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Virginia Blum is the resident translator at Drong Ngur Jangchubling Buddhist Center, and has been translating and interpreting the Dharma since 2006 assisting Buddhist teachers around the world. Virginia is fluent in both Tibetan and Spanish and has been engaged in Buddhist meditation and study since 1999. She has studied Tibetan language in a number of immersive programs, including a two-year translation training program at Songsten Library in Dehradun, India, the Tibetan Summer Intensive Training at Rangjung Yeshe in Kathmandu, Nepal, as well as the Tibetan Language Intensive Training Course at the University of Virginia. She regularly participates in extended meditation retreats of both Tibetan and Theravada Buddhist traditions and is currently participating in The Community Dharma Leader Training Program at Spirit Rock Insight Meditation Center. ([https://dnjus.org/resident-translator/ Source Accessed June 24, 2021]) +
Also known as Po-yüan or Po Fa-tsu. A priest and a translator of Buddhist texts during the late Western Chin dynasty (265–316) in China. He built a Buddhist monastery at Ch'ang-an, where he translated and lectured on Buddhist scriptures. In 305 he set out for Lung-yu, where he intended to live in retirement. He was killed along the way, however, because of his refusal to work for Chang Fu, the local governor of Ch'in-chou, and also because of accusations lodged by someone he had defeated in debate. The Buddha's Parinirvāna Sutra, one of the Hinayana versions of the Nirvana Sutra, was translated by Fa-tsu. ([https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/F/14 Source Accessed Sep 3, 2021]) +
(Chokle Namgyal) (1376-1451). The twenty-third abbot of Bo dong E monastery, founded in about 1049 by the Bka' gdams geshe (dge bshes) Mu dra pa chen po, and the founder of the Bo dong tradition. His collected works, said to number thirty-six titles, include his huge encyclopedic work ''De nyid 'dus pa'' ("Compendium of the Principles"); it alone runs to 137 volumes in the incomplete edition published by the Tibet House in Delhi. Phyogs las rnam rgyal (who is sometimes confused with Jo nang pa Phyogs las rnam rgyal who lived some fifty years earlier) was a teacher of Dge 'dun grub (retroactively named the first Dalai Lama) and Mkhas grub Dge legs dpal bzang, both students of Tsong kha pa. Among his disciples was the king of Gung thang, Lha dbang rgyal mtshan (1404–1463), whose daughter Chos kyi sgron me (1422–1455) became a nun after the death of her daughter and then the head of Bsam lding (Samding) monastery, which her father founded for her. The monastery is the only Tibetan monastery whose abbot is traditionally a woman; incarnations are said to be those of the goddess Vajravārāhī (T. Rdo rje phag mo), "Sow-Headed Goddess." (Source: "Bo dong Phyogs las rnam rgyal." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 139. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944), born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York and New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Society and has edited and authored several publications grounded in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhikkhu_Bodhi Source Accessed Feb 27, 2023]) +
Bodhibhadra was a prominent Buddhist scholar and meditation master resident at Nalanda, the great monastic university of northeastern India, during the late tenth century CE. He is best known as one of the principal teachers of Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna (980/982–1054 CE), to whom he transmitted the bodhisattva vows and teachings on bodhicitta — the altruistic aspiration toward enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. After completing these instructions, Bodhibhadra directed Atiśa to the master Vidyākokila, setting him on the path of study that would shape his entire career. Bodhibhadra's influence extended beyond personal teaching: his main surviving work, the ''Samādhisaṃbhāraparivarta'', preserved in the Tibetan Tangyur, outlines nine accumulations for meditative cultivation and was drawn upon directly by Atiśa in composing his own writings. As a formative teacher of Atiśa, Bodhibhadra contributed indirectly to the revival of Buddhism in Tibet and the emergence of the ''Lamrim'' tradition that shaped all major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Key Sources: Mochizuki, Kaie. "On the Samādhisaṃbhāraparivarta of Bodhibhadra." ''Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies'' 54 (2006). See also: Chattopadhyaya, Alaka, trans. ''Atīśa and Tibet''. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2011. +
