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Brian Beresford (1948–97) was a photographer, translator, and editor. Beresford translated and edited several Tibetan Buddhist texts, including the first Wisdom title ever published, ''Advice from a Spiritual Friend''. His photographs of Tibetan lamas and scenes of Tibetan culture have been published worldwide. He was also one of the first Westerners to travel into the remote areas of western Tibet, which he visited between 1986 and 1993. Between 1973 and 1979 he lived in Dharamsala and studied at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. He took pictures of, studied with, and translated for Geshe Rabten, Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, Lama Yeshe, and Lama Zopa, among other Tibetan masters. In the 1980s Beresford made his home in England, where in 1985 he helped found the Meridian Trust. At the end of his life, Brian was a student of the Dzogchen master Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and a leading figure in the Dzogchen community. ([https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/brian-beresford/ Source Accessed Mar 13, 2025]) +
Douglas L. Berger is Professor of Comparative Philosophy at Leiden University in the Netherlands. His primary areas of research and teaching are classical Brāhmiṇical and Indian Buddhist thought, Classical Chinese philosophy, and cross-cultural philosophical hermeneutics. He is the author of ''Encounters of Mind: Luminosity and Personhood in Indian and Chinese Thought'' (SUNY Press, 2015), ''"The Veil of Māyā:" Schopenhauer’s System and Early Indian Thought'' (Global Academic Publications, 2004), and coeditor, with JeeLoo Liu, of ''Nothingness in Asian Philosophy'' (Routledge, 2014). He has authored dozens of essays and book chapters on the areas of his research and is chief editor of the University of Hawai'i Press book series "Dimensions of Asian Spirituality." He has also served as the president of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy (2014–2016). (Source: [https://research.tsadra.org/index.php/Ethics_without_Self,_Dharma_without_Atman Ethics without Self, Dharma without Atman]) +
Lopön Helen Berliner has been a student of Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche since 1994. From 1970-87, she was a student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition; and has been fortunate to receive teachings and empowerments from masters of the four great lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. Earlier training in wisdom traditions, East and West, provided the foundation for her path. Ever grateful for the celebration of dharma in the western world, she has worked as editor and/or indexer of books by authors including Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Ane Pema Chödren, and others. Lopön Helen has degrees in fine arts and psychology, a master’s in Buddhist Studies specializing in environmental psychology, and is the author of ''Enlightened by Design''. As a teacher of Buddhism and contemplative disciplines for over forty years, she delights in sharing the magic, challenges, and ubiquitous potential of the path of practice. ([https://mindroloselling.org/programs-classes/lopons/ Source Accessed Jan 7, 2021]) +
Christian Bernert (MA) comes from Austria where he studied Tibetology at the University of Vienna until 2009. He embarked on the Buddhist path in 1999 under the guidance of Khenchen Amipa Rinpoche. Since 2001 he has been studying at IBA, where he currently works as language program coordinator and translator. Christian is a founding member of the Chödung Karmo Translation Group. ([https://conference.tsadra.org/past-event/the-2014-tt-conference/ Source Accessed Jul 20, 2020])
His dissertation was published as a book-length translation: ''Perfect or Perfected? Rongtön on Buddha-Nature: A Commentary on the Fourth Chapter of the Ratnagotravibhāga'' (v v.1.27-95[a]). Kathmandu: Vajra Books, 2018. +
Alexander Berzin (born 1944) grew up in New Jersey, USA. He began his study of Buddhism in 1962 at Rutgers and then Princeton Universities, and received his PhD in 1972 from Harvard University jointly between the Departments of Sanskrit and Indian Studies and Far Eastern Languages (Chinese). Inspired by the process through which Buddhism was transmitted from one Asian civilization to another and how it was translated and adopted, his focus has been, ever since, on bridging traditional Buddhist and modern Western cultures.
Dr. Berzin was resident in India for 29 years, first as a Fulbright Scholar and then with the Translation Bureau, which he helped to found, at the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives in Dharamsala. While in India, he furthered his studies with masters from all four Tibetan Buddhist traditions; however, his main teachers have been His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche, and Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey. Practicing under their supervision, he completed the major meditation retreats of the Gelug tradition.
