree of Geshe Lharampa from Sera Je Monastery in South India. He then completed his studies at Gyume Tantric College, and, in 1998, having the particular wish to benefit Western students of the Buddhadharma, Rinpoche came to the West to teach and travel extensively throughout America and Europe.Rinpoche served as a resident teacher at Deer Park Buddhist Center in Madison, Wisconsin for five years, and is currently the Spiritual Director of Ganden Shedrup Ling Buddhist Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Spiritual Director of Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle, Washington.He founded Maitripa College in 2005 in Portland, Oregon. Rinpoche is the author of Practicing the Path: A Commentary on the Lamrim Chenmo, published in 2003 by Wisdom Publications.Rinpoche teaches in English, and is admired wherever he travels for his unique presentation of the Dharma, his interest in and enthusiasm for Western culture, and his evident embodiment of the wisdom and compassion of the Buddhist path. When not in the classroom at Maitripa College, during academic year breaks and for special events, Yangsi Rinpoche travels widely, representing Maitripa College at conferences and giving teachings around the world. [https://maitripa.org/yangsi-rinpoche/ Source]ps://maitripa.org/yangsi-rinpoche/ Source])
Ahmad, Z. + (Zahiruddln Ahmad was a Senior Lecturer in … Zahiruddln Ahmad was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia. He is the author of several books on Tibetan history, including ''China and Tibet, 1708-1959'' (Oxford University Press, 1960); ''Tibet and Ladakh: A History'' (Chatto & Windus, 1963); ''Sino-Tibetan Relations in the 17th Century'' (Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1970); ''Life of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Vol. IV, Part I'' (International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 1999); ''An introduction to Buddhist Philosophy in India and Tibet'' (International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 2007); ''The Song of the Queen of Spring'' (International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 2008); and ''The Historical Status of China in Tibet'' (Aditya Prakashan, 2012). He is also the author of numerous articles on Tibetan history and related subjects.icles on Tibetan history and related subjects.)
The Fourth Drukchen Pema Karpo + ("After the death of 'Jam dbyangs chos kyi … "After the death of 'Jam dbyangs chos kyi grags pa (the 3rd Drukchen or Gyalwang Drukpa), monks found the rebirth in the house of a minor aristocrat of Kongpo, to the disappointment of both the families of Rwa lung and Bya. This child, the sprul sku Ngag dbang nor bu, was to be the great Padma dkar po. Padma dkar po was one of those rare renaissance men. The breadth of his scholarship and learning invites comparison with the Fifth Dalai Lama. It was Padma dkar po who systematized the teaching of the 'Brug pa sect. It is no wonder that the 'Brug pa Bka' brgyud pa always refer to him as Kun mkhyen, the Omniscient, an epithet reserved for the greatest scholar of a sect. Padma dkar po was a shrewd and occasionally ruthless politician. His autobiography is one of the most important sources for the history of the sixteenth century. Padma dkar po was a monk and insisted on adherence to the vinaya rules for his monastic followers. He also held that in the administration of church affairs the claims of the rebirth and the monastic scholar took priority over those of the scion of a revered lineage. Although he preached often at both Rwa lung and Bkra shis mthong smon, the seats of his two immediate predecessors, he never exercised actual control over these monasteries and their estates. He founded his monastery at Gsang sngags chos gling in Byar po, north of Mon Rta dbang, which became the seat of the subsequent Rgyal dbang 'Brug pa incarnation." (Gene Smith, ''Among Tibetan Texts'', 81) (Gene Smith, ''Among Tibetan Texts'', 81))
Apang Terton Choying Dorje + ('''Apang Terchen Orgyen Trinlé Lingpa (189 … '''Apang Terchen Orgyen Trinlé Lingpa (1895-1945)'''Choktrul Lozang Tendzin of Trehor studied with the lord Kunga Palden and the Chömaster Dharma Seng-gé, and Apang Terchen in turn studied with Lozang Tendzin.Apang Terchen, also known as Orgyen Trinlé Lingpa, was renowned as the rebirth ofRigdzin Gödem. He was reputed to have been conceived in the following way: TraktungDudjom Lingpa focused his enlightened intent while resting in the basic spaceof timeless awareness, whereupon Apang Terchen's mother experienced an intensesurge of delight. This caused all ordinary concepts based on confusion to be arrestedin her mind for a short time, and it was then that Apang Terchen was conceived in herwomb.2 From that moment on, his mother constantly had dreams that were amazingomens. For example, she found herself among groups of dakinis enjoying the splendorof ganachakras, or being bathed by many dakas and dakinis, or dwelling in pavilionsof light, illuminating the entire world with her radiance.The child was born one morning at dawn, in the area of Serta in eastern Tibet, hismother having experienced no discomfort. Her dwelling was filled with [2.188a] andsurrounded by light, as though the sun were shining brightly. There were also pavilionsof light, and a fragrance pervaded the entire area, although