Bodhipaksa has been practicing in Triratna since 1982, and was ordained in 1993. He's originally from Scotland and moved to New Hampshire in 2002, after spending four years in Montana, where he completed a Master's degree in Buddhism and business. He works full-time teaching meditation on Wildmind, which is an online meditation center. You can also find him on the Insight Timer app. He has written several books on the topic of meditation and Buddhist practice. His name means "Wings of Enlightenment," which his preceptor chose for him because he considered his spiritual qualities to be well-rounded and balanced. ([https://www.namsebangdzo.com/Vegetarianism-A-Buddhist-View-p/9781909314719.htm?srsltid=AfmBOopHdhgU3q1XcBFU9k6UTRnitiHET6rNZ2XZ8cC_l2ewjCari9LS Source Accessed May 2, 2026]) +
A renowned Indian translator and monk (to be distinguished from a subsequent Bodhiruci [s.v.] who was active in China two centuries later during the Tang dynasty). Bodhiruci left north India for Luoyang, the Northern Wei capital, in 508. He is said to have been well versed in the Tripiṭaka and talented at incantations. Bodhiruci stayed at the monastery of Yongningsi in Luoyang from 508 to 512 and with the help of Buddhaśānta (d.u.) and others translated over thirty Mahāyāna sūtras and treatises, most of which reflect the latest developments in Indian Mahāyāna, and especially Yogācāra. His translations include the ''Dharmasaṃgīti'', ''Shidijing lun'', ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'', ''Vajracchedikāprajñāpāramitāsūtra'', and the ''Wuliangshou jing youpotishe yuansheng ji'', attributed to Vasubandhu. Bodhiruci’s translation of the ''Shidijing lun'', otherwise known more simply as the ''Di lun'', fostered the formation of a group of Yogācāra specialists in China that later historians retroactively call the Di lun zong. According to a story in the ''Lidai fabao ji'', a jealous Bodhiruci, assisted by a monk from Shaolinsi on Songshan named Guangtong (also known as Huiguang, 468–537), is said to have attempted on numerous occasions to poison the founder of the Chan school, Bodhidharma, and eventually succeeded. Bodhiruci is also said to have played an instrumental role in converting the Chinese monk Tanluan from Daoist longevity practices to the pure land teachings of the ''Guan Wuliangshou jing''. (Source: "Bodhiruci." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 133. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Sara Boin-Webb was the official translator of Étienne Lamotte's work. Her success was attested by the publication of her English-language renderings of Lamotte's ''Vimalakīrtinirdeśa'' (''The Teaching of Vimalakīrti'', London 1976) and ''Histoire du bouddhisme indien'' (''History of Indian Buddhism'', Louvain 1988), as well as several other works from the French. She was Assistant Editor of the ''Buddhist Studies Review''. (Source: Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra: The Concentration of Heroic Progress) +
Bokar Tulku Rinpoche (1940 – 17 August 2004) was heart-son of the Second Kalu Rinpoche and a holder of the Karma Kagyü and Shangpa Kagyü lineages.
Bokar Rinpoche was born in western Tíbet not far from Mount Kailash, in 1940 (Iron Dragon year) to a family of nomadic herders. When Rinpoche was four years old, His Holiness the 16th Karmapa recognized him as the reincarnation of the previous Bokar Tulku, Karma Sherab Ösel.
Bokar Rinpoche was trained at the monastery founded by the previous Bokar incarnation. He continued his studies at Tsurphu Monastery in central Tibet, main seat of the Karmapas. While still a teenager, he assumed full responsibilities for the Bokar monastic community. Then, due to the Communist oppression in Tibet, Bokar Rinpoche fled into exile at the age of 20. In India, he became a close disciple of Dorje Chang Kalu Rinpoche.
Under Kalu Rinpoche's guidance in Sonada, Bokar Rinpoche twice completed the traditional three-year retreat. During the first one, he followed the practices of the Shangpa Kagyu; the second was based on the practices of the Karma Kagyu.
In Mirik, India, Bokar Rinpoche founded a retreat center that is an important centre for Kalachakra practice, now called Bokar Ngedhon Choekhor Ling.
