Richard Gombrich - Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies



Richard Gombrich

Professor Emeritus,

Oxford University

Academic Director,

Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies

and his impact on

Pali

Buddhist Studies

A Note

By Geoffrey Bamford, (Executive Director, OCBS)

Richard Gombrich was born in London. His mother was an accomplished musician, his father, Sir Ernst Gombrich, the pre-eminent art historian of the 20th century.

Ernst Gombrich grew up in Vienna. The psychiatrist Freud, the composer Mahler, and the poet von Hofmannsthal were intimate acquaintances. The philosopher, Sir Karl Popper, became his closest friend.

Richard Gombrich’s education was in the best English tradition of classical learning with an empirical bias. Having mastered Greek and Latin literature, he moved on to Sanskrit and Pali. At 39, he was Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford.

This was the earliest Chair in Sanskrit to be established in the West (in 1831). Now it was, for the first time, occupied by a scholar whose principal interest was in Buddhism.

Gombrich’s first book illustrates his range. It is a work of social anthropology, based on fieldwork in Sri Lanka. It gives a clear, compelling picture of village Buddhism. Then it compares that with the classical (Pali) literature. So it shows how carefully the tradition has been maintained — and also throws light on how lay Buddhist life is likely from the first to have related to doctrinal categories.

His later work has explored further the links between textual and social dimensions of Buddhism. On one hand, he has revitalised the close textual study of ancient materials, revealing new dimensions of early Buddhism (e.g. how it responded to Brahminism). On the other, he has analysed how some modern tendencies diverge from the tradition.

In this way, he has validated the authenticity and antiquity of the Pali material (contested elsewhere in academia) and upheld its enduring relevance. The escape from essentialism that the Buddha offers seems to him both very modern (indeed Popperian) and subtly (indeed uniquely) pragmatic.