no one could tellwhere it came from. Everyone saw numerous amazing signs on the child's body, suchas a tuft of vulture feathers adorning the crown of his head.3 The mother's brother,Sönam Dorjé, asked, "What will become of this boy who has no father? How shamefulit would be if people saw these feathers!"4 But although he cut the feather tuftoff the child's head several times, it grew back on its own, just as before. This upsetSönam Dorjé even more, and he berated his sister angrily, saying on numerous occasions,"How could your child have no father? You must tell me who he is!" Hissister retorted, "With the truth of karma as my witness, I swear I have never lain witha flesh-and-blood man of this world. This pregnancy might be a result of my ownkarma." She became so extremely depressed that her fellow villagers couldn't bear itand used various means to bring a halt to her brother's inappropriate behavior.From an early age, this great master, Apang Terchen, felt an innate and unshakablefaith in Guru Rinpoché and had a clear and natural knowledge [2.188b] of the ''vajra guru'' mantra and the Seven-Line Supplication. He learned how to read and writesimply upon being shown the letters and exhibited incredible signs of his spiritual potentialawakening. For example, his intelligence, which had been developed throughtraining in former lifetimes, was such that no one could compete with him. As hegrew up, he turned his attention toward seeking the quintessential meaning of life.He studied at the feet of many teachers and mentors, including the Nyingtik masterGyatsok Lama Damlo and Terchen Sogyal, studying many of the mainstream traditionsof the sutras and tantras, especially those of the kama and terma.The most extraordinary lord of his spiritual family was Trehor Drakar Tulku,5with whom he studied for a long time, receiving the complete range of empowerments,oral transmissions, and pith instructions of the secret Nyingtik cycles of utter lucidity.He went to solitary ravines throughout the region, making caves and overhangson cliffs his dwelling places, taking birds and wild animals as his companions, andrelying on the most ragged clothing and meager diet. He planted the victory bannerof spiritual practice, meditating for a long period of time. He was graced by visions ofan enormous array of his personal meditation deities, [2.189a] including Tara, Avalokiteshvara,Mañjushri, Sarasvati, and Amitayus. He was not content to leave thetrue nature of phenomena an object of intellectual speculation, and his realizationprogressed in leaps and bounds.Apang Terchen bound the eight classes of gods and demons — including such spiritsas Nyenchen Tanglha, Ma Pomra, and Sergyi Drong-ri Mukpo6 — to his service.He communicated directly with Tsiu Marpo, the white form of Mahakala, Ganapati,and other protective deities, like one person conversing with another, and enjoinedthem to carry out his enlightened activities. So great was his might that he also boundthese protective deities to his service, causing lightning to strike and so forth, so thatthose who had become his enemies were checked by very direct means, before years,months, or even days had passed.Notably, he beheld the great master of Orgyen in a vision and was blessed as theregent of Guru Padmakara's three secret aspects. On the basis of a prophecy he receivedat that time, Apang Terchen journeyed to amazing holy sites, such as DraklhaGönpo in Gyalrong, Khandro Bumdzong in the lowlands of eastern Tibet, and DorjéTreldzong in Drakar, where he revealed countless terma caches consisting of teachings,objects of wealth, and sacred substances. He revealed some of them in secret,others in the presence of large crowds. In these ways, he revealed a huge trove of profoundtermas. [2.189b] Those revealed publicly were brought forth in the presence ofmany fortunate people and in conjunction with truly incredible omens, which freedall present from the bonds of doubt and inspired unshakable faith in them. ApangTerchen's fame as an undisputed siddha and tertön resounded throughout the land, asthough powerful enough to cause the earth to quake. His terma teachings are foundin the numerous volumes of his collected works and include ''The Hidden Treasure of Enlightened Mind: The Thirteen Red Deities'', practices focusing on the Three Roots, cycles concerning guardian deities and the principle of enlightened activity, and his large instruction manual on Dzogchen teachings.Apang Terchen's students, from Dartsedo in the east, to Repkong in Amdo to thenorth, to the three regions of Golok and other areas, included mentors who nurturedthe teachings and beings, masters such as those known as the "four great illuminatorsof the teachings," the "four vajra ridgepoles,11 the "four named Gyatso," the "greatmasters, the paired sun and moon," and Jangchub Dorjé (the custodian of ApangTerchen's termas).7 He also taught important political figures who exerted greatinfluence over the people of their areas, including the "four great chieftains of theregion of Dza in the north," [2.190a] that is, Getsé Tsering Dorjé of Dza in the northernreaches of eastern Tibet, Gönlha of Akyong in Golok, Mewa Namlo of the Méregion of Golok, and the chieftain of Serta in Washul. Apang Terchen's students alsoincluded countless monks, nuns, villagers, and lay tantric practitioners. He transmittedhis own