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Richard Francis Gombrich (; born 17 July 1937) is a British
Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is o ...
and scholar of
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
,
Pāli Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
, and
Buddhist studies Buddhist studies, also known as Buddhology, is the academic study of Buddhism. The term ''Buddhology'' was coined in the early 20th century by the Unitarian minister Joseph Estlin Carpenter to mean the "study of Buddhahood, the nature of the Budd ...
. He was the
Boden Professor of Sanskrit The position of Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford was established in 1832 with money bequeathed to the university by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Boden, a retired soldier in the service of the East India Company. He wished th ...
at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
from 1976 to 2004. He is currently Founder-President of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies. He is a past president of the
Pali Text Society The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts". Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pā ...
(1994–2002) and general editor emeritus of the
Clay Sanskrit Library The Clay Sanskrit Library is a series of books published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation. Each work features the text in its original language (transliterated Sanskrit) on the left-hand page, with its English translation on the ...
.


Early life and education

Gombrich is the only child of classical pianist Ilse Gombrich ( Heller; 1910–2006), and Austrian-British art historian Sir
Ernst Gombrich Sir Ernst Hans Josef Gombrich (; ; 30 March 1909 – 3 November 2001) was an Austrian-born art historian who, after settling in England in 1936, became a naturalised British citizen in 1947 and spent most of his working life in the United Kin ...
. He studied at St. Paul's School in London from 1950 to 1955 before attending
Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
, in 1957. He received his B.A. from Oxford in 1961 and his DPhil from the same university in 1970. His doctoral thesis was entitled ''Contemporary Sinhalese Buddhism in its relation to the Pali canon''. He received his M.A. from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in 1963.


Early work

Gombrich's first major contribution in the field of Buddhist studies was an anthropological study of contemporary Sinhalese Buddhism entitled ''Precept and Practice: Traditional Buddhism in the Rural Highlands of Ceylon'' (1971). This study emphasised the compatibility between the normative
Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...
advocated in canonical Theravadin texts and the contemporary religious practices of Sinhalese Buddhists. Contemporary Sinhalese religious practices often include such elements as
sorcery Sorcery may refer to: * Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces ** Witchcraft, the practice of magical skills and abilities * Magic in fiction, ...
and the worship of
yakshas The yakshas ( sa, यक्ष ; pi, yakkha, i=yes) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in ...
and
Hindu deities Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. The terms and epithets for deities within the diverse traditions of Hinduism vary, and include Deva, Devi, Ishvara, Ishvari, Bhagavān and Bhagavati. The deities of Hinduism have evolved ...
; previous scholars of Buddhist studies had interpreted these practices as contradictory to or corruptions of the orthodox Buddhism of the
Pāli Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...
. Gombrich argues in ''Precept and Practice'' that, rather than being the mark of later corruptions of Theravada Buddhism, these practices can be traced to early periods in Buddhist history. Furthermore, since the worship of Hindu deities and rituals involving sorcery are never explicitly forbidden to lay people in the Pāli Canon, Gombrich argues against viewing such practices as contradictory to orthodox Buddhism. It is also in ''Precept and Practice'' that Gombrich lays out his distinction between Buddhism at the cognitive level and Buddhism at the affective level. At the cognitive level, Sinhalese Buddhists will attest to believing in such normative Buddhist doctrines as anatta, while, at the same time, their actions indicate a supposed affective acceptance of, for example, an individual, transmigrating soul. Gombrich's notion of a cognitive/affective divide in Sinhalese Buddhism has since come under criticism;
Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah (16 January 1929 – 19 January 2014) was a social anthropologist and Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor ''(Emeritus)'' of Anthropology at Harvard University. He specialised in studies of Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Tamils, a ...
considered it simplistic and insupportable.


