Janet Gyatso

Last updated
Janet Gyatso
Born
Janet Frank

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Education University of California, Berkeley (BA, MA, PhD)
Occupation(s)Professor of Buddhist Studies, Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs
Years active1981- current
Employer Harvard Divinity School
Known forStudy of Buddhism and Tibetan and South Asian culture
Notable work (See § Works.)

Janet Gyatso is a Religious Studies scholar currently employed as the Hershey Professor of Buddhist Studies and the Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs at Harvard Divinity School. [1] She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Gyatso's research interests are in Buddhism and its relationship to Tibetan and South Asian civilizations. [1]

Contents

Education

Gyatso attended the University of California at Berkeley for her BA, MA and PhD. She received her PhD in 1981 in the department of South and Southeast Asian Languages and Literatures [at Berkeley,] with a dissertation on Thangtong Gyalpo and the visionary tradition of Tibetan Buddhism [2] [3] Prior to her PhD, she completed her Master of Arts in 1974 in Sanskrit, and her Bachelor of Arts in 1972 in Religious studies at Berkeley.

Career

Gyatso currently teaches at Harvard Divinity School and has taught with Harvard since 2001. [4] She is the first Hershey Professor of Buddhist Studies at Harvard's Divinity School and is the Associate Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs. Prior to teaching at Harvard, Gyatso taught at Amherst College (between 1987 and 2001), the University of Michigan (Spring 1999) and Wesleyan University (1986–87; Spring 1988). [3]

From 2000 to 2006, Gyatso held the position of president of the International Association of Tibetan Studies. From 2004 to 2010, she was co-chair of the Buddhism Section of the American Academy of Religion. [1] She has also served as a Humanities jury member for the Infosys Prize from 2020. [5]

Research

Gyatso is known for her work on Tibet, primarily through text analysis and has focused on the twelfth to eighteenth centuries, examining the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet and its eventual status as mainstream in Tibet. Her first monograph explored the writing of autobiography in Tibet, and translated and analysed one of its most beautiful examples, the visionary journals of 'Jigs med gling pa (Apparitions of the Self, Princeton, 1998). Her more recent book, Being Human in a Buddhist World, studied the relationship between Buddhism and medicine in early modern Tibet. [6] Her work has been credited by Barbara Gerke as helping to develop our understanding of the relationship between science and religion in early modern Tibetan culture. [7]

Gyatso has also edited a book entitled Women in Tibet, a compilation of essays on the topic. [8] Gyatso and her fellow editor Hannah Havnevik put this book together to draw attention to the lack of research in the area of women in Tibet. [8] A previous edited collection by Gyatso was "In the Mirror of Memory" (State University of New York Press, 1992), a study of the types of memory theorized and used in Buddhist practice. Other topics of interest have been the reception of Indian poetic theory in Tibetan literature, the nature of experience in Buddhist thought and practice, Buddhist monasticism, and Buddhist conceptions of sex and gender, including the "third sex". She is currently working on animal ethics.

Works

Books

Articles

Awards and accolades

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dzogchen</span> Tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism

Dzogchen, also known as atiyoga, is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. The goal of Dzogchen is knowledge of this basis, this knowledge is called rigpa. There are spiritual practices taught in various Dzogchen systems for awakening rigpa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gelug</span> Dominant school of Tibetan Buddhism

The Gelug is the newest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), a Tibetan philosopher, tantric yogi and lama and further expanded and developed by his disciples.

The relationship between Buddhism and science is a subject of contemporary discussion and debate among Buddhists, scientists, and scholars of Buddhism. Historically, Buddhism encompasses many types of beliefs, traditions and practices, so it is difficult to assert any single "Buddhism" in relation to science. Similarly, the issue of what "science" refers to remains a subject of debate, and there is no single view on this issue. Those who compare science with Buddhism may use "science" to refer to "a method of sober and rational investigation" or may refer to specific scientific theories, methods or technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Thurman</span> American Buddhist writer and academic

Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman is an American Buddhist author and academic who has written, edited, and translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. He was the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, before retiring in June 2019. He was the first endowed chair in Buddhist Studies in the West. He also is the co-founder and president of the Tibet House US New York. He translated the Vimalakirti Sutra from the Tibetan Kanjur into English. He is the father of actress Uma Thurman.

