Lance Selwyn Cousins is a scholar in the field of Buddhist Studies. Born in Hertfordshire, he studied history and oriental studies at Cambridge University, and took up a post in the Department of Comparative Religion at Manchester University. After retirement he continued to publish scholarly papers such as "The Dating of the Historical Buddha: A Review article," which was published in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.[1] Professor Richard Gombrich has described him as the leading authority in the West in the field of abhidhamma.[2] He served a term (2002/3) as President of the Pali Text Society.
In addition to his academic work, he is also a teacher of Buddhist meditation in a Thai samatha tradition.