The Institute of Buddhist Studies, Tring, UK

The Institute of Buddhist Studies, Tring, UK

The Institute of Buddhist Studies in Tring, Hertfordshire, UK, was a scholarly academic institution closely associated with Professor Tadeusz Skorupski of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. It was primarily active as a research and publishing body from the late 1980s through the early 2000s.

Focus and Purpose
The Institute was dedicated to advancing serious academic scholarship in the field of Buddhist studies, with a particular emphasis on Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhist ritual, Tantric texts, and Buddhist literature in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and other canonical languages.

Key Publications
The Institute is perhaps best known for its publishing output, particularly two major series:

• Buddhica Britannica — a monograph series publishing significant works in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist scholarship. Notable titles include The Buddhist Heritage (1989), Indo-Tibetan Studies (1990, honouring Professor David L. Snellgrove), The Cult of the Deity Vajrakīla by Martin Boord (1993), The Bodhisattvapiṭaka by Ulrich Pagel (1995), and works on Buddhist asceticism and Tibetan lama traditions.

• The Buddhist Forum — a scholarly journal series originally launched in partnership with SOAS (volumes 1–5), with the Institute publishing volume 6 independently (2001). The Forum grew out of seminars hosted at SOAS between 1987 and 1997.

The Institute also published standalone works such as Skorupski's Kriyāsaṃgraha: Compendium of Buddhist Rituals (2002) and The Six Perfections (2002).

Connection to SOAS
The Tring institution had a very close relationship with SOAS, and much of its work was tied to the Buddhist Studies academic community centred there. Professor Skorupski, a specialist in Tibetan Buddhism and Sanskrit Buddhist texts, appears to have been its central driving figure and editor.

Note on Name
It's worth noting that there is a separate and unrelated Institute of Buddhist Studies (IBS) based in Berkeley, California, affiliated with the Jodo Shinshu (Shin Buddhist) tradition, which has since digitally archived some of the Tring institution's journal publications. These are distinct organisations despite sharing the same name. The Tring Institute appears to have ceased active publishing around the early-to-mid 2000s, but its publications remain significant references in the academic study of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and are held in major university libraries worldwide.