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Prof. Dr. Dorji Wangchuk

After completing a nine-year course in the study of Tibetan Buddhism from a traditional Tibetan Buddhist monastic seminary in South India (i.e. sNga-’gyur-mtho-slob-mdo-sngags-rig-pa’i-’byung-gnas-gling, Bylakuppe, Mysore), Dorji Wangchuk studied Classical Indology (first major, with a focus on Buddhist Studies) and Tibetology (second major) at the University of Hamburg (MA 2002). He wrote his doctoral dissertation on “The Resolve to Become a Buddha: A Study of the Bodhicitta Concept in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism” and received his PhD from the same University in 2005. Between 1992 and 1996, he taught Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns in monastic seminaries in India. Since 1998, he has been teaching and researching at the University of Hamburg in various capacities. He also taught a term each at the University of Copenhagen and McGill University. Currently he is a professor for Tibetology at the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, Faculty of Humanities, University of Hamburg.

His main teaching and research interests lie in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan intellectual history and history of ideas, and Tibetan Buddhist intellectual/literary/textual culture. Currently he is working on the perception and reception of Yogācāra in Tibet and on the identity, superiority, and authenticity issues of the Vidhyādharapiṭaka in Tibetan Buddhism.

Publikationen

  • 2013. “On the Status of the Yogācāra School in Tibetan Buddhism.” In Ulrich Timme Kragh (ed.), The Foundation for Yoga Practitioners: The Buddhist Yogācārabhūmi Treatise and Its Adaption in India, East Asia, and Tibet. Harvard Oriental Series 75. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, pp. 1316–1328.
  • 2012. “Was Mi-pham a Dialectical Monist? On a Recent Study of Mi-pham’s Interpretation of the Buddha-Nature Theory.” Indo-Iranian Journal 55, 2012, pp. 15–38.
  • 2009. “A Relativity Theory of the Purity and Validity of Perception in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.” In Eli Franco (ed.) in collaboration with Dagmar Eigner, Yogic Perception, Meditation, and Altered States of Consciousness. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, pp. 215–237.
  • 2008. “Cross-Referential Clues for a Relative Chronology of Klong chen pa’s Works.” In Orna Almogi (ed.), Contributions to Tibetan Buddhist Literature. PIATS 2006: Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Königswinter, 2006. Beiträge zur Zentralasienforschung. Halle: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2008, pp. 195–244.
  • 2008. Review of Jörg Grafe, Vidyādharas: Früheste Zeit kaschmirischen Bṛhatkathā. Frankfurt am Main; Berlin; Bern; Bruxelles; New York; Oxford; Vienna: Peter Lang, Europäischer Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2001. Tantric Studies 1, 2008, pp. 220–222.
  • 2007. The Resolve to Become a Buddha: A Study of the Bodhicitta Concept in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Studia Philologica Buddhica Monograph Series 23. Tokyo: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 453 pp. Table of Contents >>
  • The publication is available from the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies Library.
  • 2006. “Das dPal-yul–Kloster in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Die Wiederbelebung einer klösterlichen Tradition der rNying-ma–Schule.” In Buddhismus in Geschichte und Gegenwart 11, University of Hamburg, pp. 213–234. Download PDF >>
  • 2006. “Die vier buddhistische Traditionen Tibets: Teil 1: Die Nyingmapas.” Tibet und Buddhismus 20/78. Hamburg: Tibetan Center, pp. 24–28.
  • 2004. “The rÑiṅ-ma Interpretations of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory.” Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens 48, pp. 171–213 [appeared in 2005].
  • 2003. “Einige philosophische Grundlagen der rDzogs-chen Meditation.” In Buddhismus in Geschichte und Gegenwart 8, University of Hamburg, pp. 165–181. Download PDF >>
  • 2003. gSang snying mdzod lde’i sdom byang rdo rje snying po [Synopsis of the *Guhyagarbhatantra (in verse)]. Bylakuppe, Mysore: ’Chi-med-lhun-grub, Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, 24 pp.
  • 2002. “An Eleventh-Century Defence of the Guhyagarbhatantra.” In Helmut Eimer & David Germano (eds.), The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism. PIATS 2000. Tibetan Studies. Leiden/Boston/Cologne: Brill, pp. 265–291.