termas and the great Nyingtik cycles of the Dzogchen teachings, and sonumerous were those he guided that he truly embodied the enlightened activity ofone who held sway over the three realms. In these times of spiritual degeneration, healleviated problems caused by disease, famine, border wars, and civil unrest. In suchways, Apang Terchen rendered great service to the land of Tibet. His kindness to theTibetan people as a whole was truly extraordinary, for he worked to ensure a gloriousstate of peace and well-being.During a pilgrimage to Jowo Yizhin Norbu, the statue of the lord Shakyamuni inLhasa, Apang Terchen paid respect to many tens of thousands of ordained membersof the sangha, sponsoring ganachakras, making offerings, and offering meals, tea,and donations at such monastic centers as Sera, Drepung, and Ganden. He sponsoredthe gilding of statues in these centers and in such ways strove to reinforce his positivequalities. Everyone could see that no matter how many avenues he found to extendgenerosity, his resources of gold, silver, and other valuables [2.190b] continued toincrease, as though he had access to a treasure mine.Among his heart children and intimate students were his sons, Gyurmé Dorjé,Wangchen Nyima, and Dotrul Rinpoché; his daughter, Tare Lhamo; and the custodianof his termas, Jangchub Dorjé. Until recently, Tare Lhamo lived in eastern Tibet,maintaining the teachings.8Thus did Apang Terchen benefit beings with his incredible compassion and activities.As his life was nearing an end, he remarked, "For the sake of the teachings andof beings, I must enter the bloodline of the glorious Sakya school." This fearless lion'sroar proved to be his last testament, spoken with an unobscured awareness of past,present, and future. He then manifested incredible miracles and departed for thegreat palace of Pema Ö.Source: Richard Barron translation of Nyoshul Khenpo, A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage, Padma Publications, 2005, pages 488-491., Padma Publications, 2005, pages 488-491.)
Richard D. McBride, II + ('''Biography:''' Richard was raised in Los … '''Biography:'''Richard was raised in Los Angeles, California, and served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Korea Pusan Mission from 1988 to 1990. He double majored in Asian Studies and Korean at BYU, graduating in 1993, and later earned a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures (with emphasis on Korean and Chinese Buddhism and early Korean History) at UCLA in 2001. He was a Fulbright Senior Researcher at Dongguk University in Korea from 2007 to 2008, He taught in the History Department at BYU-Hawaii from 2008 to 2018. His wife of 17 years, Younghee Yeon McBride, passed away from pancreatic cancer in February 2018. They are the parents of two sons, David and Sean. Prof. McBride began teaching at BYU in the fall 2018 semester.'''Research Interests:'''Prof. McBride has broad research interests. He is interested in and has published broadly on Korean Buddhist literature, particularly Buddhist spells and incantations (dharani and mantra). He is also interested Buddhist narrative literature, such as is found in the Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, ca. 1285); traditional historiography, such as the Samguk sagi (compiled in 1146); as well as strange tales and ghost stories, which have long been popular genres for East Asians. Prof. McBride is also a scholar of the history and society of the early Korean state of Silla (ca. 300-935), particularly the hwarang (flower boys) organization. ([https://hum.byu.edu/directory/richard-mcbride-ii Source Accessed Aug 2, 2023])d-mcbride-ii Source Accessed Aug 2, 2023]))
Hubert Decleer + ('''In Memoriam: Hubert Decleer (1940–2021) … '''In Memoriam: Hubert Decleer (1940–2021)''':by Andrew QuintmanWith great sadness, we share news that our incomparable teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend Hubert Decleer passed away peacefully on Wednesday, August 25. He was at his home with his wife, the poet Nazneen Zafar, in Kathmandu, Nepal, near the Swayambhū Mahācaitya that had been his constant inspiration for nearly five decades. His health declined rapidly following a diagnosis of advanced-stage lung cancer in May, but he remained lucid and in high spirits and over the past weeks he was surrounded by family members and close friends. Through his final hours, he maintained his love of Himalayan scholarship and black coffee, and his deep and quiet commitment to Buddhist practice.Hubert’s contributions to the study of Tibetan and Himalayan traditions are expansive, covering the religious, literary, and cultural histories of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and India. For nearly thirty-five years he directed and advised the School for International Training’s program for Tibetan Studies, an undergraduate study-abroad program that has served as a starting point for scholars currently working in fields as diverse as Anthropology, Art History, Education, Conservation, History, Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Public Policy. The countless scholars he inspired are connected by the undercurrent of Hubert's indelible "light touch" and all the subtle and formative lessons he imparted as a mentor and friend.Hubert embodied a seemingly inexhaustible curiosity that spanned kaleidoscopic