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Sam van Schaik

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Sam van Schaik
Sam van Schaik at SOAS University of London in 2013
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Known forStudy of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang
Scientific career
FieldsTibetology
InstitutionsBritish Library

Sam Julius van Schaik is an English tibetologist.

Education

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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

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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

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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:

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

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  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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