Yiannopoulos, A.

Yiannopoulos, A. on the DRL

Authors of English Works

Alexander Yiannopoulos

English Phonetics	Alexander Yiannopoulos
Sort Name	Yiannopoulos, Alexander

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Biographical Information

Dr. Alexander Yiannopoulos (Ph.D. 2020, Emory University) has been studying and practicing Buddhadharma since 2005, when he took refuge under the Bodhi Tree with Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Dr. Yiannopoulos is a graduate of the M.A. program in Buddhist Studies and Himalayan Languages at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he studied for six years, and completed his first Fulbright research fellowship.

His Master’s thesis, “Luminosity: Reflexive Awareness in Ratnākaraśānti’s Pith Instructions for the Ornament of the Middle Way,” comprising the complete translation of an important philosophical work by the eleventh century scholar and tantric ritual specialist Ratnākaraśānti (also known as the Mahāsiddha, Śāntipa), examines the latter’s synthesis of the Madhyamaka and Yogācāra traditions of Buddhist philosophy, with the concept of “luminosity” (prakāśa) or “reflexive awareness” (svasaṃvitti) derived from the pan-Indian epistemological tradition of pramāṇa literature.

This focus on “luminosity” or “clear light” (Tib. ‘od gsal)—a key term in the contemplative practices of Mahamudra and Dzogchen—within their original Indian philosophical context continued in Yiannopoulos’ Ph.D. dissertation, “The Structure of Dharmakīrti’s Philosophy: A Study of Object-Cognition in the Perception Chapter (pratyakṣapariccheda) of the Pramāṇasamuccaya, the Pramāṇavārttika, and Their Earliest Commentaries,” the research for which was conducted at the Central University for Tibetan Studies in Sarnath, India, during his second Fulbright research fellowship.

Drawing on a wide range of previously-untranslated primary literature, this study of object-cognition in the Perception Chapter of Diṅnāga’s seminal Pramāṇasamuccaya and Dharmakīrti’s massively influential Pramāṇavārttika explores how the Buddhist account of sensory knowledge relates to the Buddhist account of ultimate, nondual gnosis (prajñā)—and, by extension, provides a model for understanding how Buddhist philosophy may be integrated with Buddhist practice. (Source Accessed June 5, 2023)

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Full Name

Alexander Yiannopoulos

Affiliation

Kathmandu University

In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas.

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

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

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

In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas.

An important term for the Yogācāra that refers to a consciousness of consciousness itself, or how one knows that they know something. It was a hotly debated topic that was disputed by followers of the Madhyamaka. In Tibet it would later become a common Dzogchen term, though with the entirely different meaning of one's own innate awareness (rig pa), a crucial concept in the Dzogchen teachings.

In the Buddhist literature on pramāṇa, it refers to cognition that correctly apprehends its object without any deception or mistake. Such correct cognition include direct perception and inferential cognition.

In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas.

Literally, "without duality," it refers to that which is indivisible, in that it is not divided into two.

One of the key terms for wisdom or knowledge, most often having the sense of insight, transcendent knowledge, or perhaps gnosis. In some contexts it can also refer to cognition or intellectual understanding.