interests ranging from Chinese landscapes to Netherlandish still lifes, medieval Tibetan pilgrimage literature to French cinema, 1940s bebop to classical Hindustani vocal performance. With legendary hospitality, his home, informally dubbed “The Institute,” was an oasis for scholars, former students, artists, and musicians, who came to share a simple dinner of daal bhaat or a coffee on the terrace overlooking Swayambhū. The conversations that took place on that terrace often unearthed a text or image or reference that turned out to be the missing link in the visitor's current research project. When not discussing scholarship, Hubert inspired his friends to appreciate the intelligence and charm of animals—monkeys and crows especially—or to enjoy the marvels of a blossoming potted plum tree. His attentiveness to the world around him generated intense sensitivity and compassion. He was an accomplished painter and a captivating storyteller, ever ready with accounts of the artists’ scene in Europe or his numerous overland journeys to Asia. The stories from long ago flowed freely and very often revealed some important insight about the present moment, however discrete. Hubert François Kamiel Decleer was born on August 22, 1940, in Ostend, Belgium. In 1946, he spent three months in Switzerland with a group of sixty children whose parents served in the Résistance. He completed his Latin-Greek Humaniora at the Royal Atheneum in Ostend in 1958, when he was awarded the Jacques Kets National Prize for biology by the Royal Zoo Society of Antwerp. He developed a keen interest in the arts, and during this period he also held his first exhibition of oil paintings and gouaches. In 1959 he finished his B.A. in History and Dutch Literature at the Regent School in Ghent. Between 1960 and 1963 he taught Dutch and History at the Hotel and Technical School in Ostend, punctuated by a period of military service near Köln, Germany in 1961–62. The highlight of his military career was the founding of a musical group (for which he played drums) that entertained officers’ balls with covers of Ray Charles and other hits of the day. In 1963 Hubert made the first of his many trips to Asia, hitchhiking for thirteen months from Europe to India and through to Ceylon. Returning to Belgium in 1964, he then worked at the artists’ café La Chèvre Folle in Ostend, where he organized fortnightly exhibitions and occasional cultural events. For the following few years he worked fall and winter for a Belgian travel agency in Manchester and Liverpool, England, while spending summers as a tour guide in Italy, Central Europe, and Turkey. In 1967 he began working as a guide, lecturer, and interpreter for Penn Overland Tours, based in Hereford, England. In these roles he accompanied groups of British, American, Australian, and New Zealand tourists on luxury overland trips from London to Bombay, and later London to Calcutta—excursions that took two and a half months to complete. He made twenty-six overland journeys in the course of fourteen years, during which time he also organized and introduced local musical concerts in Turkey, Pakistan, India, and later Nepal. He likewise accompanied two month-long trips through Iran with specialized international groups as well as a number of overland trips through the USSR and Central Europe. In between his travels, Hubert wrote and presented radio scenarios for Belgian Radio and Television (including work on a prize-winning documentary on Nepal) and for the cultural program Woord. The experiences of hospitality and cultural translation that Hubert accumulated on his many journeys supported his work as a teacher and guide; he was always ready with a hint of how one might better navigate the awkward state of being a stranger in a new place. With the birth of his daughter Cascia in 1972, Hubert’s travels paused for several years as he took a position tutoring at the Royal Atheneum in Ostend. He also worked as an art critic with a coastal weekly and lectured with concert tours of Nepalese classical musicians, cārya dancers, and the musicologist and performer Michel Dumont.In 1975, during extended layovers between India journeys, Hubert began a two-year period of training in Buddhist Chinese at the University of Louvain with pioneering Indologist and scholar of Buddhist Studies Étienne Lamotte. He recalled being particularly moved by the Buddhist teachings on impermanence he encountered in his initial studies. He also worked as a bronze-caster apprentice and assistant to sculptor—and student of Lamotte—Roland Monteyne. He then resumed his overland journeying full time, leading trips from London to Kathmandu. These included annual three-month layovers in Nepal, where he began studying Tibetan and Sanskrit with local tutors. He was a participant in the first conference of the Seminar of Young Tibetologists held in Zürich in 1977. In 1980 he settled permanently in Kathmandu, where he continued his private studies for seven years. During this period he also taught French at the Alliance Française and briefly served as secretary to the Consul at the French Embassy in Kathmandu. It was during the mid 1980s that Hubert began teaching American college students as a lecturer and fieldwork consultant for the Nepal Studies program of the School for International Training (then known as the Experiment in International