Dr. Orna Almogi

Orna Almogi studied Tibetology (major) and Religious Studies and Psychology (minors) at the University of Hamburg (MA 1998). She received her PhD in Tibetology from the same University in 2006 (doctoral thesis: “Rong-zom-pa’s Discourses on Traditional Buddhology: A Study on the Development of the Concept of Buddhahood with Special Reference to the Controversy Surrounding the Existence of Gnosis (ye shes: jñāna) at the Stage of a Buddha”). From 1999 until 2004 she had been working for the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP) and the Nepalese-German Manuscript Cataloguing Project (NGMCP), where she had been responsible for the Tibetan materials. From 2008 to 2011 she has been a member of the Researcher Group “Manuscript Cultures in Asia and Africa” with the subproject “The Manuscript Collections of the Ancient Tantras (rNying ma rgyud ’bum): An Examination of Variance.” From 2011 to 2015 she has been working at the “Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures” as the leader of the subproject “Doxographical Organisational Schemes in Manuscripts and Xylographs of the Collection of the Ancient Tantras.”

Since 2015 she is the Co-director and research co-ordinator of the “Academic Research Program Initiative” (ARPI). Between the years 2016 and 2019 she had been leading the project “A Canon in the Making: The History of the Formation, Production, and Transmission of the bsTan 'gyur, the Corpus of Treatises in Tibetan Translation.” Her research interests extend to a number of areas connected with the Tibetan religio-philosophical traditions and Tibetan Buddhist literature, particularly that of the rNying-ma school. The primary focus of her research the past years has been the concept of Buddhahood in traditional Buddhist sources, early subclassifications of Madhyamaka, the rNying ma rgyud ’bum, and the bsTan ʼgyur. Another interest of her is the culture of the book in Tibet in all its variety, specifically in connection with the compilation and transmission of Buddhist literary collections, both in manuscripts and xylographs forms.

She has been involved in several Digital Humanities projects, including the Indo-Tibetan Lexical Resource (ITLR), Scholars & Scribes, and gSung-rten. She is also one of the initiators, together with Sebastian Nehrdich and Prof. Dorji Wangchuk, of the BuddhaNexus project. Currently she is the corresponding PI of the ERC Synergy Intellexus project (April 2024–March 2030).

Publications

forthcoming. mtshan byang མཚན་བྱང་ (work title). In Glenn W. Most, Anne Eusterschulte, Martin Kern (eds.) Philological Practices: A Comparative Historical Lexicon. Area: Tibet, Nicola Bajetta (ed.). Princeton University Press.
forthcoming. mjug byang མཇུག་བྱང་ (colophon). In Glenn W. Most, Anne Eusterschulte, Martin Kern (eds.) Philological Practices: A Comparative Historical Lexicon. Area: Tibet, Nicola Bajetta (ed.). Princeton University Press.
Forthcoming. “rNying ma.” In Brill Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, vol. 3.
2022 (ed.) Evolution of Scriptures, Formation of Canons: The Buddhist Case. Indian and Tibetan Studies Series 13. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg. 458 pp.
2022 “Editors as Canon-Makers: The Formation of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon in the Light of Its Editors’ Predilections and Agendas.” In Orna Almogi (ed.), Evolution of Scriptures, Formation of Canons: The Buddhist Case. Indian and Tibetan Studies Series 13. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg, 351–458.
2022 “The Translation Endeavours of Shes rab grags Revisited: An Investigation of Translations Done by Pu rang lo chung Shes rab grags and ’Bro lo tsā ba Shes rab grags.” Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 63: 289–400.
2021. “Does a Buddha Possess Gnosis? Three Deliberations in 12th–13th Century Tibet.” In Volker Caumanns, Jörg Heimbel, Kazuo Kano, Alexander Schiller (eds.), Gateways to Tibetan Studies: A Collection of Essays in Honour of David P. Jackson on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday. 2 vols. Indian and Tibetan Studies Series 12. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg, vol. 1: 59–86.
2021. “The Old sNar thang Tibetan Buddhist Canon Revisited, with Special Reference to dBus pa blo gsal’s bsTan ’gyur Catalogue.” Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 58, 165–207.
2020. Authenticity and Authentication: Glimpses behind the Scenes of the Formation of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon. Indian and Tibetan Studies 9. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg.