  • 2001. “Die große Vollendung wie sie in Rong-zom-pa’s Werk dargestellt wird.” In Buddhismus in Geschichte und Gegenwart 5, University of Hamburg, pp. 41–53. Download PDF >>
  • 2000. “Madhyamaka aus der Sicht der rNying-ma Tradition.” In Buddhismus in Geschichte und Gegenwart 4, University of Hamburg, pp. 211–233. Download PDF >>

Vorträge

  • 2013. “Tibetan Buddhist Textual Studies: Theoretical and Methodological Approaches” (September 25, 2013). Lecture held at the Southwest University for Nationalities (Minzu University), Chengdu.
  • 2013. “The Figure and Phenomenon of Padmasambhava: The Driving Forces Behind the bKa’-brgyad Cult” (September 24, 2013). Lecture held at the Center for Tibetan Studies of Sichuan University, Chengdu.
  • 2013. “Apropos the Problems of the Theory–Praxis Dichotomy in Buddhism: The Case of the Four Applications of Mindfulness (smṛtyupasthāna: dran pa nye bar gzhag pa) in Vajrayāna” (August 24, 2013). Lecture held during the 10th Anniversary International Conference “Buddhist Meditative Praxis: Traditional Teaching and Modern Application” (August 24–25, 2013) at the University of Hong Kong.
  • 2013. “Buddhist Textual Scholarship: An Introduction” (August 10, 2013). Lecture held during the workshop “From Manuscripts & Xylographs to Modern Editions: Buddhist Textual Scholarship in Theory and Practice (August, 10–18, 2013) (organized by the Centre for Bhutan Studies, Thimphu, Bhutan and the Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS), Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg, Germany) held at Chuniding, Serbithang, Thimphu, Bhutan.
  • 2013. “The ‘Rootless’ Mind is the ‘Root’ of All Phenomena: On the Manifold Buddhist Ontologies Proposed in the *Guhyagarbhatantra” (July 25, 2013). Lecture held in the Panel “rNying-ma Studies:  What’s in a Name?” during the 13th Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies (July 21–27, 2013), Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
  • 2013. “A Buddhist Philosophy of Dialogue: Cognition and Recognition of Others” (July 8, 2013). Lecture held within the frame of the project “Dialogical Thoughts in Jewish and Buddhist Philosophies” (initiated in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Ephraim Meir, Department of Philosophy, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan; organized by the Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS) of the University of Hamburg, and funded by the Gustav-Prietsch Stiftung), University of Hamburg, Hamburg.
  • 2013. “The Nine-Dimensional Magical Mirror: A Philosophical Work Ascribed to the Kāśmīrian Paṇḍita Vimalamitra” (June 10, 2013). Lecture held during the Conference “Around Abhinavagupta: Aspects of the Intellectual History of Kashmir the 9th to the 11th Centuries” (June 7–10, 2013), University of Leipzig, Leipzig.
  • 2013. “Tibetan Alphabetology: Some Reflections on the Tibetan Alphabetic System of Writing” (April 3, 2013). Lecture held within the framework of “Forschungsansätze der internationalen Süd- und Zentralasienwissenschaften,” Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2012. “A Rationale of Buddhist Textual Scholarship” (December 5). A keynote speech held on the occasion of the Seventh Biannual Conference on “Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts: Critical Edition, Transliteration, and Translation” organized and hosted by the K. J. Somaiya Centre for Buddhist Studies, Mumbai (December 5–7, 2012).
  • 2012. “Fundamentals  of  Buddhist  Philosophy”  (September  28–30). Lecture series held at the Ati Foundation, Thimphu, Bhutan.
  • 2012. “On the Identity and Authenticity of the *Sarvadharmacaryopadeśābhisamayatantra: A Tantric Scripture Associated with the Vikramaśīla Tradition” (September 17).  Lecture held during  “The Vikramaśīla Workshop,” Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo (September 14–17, 2012).
  • 2012. “A Brief Introduction to the ITLR Project and Its Linkage to the Vikramaśīla Database” (September 14). Lecture held during “The Vikramaśīla Workshop,” Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo (September 14–17, 2012).
  • 2012. “How is Yogācāra Philosophy Perceived in Tibetan Buddhism?” (September 10–13). Lecture series held at the Department of Philosophy, Seoul  National University, Seoul.