A tulku is a distinctive and significant aspect of Tibetan Buddhism, embodying the concept of enlightened beings taking corporeal forms to continue the lineage of specific teachings. The term "tulku" has its origins in the Tibetan word "sprul sku", which originally referred to an emperor or ruler taking human form on Earth, signifying a divine incarnation. Over time, this term evolved within Tibetan Buddhism to denote the corporeal existence of highly accomplished Buddhist masters whose purpose is to ensure the preservation and transmission of a particular lineage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelsang Gyatso</span> Tibetan writer and former religious leader (1931–2022)

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso was a Buddhist monk, meditation teacher, scholar, and author. He was the founder and spiritual director of the New Kadampa Tradition-International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU), a registered non-profit, modern Buddhist organization that came out of the Gelugpa school/lineage. They have 1,300 centres around the world, including temples, city temples and retreat centres that offer an accessible approach to ancient wisdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyingma</span> School of Tibetan Buddhism

Nyingma, often referred to as Ngangyur, is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan in the eighth century, during the reign of King Trisong Detsen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5th Dalai Lama</span> Spiritual leader of Tibet from 1642 to 1682

Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso was the 5th Dalai Lama and the first Dalai Lama to wield effective temporal and spiritual power over all Tibet. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being a key religious and temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet. Gyatso is credited with unifying all Tibet under the Ganden Phodrang after a Mongol military intervention which ended a protracted era of civil wars. As an independent head of state, he established relations with the Qing empire and other regional countries and also met early European explorers. Gyatso also wrote 24 volumes' worth of scholarly and religious works on a wide range of subjects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeshe Tsogyal</span> First female lama in Tibetan Buddhism

Yeshe Tsogyal, also known as "Victorious Ocean of Knowledge", "Knowledge Lake Empress", or by her Sanskrit name Jñānasāgara "Knowledge Ocean", or by her clan name "Lady Kharchen", attained enlightenment in her lifetime and is considered the Mother of Tibetan Buddhism. Yeshe Tsogyal is the highest woman in the Nyingma Vajrayana lineage. Some sources say she, as Princess of Karchen, was either a wife or consort of Tri Songdetsen, emperor of Tibet, when she began studying Buddhism with Padmasambhava, who became her main karmamudrā consort. Padmasambhava is a founder-figure of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and is considered as a second buddha of our era. She is known to have revealed terma with Padmasambhava and was also the main scribe for these terma. Later, Yeshe Tsogyal also hid many of Padmasambhava's terma on her own, under the instructions of Padmasambhava for future generations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Kadampa Tradition</span> Buddhist new religious movement founded in 1991

The New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT—IKBU) is a global Buddhist new religious movement founded by Kelsang Gyatso in England in 1991. In 2003 the words "International Kadampa Buddhist Union" (IKBU) were added to the original name "New Kadampa Tradition". The NKT-IKBU is an international organisation registered in England as a charitable, or non-profit, company. It currently lists more than 200 centres and around 900 branch classes/study groups in 40 countries. The BBC describe the New Kadampa Tradition as "one of the major Buddhist schools in the UK, founded by the Tibetan-born Geshe Kelsang Gyatso."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jigme Lingpa</span> Nyingma Buddhist Lama (1730–1798)

Jigme Lingpa (1730–1798) was a Tibetan tertön of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the promulgator of the Longchen Nyingthig, the Heart Essence teachings of Longchenpa, from whom, according to tradition, he received a vision in which the teachings were revealed. The Longchen Nyingthik eventually became the most famous and widely practiced cycle of Dzogchen teachings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traditional Tibetan medicine</span> Traditional medical system

Traditional Tibetan medicine, also known as Sowa-Rigpa medicine, is a centuries-old traditional medical system that employs a complex approach to diagnosis, incorporating techniques such as pulse analysis and urinalysis, and utilizes behavior and dietary modification, medicines composed of natural materials and physical therapies to treat illness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dadar (ritual tool)</span>

The Dadar, or arrow often though not always dressed with rainbow ribbon, is a teaching tool, ritual instrument symbol for Nyingmapa and Bonpo Dzogchenpa and is a particular attribute for Mandarava and Saraha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desi Sangye Gyatso</span> Tibetan regent and scholar (1653–1705)

Desi Sangye Gyatso (1653–1705) was the sixth regent (desi) of the 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682) in the Ganden Phodrang government. He founded the School of Medicine and Astrology called Men-Tsee-Khang on Chagpori in 1694 and wrote the Blue Beryl treatise. His name is sometimes written as Sangye Gyamtso and Sans-rGyas rGya-mTsho

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seventeen tantras</span> Collection of Dzogchen tantras

The Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instruction Series or the Seventeen Tantras of the Ancients are an important collection of tantras in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. They comprise the core scriptures of the "esoteric instruction series" (Menngagde) of Dzogchen teachings and are its most authoritative scriptures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuthok Yontan Gonpo the Younger</span> Tibetan doctor and ngakpa (1126–1202)

Yuthok Yonten Gonpo the Younger (1126–1202) was a Tibetan doctor and ngakpa, credited with composing the Four Medical Tantras, a four-book treatise on Traditional Tibetan Medicine which forms the main course of study in the Tibetan medical tradition. He is widely regarded as the main founder of Tibetan medicine, mostly based on his composition of the Four Medical Tantras. His other important contribution to Tibetan culture was the Yuthok Nyingthik, whose full name is the Yuthok Nyingthik Guru Sādhanā, ‘Compassionate Sunlight for Dispersing Suffering’s Darkness’, which is the main Tantric Buddhist practice-cycle associated with Tibetan medicine. It is traditionally considered to be an important spiritual component of healing in Tibetan medical culture, and moreover is regarded in all Tibetan Buddhist traditions as a very special method for attaining awakening and realization quickly.