2020. “Akaniṣṭha as a Multivalent Buddhist Word-cum-Name with Special Reference to rNying ma Tantric Sources.” In Vincent Eltschinger, Marta Sernesi, Vincent Tournier (eds.), Archaeologies of the Written: Indian, Tibeta, and Buddhist Studies in Honour of Cristina Scherrer-Schaub. Series Minor 84. Naples: Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale,” Dipartimento Asia Africa e Mediterraneo, 23–76.
2020. (ed.).Birds as Ornithologists: Scholarship between Faith and Reason. Intra- and Inter-disciplinary Perspectives. Indian and Tibetan Studies 8. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg. 394 pp.
2020. “Spiritual Masters and Master Copies on the Move: On a Recently Discovered Manuscript Edition of the rNying ma rgyud ʼbum from East Tibet and Its Origin.” In Jeannine Bischoff, Petra Maurer, Charles Ramble (eds.), On a Day of a Month of the Fire Bird Year. Festschrift for Peter Schwieger on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday. Lumbini: Lumbini International Research Institute, 5–25.
2019. Sivan Keret, Lior Wolf, Nachum Dershowitz, Eric Werner, Orna Almogi, Dorji Wangchuk. “Transductive Learning for Reading Handwritten Tibetan Manuscripts.” 2019 International Conference on Document Analysis Recognition (ICDAR 2019). New York City: IEEE, 214–221.
2019. “The Human behind the Divine: An Investigation into the Evolution of Scriptures with Special Reference to the Ancient Tantras of Tibetan Buddhism.” In Volker Caumanns, Marta Sernesi, Nikolai Solmsdorf (eds.), Unearthing Himalayan Treasures: Festschrift for Franz-Karl Ehrhard. Indica et Tibetica 59. Marburg: Indica et Tibetica Verlag, 1–26.
2019. Orna Almogi, Lena Dankin, Nachum Dershowitz, Lior Wolf. “A Hackathon for Classical Tibetan.” Journal of Data Mining and Digital Humanities. Episciences.org. Special Issue on Computer Aided Processing of Intertextuality in Ancient Languages, 1–10. [PDF]
2018. Orna Almogi, Lena Dankin, Nachum Dershowitz, Yair Hoffman, Dimitri Pauls, Dorji Wangchuk, and Lior Wolf. “Stemming and Segmentation for Classical Tibetan.” In A. Gelbukh (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Conference on Computational Linguistics and Intelligent Text Processing (CICLing), Konya, Turkey (April 2016). Revised Selected Papers, Part I. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 9623. Springer-Verlag, Switzerland, 294–306.
2016. (ed.) Tibetan Manuscript and Xylograph Traditions: The Written Word and Its Media within the Tibetan Culture Sphere. Indian and Tibetan Studies 4. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg. 415 pp.
2016. Almogi, Orna & Wangchuk, Dorji. “Prologue: Tibetan Textual Culture between Tradition and Modernity.” In Orna Almogi (ed.), Tibetan Manuscript and Xylograph Traditions: The Written Word and Its Media within the Tibetan Culture Sphere. Indian and Tibetan Studies 4. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg, 5–30.
2016. “Translation as Proofs and Polemics of Authentication: rNying ma versus gSar ma Translation Practices.” In Dorji Wangchuk (ed.), Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts: Theories and Practices of Translation. Indian and Tibetan Studies 5, Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg, 1–21.
2016. “The rNying ma rgyud ’bum at the National Archives Kathmandu: The History of Its Production and Transmission.” In Orna Almogi (ed.), Tibetan Manuscript and Xylograph Traditions: The Written Word and Its Media within the Tibetan Culture Sphere. Indian and Tibetan Studies 4. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg, 31–65.
2016. “Tantric Scriptures in the rNying ma rgyud ’bum Believed to Have Been Transmitted to Tibet by Kashmiris: A Preliminary Survey.” In Eli Franco & Isabelle Ratié (eds.), Around Abhinavagupta: Aspects of the Intellectual History of Kashmir from the Ninth to the Eleventh Century. Leipziger Studien zu Kultur und Geschichte Süd- und Zentralasiens 6. Berlin: LIT Verlag, 1–31.
2015. “The Spa sgar and Gdong dkar la Rnying ma rgyud ’bum Editions: Two Newly Discovered Sets from Bhutan.” In Olaf Czaja & Guntram Hazod (eds.), The Illuminating Mirror. Tibetan Studies in Honour of Per K. Sørensen on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1–14.
2015. (together with Emanuel Kindzorra, Oliver Hahn & Ira Rabin). “Inks, Pigments, Paper: In Quest of Unveiling the History of the Production of a Tibetan Buddhist Manuscript Collection from the Tibetan-Nepalese Borderlands.” JIABS 36/37, 2013/2014 (2015), pp. 93–117.