  • 2012. “The  Perception and  Reception of the Tathāgatagarbha (or Buddha Nature) Theory in Tibetan Buddhism” (September 3). Lecture held during the Workshop on “Intensive Workshop on the Tathāgatagarbha in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism” (Geumgang Center for Buddhist Studies at Geumgang University, South Korea, September 3–7, 2012).
  • 2012. “Tibetans on the Phenomenon of Translation” (July 24). Lecture held during a symposium on “Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts: Theories  and Practices of Translation” (July 23–25, 2012), University of Hamburg.
  • 2012. “On Relative Dating of Tibetan Texts and Terms: Taking the Typology of rig ’dzin as a Case Study” (June 25). Conference on “Merkmals and Mirages: Dating (Old) Tibetan Writings.” (June 25–27). Hosted by the “Kingship and Religion in Tibet” Project, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich.
  • 2012. Lecture “The Buddhist Ontology of Mereism” (June 22). Lecture held on the occasion of awarding the “Khyentse Foundation Award for Excellence in Buddhist Studies, 2012.” Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2012. “A Planning Workshop on Translating the Words of the Buddha: Tibetan—Chinese” (May 26–28). Represented the Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS). Robert Black College, The University of Hong Kong.
  • 2012. “The Mātravāda (‘Onlyism’) Ontology of Buddhist Philosophy” (May 23). The 11th Annual Conference of Asian Studies in Israel, Tel Aviv University.
  • 2012. “Indo-Tibetan Lexical Resource (ITLR): An Introduction and Progress Report” (March 21). Centro di Studi sul Buddhismo, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L'Orientale.” 21.03.2012.
  • 2012. Lecture “Buddhistische Eudämonologie/Glückslehre” (March 7). Held at Lions-Club Hamburg 13, Hafen-Klub Hamburg, Hamburg.
  • 2011. “Tibetan Textual Culture: Driving Forces Behind the Production, Dissemination, and Transmission of Texts” (December 21). Lecture held within the framework of the Lecture Series (Ringvorlesung) “Tibetische Textkultur – Alte Schätze, neue Entdeckungen” (Winter Semester 2011/12). Organised by the Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS) together with the Arbeitsstelle für wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung (AWW), University of Hamburg.2011. “The Legacies of Vikramaśīla and Nālandā Monastic Seminaries in Tibet: Two Exegetical Traditions.” Lecture held at the XVth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Dharma Drum Buddhist College, Taiwan.2011. “Towards a Buddhist Philosophy of Dialogue and Interreligious Dialogue” (March 21). Annual Numata Public Lecture. Lecture held at the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University, Montreal.
  • 2010. “Magie und Mystik als Machtmittel im Buddhismus” (November 20). Lecture held within the framework of the panel “Gewalt im Spiegel der Literatur und Kunst Südasiens” on the occasion of the Eighth South Asia Day. Organised by the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2010. “Textual Culture in Tibet: A Report of the Current State of Affair” (October 27). Lecture held within the framework of “Forschungsansätze der internationalen Süd- und Zentralasienwissenschaften,” Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2010. “Is Yogācāra a Poor Man’s Madhyamaka in Tibetan Buddhism?” (October 2). Lecture held at Renmin University, Beijing.
  • 2010. “Some Methodological Reflection on Tibetan Textual Studies” (September 27). Lecture held at the China Tibetology Research Center (CTRC), Beijing.
  • 2010. “On Deluxe Editions of Tibetan Buddhist Scriptures” (August 18). Lecture held at the “Twelfth Seminar of International Association for Tibetan Studies” (August 15–21). University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
  • 2010. “Indo-Tibetan Lexical Resource (ITRL): An Online Digital Device for Buddhist Textual Studies” (March 23). Lecture held within the framework of the First Seminar of the Integrating and Developing European Asian Studies (IDEAS) Work Package 3 entitled “Asia in the Making of Europe: A digital Bibliotheca Asiatica.” École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), Paris.
  • 2010. “Buddhistische Glücksphilosophie” (February 20). Lecture held within the framework of the Bhutan Day (Bhutantag) program “Happy Dragon” (Glücklicher Drache). Organised by the Bhutan-Himalayan Association of Germany (Deutsche Bhutan-Himalaya Gesellschaft e.V.) in cooperation with the United Nations Association of Germany (Deutsche Gesellschaft für die Vereinten Nationen, e.V.) and Center for Inter- and Transcultural Studies, University of Cologne (Zentrum für Inter- und Transkulturelle Studien, Universität Köln), Cologne.