For nine years, he was the principal interpreter for Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche, accompanying him on his foreign tours and training under him to be a Buddhist teacher in his own right. He has served as occasional interpreter for H.H. the Dalai Lama and has organized several international projects for him. These have included Tibetan medical aid for victims of the Chernobyl radiation disaster; preparation of basic Buddhist texts in colloquial Mongolian to help with the revival of Buddhism in Mongolia; and initiation of a Buddhist-Muslim dialogue in universities in the Islamic world.
Since 1980, Dr. Berzin has traveled the world, lecturing on Buddhism in universities and Buddhist centers in over 70 countries. He was one of the first to teach Buddhism in most of the communist world, throughout Latin America and large parts of Africa. Throughout his travels, he has consistently tried to demystify Buddhism and show the practical application of its teachings in daily life.
A prolific author and translator, Dr. Berzin has published 17 books, including Relating to a Spiritual Teacher, Taking the Kalachakra Initiation, Developing Balanced Sensitivity, and with H.H. the Dalai Lama, The Gelug-Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra.
At the end of 1998, Dr. Berzin returned to the West with about 30,000 pages of unpublished manuscripts of books, articles, and translations he had prepared, transcriptions of teachings of the great masters that he had translated, and notes from all the teachings he had received from these masters. Convinced of the benefit of this material for others and determined that it not be lost, he named it the “Berzin Archives” and settled in Berlin, Germany. There, with the encouragement of H. H. the Dalai Lama, he set out to make this vast material freely available to the world on the Internet, in as many languages as possible.
Thus, the Berzin Archives website went online in December 2001. It has expanded to include Dr. Berzin’s ongoing lectures and is now available in 21 languages. For many of them, especially the six Islamic world languages, it is the pioneering work in the field. The present version of the [https://studybuddhism.com/ website] is the next step in Dr. Berzin’s lifelong commitment to building a bridge between the traditional Buddhist and modern worlds. By guiding the teachings across the bridge and showing their relevance to modern life, his vision has been that they would help to bring emotional balance to the world.
([https://studybuddhism.com/en/dr-alexander-berzin Source Accessed Dec 4, 2019])
Click here for a list of Alexander Berzin's [https://studybuddhism.com/en/dr-alexander-berzin/published-works-of-dr-berzin publications]
Stephan V. Beyer, Ph.D., J.D., is a well-known writer and speaker on shamanism and spirituality. He is also a community builder, peacemaker, and carrier of council. He has been trained and certified in many areas of circle processes, mediation, and nonviolence and has offered peacemaking workshops to a wide variety of audiences, from therapists to theologians, and at Montessori, charter, alternative, and public schools. He has served as a Lecturer in the Department of Criminal Justice at Chicago State University, teaching undergraduate courses and graduate seminars in restorative justice and in the theory and practice of nonviolent resistance. He lives in Chicago. ([https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Stephan-V-Beyer/1382842937 Source Accessed May 11, 2021]) +
Bhadrapaṇa is listed as the author of one of the main commentaries of the ''Bhadracaryāpraṇidhānarāja'' titled ''Bhadracaryāpraṇidhānarājaṭīkā''. He also appears to go by the name of Slob dpon rgyan bzang po (or simply Rgyan bzang po) as well as Subhūṣita. Columbia AIBS lists the author of the ''Bhadracaryāpraṇidhānarājaṭīkā'' as Alaṁkārabhadra, which could also refer to Bhadrapaṇa. However, this is uncertain. +
Monk translator believed to have flourished some time between 700 and 899. +
Durga Mohan Bhattacharya was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit. He had served as a professor of Sanskrit at the Scottish Church College in Calcutta.