2015. (together with Martin Delhey, Claire MacDonald & Boryana Pouvkova). “Recovering Lost Text and Beyond: Multispectral Imaging for Text-related and Codicological Studies of Tibetan Paper and Sanskrit Palm-Leaf Manuscripts.” JIABS 36/37: 2013/2014 (2015), pp. 153–191.
2014. Benjamin Eliot Klein, Nachum Dershowitz, Lior Wolf, Orna Almogi, Dorji Wangchuk, “Finding inexact quotations within a Tibetan Buddhist corpus.” In: Digital Humanities (DH) 2014: 486–488, Lausanne. [PDF]
2014. “The Eighteen Mahāyoga Tantric Cycles: A Real Canon or the Mere Notion of One?” Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 30, 2014: 47–110.
2013. Review of Anne Chayet, Christina Scherrer-Schaub, Franҫoise Robin & Jean-Luc Achard (eds.), Edition, éditions: l′écrit au Tibet, évolution et devenir. [The process of editing and the editions/edited texts: the problematic of the written in Tibet, evolution/history and transformation/change]. Colectanea Himalayica 3. Munich: Indus Verlag, 2010. The Journal of Asian Studies 72/4: 992–993.
2013. “Yogācāra in the Writings of the Eleventh-Century Rnying ma Scholar Rong zom Chos kyi bzang po.” 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, 1330–1361.
2012. “Guides to Holy Places as Sources for the Study of the Culture of the Book in the Tibetan Cultural Sphere: The Example of Kaḥ thog si tu Chos kyi rgya mtsho's gNas yig.” Historical and Philological Studies of China’s Western Regions 5: 505–530.
2011. “Tibetische Manuskriptkultur” / “Tibetan Manuscript Culture.” In the catalogue to the exhibition “Faszination Handschrift: 2000 Jahre Manuskriptkulturen in Asien, Afrika und Europa,” Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg. Manuscript Cultures 4: 126–132.
2011. Review of Tibetische Handschriften und Blockdrucke, Teil 13 (Die mTshur-phu-Ausgabe der Sammlung Rin-chen gter-mdzod chen-mo, nach dem Exemplar der Orientabteilung, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Hs or 778, Bände 40–52). Peter Schwieger. Indo-Iranian Journal 54, 2011, pp. 178–184.
2010. “Māyopamādvayavāda versus Sarvadharmāpratiṣṭhānavāda: A Late Indian Subclassification of Madhyamaka and its Reception in Tibet.” Journal of the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies 14, pp. 135–212.
2009. Rong-zom-pa’s Discourses on Buddhology: A Study of Various Conceptions of Buddhahood in Indian Sources with Special Reference to the Controversy Surrounding the Existence of Gnosis (jñāna: ye shes) as Presented by the Eleventh-Century Tibetan Scholar Rong-zom Chos-kyi-bzang-po. Studia Philologica Buddhica Monograph Series 24. Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies. 549 pages. The publication is available from the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies Library.
2009. “The Materiality and Immanence of Gnosis in Some rNying-ma Tantric Sources.” In Eli Franco (ed.) in collaboration with Dagmar Eigner, Yogic Perception, Meditation and Altered States of Consciousness. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, pp. 241–262.
2008. (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 14. Halle: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies. 569 pp.
2008. “How Authentic Are Titles and Colophons of Tantric Works in the Tibetan Canon? The Case of Three Works and Their Authors and Translators.” In Orna Almogi (ed.), Contributions to Tibetan Buddhist Literature. Proceedings of the Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Königswinter 2006. Beiträge zur Zentralasienforschung 14. Halle: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, pp. 87–124.
2006. Online NGMPP Title List: Tibetan Manuscripts (34,221 entries). Compiled by Orna Almogi with the assistance of Alexander Schiller, Jan-Ulrich Sobisch, Katja Thiesen, Jörg Heimbel, Mathias Fermer. (Hamburg: University of Hamburg, Asia-Africa Institute, Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies.) http://catalogue.ngmcp.uni-hamburg.de:3000
2005. “Analysing Tibetan Titles: Towards a Genre-based Classification of Tibetan Literature.” Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie 15: Fabienne Jagou (ed.), Conception et Circulation des Textes Tibétains, pp. 27–58.
2003. Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP). Preliminary List of Manuscripts, Blockprints and Historical Documents Microfilmed by the NGMPP. Part 2: Tibetan Material (Release 1). Compiled by Orna Almogi with the assistance of Alexander Schiller and Jan-Ulrich Sobisch. Hamburg: University of Hamburg, Asia-Africa Institute, Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies. Approx. 13,000 entries (CD-ROM).
