2008
Dr. Kenichi Kuranishi
August 2008—
Kenichi Kuranishi (倉西憲一) was recently awarded a doctorate from Tōhoku University. His dissertation on the Yamāri tantras focused on the writings of Śrīdhara. Dr. Kuranishi joins the CTS in order to extend his research on this group of texts.
Prof. Jacob Dalton
May 7—July 15, 2008
Jacob Dalton, visiting as the Numata Professor for Buddhist Studies, joined the Centre for Summer Semester, 2008 to teach two classes. He is currently Professor of Religious Studies at Yale University, and spent three years working at the International Dunhuang Project, where he co-authored (with Sam van Schaik) the catalogue Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts from Dunhuang. Prof. Dalton is completing a monograph on the role of violence in the tantric Buddhism of Tibet.
[ List of Publications: PDF ]
Fan Muyou
January 17—24, 2008
Fan Muyou (范慕尤), a PhD student at Peking University, working under the supervision of Prof. Duan Qing (段晴) on the Advayasamatāvijayatantra, visited the Centre for Tantric Studies, and discussed her work with Prof. Isaacson. Reading sessions on the Advayasamatāvijayatantra were also joined by CTS associate Iain Sinclair and visiting scholar Dr. Kazuo Kanō.
Alberta Ferrario
December 2007—January 28, 2008
Alberta Ferrario, a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania, visited in connection with her work on the Tantrāloka of Abhinavagupta. Selections from the Tantrāloka were read with Prof. Isaacson.
2007
David Templeman
November 15, 2007
David Templeman, visiting from Monash Asia Institute, Melbourne, gave a presentation on his doctoral research into the life of Tāranātha:
• Tāranātha: A ‘Virtual Indian’ in 16th–17th Century Tibet.
Paolo Giunta & Camilla Palmorali
November 12–16, 2007
Two students, Paolo Giunta (University of Rome “La Sapienza”) and Camilla Palmaroli (University of Naples “L’Orientale”), visited the CTS for a week in connection with their doctoral studies.
Dr. Tōru Tomabechi
July 11–14, 2007 [Biography]
Dr. Tomabechi, a researcher with the IKGA, Vienna, presented groundbreaking findings on an important early Vajrayāna text:
• An Adhyardhaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā Manuscript from Tibet
Returning Visitors
Dr. Kazuo Kanō
2008
June 2007—
A number of tantric and non-tantric Buddhist texts were studied by Kazuo Kanō (加納和雄) in the course of his postdoctoral research at Hamburg. Dr. Kanō has been reading parts of Abhayākaragupta’s Āmnāyamañjarī and Rin chen bzang po’s commentary on Luyipāda’s Abhisamaya with Prof. Isaacson and other CTS associates.
Dr. Yong-Hyun Lee
July 2008
July 2007
Dr. Lee, a specialist in Indian tantric Buddhism, visited the Centre to discuss aspects of his work on the Sampuṭatantra.
Prof. Francesco Sferra
April–July 2007
29 April–4 May 2008
[Biography]
Prof. Sferra, visiting as the Numata Professor for Buddhist Studies, joined the Centre for the duration of Summer Semester, 2007. Classes taught by Prof. Sferra included readings in Rāmapāla’s Sekanirdeśapañjikā (jointly taught with Prof. Isaacson) and Kamalaśīla’s Bhāvanākrama I.
In 2008 Prof. Sferra returned to give a presentation of his work on Śaiva language theory:
• The Nāda Theory of Language: A Śaiva Perspective on Verbal Communication