Major contributions and concepts

Gombrich's recent research has focused more on the origins of Buddhism. He stresses the importance of relating
Buddhist texts Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...
and practices to the rest of
Indian religions Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification of ...
. Rather than studying Buddhism,
Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...
, and
Vedism The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism (also spelled as Brahminism)), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some Indo-Aryan peoples of northwest Indian Subco ...
in isolation, Gombrich advocates a comparative method that has shed light on both Buddhist thought and early history of Buddhism. He has been an active contributor to an ongoing discussion concerning the date of the Buddha's death, and has argued that data supplied in Pali texts composed in Sri Lanka enable us to date that event to about 404 BCE. Whilst an undergraduate, Gombrich helped to edit the volume of papers by
Karl Popper Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian-British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the cl ...
entitled "Conjectures and Refutations". Since then, he has followed this method in his research, seeking the best hypothesis available and then trying to test it against the evidence. This makes him oppose both facile scepticism and the quest for a method which can in any way substitute for the simple need for critical thought. He was general editor of the Clay Sanskrit Library from its founding until February 2008.


Personality and influence

Gombrich taught at Oxford for over 40 years. He was instrumental in Numata Foundation's endowing a chair in Buddhist Studies at Oxford. On taking mandatory retirement in 2004 he founded the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and, with Geoff Bamford, the Society for the Wider Understanding of the Buddhist Tradition. He holds strong views on higher education. In 2000, at the invitation of the Graduate Institute for Policy Studies at Tokyo University, he delivered a lecture "British Higher Education Policy in the last Twenty Years: The Murder of a Profession" and in 2008 he participated in the "Rally of the Impossible Professions: Beyond the False Promises of Security" hosted by the London Society of the New Lacanian School.


Awards

The
Asiatic Society of Calcutta The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...
awarded Gombrich the SC Chakraborty medal in 1993. The following year, he received the Sri Lanka Ranajana decoration from the
President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...
.