2003. Manual to the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP). Preliminary List of Manuscripts, Blockprints and Historical Documents Microfilmed by the NGMPP. Part 2: Tibetan Material (Release 1). Hamburg: University of Hamburg, Asia-Africa Institute, Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies. 33 pages.
2002. “Sources on the Life and Works of the Eleventh-Century Tibetan Scholar Rong-zom Chos-kyi-bzang-po: A Brief Survey.” In Henk Blezer (ed.), Tibet, Past and Present. Tibetan Studies 1. PIATS 2000: Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Leiden 2000. Leiden: Brill, pp. 67–80.

Papers Presented

2023. “BuddhaNexus: A Tool for Studying the History of Composition of Buddhist Texts.” International Symposium: Advanced Computational Methods for Studying Buddhist Texts. 27–28.04.2023. Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna.
2023. “BuddhaNexus: Underlying Philosophy, Hitherto Achievements, Future Plans.” 13.01.2023. Symposium: Perspectives of Digital Humanities in the Field of Buddhist Studies: Workshop (12.01.2023) & Symposium (13–14.01.2023). Khyentse Center & Numata Center, Hamburg.
2023. “The BuddhaNexus Platform.” together with Sebastian Nehrdich. 12.01.2023. Workshop: Perspectives of Digital Humanities in the Field of Buddhist Studies: Workshop (12.01.2023) & Symposium (13–14.01.2023). Khyentse Center & Numata Center, Hamburg.
2022. “A Canon in the Making: Three Versions of the Old sNar thang bsTan ’gyur.” 24.10.2022. “Canons, Kanjurs, and Collections: Multidisciplinary Approaches in the Study of Tibetan Canonical Literature. A Symposium in Honour of Helmut Tauscher.” Vienna, October 24–25, 2022.
2022. “The Old sNar thang bsTan ’gyur: An Overview of the State of the Art.” Invited lecture. 11.10.2022. Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”.
2022. “Exploring the Nexus of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Intellectual Networks as Evident in the Tibetan Buddhist Canon.” 7.7.2022. Panel: “Studying the Bka’ ’gyur and Bstan ’gyur” organized by Adam C. Krug. IATS conference, Prague, July, 3–9, 2022.
2022. “Who is Manābhiharala/°lala? On the Identity of ’Bro lo tsā ba Shes rab grags’s Collaborator on the Translation of the *Sahajasiddhipaddhati.” Lecture Series on Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Philology. Tsinghua University, Beijing, August 4, 2022.
2021. “BuddhaNexus: A Powerful Tool for the Study of the Evolution of Scriptures, Formation of Canons, and Intellectual Networks.” Together with Sebastian Nehrdich. Khyentse Center Lecture Series. Universität Hamburg, February 10, 2021.
2020. “What’s in a Name? Once Again on the Authenticity of Tibetan Canonical Colophons.” Khyentse Center Lecture Series. Universität Hamburg, July 1, 2020.
2019. “Tāranātha on Authenticity and Canonicity.” 12.09.2019. Seminar in Tibetology organized by Hiroshima University & Tsukuba University. September 11–14. Hiroshima University.
2019. “Towards a Reconstruction of the Intellectual Network of Rong zom Chos kyi bzang po.” 11.07.2019. Panel: “Mapping intellectual networks of Tibetan scholasticism,” organised by Pascale Hugon & Kevin Vose. IATS 16, July 7–13, Paris.
2019. “Colophons as Testimonies for Some of the Processes Leading to the Formation of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon: Selected Examples.” Conference: “Tibetan Buddhist Textual Studies (1).” Shechen Monastery, Kathmandu, March 9–11, 2019.
2019. “The Formation of the ‘Treatises in [Tibetan] Translation’ (bsTan ’gyur): Some Milestones.” February 12, 2019. Kyoto University.
2018. “Once Again on the Authenticity of Colophons in Tibetan Canonical and Para-canonical Collections.” 13.10.2018. Conference: “The Syntax of South, Southeast and Central Asian Colophons: A First Step Towards a Comparative and Historical Study of Manuscripts in the Poṭhi Format.” Hamburg, October 11–13.
2018. “Editors as Canon-Makers: The Formation of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon in View of Its Editors’ Agendas.” 25.09.2018. Conference: “Evolution of Scriptures, Formation of Canons.” Tokyo, September 24–25.”