A Career

|Name: |Richard Francis Gombrich |

|Address: |11 Barton Lane, Oxford OX3 9JR |

|Date of birth: |17 July 1937 |

Education

|1950-1955 |Scholar, |

| |St. Paul's School, London |

|1957-1961 |Demy (scholar), |

| |Magdalen College, Oxford |

|1959 |Honour Classical Moderations, |

| |First Class |

|1961 |B.A. Oriental Studies (Sanskrit with Pali), |

| |First Class |

|1961-1963 |Harkness Fellow |

| |of the Commonwealth Fund |

|1963 |A.M. |

| |Harvard University |

|1963-1965 |Treasury Studentship |

| |(Scarborough Studentship) |

|1970 |D.Phil. |

| |Oxford University |

Medals and honorary degrees

|1991 |Hon. D.Litt. |

| |Kalyani University, Bengal |

|1993 |S.C. Chakraborty Medal, |

| |Asiatic Society, Calcutta |

|1994 |Sri Lanka Ranjana |

| |(National Award) |

|1996 |Hon. D.Ed. |

| |De Montfort University |

|1997 |University Medal, |

| |Warsaw University |

|1997 |Vacaspati (= Hon D.Litt.), |

| |Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati |

Academic Appointments

|1965-1976 |Lecturer in Sanskrit and Pali |

| |Oxford University |

|1966-1976 |Governing Body Fellow |

| |Wolfson College, Oxford |

|1976-2004 |Boden Professor of Sanskrit |

| |Oxford University; |

| |Professorial Fellow, Balliol College |

|1977- |Emeritus Fellow |

| |Wolfson College |

|1999- |Senior Fellow |

| |De Montfort University |

|1981-1982 |Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor |

| |University of Bristol |

|1982 |Visiting Professor, |

| |Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris |

|1986-1987 |Stewart Visiting Fellow in the Humanities, |

| |Princeton University |

|1994 |F.D. Maurice Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies, |

| |King’s College London |

|1994 |Jordan Lecturer in Comparative Religion, |

| |SOAS |

|1997 |Gonda Lecturer, |

| |Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |

|1998 |Edmond Perry Lecturer, |

| |Northwestern University |

|2003- |Academic Director, |

| |Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies |

|2004- |Emeritus Fellow, |

| |Balliol College |

Other Appointments

|1977 - |Member, |

| |Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth |

|1978-1983 |Advisory Council, |

| |Victoria and Albert Museum |

|1981-1994 |Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, |

| |Pali Text Society |

|1994-2002 |President and Treasurer, |

| |Pali Text Society |

|1996-2002 |Co-editor, |

| |Journal of the Pali Text Society |

|1981-1985 |Secretary for Europe, |

| |International Association for Buddhist Studies |

|1974- |Fellow |

| |Royal Asiatic Society |

| |Member of Council, 1989-1991 |

| |Member of the Publications Committee, 1991-3 |

|1982-1990 |Fellow |

| |Royal Society of Arts |

|1983-1990 |Theological and Religious Studies Board |

| |National Council for Academic Awards |

|1986-1992 |Member of Council |

| |Society for South Asian Studies |

|1990- |Member |

| |Academia Europaea |

|1992 |Member, |

| |East and South Asian Studies Panel, RAE (Chairman for S & SE Asia) |

|1996 |Member, Theology and Religious Studies Panel, RAE |

| |Member of several editorial boards |

A Body of Work

Books

| |Title |

|1 |Precept and practice: |

| |Traditional Buddhism in the rural highlands of Ceylon |

| |Buddhist Precept and Practice (Revised edition) |

|2 |The Perfect Generosity of Prince Vessantara |

|3 |On being Sanskritic: |

| |A plea for civilized study and the study of civilization |

|4 |Buddhist studies in honour of Walpola Rahula |

|5 |The world of Buddhism: |

| |Buddhist monks and nuns in society and culture |

| | |

|6 |Buddhist studies in honour of Hammalava Saddhatissa |

|7 |Theravāda Buddhism: A social history |

| |from ancient Benares to modern Colombo |

|8 |Buddhism transformed: |

| |Religious change in Sri Lanka |

| | |

|9 |Indian ritual and its exegesis |

|10 |How Buddhism Began: |

| |The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings |

|11 |Religious Experience in Early Buddhism? |

| |Eighth Annual BASR Lecture, 1997 |

| |(British Association for the Study of Religions Occasional Paper 17) |

|12 |Kindness and Compassion as Means to Nirvana |

| |(1997 Gonda Lecture) |

|Author(s)/Editor(s) |Published at/by |Date |

|Richard Gombrich |Oxford: Clarendon Press |1971 |

| |Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas |1991 |

|Margaret Cone and Richard Gombrich |Oxford: Clarendon Press |1977 |

|Richard Gombrich |Oxford: Clarendon Press |1978 |

|Edited by Balasooriya Somaratna, André Bareau, |London: Gordon Fraser |1980 |

|Richard Gombrich, Siri Gunasingha, Udaya | | |

|Mallawarachchi and Edmund Perry | | |

|Edited by Heinz Bechert and Richard Gombrich |London: Thames & Hudson |1984 |

| |Paperback edition |1991. |

|Edited by Dhammapala Gatare, |Nugegoda, Sri Lanka: |1984 |

|Richard Gombrich and K.R. Norman |Hammalava Saddhatissa Felicitation Volume | |

| |Committee, University of Sri | |

| |Jayewardenepura | |

|Richard Gombrich |London: |1988 |

| |Routledge and Kegan Paul | |

|Richard Gombrich and |Princeton, NJ: |1988 |

|Gananath Obeyesekere |Princeton University Press | |

| |Paperback edition |1990 |

|Edited by Richard Gombrich |Delhi: Oxford University Press |1988 |

|Richard Gombrich |London: The Athlone Press |1996 |

|Richard Gombrich |Printed by the University of Leeds |1998 |

| |Printing Service, Leeds | |

|Richard Gombrich |Amsterdam: Royal Netherlands Academy of |1998 |

| |Arts and Sciences | |

ARTICLES

| |Title |

|1 |The consecration of a Buddhist image |

|2 |Food for seven grandmothers: |

| |Stages in the universalization of a Sinhalese ritual |

|3 |Sinhalese Buddhism |

|4 |“Merit transference” in Sinhalese Buddhism: |

| |A case of the interaction between doctrine and practice |

|5 |The fifty stanzas of a thief |

| |(Translation of the Caura-pañcāsikā with an introduction) |

|6 |Feminine elements in Sinhalese Buddhism |

|7 |Le clergé bouddhiste d’une circonscription kandienne |

| |et les éléctions générales de 1965. |

|8 |The divine light mission |

|9 |Eliade on Buddhism |

|10 |A lexical note on Bambhadatta’s story: |

| |Obedio and sarisari/saribhari |

|11 |A party for “Hare Krishna” |

|12 |Ancient Indian cosmology |

| |Translation into Polish by Marzenna and Krzysztof Jakubczak |

|13 |Buddhist karma and social control |

|14 |The case for Sanskrit |

|15 |Observations on the Vessantara Jātaka |

|16 |A Sinhalese cloth painting of the Vessantara Jātaka. |

|17 |Kosala-Bimba-Vaṇṇanā. |

|Publication |Date |

|Journal of Asian Studies, 26/1: 23-26 |1966 |

|Man: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 6/1: 5-17 |1971 |

|Man, Myth and Magic, 92: 2585-7 |1971 |

|History of Religions, 11/2: 203-19 |1971 |

|Mahfil, 7/3-4: 175-86 |1971 |

|Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens, vol. 16: 67-93 |1972 |

|Social Compass, 20/2: 257-66 |1973 |

|Lycidas (Wolfson College magazine), 2: 24-5 |1973-4 |

|Religious Studies, 10/2: 225-31 |1974 |

|Journal of the Oriental Institute (Baroda), 24/1-2: 145-7 |Sept.-Dec. |

| |1974 |

|Lycidas, 3: 24-6 |1974-5 |

|(In: Ancient Cosmologies. C. Blacker and M. Loewe, editors. London) Allen & Unwin, |1975 |

|110-42 | |

|(In: Kwartalnik Filozoficzny XXIII, 3-4) Krakow, 181-212 1995 | |

|Comparative Studies in Society and History, 17/2: 212-20 |1975 |

|The Times Higher Educational Supplement: 3 |19/9/1975 |

|Inde ancienne: Actes du XXIXe Congrès International des Orientalistes, Paris, Juillet|1976 |