Living) based in Kathmandu. In 1987 he was tasked with organizing SIT’s inaugural Tibetan Studies program, which ran in the fall of that year. Hubert served as the program’s academic director, a position he would hold for more than a decade. Under his direction, the Tibetan Studies program famously became SIT’s most nomadic college semester abroad, regularly traveling through India, Nepal, Bhutan, as well as western, central, and eastern Tibet. It was also during this period that Hubert produced some of his most memorable writings in the form of academic primers, assignments, and examinations. In 1999 Hubert stepped down as academic director to become the program’s senior faculty advisor, a position he held until his death.Hubert taught and lectured across Europe and the United States in positions that included visiting lecturer at Middlebury College and Numata visiting faculty member at the University of Vienna. Hubert’s writing covers broad swaths of geographical and historical territory, although he paid particular attention to the Buddhist traditions of Tibet and Nepal. His research focused on the transmission history of the Vajrabhairava tantras, traditional narrative accounts of the Swayambhū Purāṇa, the sacred geography of the Kathmandu Valley (his 2017 lecture on this topic, “Ambrosia for the Ears of Snowlanders,” is recorded here), and the biographies of the eleventh-century Bengali monk Atiśa. His style of presenting lectures was rooted in his work as a musician and lover of music—he prepared meticulously to be sure his talks were rhythmic, precise, and yet had an element of the spontaneous. One of his preferred mediums was the long-form book review, which incorporated new scholarship and original translations with erudite critiques of subjects ranging from Buddhist philosophy to art history and Tibetan music. His final publication, a forthcoming essay on an episode contained in the correspondence of the seventeenth-century Jesuit António de Andrade (translated by Michael Sweet and Leonard Zwilling in 2017), uses close readings of Tibetan historical sources and paintings to complicate and contextualize Andrade’s account of his mission to Tibet. This exemplifies the spirit and method of his review essays, which demonstrate his deep admiration of published scholarship through a meticulous consideration of the work and its sources, often leading to new discoveries. In addition to Hubert’s published work, some of his most endearing and enduring writing has appeared informally, in the guise of photocopied packets intended for his students. Each new semester of the SIT Tibetan Studies program would traditionally begin with what is technically called “The Academic Director’s Introduction and Welcome Letter.” These documents would be mailed out to students several weeks prior to the program, and for most other programs they were intended to inform incoming participants of the basic travel itinerary, required readings, and how many pairs of socks to pack. The Tibetan Studies welcome letter began as a humble, one-page handwritten note, impeccably penned in Hubert’s unmistakable hand. Hubert’s welcome letters evolved over the years, and they eventually morphed into collections of three or four original essays covering all manner of subjects related to Tibetan Studies, initial hints at how to approach cultural field studies, new research, and experiential education, as well as anecdotes from the previous semester illustrating major triumphs and minor disasters. The welcome letters became increasingly elaborate and in later years regularly reached fifty pages or more in length. The welcome letter for fall 1991, for example, included chapters titled “Scholarly Fever” and “The Field and the Armchair, and not ‘Stage-Struck’ in either.” By spring 1997, the welcome letter included original pieces of scholarship and translation, with a chapter on “The Case of the Royal Testaments” that presented innovative readings of the Maṇi bka’ ’bum. Only one element was missing from the welcome letter, a lacuna corrected in that same text of spring 1997, as noted by its title: Tibetan Studies Tales: An Academic Directors’ Welcome Letter—With Many Footnotes.Hubert was adamant that even college students on a study-abroad program could undertake original and creative research, either for assignments in Dharamsala, in Kathmandu or the hilly regions of Nepal, or during independent-study projects themselves, which became the capstone of the semester. Expectations were high, sometimes seemingly impossibly high, but with just the right amount of background information and encouragement, the results were often triumphs. Hubert regularly spent the months between semesters, or during the summer, producing another kind of SIT literature: the “assignment text.” These nearly always included extensive original translations of Tibetan materials and often extended background essays as well. They would usually end with a series of questions that would serve as the basis for a team research project. For fall 1994 there was “Cultural Neo-Colonialism in the Himalayas: The Politics of Enforced Religious Conversion”; later there was the assignment on the famous translator Rwa Lotsāwa called “The Melodious Drumsound All-Pervading: The Life and Complete Liberation of Majestic Lord Rwa Lotsāwa, the Yogin-Translator of