2017. “The Evolution of the Ancient Tantras and the Formation of the rNying ma rgyud ʼbum: The State of Affairs.” Circle of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies. SOAS, University of London. November 17, 2017.
2017. (together with Dorji Wangchuk) “The gSung-rten Database: A Multifaceted Platform for Storing and Publishing Tibetan Materials.” Conference: “Data management in Asian Humanities and Social Sciences.” SOAS, University of London. November 14–15, 2017.
2017. “The Making of Canons: Means of Reaching a (Forced) Consensus” Tokyo University. October 13, 2017.
2017. “Scholars and Scribes: The Approximate Text Alignment Tool.” 27.09.2017. Panel: “Digital Humanities: ICT Innovations in Classical Studies.” Tsukuba Global Science Week 2017. Tsukuba University, Japan. September 25–27, 2017.
2017. “Policies and Strategies of Authentication and Canonisation within the Tibetan Cultural Sphere:” 07.09.2017. Conference: “International Seminar on Tibetan Languages and Historical Documents.” Kobe University, Japan. September 7–8, 2017.
2017. “Tibetan Scholars on the Mahāyāna Concept of buddhakārya/buddhakriyā against the Backdrop of Madhyamaka Philosophy in 12th–13th Century Tibet.” 25.08.2017. Panel: “Deeds of a Buddha.” XVIIth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. University of Toronto, Canada, August 20–25, 2017.
2017. “Once Again on the Issue of Authentication of Scriptures and Treatises: The Tibetan Buddhist Case.” 24.07.2017. Conference: “Birds as Ornithologists: Scholarship between Faith and Reason.” Universität Hamburg (organisation) & Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, Mysore, India (hosting). July, 23–25 2017.
2016. “Treatises in the Tibetan Canon Ascribed to the Kashmiri Master Vimalamitra: Exploring Means of Authorship Verification.” 26.10.2016. “Around Abhinavagupta: Aspects of the Intellectual History of Kashmir.” Cornell University. October 25–26.
2016. “Computerized Tools for Tibetan Textual Studies: Challenges and Solutions.” Panel: “Tibetan Information Technology, Library Resources, and Digital Humanities.” 24.06.2016. XIVth Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Bergen, Norway, June 19–25, 2016.
2016. “The East Tibetan Manuscript Editions of the rNying ma rgyud ʼbum: Independent Line(s) of Transmission?” Panel: “rNying ma Tantric Studies.” 21.06.2016. XIVth Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Bergen, Norway, June 19–25, 2016.
2015. “On Hitherto Unknown bsTan ’gyur Editions and Their Placement within the Overall History of Transmission of the bsTan ’gyur.” 08.10.2015. “International Conference on Mongolian Buddhism and Mongol-Tibetan Relationship,” Renmin University, Beijing, October 8–9, 2015.
2015. “The History of the rNying ma rgyud ʼbum in View of the Text and Book Cultures within the Tibetan Cultural Sphere.” Rangjung Yeshe Institute, Nepal. September 15, 2015.
2015. “The rNying ma rgyud ʼbum Collection: The History of Its Emergence, Production, and Transmission.” Nying ma Ngagyur Research Center, Mysore, India. July 25, 2015.
2015. “The Problem of the Many: Three Solutions to Navigating through the Mass of Tibetan Textual Material.” 23.04.2015. SOAS, London.
2015. “Multivalent Buddhist-Philosophical Terms in Translation. The Case of Akaniṣṭha.” 05.03.2015. ICR Symposium “Philosophy across Cultures: Transmission, Translation and Transformation of Thought,” Tsukuba University, Japan, March 05–06.
2014. (together with Dorji Wangchuk) “Scholars and Scribes: Leveraging Computerized Tools for Navigating an Uncharted Tibetan Buddhist Philosophical Corpus.” TBRC, Cambridge, MA. October 10, 2014.
2014. “On the Footsteps of the Scribes, Editors, and Patrons of the National Archives’ (Kathmandu) rNying ma rgyud ’bum Manuscript Edition: A Historical-Philological Study and Natural Scientific Examinations.” Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University. October 9, 2014.
2014 together with Dorji Wangchuk. “Scholars and Scribes: Leveraging Computerized Tools for Navigating an Uncharted Tibetan Buddhist Philosophical Corpus.” Department of Religion, Columbia University. October 7, 2014.
2014. “Revealed (gTer-ma) Texts in the rNying ma rgyud ’bumand Authentication Strategies as Witnessed in Their Colophons.” 23.08.2014. Panel: “Scriptural Formation and Authentication.” XVIth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. University of Vienna, Austria, August 18–23, 2014.