|1973. Paris: L’Asiathèque, 61-7 | |

|(In: Buddhism in Ceylon and studies on religious syncretism in Buddhist countries: |1978 |

|Report on a symposium in Göttingen. H. Bechert, editor) Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & | |

|Ruprecht, 77-88 | |

|(In: Buddhism in Ceylon and studies on religious syncretism in Buddhist countries: |1978 |

|Report on a symposium in Göttingen. H. Bechert, editor) Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & | |

|Ruprecht, 281-303 | |

|18 |The Buddha’s eye, the evil eye and Dr Ruelius |

|19 |The duty of a Buddhist according to the Pali scriptures. |

|20 |Bibliography of South Asian Buddhism. |

|21 |Bibliography of Jainism. |

|22 |“He cooks softly”: Adverbs in Sanskrit grammar |

|23 |The significance of former Buddhas in Theravādin tradition. |

|24 |A new Theravādin liturgy |

|25 |Buddhists and death |

|26 |A Buddhist Pilgrimage in Sri Lanka |

|27 |Richard Gombrich chooses |

| |‘Conjectures and Refutations’ by Karl Popper |

|28 |From monastery to meditation centre: |

| |Lay meditation in modern Sri Lanka. |

|29 |Another view of widow-burning and womanliness |

| |in Indian public culture (with Sanjukta Gupta) |

|30 |Introduction: The Buddhist way. |

|31 |Buddhism in ancient India: The evolution of the Sangha. |

|32 |Buddhist sacred writings |

|33 |Notes on the brahminical background to Buddhist ethics. |

|(In: Buddhism in Ceylon and studies on religious syncretism in Buddhist countries: |1978 |

|Report on a symposium in Göttingen. H. Bechert, editor) Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & | |

|Ruprecht, 335-8 | |

|(In: The concept of duty in South Asia. W. O’Flaherty and J. Derrett, editors) |1978 |

|London: Vikas, 107-18 | |

|(In: South Asian bibliography: A handbook and guide. J. Pearson, editor) Sussex: |1979 |

|Harvester Press, 119-20 | |

|(In: South Asian bibliography: A handbook and guide. J. Pearson, editor) Sussex: |1979 |

|Harvester Press, 121-23 | |

|Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, |1979 |

|University of London, 42/2: 244-56 | |

|(In: Buddhist studies in honour of Walpola Rahula. S. Balasooriya, et al., editors) |1980 |

|London: Gordon Fraser, 62-72 | |

|Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. 9: 47-73 |1981 |

|Shorter version in: The life of Buddhism. Frank E. Reynolds & Jason A. Carbine, | |

|editors. Berkeley etc: UCAL Press, 2000, chapter 13, 180-193 | |

|Shap Mailing 1982. W. Cole, editor. 5-6 |1982 |

|Shap Mailing 1983. M. Hayward, editor 12-13 |1983 |

|Reprinted in Religions and education: Shap Working Party 1969-89. A. Wood, editor. | |

|Isleworth: Shap Working Party, 15-16, 1989 | |

|The Times Higher Educational Supplement, |1983 |

|“Milestones” series, #13, (27th May) | |

|(In: Buddhist studies ancient and modern. P. Denwood and A. Piatigorsky, editors.) |1983 |

|London: Curzon Press, 20-34 | |

|The Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, |1984 |

|22/3: 252-8 | |

|(In: The world of Buddhism: Buddhist monks and nuns in society and culture. H. |1984 |

|Bechert and R. Gombrich, editors) | |

|London: Thames & Hudson, 9-14 | |

|(In: The world of Buddhism: Buddhist monks and nuns in society and culture. H. |1984 |

|Bechert and R. Gombrich, editor) | |

|London: Thames & Hudson, 77-89 | |

|Shap Mailing 1984. M. Hayward, editor. 1-5 |1984 |

|(In: Buddhist studies in honour of Hammalava Saddhatissa, edited by G. Dhammapala, R.|1984 |

|Gombrich and K.R. Norman) | |

|Nugegoda, Sri Lanka: Hammalava Saddhatissa Felicitation Volume Committee, University | |

|of Sri Jayewardenepura, 91-102 | |

|34 |Temporary ordination in Sri Lanka |

|35 |Foreword |

|36 |The Vessantara Jātaka, the Rāmāyana and the Dasaratha Jātaka |

|37 |The state of indological studies in the U.K. today |

|38 |Buddhist festivals. |

|39 |Kings, power and the goddess (with Sanjukta Gupta) |

|40 |Indology is in a very bad way |

|41 |Most Indians know next to nothing of their cultural past |

|42 |Obituary of Prof. Thomas Burrow, Sanskrit and Dravidian Studies |

|43 |Brahmins and barbarians |

|44 |Old bodies like carts |

|45 |Buddhist cultic life in Southeast Asia |

| | |

|46 |Three souls, one or none: The vagaries of a Pali pericope |

|47 |What kind of thing is religion? |

|48 |A Selection of Resources: Buddhism. |

|49 |The Buddha and Buddhists. |

|50 |Comment une réligion se définit elle-même: Le Bouddhisme. |

|51 |Dieu, les dieux, le divin: Le bouddhisme |

|52 |The history of early Buddhism: Major advances since 1950. |

|53 |Two notes on Visuddhimagga IX |

|The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 7/2: 41-65 |1984 |

|(In: The Group of Discourses (Sutta-Nipāta), Vol. 1. K.R. Norman, translator) Pali |1984 |

