Märt Läänemets

Märt Läänemets

Märt Läänemets (born July 14, 1962 in Avinurme) is an Estonian orientalist. His main research interests are Mahāyāna Buddhism and the history of Chinese thought. He has published translations from Chinese, Sanskrit, and English. He has written opinion pieces on contemporary Chinese politics.

He was an associate professor (2016–2020) and head of the Oriental Studies Centre at the University of Tartu, and the president of the Estonian Academic Oriental Society. He teaches Mandarin Chinese and Sanskrit at the University of Tartu and has given lecture courses on Eastern topics. One of the authors of the Lexicon of the History of Eastern Thought (together with Linnart Mäll and Teet Toome).

In 2009, he defended his doctoral thesis "Gandavyūha-sūtra as a Historical Source" at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Tartu. Together with Gao Jingyi, he compiled the first Chinese language textbook specifically designed for Estonian learners (Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, 2015). (Adapted from Source Jan 7, 2025)

Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt महायान  Tib ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ།  Ch 大乘  

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Sūtra - Sūtras mainly refer to the discourses delivered by the Buddha and his disciples, and the Sūtra corpus is one of the three main sets of teachings which form the Buddhist canon. Skt सूत्र  Tib མདོ།  Ch 佛经  

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