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Sam Julius van Schaik is an English tibetologist.

Education

He obtained a PhD in Tibetan Buddhist literature at the University of Manchester in 2000, with a dissertation on the translations of Dzogchen texts by Jigme Lingpa.[1]

Career

Since 1999 he has worked at the British Library in London, and is currently a project manager for the International Dunhuang Project, specialising in the study of Tibetan Buddhist manuscripts from Dunhuang.[2] He has also taught occasional courses at SOAS, University of London.[3]

From 2003 to 2005 van Schaik worked on a project to catalogue Tibetan Tantric manuscripts in the Stein Collection of the British Library, and from 2005 to 2008 he worked on a project to study the palaeography of Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang, in an attempt to identify individual scribes.[4]

In February 2019 van Schaik was appointed as the head of the Endangered Archives Programme at the British Library.[5]

Books

Van Schaik is the author or co-author of:

  • Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Approaches to Dzogchen Practice in the Longchen Nyingtig (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004). ISBN 0861713702
  • Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts from Dunhuang: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Stein Collection at the British Library, co-authored with Jacob Dalton (Leiden: Brill, 2006). ISBN 9789004154223[6]
  • Tibet: A History (London: Yale University Press, 2011). ISBN 9780300154047[7]
  • Manuscripts and Travellers: The Sino-Tibetan Documents of a Tenth-Century Buddhist Pilgrim, coauthored with Imre Galambos (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2012). ISBN 9783110225648[8]
  • Tibetan Zen: Discovering a Lost Tradition (Boston & London: Snow Lion, 2015). ISBN 9781559394468[9]
  • The Spirit of Zen (Yale University Press, 2018),[10] winner of the 2019 Tianzhu Book Prize for Excellence in Chan Studies[11]
  • Buddhist Magic: Divination, Healing, and Enchantment Through the Ages (Boulder: Shambhala 2020) ISBN 9781611808254[12]

His edited volumes include:

  • Esoteric Buddhism at Dunhuang: Rites and Teachings for this Life and Beyond, co-edited with Matthew Kapstein (Leiden: Brill, 2010). ISBN 9789004182035[13]

He is also the translator of:

  • Dhongthog Rinpoche, The Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism: A History, Translated by Sam van Schaik (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, Inc., 2016).

References

  1. ^ "IDP Research Profiles : Sam van Schaik". International Dunhuang Project. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Staff Research Profiles : Dr Sam van Schaik". British Library. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  3. ^ "earlyTibet : The Author". Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  4. ^ "IDP Research Projects". International Dunhuang Project. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  5. ^ "Sam Van Schaik". The British Library. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  6. ^ Review of Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts from Dunhuang:
  7. ^ Reviews of Tibet: A History:
  8. ^ Reviews of Manuscripts and Travellers:
  9. ^ Reviews of Tibetan Zen:
  10. ^ Reviews of The Spirit of Zen:
  11. ^ Lee, Carol (19 September 2019). "Tianzhu Book Prize Lecture: The Meanings of Meditation in Early Zen Buddhism, by Sam van Schaik". H-Net.
  12. ^ Reviews of Buddhist Magic:
  13. ^ Reviews of Esoteric Buddhism at Dunhuang:

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