|Text Society: London | |

|Journal of the American Oriental Society, 105/3: 427-37 |1985 |

|(South Asian Studies; Papers presented at a colloquium 24-26 April 1985) British |1986 |

|Library Occasional Papers #7, edited by Albertine Gaur. London: British Library, | |

|57-62 | |

|(In: Festivals in world religions. A. Brown, editor) London: Longman, 31-59 |1986 |

|South Asia Research, 6: 123-37 |1986 |

|The Telegraph, Calcutta: p. 6, |3/4/1986 |

|The Telegraph, Calcutta |4/4/1986 |

|The Times, London |18/6/1986 |

|Oxford Magazine, 20: 3-4 |1987 |

|Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. 11: 1-4 |1987 |

|(In: The Encyclopedia of Religion. M. Eliade, editor) |1987 |

|New York: Macmillan, 5: 463-67 | |

|Reprinted in Buddhism and Asian history: Readings from The Encyclopedia of Religion. | |

|M. Kitagawa and M. Cummings, editors. New York: Macmillan, 309-315, 1989 | |

|Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. 11: 73-8 |1987 |

|(In: The Shap handbook on world religions in education. A. Brown, editor) London: The|1987 |

|Commission for Racial Equality, p. 20 | |

|(In: The Shap handbook on world religions in education. A. Brown, editor) London: |1987 |

|The Commission for Racial Equality, p. 56-7 | |

|(In: Experiencing Buddhism: The report of the sixth “York Shap” conference) York: |1988 |

|York Religious Education Centre, 2-12, | |

|(In: Le grand atlas des réligions. C. Baladier, editor) |1988 |

|Paris: Encyclopaedia Universalis, 36-7 | |

|(In: Le grand atlas des réligions. C. Baladier, editor) |1988 |

|Paris: Encyclopaedia Universalis, 176-7 | |

|(In: Indological studies and South Asia bibliography: A conference 1986. A. Das, |1988 |

|editor.) Calcutta: National Library Calcutta, 12-30 | |

|Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. 12: 169-71 |1988 |

|54 |How the Mahāyāna began |

| | |

| |Translation into Spanish |

|55 |Recovering the Buddha’s message |

| | |

|56 |A note on Ambapālī’s wit |

|57 |Making mountains without molehills: The case of the missing stūpa |

|58 |How might we educate our students? |

|59 |Reflections of an indologist |

|60 |Pātimokkha: Purgative |

|61 |Obituary of Professor B. K. Matilal |

|62 |Can we know or control our futures? |

|63 |The Buddha’s Book of Genesis? |

|64 |Why six former Buddhas? |

|65 |Dating the Buddha: A Red Herring Revealed |

|66 |Why is a khattiya called a khattiya? The Aggaññasutta revisited. |

|67 |A momentous effect of translation: The “vehicles” of Buddhism. |

|Journal of Pali and Buddhist Studies (Nagoya), 1: 29-46 |1988 |

|Reprinted in The Buddhist Forum: Seminar papers 1987-1988. T. Skorupski, editor. | |

|London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1: 21-30, 1990.| |

|(In: Revista de Estudios Budistas, no. 9, 24-41) 1995 | |

|(In: Earliest Buddhism and Madhyamaka. D. Ruegg and L. Schmithausen, editors) Leiden:|1990 |

|E.J. Brill, 5-23 | |

|Reprinted in The Buddhist Forum: Seminar papers 1987-1988. T. Skorupski, editor. | |

|London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1: 5-20, 1990 | |

|Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. 15: 139-40 |1990 |

|Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. 15: 141-3 |1990 |

|Oxford Magazine, 9-10 |1990 |

|(In: Religious pluralism and unbelief: Studies critical and comparative. I. Hamnett,|1990 |

|editor) London and New York: Routledge, 243-61 | |

|(In: Studies in Buddhism and culture in honour of Professor Dr. Egaku Mayeda on his |1991 |

|sixty-fifth birthday. The Editorial Committee of the Felicitation Volume for | |

|Professor Dr. Egaku Mayeda, editors) Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin, 31-38 | |

|The Times, London |12/6/1991 |

|(In: Buddhist essays: A miscellany. G. Piyatissa Thera, L. Perera and K. Goonesena, |1992 |

|editors) | |

|London: Sri Saddhatissa International Buddhist Centre, 240-252 | |

|Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 35: 159-78 |1992 |

|(In: The Journal of Oriental Research) |1992 |

|Madras: The Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, 326-330 | |

|(In: The Dating of the Historical Buddha/Die Datierung des historischen Buddha. Part |1992 |

|2. (Symposien zur Buddhismusforschung, IV,2) Heinz Bechert, editor.) Göttingen: | |

|Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 237-259 | |

|Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. XVII: 213-14 |1992 |

|(In: Apodosis: Essays presented to Dr. W.W. Cruickshank to mark his 80th birthday) |1992 |