2014. “Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of Tibetan Manuscripts and Xylographs: The State of the Art and Future Prospects.” 22.07.2014. “Digital Palaeography: New Machines and Old Texts,” Schloss Dagstuhl, Germany, July, 20–24.
2014 jointly with Benjamin Eliot Klein, Nachum Dershowitz, Lior Wolf, Orna Almogi, Dorji Wangchuk. Poster presentation: “Finding Inexact Quotations Within a Tibetan Buddhist Corpus.” 10.07.2014. Digital Humanities Conference July, 7–12 2014, Lausanne.
2014. “Computerized Tools for the Study of Tibetan Manuscripts and Xylographs: State of Affairs and Future Prospects.” University of Tokyo. July 2, 2014.
2014. “Computerized Tools for the Study of Tibetan Manuscripts and Xylographs: State of Affairs and Future Prospects.” Dharma Drum Buddhist College, Taiwan, June 30, 2014.
2014. “The Notion of Inexpressibility in the Controversy Surrounding the Existence of the Buddha’s Gnosis.” 28.06.2014. “Language in the Traditions of Madhyamaka Thought.” The 2014 International Conference on Buddhist Thought at Huafan University: Huafan University, Graduate Institute of Asian Humanities, Taipei. June 27–29, 2014.
2013.“The Māyopamādvayavāda–Sarvadharmāpratiṣṭhānavāda Distinction⎯A Survey of Eleventh-Century Indian Sources.” Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, 09.10.2013.
2013. “The History of the Transmission of the rNying ma rgyud ′bum in the Light of New Findings.” Renmin University, Beijing, 08.10.2013.
2013. “Scribes and Editors at Work: On the Making of rNying ma rgyud 'bum Editions.” Sichuan University, Chengdu, 23.09.2013.
2013. “Alterations, Omissions, Additions: Scribal And Editorial Interventions and A Typology of Variant.” 11.08.2013. Workshop “From Manuscripts & Xylographs to Modern Editions: Buddhist Textual Scholarship in Theory and Practice.” Thimphu, Bhutan, August, 10–18, 2013.
2013. “The gDong dkar la Edition of the rNying ma rgyud ’bum: A New Link in the History of the Transmission of the Collection of the Ancient Tantras.” 25.07.2013. Panel: “Nyingma Studies – What's in a Name?,” XIIIth Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 21–27.07.2013.
2013. “Tantric Scriptures in the rNying ma rgyud 'bum Believed to have been Transmitted into Tibet by Kāśmirian Paṇḍitas: A Preliminary Survey.” Conference “Around Abhinavagupta Aspects of the Intellectual History of Kashmir 9th -11th century.” University of Leipzig, 07–10.2013.
2013. “The National Archives' (Kathmandu) rNying ma rgyud 'bum Manuscript Edition: Distinctive Features as Clues for Its Origin and History of Transmission.” Conference on “Manuscript and Xylograph Traditions in the Tibetan Cultural Sphere: Regional and Periodical Characteristics.” University of Hamburg, Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS), 15–18.05.2013.
2012. “Manuscripts and Xylographs in motion across the Tibetan Plateau and beyond.” 15.11.2012. Conference “Manuscripts in Motion”, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg, 15–17.11.2012.
2012. “Some Highlights of Recent Tibetological and Buddhological Research Findings.” Ati Foundation, Thimphu, Bhutan, 01.10.2012.
2012. “Self-Occurring Gnosis (svayaṃbhūjñāna: rang byung gi ye shes): A Mental or a Metaphysical Entity?” Mahidol University, Thailand, 17.09.2012.
2012. “On the Concept of Self-Occurring Gnosis (svayaṃbhūjñāna: rang byung gi ye shes): A Historical Perspective.” Seoul University, Korea, 12.09.2012.
2012. “Tathāgatagarbha in the Tantric Tradition,” 03.09.2012. Intensive Workshop on Tathāgatagarbha, Geumgang University, Korea, 03–07.09.2012.
2012. “Translation as Proofs and Polemics of Authentication: rNying-ma versus gSar-ma Translation Practices.” 24.07.2012. Symposium on “Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts: Theories and Practices of Translation,” University of Hamburg, 23–25.07.2012.
2012. (Together with Agnieszka Helman-Wazny & Jeff Wallman) “The role of digitisation in manuscript and textual research as exemplified by their application to Tibetan manuscript culture.” Workshop: Digital Methods in Manuscript Studies, Digital Humanities Conference 2012, May 16–23, 2012, University of Hamburg.