  • 2009. “Water of Immortality or Water of Insanity? The Tibetan Cult of the Eight Pronouncements (bka’ brgyad) and the Account of Padmasambhava’s Failed Mission in Tibet” (December 28). Lecture held at the Institute of Asian and African Studies, The Faculty of Humanities, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
  • 2009. “Colophons in the Tibetan Textual Tradition” (December 4). Lecture held on the occasion of the Interdisciplinary Conference “On Colophons” (December 3–5) organised by the Research Group Manuscript Cultures in Asia and Africa, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2009. “Theater und Sakraler Tanz in Bhutan” (November 14). Lecture held within the framework of the panel “Theater in Südasien” on the occasion of the Seventh South Asia Day. Organised by the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2009. “The Concept and Cult of Vidyādhara (rig pa ’dzin pa) in the Ancient School of Tibetan Buddhism” (September 3). Lecture held at the Institute for Language and Cultural Studies (ILCS), Royal University of Bhutan, Semtokha, Thimphu, Bhutan.
  • 2009. “Methodological Reflections on the Academic Study of Buddhism” (September 25). Lecture held at the Institute for Language and Cultural Studies (ILCS), Royal University of Bhutan, Semtokha, Thimphu, Bhutan.
  • 2009. “On Citation and Quotation in Tibetan Literary Culture” (February 28). Lecture held on the occasion of the Symposium on Hermeneutics “Das Zitieren in den Kulturen Süd- und Ostasiens” (February 26–28). Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2009. “Leerheit, Klarheit und Einfühlsamkeit: Die Quintessenz der buddhistischen Lehre nach der alten Schule des tibetischen Buddhismus” (February 11). Lecture held at the Tibetan Center (Tibetisches Zentrum e.V.), Hamburg.
  • 2009. “Sprachkultur und Sprachpolitik in Tibet und Bhutan: ein Vergleich” (February 3). Lecture held within the framework of the lecture series of the Asia-Africa Institute “Sprachpolitiken in Asien und Afrika im Wandel der Zeiten” on the occasion of its hundred-year anniversary. Coordinated by Prof. Dr. Mechthild Reh (Abt. für Afrikanistik und Äthiopistik), Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2008. “The Sorcerers’ Basket: Tibetan Scholars’ Deliberations on the Vidyādharapiṭaka and Its Affiliation with the Three Canonical Baskets” (February 5). Lecture held at the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley.
  • 2008. “Theoretische Ansätze für interreligiösen Dialog im Indo-Tibetischen Buddhismus” (December 8). Lecture held within the framework of the lecture series “Interreligiösen Dialog in nationalen und internationalen Kontexten” organised by the Interdisciplinary Centre “World Religions in Dialogue,” University of Hamburg.
  • 2008. “Tibetisch-buddhistische Thanatologie” (November 15). Lecture held within the framework of the panel “Rites of Passage: From the Cradle to the Grave” on the occasion of the Sixth South Asia Day. Organised by the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2008. “Tibetan Sources on the Identity and Authenticity of the Corpus of Buddhist Tantric Scriptures” (October 16). Lecture held at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Faculty of Letters, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo.
  • 2008. “Tibetan Madhyamaka Exponents on Appearances and Perceptions” (October 15). Lecture held at The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University, Tokyo.
  • 2008. “Anticipating to Attain Buddhahood via Sorcery and Magic: The Concept and Cult of Vidyādhara (rig pa ’dzin pa) in Tibetan Buddhism” (October 2). Lecture held at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
  • 2008. “Appearances and Perceptions: Tibetan Madhyamaka Exponents on Madhyamakāvatāra 6.69–71” (September 26). Lecture held at The International Institute for Buddhist Studies, Tokyo.
  • 2008. “Challenging Candrakīrti: Phya-pa Chos-kyi-seng-ge’s Criticism of Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka.” Lecture held at the “Fifteenth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies” (June 23–28). Emory University, Atlanta.