|St. Paul’s School, London; 34-46, | |

|68 |Buddhist prediction: How open is the future? |

| |Translation into Italian |

| |Translation into Spanish |

|69 |Buddhism in the modern world: |

| |Secularization or protestantization? |

|70 |Understanding Early Buddhist Terminology in its Context |

|71 |What is Pali? |

|72 |Asoka, the great Upāsaka |

|73 |A Buddhologist’s Impression of Japanese Buddhism |

|74 |The Buddha and the Jains: A Reply to Professor Bronkhorst |

|75 |Teaching Buddhism in the Primary School (with Hyon Kwang Sunim) |

|76 |The Monk in the Pāli Vinaya: Priest or Wedding Guest? |

|77 |Thomas Burrow |

|78 |Conflict and Reconciliation in Buddhism |

|79 |Freedom and authority in Buddhism |

|80 |Il Buddhismo: etica senza anima |

|81 |The earliest brahmanical reference to Buddhism? |

|82 |Is dharma a good thing? |

|83 |Obituary of the Venerable Dr Walpola Rahula |

|84 |Introduction |

|(In: Predicting the Future. Leo Howe, Alan Wain, editors) Cambridge; Cambridge |1993 |

|University Press, 144-68 | |

|(In: Predire il futuro, translation Marina Astrologo) |1994 |

|Edizioni Dedalo srl, Bari, 131-150. | |

|(In: Predecir el futuro, trsln Daniel Manzanares, Ángel Luis Sanz and Jesús Un turbe)|1994 |

|Alianza Editorial S.A., Madrid, 153-175. | |

|(In: Secularization, rationalism and sectarianism. Essays in honour of Bryan R. |1993 |

|Wilson. Eileen Barker, James A. Beckford, Karel Dobbelaere, editors) Oxford; | |

|Clarendon Press | |

|Seoul Pali Daejangkang Urimal Olmgim Nonmon Moum II / “A Korean Translation of Pali |1993 |

|Tripitaka Vol. II”, 74-101, | |

|(In: A Pali Grammar, W.Geiger, trsln. B.Ghosh, revised & edited by K.R.Norman) Pali |1994 |

|Text Society, Oxford, pp.xxiii-xxix. | |

|(In: King Asoka and Buddhism. Historical and Literary Studies, edited by Anuradha |1994 |

|Seneviratna) | |

|Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy (Reprint from book no. 7, 127-136) | |

|(In: Japanese New Religions in the West, editors Peter Clarke and Jeffrey Somers) |1994 |

|Folkestone: Japan Library/Curzon Press, 15-24. | |

|Asiatische Studien XLVIII 4, 1069-1096 |1994 |

|Resource vol 17:2 6-9 |1995 |

|Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. XXI, 193-197 |1995 |

|(In: The Dictionary of National Biography 1986–1990, edited by C.S. Nicholls) Oxford:|1996 |

|OUP, 54–5 | |

|(In: World Religions in Education 1996/1997) SHAP Working Party on World Religions |1996 |

|in Education. Croydon; Newlook Translators & Publishers | |

|(In: Freedom and Authority in Religions and Religious Education, edited by Brian |1996 |

|Gates) London; Cassell | |

|(In: Vie alla Salvezza, Ciclo di conferenze, 1996. Collana ) Torino:|1996 |

|Centro Congressi, 94-114 | |

|(In: Relativism, Suffering and Beyond. Essays in memory of Bimal K. Matilal, edited |1997 |

|by P. Bilimoria and J. N. Mohanty) Delhi; OUP, 31-49 | |

|Dialogue and Universalism no. 11-12, 147-163 |1997 |

|The Middle Way, vol. 73, no. 2, 115-119 |1998 |

|(In: Sir William Jones 1746–1794, A Commemoration, edited by Alexander Murray) |1998 |

|Oxford: OUP, 3-15 | |

|85 |Organized Bodhisattvas: A Blind Alley in Buddhist Historiography |

| | |

|86 |Discovering the Buddha’s Date |

|87 |Buddhist Studies in Britain |

|88 |A visit to Brahmā the heron |

|89 |Wir sind stets die Erben unserer Taten: |

| |Karma und menschliche Selbstbestimmung im Buddhismus |

|90 |Living community: the Buddhist order |

|91 |Another Buddhist criticism of Yājñavalkya |

|92 |Buddhist Fundamentalism? Buddhist Violence? |

| |The War in Sri Lanka( |

|93 |“Obsession with origins”: |

| |attitudes to Buddhist studies in the old world and the new |

|94 |Merit detached from volition: |

| |how a Buddhist doctrine came to wear a Jain aspect |

|95 |India’s gift to the world: ahimsa |

|96 |Vedānta stood on its head: sakkaaya and sakkaaya-diṭṭhi |

|97 |Religious experience in early Buddhism? |

|(In: Sūryacandrāya: Essays in Honour of Akira Yuyama, Paul Harrison and Gregory |1998 |

|Schopen, editors) Swisttal-Odendorf: Indica et Tibetica, 43–56 | |

|Reprinted in Studies in Hindu and Buddhist Art, edited by P. K. Mishra. New Delhi, | |

|Abhinav Publications, 1999 | |

|(In: Buddhism for the New Millennium, edited by Lakshman S. Perera) London; World |2000 |

|Buddhist Foundation, 9-25 | |

|(In: The State of Buddhist Studies in the World 1972-1997, edited by Donald K. |2000 |