Rwa, Mighty Lord in Magic Intervention.” There were extended translations of traditional pilgrimage guides for the Kathmandu Valley, including texts by the Fourth Khamtrul and the Sixth Zhamar hierarchs, for assignments where teams of students would race around the valley rim looking for an elusive footprint in stone or a guesthouse long in ruins that marked the turnoff of an old pilgrim’s trail. For many students these assignments were the first foray into field work methods, and Hubert's careful guidance helped them approach collaborations with local experts ethically and with deep respect for diverse forms of knowledge. One semester there was a project titled “The Mystery of the IV Brother Images, ’Phags pa mched bzhi” focused on the famous set of statues in Tibet and Nepal and based on new Tibetan materials that had only just come to light. Another examined the “The Tibetan World ‘Translated’ in Western Comics.” Finally, there was a classic of the genre that examined the creative nonconformity of the Bhutanese mad yogin Drugpa Kunleg in light of the American iconoclast composer and musician Frank Zappa: “A Dose of Drugpa Kunleg for the post–1984 Era: Prolegomena to a Review Article of the Real Frank Zappa Book.”Frank Zappa was, indeed, another of Hubert’s inspirations and his aforementioned review included the following passage: “If there’s one thing I do admire in FZ, it is precisely these ‘highest standards’ and utmost professional thoroughness that does not allow for any sloppiness (in the name of artistic freedom or spontaneous freedom)…. At the same time, each concert is really different, [and]…appears as a completely spontaneous event.” Hubert’s life as a scholar, teacher, and mentor was a consummate illustration of this highest ideal. Hubert is survived by his wife Nazneen Zafar; his daughter Cascia Decleer, son-in-law Diarmuid Conaty, and grandsons Keanu and Kiran Conaty; his sister Annie Decleer and brother-in-law Patrick van Calenbergh; his brother Misjel Decleer and sister-in-law Martine Thomaere; his stepmother Agnès Decleer, and half-brother Luc Decleer. A traditional cremation ceremony at the Bijeśvarī Vajrayoginī temple near Swayambhū is planned for Friday.Benjamin Bogin, Andrew Quintman, and Dominique TownsendPortions of this biographical sketch draw on the introduction to [[Himalayan Passages]]: Newar and Tibetan Studies in Honor of Hubert Decleer (Wisdom Publications, 2014))
Khetsun Sangpo + ('''Khetsün Zangpo Rinpoche''' ([[Wyl.]] … '''Khetsün Zangpo Rinpoche''' ([[Wyl.]] ''mkhas btsun bzang po rin po che'') (1920-2009) was born in Central Tibet in 1920 from a patrilineal descent of [[ngakpa]]s. He studied the [[sutra]]s and [[tantra]]s from 1937 to 1949. After which and until 1955 he mainly practised in closed retreat. In 1959 he fled Tibet for India where he first spent two years on retreat. Then he went to Japan to teach for 10 years at the request of Kyabjé [[Dudjom Rinpoche]]. Back in India he became in charge of the [[Library of Tibetan Works and Archives]] in [[Dharamsala]]. He is the author of many volumes of teachings including the outstanding ''Biographical Dictionary of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism'' in 12 vol.Rinpoche lived at his monastery in Sundarijal in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, which he established at the request of Kyabjé Dudjom Rinpoché. He passed into [[parinirvana]] on 6th December, 2009.He attended the historic gathering at [[Prapoutel 1990|Prapoutel]] in 1990. ([http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Khetsun_Zangpo_Rinpoche Source Accessed Jun 24, 2015])po_Rinpoche Source Accessed Jun 24, 2015]))
Elliot Sperling + ('''Obituary: Elliot Sperling (1951-2017)'' … '''Obituary: Elliot Sperling (1951-2017)''' by Tenzin Dorjee. (''HIMALAYA''. Volume 37, Number 1, pp 149-150)Professor Elliot Sperling’s death was a colossal tragedy byevery measure. He was only 66 years old, and he exudedlife, health, and purpose—the antithesis of death. Afterretiring from a long professorship at Indiana Universityin 2015, where he was director of the Tibetan Studiesprogram at the department of Central Eurasian Studies,Sperling moved back to his native New York. He bought anapartment in Jackson Heights, where he converted everywall into meticulously arranged bookshelves—only thewindows were spared. He was clearly looking forward toa busy retirement, living in what was basically a librarypretending to be an apartment.Sperling was the world’s foremost authority on historicalSino-Tibetan relations. For his landmark work “on the political, religious, cultural, and economic relations betweenTibet and China from the fourteenth through seventeenthcenturies,” he was awarded a MacArthur genius grant atthe age of 33.1He accumulated a compact but enduring body of work that defined and shaped Tibetan studiesover the last three decades. No less important, he was alsoa phenomenal teacher, storyteller, entertainer, whiskey connoisseur (he delighted in teaching us how to enjoythe peaty Scotch whiskies), and a passionate advocate forTibetan and Uyghur causes.Through his seminal writings on Tibet’s relations withChina during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, hebecame arguably the first historian to use both Chineselanguage archives and Tibetan language sources extensively, bringing to light