He was a key figure in reviving many manuscripts of the Paippalāda-Saṃhitā and its ancillary literature like the Āṅgirasakalpa after painstaking search over years in Orissa and south-west Bengal. Durgamohan Bhattacharya's discovery of a living tradition of the Paippalāda-Saṃhitā, unknown until then, was hailed in the Indological world as epoch making. Ludwig Alsdorf went so far as to say that it was the greatest event in Indology. Bhattacharya died in 1965 leaving his edition of the text incomplete. This task was completed by his son Dipak, whose critical edition of the first 18 kāṇḍas was published by the Asiatic Society, Calcutta in three volumes in 1997, 2008 and 2011.
'''Early Life'''<br>
In the early 1900 he with other members of his family, migrated to Sahanagar, Lalbag in the district of Murshidabad. The family was poor and could not send its young children to an English medium school. His early education was derived from tols and chatuspathis, where the main subjects taught were Bengali and Sanskrit, the medium of education primarily being Bengali. Durgamohan was an exceptionally brilliant student and by the year 1915 he had appeared at several Sanskrit Upadhi examinations and topped the list of candidates for the several examinations on Sanskrit conducted by the Government of Bengal. He acquired the highest degrees in Kavya, Sankhya and Purana and got the title of Bhagavataratna.
Durgamohan with his widowed mother (Sarada) and only younger brother moved to his maternal uncle's house in Calcutta. Coming to know about the keen desire of Durgamohan to study English, his senior maternal uncle took him to Suresh Chandra Kundu, then the headmaster of Town School, Calcutta, an institution of great reputation. It was an immense task for Durgamohan to achieve as he had already reached the age of 16 and he was required to complete the normal course of ten years in a single year. He successfully completed the task and in 1917 he sat for the Entrance Examination of the University of Calcutta and was declared successful, obtaining a place in the First Division of successful candidates.
The Intermediate Examination (F.A.) was achieved in 1919 at the Vidyasagar College, the B.A. Examination with a First Class honours Degree in Sanskrit from the Scottish Church College was gained in 1921 and the master's degree in Sanskrit was obtained in 1923 from the University of Calcutta.
'''Career'''<br>
After completing his studies in the University, Durgamohan decided to take up the educational line as his field of activities. Having served as a Professor of Sanskrit in the Narasinha Dutt College of Howrah for some time, he joined the Scottish Church College as a professor of Sanskrit and Bengali and eventually became the head of the department of Sanskrit in the early thirties. In 1952 he was inducted in the West Bengal Senior Educational Service as Professor of Vedic Language, Literature and Culture in the Postgraduate Training and Research Department of the Sanskrit College, which position he occupied till the date of his death.
He used to be invited by learned societies like the Asiatic Society of Bengal, the Asiatic Society of Bombay, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, and others to deliver talks on specific topics particularly the Vedas. He was awarded gold medals by the Asiatic Societies for his services in the field of Sanskrit.
'''Work on Paippalāda-Saṃhitā'''<br>
He had come to infer from many sources that of the four Vedas, the Atharva Veda and its practice had not become extinct in India as many scholars of repute used to hold and propagate. To prove his conviction in this regard he visited a large number of places all over India, and, ultimately a few years before his death, he was able to locate a place in Orissa, Guhiapal to be precise where he found the Atharva Veda to be actively practiced and there he discovered several Oriya manuscripts in which the Paippalāda-Saṃhitā, one of the nine versions of the Atharva Veda was faithfully reproduced. The discovery was made known to the world and the belief about the extinction of the practice of Atharva Veda was proved incorrect. He was hailed for his painstaking effort and perseverance in the unearthing of the Paippalāda-Saṃhitā as an epoch making discovery.