Buddhists, predominantly from India, first actively disseminated their practices in Tibet from the 6th to the 9th centuries CE. During the Era of Fragmentation, Buddhism waned in Tibet, only to rise again in the 11th century. With the Mongol invasion of Tibet and the establishment of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) in China, Tibetan Buddhism spread beyond Tibet to Mongolia and China. From the 14th to the 20th centuries, Tibetan Buddhism was patronized by the Chinese Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and the Manchurian Qing dynasty (1644–1912) which ruled China.

Tibetan autobiography, or, rangnam, is a form of autobiography native to Tibetan Buddhism.

Shentong is term for a type of Buddhist view on emptiness (śūnyatā), Madhyamaka, and the two truths in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. It is often contrasted with the term rangtong ("self-emptiness"). The term refers to a range of views held by different Tibetan Buddhist figures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khandro Lhamo</span> Doctor of Tibetan medicine

Khandro Lhamo was a doctor of Tibetan medicine, who was also a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism who helped to build and maintain Shechen Monastery in Nepal.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Janet Gyatso". hds.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  2. ↑ "Digital Dharma". digitaldharma.com. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  3. 1 2 hwpi.harvard.edu http://hwpi.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/gyatso_cv_aug2011.pdf . Retrieved 2018-12-10.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ "Janet Gyatso | Harvard University - Academia.edu". harvard.academia.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  5. ↑ "Infosys Prize - Jury 2020". www.infosys-science-foundation.com. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  6. ↑ Gyatso, Janet (2015). Being Human in a Buddhist World: An Intellectual History of Medicine in Early Modern Tibet. Columbia University Press. ISBN   978-0-231-53832-9.
  7. ↑ Barbara, Gerke (2016-05-27). Review of ' Being Human in a Buddhist World: An Intellectual History of Medicine in Early Modern Tibet' by Janet Gyatso. Himalaya, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies. OCLC   954619043.
  8. 1 2 Gyatso, Janet & Havnevik, Hanna (eds.) (2005). Women in Tibet. C. Hurst. ISBN   978-1850656531. OCLC   248178272.{{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Samuel, Geoffrey (2016-08-01). "Janet Gyatso, Being Human in a Buddhist World: An Intellectual History of Medicine in Early Modern Tibet". Social History of Medicine. 29 (3): 634–636. doi:10.1093/shm/hkw024. ISSN   0951-631X.
  10. ↑ Salguero, C. Pierce (2016-03-30). "Being Human in a Buddhist World: An Intellectual History of Medicine in Early Modern Tibet by Janet Gyatso (review)". Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 90 (1): 150–152. doi:10.1353/bhm.2016.0007. ISSN   1086-3176. S2CID   76005620.
  11. ↑ Kværne, Per (2016-12-21). "Gyatso Janet, Being human in a Buddhist world. An intellectual history of medicine in early modern Tibet. New York, Columbia University Press, 2015, x + 519 pages, ISBN 978-0-231-16496-2". Études Mongoles et Sibériennes, Centrasiatiques et Tibétaines (47). doi: 10.4000/emscat.2843 . ISSN   0766-5075.
  12. ↑ Katharina Sabernig, "Janet Gyatso. Being Human in a Buddhist World: An Intellectual History of Medicine in Early Modern Tibet.," Isis 107, no. 1 (March 2016): 148-149.
  13. ↑ Geoffrey, Samuel (2000). "Reviewed Work: Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary by Janet Gyatso". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 68 (3): 642–644. JSTOR   1465902.
  14. ↑ Willis, Janice D. (2000). "Reviewed Work: Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary by Janet Gyatso". History of Religions. 39 (4): 390–393. doi:10.1086/463608. JSTOR   3176552.
  15. ↑ Samuel, Geoffrey (2000). "Reviewed Work: Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary by Janet Gyatso". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 68 (3): 642–644. doi:10.1093/jaarel/68.3.642. JSTOR   1465902.
  16. ↑ Lavine, Amy (1999). "Reviewed Work: Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary by Janet Gyatso". The Journal of Religion. 79 (3): 511–512. doi:10.1086/490491. JSTOR   1205529.
  17. ↑ Bartholomeusz, Tessa; Gyatso, Janet (1993). "In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections of Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism". The Journal of Asian Studies. 52 (4): 1053. doi:10.2307/2059409. ISSN   0021-9118. JSTOR   2059409. S2CID   165239619.
  18. ↑ Fox, Alan; Gyatso, Janet (1997). "In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism". Philosophy East and West. 47 (4): 616. doi:10.2307/1400312. ISSN   0031-8221. JSTOR   1400312.
  19. ↑ "Janet Gyatso Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences". hds.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  20. ↑ "Announcements - Buddhist Studies - University of California, Berkeley". buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.