the separation and independence thatcharacterized the relationship between the two nations.Until he came along, most Western academics viewedTibet through Chinese eyes, largely because they couldnot access Tibetan sources. Sperling, fluent in Tibetan aswell as Chinese, upended the old Sino-centric narrativeand transformed the field. Roberto Vitali, who organized afestschrift for Sperling in 2014, writes that Sperling’s work“will stay as milestones” in Tibetan studies.2 His writingshave become so central to the field that any scholar whowrites a paper about historical Sino-Tibetan relations cannot do so without paying homage to Sperling’s work. He is,so to speak, the Hegel of Sino-Tibetan history.One can imagine the joy many of us felt when ProfessorSperling chose to make his home in Jackson Heights, thesecond (if unofficial) capital of the exile Tibetan world—after Dharamsala, India. We saw him at demonstrations atthe Chinese consulate, art openings at Tibet House, poetrynights at Little Tibet restaurant, and sometimes at dinnerparties in the neighborhood. At every gathering, he heldcourt as the intellectual life of the party. His friends andstudents bombarded him with questions on topics rangingfrom art to politics to linguistics, for his erudition wasnot limited to history alone. Unfailingly generous andeloquent, he supplied the most intriguing, insightful andexhaustive answers to every question. Each conversationwith him was a scholarly seminar. Among the circle ofTibetan activists and artists living in New York City,Sperling quickly fell into a sort of second professorship, anunderground tenure without the trappings of university.We weren’t about to let him retire so easily.Some of Professor Sperling’s most influential early worksinclude: The 5th Karma-pa and Some Aspects of the RelationshipBetween Tibet and the Early Ming (1980); The 1413 MingEmbassy to Tsong-ka-pa and the Arrival of Byams-chen chos-rjeShakya ye-shes at the Ming Court (1982); Did the Early MingEmperors Attempt to Implement a ‘Divide and Rule’ Policy inTibet? (1983); and The Ho Clan of Ho-chou: A Tibetan Family inService to the Yuan and Ming Dynasties (1990) among others.One of my personal favorites in his corpus is The 5th Karmapa and Some Aspects of the Relationship Between Tibet and theEarly Ming. In this text, Sperling argues that in the earlyyears following the collapse of the Mongol Yuan dynasty in1367, the Ming rulers of China adopted a non-expansionistforeign policy, displaying greater interest in drawing clearboundaries to keep the ‘barbarians’ out of China thanin expanding its boundaries to encroach into non-Mingterritories. Ming China was initially conceived more asan inward-looking state than an outward-looking empire,partly in critique of the ruthless expansionism of theirpredecessors, the Mongol Yuan rulers. In fact, Sperlingquotes from the very proclamation carried by the firstmission that Ming Taitsu, or the Hongwu Emperor, sent toTibet::Formerly, the hu people [i.e. the Mongols] usurped:authority in China. For over a hundred years caps:and sandals were in reversed positions. Of all:hearts, which did not give rise to anger? In recent:years, the hu rulers lost hold of the government….:Your Tibetan state is located in the western lands.:China is now united, but I am afraid that you have:still not heard about this. Therefore this proclamation [is sent].3 Sperling goes on to write that this “first mission is acknowledged by Chinese records to have met with nosuccess,” and that necessitated the dispatching of a secondmission.4In ''Did the Early Ming Emperors Attempt to Implement a “Divide and Rule” Policy in Tibet?''5Sperling defies decades of conventional wisdom with a bold argument when he writes::The Chinese court was never, in fact, able to mount:a military expedition beyond the Sino-Tibetan:frontier regions. This fact becomes strikingly:obvious as one glances through both Tibetan and:Chinese sources for the period in question…. Unable:to protect its embassies or even to retaliate against:attacks on them, China was hardly in a position to:manifest the kind of power needed to implement a:policy of “divide and rule” in Tibet.For many Tibetans who care about seemingly inconsequential details of the murky Sino-Tibetan relations from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries, a historical period that has become a domain of highly charged information battles between Dharamsala and Beijing, Sperling’s writings are like a constellation of bright lamps illuminating the tangled web of Sino-Tibetan history. He excavated critical pieces of Tibet’s deep past from the forbidding archives of antiquity, arranged them in a coherent narrative, and virtually placed in our hands several centuries of our own history.Elliot Sperling’s academic stature would have allowedhim to be an ivory tower intellectual. Instead, he choseto be a true ally of the Tibetan people and an unwaveringchampion of Tibetan freedom. While he studied withTaktser Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama’s elder brother, hemaintained lifelong friendships with the people he metin Dharamsala: Tashi Tsering (the preeminent Tibetanhistorian), Jamyang Norbu (the rebel intellectual andaward-winning author), Peter Brown (the ‘AmericanKhampa’ and a brother in the Tibetan struggle). Sperlingjoined many of us in the trenches