The Author
SAM VAN SCHAIK
My background is in Tibetan language, history and Buddhism. My PhD dissertation on the Dzogchen works of Jigme Lingpa was completed in 2000, and published in book form in 2004 (see below). Since 1999 I’ve worked with the Stein collection at The British Library for the International Dunhuang Project. In the beginning I worked on the uncatalogued the Central Asian manuscripts from the Tibetan Imperial period. Then between 2002 and 2005 I compiled a detailed catalogue of the Tibetan tantric manuscripts from Dunhuang, published in 2006 and online (see below).
While I continue to work on aspects of tantric Buddhism in the Dunhuang manuscripts, I’m currently engaged in an ongoing research project on the palaeography of the Tibetan and Chinese Dunhuang manuscripts. My research is focused on: (i) the origins and early development of Tibetan writing, (ii) dating the Dunhuang manuscripts using writing styles, and (iii) identifying the handwritings of specific scribes.
Since 2002 I’ve taught as a part-time lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) on the subjects of Tibetan Buddhism and Buddhism in Central Asia. In my spare time, such as it is, I am translating Dhongthog Rinpoche’s History of the Sakya Sect of Tibetan Buddhism into English.
Publications
Books
Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts from Dunhuang: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Stein Collection at the British Library. (with Jacob Dalton). Leiden: EJ Brill, 2006.
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Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Approaches to Dzogchen Practice in the Longchen Nyingtig. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004.
Articles
“The Limits of Transgression: The Samaya Vows of Mahāyoga” in Aspects of Esoteric Buddhism at Dunhuang, eds. Matthew T. Kapstein and Sam van Schaik. Leiden: EJ Brill, forthcoming.
“Oral Teachings and Written Texts: Transmission and Transformation in Dunhuang” in Contributions to the Cultural History of Early Tibet, ed. Matthew T. Kapstein & Brandon Dotson. Leiden: EJ Brill, 2007. 183–208.
“Beyond Anonymity: Palaeographic Analyses of the Dunhuang Manuscripts” (with Tom Davis and Jacob Dalton) in Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 3 (2007).
“The Tibetan Avalokitesvara Cult in the Tenth Century: Evidence from the Dunhuang Manuscripts” in Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Praxis (Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS, 2003, Volume 4), ed. Ronald M. Davidson and Christian Wedemeyer. Leiden: EJ Brill, 2006. 55–72.
“The Early Days of the Great Perfection” in Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 27/1 (2004): 165–206.
“Where Chan and Tantra Meet: Buddhist Syncretism in Dunhuang” (with Jacob Dalton) in Susan Whitfield (ed), The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith. London: British Library Press, 2004. 61–71.
“Lighting the Lamp: the Structure of the Bsam gtan mig sgron” (with Jacob Dalton) in Acta Orientalia 64 (2003): 153–175.
“The Great Perfection and the Chinese Monk: rNying-ma-pa defences of Hwa-shang Mahāyāna in the Eighteenth Century” in Buddhist Studies Review 20.2 (2003): 189–204.
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“Tibetan Dunhuang Manuscripts in China” in The Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 65.1 (2002): 129–139.
“The Resolution of the Simultaneous and Gradual Approaches to the Great Perfection in the Klong chen snying thig” in Religion and Secular Culture in Tibet (Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Leiden 2000), ed. Henk Blezer. Leiden: EJ Brill, 2002: 309–320.
“Sun and Moon Earrings: the Teachings Received by ‘Jigs med gling pa” in The Tibet Journal 25.4 (2000): 3–32.
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“A Catalogue of the First Volume of The Waddell Manuscript rNying ma rgyud ‘bum” in The Tibet Journal 25.1 (2000): 27–50.
