User:Stephen Hodge
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I am a translator and writer on Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, working with texts in a number of the major Buddhist canonical languages, including Tibetan, Chinese, Sanskrit, Pali, Japanese and Mongolian.
Following a very early childhood interest in Buddhism and languages, I went on to study Japanese, Tibetan and Buddhism at the University of London. After graduation, I spent ten years in Japan doing post-graduate studies in Yogācāra and early Tantric Buddhism at Tohoku University in the 1970s. During my stay in Japan, I also became a monk in the Shingon School at Mount Koya and was the first Westerner ever to receive the full esoteric initiations there. On the Tibetan side of Buddhism, I also studied for many years with several leading masters of the Nyingma and Kagyü schools.
Following my return to the United Kingdom, I have been involved in a wide range of teaching activities at various Dharma centres, as well as lecturing at the University of London. I was also President of the European Buddhist Union during the mid-80s.
My principle interests in the Buddhological field focus on the key phases in the development of Indian Buddhism – pre-Nikayan Buddhism, the emergence of Mahayana, and the rise of Tantric Buddhism. I also have a keen interest in the neglected field of Buddhist lexicography.
On-going work currently includes a translation in English of a large portion of the Yogācāra-bhūmi-śāstra for the Numata Foundation series of translations from the Chinese canon, an Introduction to Reading Buddhist Chinese, as well as a complete translation and study of the Mahāyāna Mahā-parinirvāna-sūtra from Tibetan and the Chinese version by Faxian.
My main publications include:
Tibetan Divination ( ) An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism (Piatkus 1999) The Illustrated Tibetan Book of the Dead (Godsfield 2000) Atlantis (Piakus 2000) The Tibetan Alamanac (Eddison & Sadd) The Dead Sea Scrolls (Piatus 2001) Tao Te Ching (Stirling 2002) Zen Master Class (2002) An Introduction to Classical Tibetan (Orchid Press 2003) The Mahā-vairocana-abhisaṃbodhi-tantra (Routledge Curzon 2003) Oxford Dictionary of Buddhism ed. Damien Keown (OUP 2003) [Tibetan and non-Pali Indic entries]
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