of activism, alwaysencouraging us to embark on bigger and bolder advocacycampaigns for Tibet. Speaking in his Bronx-accentedTibetan, he told us that if only Tibetans studied our historymore seriously, we would be able to believe that Tibet willbe free again.A sharp and fearless critic of Beijing, Sperling neitherminced his words nor censored his writings under fear ofbeing banned from China. Even when he taught in Beijingfor a semester, where he developed a close friendship withthe Tibetan poet Woeser, he successfully avoided the trapof self-censorship that has neutered so many scholars in our time.6While railing against Beijing’s atrocities in Tibet, he managed to be critical of Dharamsala’s excessively conciliatory stance toward Beijing.7His provocative critiques of the Tibetan leadership sometimes made us uncomfortable, but that was exactly the impact he was seeking as a teacher who cared deeply about Tibet: to awaken and educate us by pushing us into our discomfort zone. “Having a teacher like Sperling was a bit like having access to a genius, a father, and some sort of bodhi all in one,” says Sara Conrad, a doctoral student at Indiana University who studied with Sperling for many years. “A walking encyclopedia, I felt I could learn a lot just being near him—and he took every opportunity to teach me. I benefited learning from him about Tibet and Tibetan of course, but also about parenthood and morality, music and comedy. In terms of academia he told me I must be able to live with myself after I write, and therefore it is always best to be honest.”In recent years, Sperling took up the case of Ilham Tohti,the Uyghur intellectual sentenced to life imprisonmentby Beijing. He played a key role in raising Tohti’s profileas a prisoner of conscience, nominating him for humanrights awards. He took Tohti’s daughter, Jewher, underhis wing and oversaw her wellbeing and education. InJewher’s own words, Elliot Sperling became “like a secondfather” to her. His friendship with Ilahm Tohti and Jewherexemplified the compassion and generosity with which hetreated everyone. Sure, he made his mark in this world as ascholar, but his monumental intellect was matched by hisunbounded kindness, altruism, and humanity.“Professor Sperling was the moral compass of Tibetan studies,” said fellow historian Carole McGranahan at Sperling’s March 11 memorial in New York. His untimely deathhas left an abyss in our hearts and a chasm in the world of Tibetology. Christophe Besuchet, a fellow activist, remarked that it is “as if a whole library had burned down.”Even so, it is worth remembering that Sperling has already done far more than his fair share of good in the world, and he deserves a rest (or a break, if you consider it from a Buddhist perspective). In the course of 66 years, he lived multiple lifetimes—as a taxi driver, hippie, scholar, mentor, activist, father—each one more productive and meaningful than the last. He has engraved his spirit so deeply in the lives of so many of us that, in a way, he is still alive. And while one library has burned down, there are thousands of libraries where his words still live and breathe.''Endnotes'' 1. MacArthur Foundation, <https://www.macfound.org/fellows/236/> (accessed 6 March 2017).2. Roberto Vitali, “For Elliot from a Friend,” InternationalAssociation for Tibetan Studies. Also see Trails of the TibetanTradition: Papers for Elliot Sperling, edited by Roberto Vitali(Amnye Machen Institute: 2014).3. Elliot Sperling, “5th Karmapa and Some Aspects ofthe Relationship Between Tibet and the Early Ming,” inMichael Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi, eds., Tibetans Studiesin Honour of Hugh Richardson, Warminster, 1980 (publishedin translation as Shiboling, “Wushi Gamaba yiji Xizanghe Mingchu de guanxi yaolue,” in Guowai Zangxue yanjiuyiwenji, vol. 2, Lhasa, 1987), pp.279-289.4. Ibid.5. Elliot Sperling, “Divide and Rule Policy in Tibet,” inErnst Steinkellner, ed., Contributions on Tibetan Language,History and Culture. Proceedings of the Csoma de KorosSymposium Held at Velm-Vienna, Austria, 13-19 September1981, Vienna, 1983, pp.339-356.6. See Tsering Woeser, “A Chronicle of Elliot Sperling,”in Trails of the Tibetan Tradition: Papers for Elliot Sperling,Roberto Vitali eds., (published by Amnye Machen Institute,2014).7. He has criticized the Dalai Lama’s ‘Middle WayApproach’ to dealing with China as too conciliatory. Seehis article Self-Delusion, <http://info-buddhism.com/SelfDelusion_Middle-Way-Approach_Dalai-Lama_Exile_CTA_Sperling.html#f1>.'''Tenzin Dorjee''' is a writer, activist, and a researcher at TibetAction Institute. His monograph The Tibetan NonviolentStruggle: A Strategic and Historical Analysis was publishedin 2015 by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.His writings have been published in various forums includingGlobal Post, Courier International, Tibetan Review, TibetTimes, and the CNN blog. He is a regular commentatoron Tibet-related issues for Radio Free Asia, Voice ofAmerica, and Voice of Tibet. He served as the ExecutiveDirector of Students for a Free Tibet from 2009 to 2013.An earlier version of this obituary was published in theHuffington Post <https://www.huffpost.com/entry/remembering-elliot-sperling-personal-reflections-on_b_5899c990e4b0985224db59cb>.t-sperling-personal-reflections-on_b_5899c990e4b0985224db59cb>.)