He started serious work on the Paippalāda-Saṃhitā, and publications also started which received acclamations from scholars all over the world. But unfortunately Durgamohan fell ill with cancer and died on 12 November 1965. His task was completed by his son Dipak Bhattacharya whose critical edition of the first 18 kāṇḍas published by the Asiatic Society, Calcutta came out in three volumes in 1997, 2008 and 2011. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durga_Mohan_Bhattacharyya Adapted from Source Mar 25, 2022])
Vidhusekhar Bhattacharya was born in a traditional Sanskrit Pandit family at Harischandrapur village in MaIda district in 1878. In 1905, with the approval of Rabindranath, Bhupendranath Sanyal invited Vidhusekhar to join the asrama. His primary duty was to teach Sanskrit to Rathindranath and Santosh Majumdar, but he also taught the little boys of the school. Rabindranath was impressed with his knowledge in Sanskrit and encouraged him to learn Pali for a fruitful understanding of the Buddhist period. In 1919 when the regular teaching and higher studies programme was launched, Vidhusekhar took charge of the studies in Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit. Later he became Principal of Vidya Bhavana college of higher studies and research. When Visva-Bharati was founded, Vidhusekhar selected the Vedic verse which was to become the motto: ''Yatra visvam bhavatyekaniam''. From 1936 to 1942, he was Professor of Sanskrit at Calcutta University and held the Asutosh Chair. In 1936 he was given the title Mahamahopadhyaya by the government. In 1957 Visva-Bharati conferred on him ''Desikottama'' in recognition of his contribution to Indological studies. ([http://www.visvabharati.ac.in/VidhusekharBhattacharyaSastri.html Source Accessed Jan 20, 2021]) +
Venerable Saddhāloka was born in Germany in 1938. His mother passed away at his age of two; he then grew up in the loves of his father and paternal grandparents. Since childhood, he already had the character of a nature lover; he honoured the life of every creature around such as leaves, grass, and small animals like birds, livestock, and poultry. Being studious, he read a lot of books at a young age, especially the books concerning the Buddha's teachings.
In 1964, he was officially ordained as a novice (sāmaṇera) of the Theravāda tradition in the United Kingdom. His preceptor (upajjhāya) was a Sri Lankan master, Venerable Saddhātissa. He studied Buddhism in England for two years, then continued his study at Buddhist Centre in Canada for one year. Later, he went to Thailand to acquire more knowledge of Buddhist doctrine and some languages, Thai, Pāli, and Sanskrit, in order to study Buddhism directly from authentic scriptures. He also had a chance to practice meditation. He was staying in Thailand for a couple of years and was fully ordained as a bhikkhu there in 1967 with Venerable Buddhadāsa as his preceptor.
In 1969, he made up his decision to go to China to continue his studies, however he was not granted an entry visa at that time, so that he kept staying in Hong Kong. While being in Hong Kong, he taught Buddhism and treated patients with Chinese herbal medicines.
During 1970s, Venerable Saddhāloka translated Buddhist texts from Chinese language into English for a Buddhist magazine, Visakhapūjā. Some of his works are known as: The Question of Deva, The Discourse on the Foundation of Mindfulness (Chu Ching Nien), The Twelve Kings of Birth and Death: A Dialogue Between And Ha-Shan Shih-te (B.E. 2509 - 2516), v.v...
From 1982 to 1997, Venerable Saddhāloka, having compassion for the Vietnamese boatpeople being desperate and hopeless in closed camps and detention centers, did not mind long roads going back and forth to the centers with heavy loads of foods, beverages, medicines, books, etc. Everyday he got up in the early morning at three o’ clock to prepare then bring the goods to the people in needs. With bare-feet and shaved-head, on sunny or raining days, he patiently kept his routine, visiting the suffering people. In hot afternoons in summer seasons, his brown robes got wet with sweats, but his gentle smiles were always blown on his lips. For 16 years long, he was not only taking his great care of material needs for the detained refugees but also concerning about their spiritual practice, helping them learning the Buddha’s teachings and preserving Vietnamese culture. Therefore, Vietnamese boatpeople in Hong Kong affectionately call him as "Thay Tay Duc." ([https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/saddhaloka.pdf Source Accessed Aug 10, 2021])
Sumanapal Bhikkhu studies Buddhist Philosophy and Manuscriptology, History, and Philosophy. +
Venerable Bhiksu Huimin is a professor at the Taipei National University of the Arts and the president of the Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts. He was born in Taiwan in 1954 and ordained in 1979. He completed a PhD thesis on the meditation objects (ālaṃbana) of the Śrāvakabhūmi at the University of Tokyo in 1992. Since 1998 he has been the abbot of Seeland Monastery and the Chair of the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association (CBETA). As the principal investigator, he is currently engaged in two projects with the National Science Council of Taiwan: "Benevolence and Compassion: Meditative Foundation & Academic Curriculum, with A Platform for Ubiquitous e-Learning" and "Literary Study of the Sanskrit Text of the Scripture of Adorning the Great Vehicle (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra)." ([https://frogbear.org/participants/huimin-bhikshu/ Source Accessed Dec 31, 2025]) +
Desmond Biddulph CBE is President of The Buddhist Society, London (est. 1924) and editor of their journal ''The Middle Way''. He is a Jungian therapist with a medical practice in London, co-author of ''The Teachings of the Buddha'', and an international lecturer. +
Ina Bieler is a translator and assistant at The Garchen Buddhist Institute in Chino Valley, Arizona. She is a member of the Garchen Buddhist Institute Translation Group. +
Annie Bien is a poet, translator, and writer whose work bridges literature and spirituality. She has translated Tibetan Buddhist texts , published poetry collections, won flash fiction awards, and brings a lyrical voice to the stories of Tibetan saints. Just published: The Magical Adventures of the Sixth Dalai Lama: His Life and Loves, co-authored with Robert A.F. Thurman.