2012. “The Multiple Versions of the rNying ma rgyud ’bum Collection: A Case Study of Organisational Schemes and Compilatory Processes of Tibetan Buddhist Scriptures.” Centro di Studi sul Buddhismo, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L'Orientale.” March 21, 2012.
2012. “The Eighteen Major Mahāyoga Tantras and Their Organisation within the Collection of the Ancient Tantras.” The 11th Annual Conference of Asian Studies in Israel, Tel Aviv University.
2011. “Die Buch- und Schriftkultur Tibets: Entstehung, Entwicklung und Instandhaltung.” Lecture held at the opening of the exhibition “Kalligraphie im Dialogue: China - Iran - Tibet”, Gallerie Atelier III, Bramstedt.
2011. “Various Conceptions of Akaniṣṭha in the Tibetan Tradition with Special Reference to rNying-ma Tantric Sources.” Lecture held at the XVth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Dharma Drum Buddhist College, Taiwan.
2011. “On the Problem of the Absolute in Madhyamaka.” Lecture held at McGill University, Faculty of Religious Studies, March 2, 2011.
2010. “Travelogues as Sources for the Study of the Culture of the Book in the Tibetan Cultural Sphere: The Example of Kaḥ thog si tu Chos kyi rgya mtsho’s gNas yig.” Lecture held at Renmin University, Beijing.
2010. “Towards a History of the Transmission of the rNying ma rgyud ’bum Manuscript Collections.” Lecture held at the China Tibetology Research Center, Beijing.
2010. Discussant in the panel “Tibetological Library and Archive Resources: State of the Field and a Fielding of Needs.” 18.08.2010. The 12th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Vancouver, 15–21.08.2010.
2010. “The Circulation of Manuscript and Xylograph Editions of the Tibetan Canon: A Preliminary Survey.” The 12th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, August 15 –21, Vancouver.
2009. “Are Phenomena Illusion-like or Substratum-less? A Late Indian Madhyamaka Controversy.” Lecture held at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
2009. “Epistemological Theories and Their Influence on Buddhological Issues Among Early Tibetan Mādhyamikas.” Lecture held at the Institute for Language and Cultural Studies, Bhutan.
2009. Respondent in the “International Symposium: Peace in the Buddhist Traditions of India and Tibet,” panel “Religion and Realpolitik.” Center for Buddhist Studies, University of Hamburg, 18–20.06.2009.
2008. “The bsTan-’gyur and its Patrons and Editors: The History of the Transmission of the ‘Treatises in Translation’ Based on Historical Sources.” Lecture held at the International Institute for Buddhist Studies, Tokyo.
2008. “The Cult and Culture of Sacred Books in Tibet: Doctrinal, Political and Economical Factors.” Lecture held at Tsukuba University, Japan.
2008. “Rong-zom Chos-kyi-bzang-po’s Subclassification of the Madhyamaka School.” XVth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, within the panel “Tibetan scholasticism in the 11th and 12th centuries,” Emory University, Atlanta, June 23–29, 2008.
2008. “On Some Less Known Tenjur Editions: Filling the Gap in the History of the Transmission of the Translated Treatises.” Lecture held at the Departments of East Asian Languages and Cultures and of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley.
2007. “Does a Buddha Possess Gnosis (jñāna: ye shes)? A Dispute among Madhyamaka Exponents in India and Tibet.” Lecture held at the Center for Buddhist Studies, University of California, Berkeley.
2007. “What Is a Buddha? An Overview of the Buddhological Concepts Found in Tantric and Non-Tantric Mahāyāna Sources.” Lecture held at the Stanford Center for Buddhist Studies, Stanford University.
2006. “On the Identification of Some Canonical Texts, Their Authors and Translators.” The Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Königswinter, August 27 – September 2.
2006. “The Physicality and Immanence of Gnosis in Some rNying-ma Tantric Sources.” Symposium: Yogic Perception, Meditation and Altered States of Consciousness, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, June 27–30.
2006. “Manuskripte und Buchdruck in Tibet” (“Manuscripts and Book Printing in Tibet”). Lecture held within the lecture series “Die Faszination der Handschrift: Manuskriptkulturen in Asien und Afrika” (“The Fascination of Manuscripts: Manuscript Cultures in Asia and Africa”), Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
2005. “Sangs rgyas kyi sa chen mo: Rong zom pa on Traditional Buddhology.” Lecture held at the Department for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, University of Vienna.