  • 2008. “Das Vidyādharapiṭaka: Tibetische Autoren über den kanonischen Status buddhistischer tantrischer Schriften” (June 12). Lecture held at the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2007. “Tension between Preserving Linguistic Diversity and Asserting National Identity-cum-Unity in Bhutan” (November 24). Lecture held within the framework of the panel “Languages of South Asia between the Poles of Culture and Politics” on the occasion of the Fifth South Asia Day. Organised by the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2007. “Much Ado about the Appearance and Perception of Water: Attempts Made by the Four Major Schools of Tibetan Buddhism to Resolve Ontological and Epistemological Problems” (March 8). Lecture held at the UC Berkeley Center for Buddhist Studies, University of California, Berkeley.
  • 2007. “The Multidimensionality of the Bodhicitta Concept in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism” (March 6). Lecture held at the Stanford Center for Buddhist Studies, Stanford University.
  • 2006. “Film Culture and Film Industry in Bhutan” (November 18). Lecture held within the framework of the panel “Film in South Asia” on the occasion of the Fourth South Asia Day. Organised by the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
  • 2006. “Towards a Relative Chronology of Some of the Major Writings of Klong-chen-pa.” Lecture held at the “Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies” (August 27–September 2). Königswinter.
  • 2006. “A Relativity Theory of the Purity and Validity of Perception in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.” Lecture held at the “Symposium: Yogic Perception, Meditation, and Altered States of Consciousness” (June 27–30). Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna.
  • 2006. “Ist ‘Wasser’ Wasser, Eiter, Nektar oder etwas anderes? Ein ontologisch-epistemologisches Dilemma im indo-tibetischen Buddhismus” (May 3). Lecture held at the Department for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, University of Vienna.
  • 2006. “Die Wiederbelebung des dPal-yul–Klosters im indischen Exil und in Tibet.” Lecture held within the framework of the continuing education program “Buddhism Past and Present” (Winter semester 2005/06): “Revivalist Movements.” University of Hamburg.
  • 2005. “A Typological Categorization of Bodhicitta” (May 13). Lecture held at the Department for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, University of Vienna.
  • 2005–2006: Lecture series “Ethics in Tantric and Non-Tantric Mahāyāna Buddhism” (Fall semester, 2005/06). Held at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen.
  • 2003. “The rNying-ma Interpretations of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory.” Lecture held at the “Tenth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies” (September 6–12). St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford.
  • 2003. “Some Aspects of Meditation in the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen).” Lecture held within the framework of the continuing education program “Buddhism Past and Present” (Winter semester 2002/03): [“Women in Buddhism” and “Meditation”]. University of Hamburg.
  • 2001. “The Great Perfection (rdzogs chen) as Presented in Rong-zom-pa’s Work.” Lecture held within the framework of the continuing education program “Buddhism Past and Present” (Winter semester 2000/01): [“Spectrum of Buddhist Teachings from Yogācāra to Chinese and Japanese Buddhism”]. University of Hamburg.
  • 2001. “The Essential Teachings of Buddhism” (August 6). Lecture held at Lions Club Hahnheide, Forsthaus Seebergen, Lütjensee, Germany.
  • 2000. “An Eleventh-Century Defence of the Guhyagarbhatantra.” Lecture held at the “Ninth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies” (June 24–30). International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University.
  • 2000. “Madhyamaka from the Perspective of the rNying-ma Tradition.” Lecture held within the framework of the continuing education program “Buddhism Past and Present” (Summer semester 2000): [“Historical Development of Buddhism”]. University of Hamburg.
  • 1999. “Sa-paṇ and Mi-pham on Whether One Can Distinguish between the Sūtra and Tantra Views (lta ba).” Lecture held at the “Twelfth Conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies” (August 23–28). University of Lausanne.
  • 1991. “The Influence of Modernization on Tibetan Culture.” Lecture held at the “Conference on Tibetan Culture.” Organised by the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), Sarnath, India.
  • 1991. “The Buddhist Approach to Human Problems.” Lecture held at the “First International Buddhist Convention: International Seminar on the Buddhist Approach to Contemporary Problems” (June 9–10). Organised by the Mahā Bodhi Society, Bangalore, on the occasion of the Mahā Bodhi Centenary Celebration 1891–1991.
  • 1991. “The Golden Rule in Buddhism.” Lecture held at the “World Federation of Inter-religious Conference.” Organised by the World Fellowship of Inter-religious Councils (WFIRC), Cochin, Kerala.