Currently she teaches meditation and Qigong classes at the Tibet House US. She is a certified Qigong instructor with Shifu Yan Lei. +
Raoul Birnbaum works in the interdisciplinary field of Buddhist studies, with special focus on China. Trained in visual studies, history of religions, and ethnography, his research is rooted in historical approaches. These studies have concentrated on three great themes in the history of Chinese Buddhist life: the major deity cults, visions of the landscape intertwined with religion, and close examination of dimensions of the lives of individuals within this religious field. Following an earlier focus on medieval times in China, in recent decades he has concentrated on significant figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as the 17th-century figures and phenomena to which they often turned as the models and sources for their practical and conceptual foundations.
The largest on-going project focuses on the artist-monk Hongyi 弘一大師 (1880-1942), a remarkably complex, inventive, and influential figure in Chinese Buddhist worlds. A project on one of his contemporaries, the prominent lay Buddhist Gao Henian 高鶴年 (1872–1962), is on the horizon. And in a comparative vein as a project parallel to the Hongyi studies, he has been investigating the many worlds of St. Francis, with field research in that medieval saint's Umbrian homeland.
Birnbaum's work has been strongly influenced by intensive field study over several decades within Chinese Buddhist monastic communities and across a wide variety of the mountain sites that form the backbone of this tradition’s conceptual geography. ([https://havc.ucsc.edu/faculty/raoul-birnbaum Source Accessed Aug 9, 2021]) +
Rase Konchog Gyatso was born in 1968 in the village below the monastery of Drikung Thil in Tibet. Dagpo (or Gampo) Chenga is the 8th reincarnation of the heart son of Gampopa (1079-1153).
From his young age Dagpo Chenga revealed a virtuous personality as well as a sharp mind. He studied at Drikung Buddhist College and at the Tibetan College in Lhasa. Dagpo Chenga also attended the Medical and Astrological College. He studied the Ten Aspects of Knowledge, as well as natural sciences, social sciences, and history and became very erudite in many fields of knowledge. Already as a young student he began writing papers on many subjects of Tibetan history and Tibetan Buddhism under his name Rase Konchog Gyatso. Among his books is also a seven-volume publication entitled A Faithful Speech that shows how to develop, improve and spread the Dharma tradition of the Drikung Kagyu in the future. Dagpo Chenga is considered one of the most learned lamas of the Drikung tradition. ([https://www.garchen.de/index.php/en/spiritual-guidance/visiting-teachers Source Accessed Oct 6, 2022])
His Eminence Dagpo Chenga Rinpoche was recognized as the 8th incarnation of Dagpo Chenga (the heart-disciple of Gampopa (1079 – 1153)) and carries the Tulku-name Konchok Tenzin Thrinle Lhündrup. Many of his books were published under the name Rase Konchok Gyatso.