2003. “Analysis of Tibetan Titles: Towards a Genre-based Classification of Tibetan Literature.” The Tenth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Oxford, September 6–12.
2000. “Der Buchkult in der Tibetischen Kultur” (“The Cult of the Book in Tibetan Culture”). Lecture held at the symposium “Asien und Afrika in Hamburg,” June 5–7, Congress Centrum Hamburg. Organized by the University of Hamburg.
2000. “A Brief Survey of the Life and Works of the Eleventh-Century Scholar and Translator Rong-zom Chos-kyi-bzang-po.” The Ninth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Leiden, June 24–30.
1999. “Ein Tibetischer Gelehrter des 11. Jahrhunderts: Legenden und Entdeckungen” (“A Tibetan Scholar of the 11th Century: Legends and Discoveries”). Lecture held on the occasion of the NGMPP exhibition Buddhas Berge Bücher in the Museum für Völkerkunde, Hamburg.

Exhibitions

2001. Co-planning and co-producing an exhibition on the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP) displayed at the University of Hamburg, February–November 2001 on the occasion of the celebrations of the granting of the Max-Planck Society prize to the NGMPP Director Prof. Wezler. In cooperation with the NGMPP members, Universität Hamburg.
2000. Co-planning and co-producing the exhibition “Mountains, Monasteries, Manuscripts.” Displayed at the Royal Nepal Academy, Kathmandu, Nepal, April 6–14, 2000. In cooperation with the Nepal Research Center, Kathmandu.
1999. Co-planning and co-producing the exhibition “Buddhas - Berge - Bücher: Auf der Suche nach Handschriften und Blockdrucken im nepalesischen Himalaya” (“Buddhas - Mountains - Books: In Search of Manuscripts and Blockprints in the Nepalese Himalaya”). Displayed at the Museum für Völkerkunde, Hamburg, April 15 – July 4, 1999. In cooperation with the NGMPP members, Universität Hamburg.

Series Co-Editor: “Ngagyur Nyingma Research Centre Publication Series”

2022 Choephel Norbu, Kalsang Dondrup, Ugyen Phuntshok, Pema Choekyi. Bi ma la mi tra’i mdzad rjes nyul ba| paṇ chen bi ma mi tra’i mdzad pa dang| sher nying rgya cher bshad pa’i brjod bya rjod byed la dpyad pa |. sNga ’gyur rnying ma’i zhib ’jug 5. Bylakuppe, Mysore: Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, Ngagyur Nyingma Research Centre. xxxii+590 pp.
2021 Lopon-ma Karma Yangchen Sherpa, Zhang ye shes sde’i lta ba’i khyad par la dpyad pa | Zhang ye shes sde’i lo rgyus la dpyad pa dang | lta ba’i khyad par gyi zhib dpyad zhu dag de’i brjod bya rjod byed la dpyad pa |. sNga ’gyur rnying ma’i zhib ’jug 4. Bylakuppe, Mysore: Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, Ngagyur Nyingma Research Centre. xxx+392 pp.
2021 Khenpo Tashi Dorjee, Chos bzang rigs pa’i rnam dpyod | Rong zom ma hā paṇḍi ta’i theg chen tshul ’jug rjod byed zhib dpyad zhu dag lung khungs ngos ’dzin dang | brjod bya gnas lugs rig par rtsad zhib tshom bu |. sNga ’gyur rnying ma’i zhib ’jug 3. Bylakuppe, Mysore: Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, Ngagyur Nyingma Research Centre. xxvi+797 pp.
2021 Khenpo Palzang Dargye Dolpo, Bod kyi tshad gzhung thog ma | Chos rgyal khri srong lde’u ntsan gyi rnam thar dang | bka’ yang dag pa’i tshad ma’i brjod bya rjod byed la zhib ’jug|. sNga ’gyur rnying ma’i zhib ’jug 2. Bylakuppe, Mysore: Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, Ngagyur Nyingma Research Centre. xxv+555 pp.
2018 mKhan po bKra shis rdo rje, mKhan po O rgyan rig ’dzin, mKhan po dPal bzang dar rgyas & Slob dpon ma Karma dbyangs can, sNang ba lhar sgrub pa’i tshul la brtag pa | rong zom pa’i mdzad rnam dang | snang ba lhar sgrub chen mo’i zhib dpyad zhu dag | de’i brjod bya rjod byed la brtag pa |. sNga ’gyur rnying ma’i zhib ’jug 1. Bylakuppe, Mysore: Ngagyur Nyingma Research Centre. xv+411 pp.