|Swearer and Somparn Promta) Bangkok: Center for Buddhist Studies, Chulalongkorn | |

|University, 171-189 | |

|Journal of Indian Philosophy, v.29, April 2001, 95-108 |2001 |

|Religionen Unterwegs, vol. 7, no. 2, May 2001, 4-9 |2001 |

|(In: World Religions in Education 2001/2002) London: SHAP Working Party on World |2001 |

|Religions in Education, 2001, 28-30 | |

|(In: Buddhist and Indian Studies in Honour of Professor Sodo Mori, Hammatsu) Kokusai |2002 |

|Bukkyoto Kyokai, 21–23 | |

|(Paper presented at the conference on Fundamentalism in South Asia, Heidelberg 2000 |2003 |

|Published in Sinhala translation in ‘The Buddhist Community and the Civil War in Sri | |

|Lanka’( edited by Mahinda Deegalle) Colombo: Samayawardhana, , 1–22 | |

|(In: Approaching the Dhamma: Buddhist texts and practices in South and Southeast |2003 |

|Asia, eds. Anne M. Blackburn & Jeffrey Samuels) Seattle: BPS Pariyatti Editions, 3–15| |

|(In: Jainism and Early Buddhism: essays in honor of Padmanabh S. Jaini, edited by |2003 |

|Olle Qvarnström) Fremont: Asian Humanities Press, 427–39 | |

|Jain Spirit, no. 18, March–May 2004, 26–27 |2004 |

|(In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Indian Studies, edited by |2003 |

|Renata Czekalska & Halina Marlewicz, — Cracow Indolological series; IV–V227–38) | |

|Krakow: Ksiegarnia Akademicka, | |

|(Reprint of book 13 above. In: Religion: Empirical Studies, edited by Steven J. |2004 |

|Sutcliffe, 123–47) Aldershot: Ashgate | |

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|22 |R. Kloppenborg, The Paccekabuddha: A Buddhist Ascetic. A study of the concept of |

| |the paccekabuddha in Pāli canonical and commentarial literature |

|23 |H. Seneviratne, Rituals of the Kandyan state |

|24 |H. Wood, Third class ticket |

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| |(Published under the title “On Pain of Retribution”) |

|27 |Pollock, Sheldon Ivan, Aspects of versification in Sanskrit Lyric Poetry |

|28 |A. Dallapiccola, editor, The stupa: Its religious, historical, and architectural |

| |significance |

|29 |J. Masson, The oceanic feeling: The origins of religious sentiment in ancient |

| |India |

|30 |M. Goonatilleke, Masks and mask systems of Sri Lanka |

|31 |C. Reynolds, editor, |

| |Catalogue of the Sinhalese manuscripts in the India Office Library |

|32 |M. Cummings, The lives of the Buddha in the art and literature of Asia |

|33 |Carrithers, Michael, The Buddha |

|34 |K.R. Norman, Pali literature, including the canonical literature |

| |in Prakrit and Sanskrit of all the Hīnayāna schools of Buddhism |

|35 |Sharma, Damodar, Hindu Belief and Practice |

|36 |R. Zydenbos, Moksa in Jainism according to Umāsvāti |

|37 |M. Carrithers |

| |The forest monks of Sri Lanka: An anthropological and historical study |

| | |

|37 |S. Tambiah, The Buddhist saints of the forest and the cult of amulets: A study in|

| |charisma, hagiography, sectarianism, and millenial Buddhism; and M. Southwold, |

| |Buddhism in life; The anthropological study of religion and the Sinhalese |

| |practice of Buddhism (Review article: Knowledge of the unknowable) |

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|Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford, 10/2: 110-1 |1979 |

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|Numen. Vol. XXVI, Fasc. 2: 267-70 |1980/81 |

|Times Literary Supplement, 4092: pp. 995-6, 4th September 1981 |1981 |

|Indo-Iranian Journal: 51-54 |1981 |

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|Kalyani: Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences |1982 |

|of the University of Kelaniya, 1: 228-9 | |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1983 No. 1: 144-5 |1983 |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1983 No. 2: 316 |1983 |

| |1983 |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1984 No. 1: 164-6 |1984 |

| |1984 |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1985 No. 2: 213-4 |1985 |

|History of Religions, 24: 378 |1985 |

|Religion, 15: 411-3 |1985 |

|Times Literary Supplement, 4278: p. 359-60, 29th March 1985 |1985 |

|38 |M. Wijayaratne, Le moine bouddhiste |

| |selon les textes du Theravāda |

| | |

|39 |Marrett, Paul, Jainism Explained |

|40 |H. Bechert, editor |

| |On the school affiliation of works of Hīnayāna literature |

|41 |A. Wickremeratne, The genesis of an orientalist: |

| |Thomas William Rhys Davids and Buddhism in Sri Lanka |

|42 |G. Bond, The Buddhist revival in Sri Lanka: |

| |Religious tradition, reinterpretation and response |

|43 |P. Connolly, editor, Perspectives on Indian religion: |

| |Papers in honour of Karel Werner |

|44 |H. Bechert, Die Lebenszeit des Buddha — |

| |das älteste feststehende Datum der indischen Geschichte? |

|45 |W. Geiger, Culture of Ceylon in mediaeval times |

|46 |T. Vetter, The ideas and meditative practices of early Buddhism |

|47 |H. Nakatani, Udānavarga de Subasi: Critical edition of the Sanskrit manuscript written |