Brief bio available at [http://www.bokarmonastery.org/mod/data/index.php?REQUEST_ID=cGFnZT1iaW9ncmFwaHktQm9rYXI= bokarmonastery.org]
Also see [http://www.bokarmonastery.org/mod/data/index.php?REQUEST_ID=cGFnZT1wdWJsaWNhdGlvbnM= Bokar Publications] +
Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst and an internationally known author and speaker. She is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a former clinical professor of psychiatry at Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, University of California Medical Center and a past board member of the Ms. Foundation for Women, the International Transpersonal Association, and the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. She is the author of thirteen books in over one hundred foreign editions. She is a NGO Permanent Representative to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women from the Women’s World Summit Foundation (Geneva), also represents Pathways To Peace, The Millionth Circle, Earthchild Institute, Women’s Perspective, and the International Public Policy Institute. She is in three acclaimed documentaries: the Academy-Award winning anti-nuclear proliferation film “Women – For America, For the World,” the Canadian Film Board’s “Goddess Remembered,” and “Femme: Women Healing the World. ([https://www.jeanbolen.com/about-jean Source Accessed June 2, 2026]) +
Prof. Bollée had a long-standing relationship with the South Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg, where he habilitated in 1977 under Prof. Berger (studies on Sūyagaḍa 1977, Steiner, Wiesbaden) and taught for over two decades (1975-1997). During this time he also represented Prof. Sontheimer and Prof. Berger.
His teaching and research focused on Jainism and early Buddhism, with a special interest in Central Indian texts that had not yet been translated. In search of such texts, he also repeatedly went on research trips to South and Southeast Asia, for example to (present-day) Myanmar and Thailand in the early 1960s. He was happy to share this rich wealth of experience with his students in order to awaken their enthusiasm for South and Southeast Asian cultures and religions, in addition to providing a sound philological education.
Beginning with his dissertation on Ṣaḍviṃśa-brāhmaṇa (Utrecht, 1956), Prof. Bollée published numerous editions, translations, and indexes, including ''Vyavahāra bhāṣya pīṭhikā'' (2006, Hindi Granth Karyalay, Mumbai), Samantabhadra Deva's ''Ratnakaraṇḍaka Śrāvakācāra'' (2010, Sundara Prakashana, Bangalore) and ''A Cultural Encyclopaedia of the Kathāsaritsāgara in Keywords'' (2015, Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg).
As a tireless academic, Prof. Bollée was scientifically active until the last day. Two of his works: ''Stylistic Repetition in Bāṇaʼs Harṣacaritam and Kādambarī'' (Feb. 2020) and the revised 2nd edition of his monograph ''Gone to the Dogs in Ancient India'' (Mar. 2020) are published this year by CrossAsia-Repository . . .
Prof. Dr. Willem Bollée received the prestigious Acārya Hemacandra Sūrī Award in recognition of his achievements and merits in the field of Jainism (2004) and [the] Prakrit Jñānabhāratī International Award (2005). ([https://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=158094 Source Accessed July 24, 2023]) +
Nicolas Bommarito is currently an Assistant Professor of philosophy at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Before that, He worked at SUNY Buffalo and was a Bersoff Fellow at NYU. He has studied at Brown University, Tibet University, and University of Michigan. His research focuses on questions in virtue ethics, moral psychology, and Buddhist philosophy. ([https://www.nicbommarito.com/philosophy Adapted from Source Jan 18, 2021]) +
Jenny Bondurant is a Buddhist teacher who leads workshops and retreats for people from all walks of life and traditions. She has practiced meditation for over thirty years and began teaching under the direction of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, with whom she studied until his death. Her teacher is now Anam Thubten, who has ordained her as a teacher in his lineage. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. ([https://www.inquiringmind.com/article/3101_33_bondurant_3-beautiful-loser-shantideva-and-the-way-of-the-bodhisavttva/ Source Accessed Jan 5, 2022]) +
Jens W. Borgland is a historian of religion, philologist and Sanskrit critic, with a broad interest in Indian religion, philosophy and language. His scientific activity mainly deals with illuminating the history of Indian religion - with a special focus on Indian Buddhism - through philological studies of sources in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan and Chinese. He is particularly interested in Buddhist monastic rules (vinaya) and Sanskrit manuscripts of texts belonging to the Mūlasarvāstivāda school. ([https://katalog.uu.se/profile/?id=N17-743 Source Accessed Sep 10, 2021]) +