His Eminence Dagpo Chenga Rinpoche was born in 1968 in the village below the monastery of Drikung Thel in Tibet. At young age, he revealed a virtuous personality as well as a sharp mind. In 1981, Drubwang Pachung Rinpoche (1901-1988) advised him to become a monk, gave him important teachings, and instructed him to study and practice The Four Dharmas of Gampopa and the Six Yogas of Naropa. Since then he studied under many great teachers.
His Eminence Dagpo Chenga Rinpoche studied at Drikung Buddhist College and at the Tibetan College in Lhasa. He also attended the Medical and Astrological College. He studied the Ten Aspects of Knowledge, as well as natural sciences, social sciences, and history. He became a scholar proficient in all fields and is recognized as one of the most erudite master in the Drikung Kagyü lineage.
Already as a young student, His Eminence Dagpo Chenga Rinpoche began writing papers on many subjects of Tibetan history and Tibetan Buddhism under the name Rase Konchok Gyatso. Among his books are The History of the Yangrigar Monastery, The Main Seat of Pagdru Kagyü, The Benefit of Being Vegetarian, and A Faithful Speech, which shows how to develop, improve and spread the Drikung Kagyü Dharma traditions in the future. He also wrote a book entitled The Mothers in the Land of Snows, about famous women in the history of Tibet.
In 2004 a great thangka painting master, Penpa Tsering’s famous disciple, Amdo Jampa, painted a series of sophisticated thangkas portraying the Drikung Kagyü lineage holders, as well as The Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā thangka, The Twenty-Five Main Disciples of Milarepa, and The Eight Types of Incarnations of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgon. All the drawings were made in accordance with Dagpo Chenga's meticulous commentary on the iconography.
His most important publication is The History of Drikung ('bri gung chos' byung), which was published in 2004. In 2007, he published The Ornament of Gongchig, a praise of the famous Gongchig teachings of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgon (1143-1217) bestowed upon his disciple Chenga Sherab Jungne (1187-1241), as well as a refutation of criticisms brought forward against the Gongchig. In addition, he authored several short texts on Lord Jigten Sumgon, Achi Chokyi Dolma, Angon Rinpoche, the history of Drikung Thel Monastery, and an introduction to the Drikung sky burial ground (Durto Tenchag), and a booklet on the holy places in the Drikung area.
Rase Konchok Gyatso also published some texts on Buddhist studies, among them are the commentaries on the Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā and the Essence of the Three Vows (sdom pa gsum). He compiled the daily rituals of Drikung in two volumes and authored many articles about special Drikung teachings, including a Phowa text of the Drikung tradition called The Color of the Rainbow.
To rescue the most important works on the Drikung Kagyü lineage, for nearly a decade, Rase Konchok Gyatso has collaborated with His Eminence Drikung Angon Rinpocche and some monks from the Drikung Thel Monastery, gathering, combining and editing. The Great Treasury of Drikung Kagyü has now reached 150 volumes. Under the organization of Balok Rinpoche, Drikung Kagyü Marpa Translation Center is currently translating these sacred articles into Chinese and English.
At the request of His Holiness Chungtsang Rinpoche, Rase Konchok Gyatso is currently composing A Comprehensive Explanation of the Thirteen Major Subjects (gzhung chen bcu gsum) covering the thirteen major root texts of the Buddhist philosophy such as Vinaya, the bodhisattva trainings, Maitreya's five treatises, Abhidharma, Madhyamaka, and so on.
His Eminence Dagpo Chenga’s writings are same as his oral teachings, namely, very precise, direct, and clear. They stand out with very profound view and excellent knowledge. He continues to exert tireless effort writing texts in order to benefit Buddhism in general and the Drikung Kagyü lineage in particular. ([https://www.ratnashri.se/Drikung_teachers.htm Source Accessed May 16, 2025])
Helena Blankleder holds a degree in Modern Languages. She completed two three-year retreats at Chanteloube, France (1980-1985 and 1986-1989). She is a professional translator and a member of the Padmakara Translation Group, Dordogne, France. Helena has been a Tsadra Foundation Fellow since 2001. +
Mark Blows was a member of the Australian College of Clinical Psychologists and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. +