| |on poplar wood slats in the Pelliot Collection in the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris |

|48 |R. Lingat, Royautés bouddhiques: Asoka et la fonction royale à Ceylan |

|49 |P. Khoroche,: Once the Buddha was a monkey: Arya Sūra’s Jātakamālā |

|50 |K. Wille, Die Handschriftliche Überlieferung |

| |des Vinayavastu der Mūlasarvāstivādin |

|51 |L. Grey, A Concordance of Buddhist Birth Stories |

|52 |Caillat, C., editor, Middle Indo-Aryan and Jaina Studies; and de Casparis, J.G. editor, |

| |Sanskrit outside India (Panels of the VIIth World Sanskrit Conference, Kern Institute, |

| |Leiden, August 1987. Vols VI and VII.) |

|53 |Strong, John S. The Legend and Cult of Upagupta: Sanskrit Buddhism in North India and |

| |Southeast Asia, (Princeton University Press 1992) |

|54 |Gaston, Anne-Marie, Siva in Dance, Myth and Iconography, |

| |(Oxford University Press, Delhi 1982) |

|55 |Bechert, Heinz, The Dating of the Historical Buddha. / Die Datierung des historischen |

| |Buddha Teil 1 (Symposium zur Buddhismusforschung IV, 1, Abhandlungen der Akademie der |

| |Wissenschaften in Göttingen, Philologisch-historische Klasse 3. Folge Nr.189). |

|Printed in incomplete form in |1985 |

|World Fellowship of Buddhists Review, 22: 33-4 | |

|Religion, 16: 387-9 |1986 |

|The Jain, Year 9 Issue 1: 13-14, January 1986 |1986 |

|Mundus, 22/4: 265-6 |1986 |

|Indian Economic and Social History Review, 23/1: 121-4 |1986 |

|Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 109: 661-4 |1989 |

|World Religions in Education 1989: Book Reviews, 7-8 |` |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1989 No. 2: 348-50 |1989 |

|Orientalische Literaturzeitung, 85: 83 |1990 |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1990 No. 2: 405-7 |1990 |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1990 No. 2: 407-8 |1990 |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, July 1991 Vol. 1 Pt. 2: 311-2 |1991 |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, April 1992 Vol. 2 Pt. 1: 216 |1992 |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, April 1993 |1993 |

|Vol. 3 Pt. 1: 142-143 | |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, April 1993 Vol. 3 Pt. 1: 143-144 |1993 |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, July 1993 |1993 |

|Vol. 3 Pt. 2: 288-290 | |

|South Asian Studies, Vol.9: 174-6 |1993 |

|Oriental Art, Autumn 1993: 94 |1993 |

|Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, Göttingen 1991, Göttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen, 246. Jahrgang, |1994 |

|Heft 1/2, 86-96, | |

|Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht | |

|56 |Norman, K.R., Collected Papers, vols I & II |

|57 |Bartholomeusz, Tessa J., Women under the Bo tree. |

| |Buddhist Nuns in Sri Lanka |

|58 |Ananda W.P. Gurugé, |

| |Aśoka, the righteous: a definitive biography |

|59 |Trainor, Kevin, Relics, ritual, and representation in Buddhism: rematerializing |

| |the Sri Lankan Theravada tradition, |

| |(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997) |

|60 |Schmithausen, Lambert, Maitrī and magic: aspects of the Buddhist attitude toward |

| |the dangerous in nature, |

| |(Vienna: Osterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1997) |

|61 |Gothóni, René, Attitutdes and interpretations in comparative religion., (Helsinki:|

| |Suomalainen Tiedakatemia, 2000) |

|62 |Graham, Gordon, Universities: the recovery of an idea, |

| |(Thorverton & Charlottesville: Imprint Academic, 2002) |

|63 |Omvedt, Gail, Buddhism in India: challenging brahmanism and caste, (London: Sage, |

| |2003) |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, April 1994 |1994 |

|Vol. 4 Pt. 1: 113-114 | |

|Anthropos, 91, 1/3: 241-4 |1996 |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, April 1996 Vol 6 Pt 1: 117-9 |1996 |

|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, April 1999 Vol. 9 Pt. 1: 186-8 |1999 |

|Indo-Iranian Journal, Autumn 2000 Vol. 43 No. 3: 301-2 |2000 |

|Anthropos, 97, 2002/1, 254-256 |2002 |

|The Philosophical Quarterly, v.53 (213), Oct 2003, 630–32 |2003 |

|Middle Way, v.79 (1), May-Jul 2004, 51–5 |2004 |

A Continuing Impact

some RECENT STUDENTS’ Theses

Richard Gombrich has supervised many doctoral theses; so many that it is difficult to keep a complete count. The total is around 50. Here are some recent examples.