Otgon Borjigin teaches Mongolian Historical Documents at Northwest University for Nationalities in Lanzhou. +
Frederik David Kan Bosch (Potchefstroom, Transvaal, 17 June 1887 - Leiden, 20 July 1967) was an archaeological scientist and restorer of the Borobudur and Prambanan on Java from 1915 to 1936. ([https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik_David_Kan_Bosch Source Accessed Sep 14, 2021]) +
Daniel Boucher's scholarly focus is Buddhist studies, particularly the early development of the cluster of Indian Buddhist movements called the Mahayana and their transmission to China in the first few centuries of the Common Era. His related interests include translation as a religious genre, with special focus on the earliest translations of Buddhist texts into Chinese; Buddhist Middle Indo-Aryan, particularly the role of Gandhari Prakrit in the earliest transmission of Buddhism to Central Asia and China; art historical, epigraphical, and archeological materials as sources for the study of religion; and history, theory, and methods in the academic study of religion. ([https://religious-studies.cornell.edu/daniel-boucher Source Accessed May 20, 2021]) +
Marie-Stella Boussemart is a Gelugpa nun and a member of the Ganden Ling Congregation, founded by the Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche, with whom she has studied since 1973 and for whom she has served as a French interpreter since 1979. Holder of a doctorate in Tibetan (Inalco), she has translated numerous works. She was president of the Buddhist Union of France from May 2012 to March 2015. ([https://bouddhanews.fr/journaliste/ms-boussemart/ Source Accessed Apr 30, 2021]) +
Born in Montreal, Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette is what he likes to call ‘French-Canadian’: a Québécois. However, his studies have turned him into quite a globetrotter. He obtained his PhD (2018) in Indian Philosophies from the Institute for Indology and Tibetology of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, in Munich, Germany, where he was a member of the Distant Worlds: Munich Graduate School for Ancient Studies, in the division researching on 'coexistence'. He was then invited as a Fellow Researcher in Leiden, Holland, after receiving a Gonda Fellowship, following which he moved on to Ghent, in Belgium, where he was awarded a prestigious FWO Post-Doctoral Research Grant.
He received his first M.A. in Sciences of Religions at Laval University (2011), in Quebec City, and his second one in Sanskrit Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (2013), in Delhi. He began his studies with Journalism (Arts and Technologies of Media) in college (2002), and Classical Studies (Ancient Greco-Roman worlds) at the BA level (2005).
His current areas of research focus on early developments in Indian philosophical doxography and list-making. He is also theorizing the Indian intellectual dimensions of spiritual life, especially in the scholastic aspect of their expression. In brief, he has taken interest in what he describes as the ‘yoga of reason’, or the ‘path of knowledge’, pursued by the ‘nerds’ among yogins.
Working under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Eva De Clercq, he is associated with the South Asia Network Ghent. ([https://research.flw.ugent.be/en/karlstephan.bouthillette Source Accessed May 24, 2021]) +
Acharya Emily Bower started meditating and studying with the Shambhala community in 1987 in Berkeley, California. She went on to live on staff at Karme Chöling for three years, and then moved to Boston, Massachusetts to work as a book editor specializing in Buddhism, yoga, and other spiritual traditions.
She worked for Shambhala Publications for a total of ten years. She is fortunate to have been able to work on books with many spiritual teachers, including Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.
She lives and works now in Los Angeles as a book editor and publishing consultant, and is a co-founder of Dharma Spring, a curated online Buddhist bookshop, launching in 2017. She is an editor for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, an international non-profit initiative to translate all of the Buddha’s words into modern languages and to make them available to everyone, free of charge.
In her service as a senior teacher in the Shambhala community, she leads both extended retreats and weekend programs. She especially enjoys presenting on themes that bring practical application to our wisdom traditions. ([https://shambhalaonline.org/acharya-emily-bower/ Source Accessed Mar 18, 2022]) +