|D.Phil. Theses |

|1996 |Joel Tatelman |Bhadrakalpāvadāna 2-5: |

| | |introduction, edition and translation. |

|1997 |Andrew Skilton |The Samādhirāja Sūtra: |

| | |a study incorporating a critical edition |

| | |and translation of chapter 17 |

|1998 |Paola Tinti |Between two civilisations: history and self-representation |

| | |of Bangladeshi Buddhism |

|1998 |Y-G An |Buddhology in the Mahāparinibbāna-Suttanta and its |

| | |commentary, |

| | |with an annotated translation of |

| | |Buddhaghosa’s commentary |

|1998 |S-Y Chen |Problems in the Pali Bhikkhunī-Vinaya: a thematic study in |

| |(Ven. Juo-hsüeh Shih) |comparative perspective |

|1999 |Torkel Brekke |The politics of religious identity in South Asia in the late|

| | |nineteenth century |

|2000 |Wan-doo Kim (Ven. |The Theravādin doctrine of momentariness: a survey of its |

| |Hyon-kwang Sunim) |origins and development |

|2000 |Kate Crosby |Studies in the medieval Pali literature |

| | |of Sri Lanka with special reference to |

| | |the esoteric Yogācāra tradition |

|2001 |Ho-yu Tseng (Ven. |The Nidānavagga of the Sāratthappakāsinī |

| |Vinita Tseng) | |

|2001 |Peter Roberts |The biographies of Ras-Chung-pa: |

| | |the evolution of a Tibetan hagiography |

|2002 |William Douglas |Newar Buddhism 1250-1600 |

|2002 |Karma Phuntsho |The Madhyamaka of Mipham |

|2203 |Isabelle Onians |Tantric Buddhist apologetics |

|2003 |Pathompong |Word Order in Pali |

| |Bodhiprasiddhinand | |

|2003 |Noa Gal |Metaphysical development in |

| | |the early Pali Buddhist tradition. |

|2004 |Alex Wynne |Meditation as the path to salvation |

| | |in early Buddhism |

|2004 |Justin Meiland |Buddhist values in the Pali Jātakas |

|2004 |Soon-il Hwang |The metaphorical structure of nirvana |

| | |and its evolution in early Buddhism |

|2004 |Tse-fu Kuan |Satipaṭṭhāna |

| | |in the Pali and Chinese canonical traditions |

|2005 |Linda Covill |A literary study of |

| | |the Saundarananda of Aśvaghoṣa |

|2005 |Cheonghwan Park (Ven. |A translation and study of selected avadānas of the |

| |Jungduk Sunim) |Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya |

|2005 |Ven. Khammai Dhammasami|Historical development of monastic education in Burma and |

| | |Thailand |

|M. Litt Thesis |

|1999 |Sumana Ratnayaka |A critical edition, annotated translation |

| | |and discussion of |

| | |the Saṅgītisuttavaṇṇanā in |

| | |the Sumaṅgalavilāsinī, (PTS pp.971-1033) |

Former Students’ positions

Richard Gombrich’s former students are present across the academic world. That will be apparent even from the list of doctoral supervisees above.

Apart from those more recent graduates, his ex-students hold positions (mostly professorships) at the following institutions:

□ In the UK:

← Oriental Studies Faculty, Oxford University

← Institute of Social Anthropology, Oxford University

← Dept of Religion and Theology. King’s College, London University

← Goldsmiths College, London University

← University of Bristol

← University of Cambridge

← University of Durham

← University of Lancaster

← University of Wales at Cardiff

← De Montfort University, Leicester

← The British Library, London

□ Elsewhere

← Institut français de Pondichéry, India

← Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India

← Tribhuvan Unversity, Nepal

← Peradeniya University, Sri Lanka

← University of Oslo, Norway

← Institute of Oriental Studies (ISMEO), Naples, Italy

← University of Chicago, U.S.A.

← University of Texas at Austin, U.S.A.

← University of Hawaii, U.S.A.

← Dongguk University, Korea

The Thai Connection

Richard Gombrich is well known figure among academics across the world. That includes Thailand.

Dr Peter Skilling, Special Lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, is a personal friend. So is the Professor of Sanskrit at Chulalongkorn, Dr Prapod Assavavirulhakan.

The Venerable P. A. Payutto, universally acknowledged as Thailand’s foremost Buddhist scholar, makes extensive use of Gombrich’s work in his refutation of the Dhammakaya position. The Venerable Payutto points out that early western Buddhist scholars created many confusions, which have tended to become ingrained; Gombrich he sees as the great corrective for such fallacies. Here is a man who exhibits in equal measure the best of modern western scholarship and immense familiarity with — and respect for — the Pali tradition.

Gombrich’s scholarship also links in to the Thai scholarly tradition indirectly, through his students. Leading contemporary Korean scholars, who are translating the Pali Nikayas into Korean, studied with him.

[pic]

( Z[pic]r+[pic] LaE-k[pic][pic]ve yuddhayam-a hem-uva bauddha muladharmav[pic][pic]dayak da? PracaG-

-datvayak da?

( Budusamaya saha Z[pic]r+[pic] LaE-k[pic][pic]ve janav[pic][pic]rgika gham-m-anaya

and Pali Buddhist StudieŚrī Laṅkāve yuddhayaṭa heṭuva bauddha muladharmavādayak da? Pracaṇḍdatvayak da?

( Budusamaya saha Śrī Laṅkāve janavārgika ghaṭṭanaya

-----------------------

A Career

A Body of Work

A Continuing Impact

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