Publications

* Precept and practice: traditional Buddhism in the rural highlands of Ceylon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971. * Teach yourself Sanskrit: an introduction to the classical language. (Editor: Coulson, Michael) London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1976. * The perfect generosity of Prince Vessantara. (Co-author: Cone, Margaret) Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977. * On being Sanskritic: a plea for civilized study and the study of civilization. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978. * Balasooriya, Somaratna, André Bareau, Richard Gombrich, Siri Gunasingha, Udaya Mallawarachchi and Edmund Perry eds. Buddhist studies in honour of Walpola Rahula. London: Gordon Fraser, 1980. * Bechert, Heinz and Richard Gombrich eds. The world of Buddhism: Buddhist monks and nuns in society and culture. London: Thames & Hudson, 1984. Paperback ed. 1991. * Dhammapala, Gatare, Richard Gombrich and K.R. Norman eds. Buddhist studies in honour of Hammalava Saddhatissa. Nugegoda, Sri Lanka: Hammalava Saddhatissa Felicitation Volume Committee, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, 1984. * Theravåda Buddhism: a social history from ancient Benares to modern Colombo. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988. * Gombrich, Richard, and Gananath Obeyesekere. Buddhism transformed: religious change in Sri Lanka. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988. Paperback ed. 1990. * Editor. Indian ritual and its exegesis. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1988. * Buddhist precept and practice. (Revised edition of 1. above.) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1991. * How Buddhism began: the conditioned genesis of the early teachings. London: The Athlone Press, 1996. * Religious experience in early Buddhism? Eighth Annual BASR Lecture, 1997. British Association for the Study of Religions Occasional Paper 17. Printed by the University of Leeds Printing Service, Leeds
998 Year 998 ( CMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Otto III retakes Rome and restores power in the papal city. Crescenti ...
* Kindness and compassion as means to Nirvana. (1997 Gonda Lecture) Amsterdam: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1998. * Translation of 9 above into Japanese, trsln Iwao Shima, Kyoto: Hozokan, 2002. * Translation of 8 above into Japanese, trsln, 2006. * Theravåda Buddhism: a social history from ancient Benares to modern Colombo. 2nd rev. ed. London: Routledge, 2006. * How Buddhism began: the conditioned genesis of the early teachings. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2006. * Gombrich, Richard and Cristina Scherrer-Schaub, ed.: Buddhist Studies: Papers of the 12th World Sanskrit Conference, vol.8, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2008 Selected recent articles * Making mountains without molehills: the case of the missing stupa. Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. 15: 141–143, 1990. * Reflections of an Indologist. In Religious pluralism and unbelief: Studies critical and comparative. I. Hamnett, editor. London and New York: Routledge, 243–261, 1990. * Påtimokkha: purgative. In Studies in Buddhism and culture in honour of Professor Dr. Egaku Mayeda on his sixty-fifth birthday. The Editorial Committee of the Felicitation Volume for Professor Dr. Egaku Mayeda, editors. Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin, 31–38, 1991. * Can we know or control our futures? In Buddhist essays: A miscellany. G. Piyatissa Thera, L. Perera and K. Goonesena, editors. London: Sri Saddhatissa International Buddhist Centre, 240–252, 1992. * The Buddha's Book of Genesis? Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 35: 159–178, 1992. * Dating the Buddha: a red herring revealed. In The Dating of the Historical Buddha/Die Datierung des historischen Buddha. Part 2. (Symposien zur Buddhismusforschung, IV,2) Heinz Bechert, editor. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 237–259, 1992. * Why is a khattiya called a khattiya? the Aggaññasutta revisited. Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. XVII: 213–214, 1992. * A momentous effect of translation: the "vehicles" of Buddhism. Apodosis: Essays presented to Dr. W.W. Cruickshank to mark his 80th birthday. St. Paul's School, London; 34–46, 1992. * Buddhist prediction: how open is the future? Predicting the Future. Leo Howe, Alan Wain, editors. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 144–168, 1993. * Buddhism in the modern world: secularization or protestantization? In Secularization, rationalism and sectarianism. Essays in honour of Bryan R. Wilson. Eileen Barker, James A. Beckford, Karel Dobbelaere, editors. Oxford; Clarendon Press, 1993. * Understanding early Buddhist terminology in its context. Pali Daejangkang Urimal Olmgim Nonmon Moum II / "A Korean Translation of Pali Tipitaka Vol. II", 74–101, Seoul, 1993. * The Buddha and the Jains: a reply to Professor Bronkhorst. Asiatische Studien XLVIII 4 1994, 1069–196. * The monk in the Påli Vinaya: priest or wedding guest? Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. XXI, 1995: 193–197. * The earliest Brahmanical reference to Buddhism? Relativism, Suffering and Beyond. Essays in memory of Bimal K. Matilal, eds. P. Bilimoria and J. N. Mohanty. Delhi; OUP, 1997, 31–49. * Is Dharma a good thing? Dialogue and Universalism no. 11–12, 1997, 147–163. * The Buddhist attitude to thaumaturgy. Bauddhavidyasudhakarah: studies in honour of Heinz Bechert on the occasion of his 65th birthday, eds. Petra Kieffer-Pülz and Jens-Uwe Hartmann. Swisttal-Odendorf: Indica et Tibetica, 1997, 166–184. * Obituary of the Venerable Dr Walpola Rahula. The Middle Way, vol. 73, no. 2, 1998, 115–119. * Introduction. Sir William Jones 1746–1974, A Commemoration, ed. Alexander Murray. Oxford: OUP, 1998, 3–15. * Organized bodhisattvas: a blind alley in Buddhist historiography. SËryacandråya: Essays in Honour of Akira Yuyama, eds. Paul Harrison and Gregory Schopen. Swisttal-Odendorf: Indica et Tibetica, 1998, 43–56. Reprinted in Studies in Hindu and Buddhist Art, ed. P. K. Mishra. New Delhi, Abhinav Publications, 1999. * Discovering the Buddha’s date. Buddhism for the New Millennium, ed. Lakshman S. Perera. London; World Buddhist Foundation, 2000, 9–25. * A visit to Brahmå the heron, Journal of Indian Philosophy, v.29, April 2001, 95–108. * Another Buddhist criticism of Yåjñavalkya, Buddhist and Indian Studies in Honour of Professor Sodo Mori, Hammatsu: Kokusai Bukkyoto Kyokai, 2002, 21–23. * “Obsession with origins”: attitudes to Buddhist studies in the old world and the new, Approaching the Dhamma: Buddhist texts and practices in South and Southeast Asia, eds. Anne M. Blackburn & Jeffrey Samuels. Seattle: BPS Pariyatti Editions, 2003, 3–15. * Merit detached from volition: how a Buddhist doctrine came to wear a Jain aspect, Jainism and Early Buddhism: essays in honor of Padmanabh S. Jaini, ed. Olle Qvarnström. Fremont: Asian Humanities Press, 2003, 427–439. * Vedånta stood on its head: sakkåya and sakkåya-di††hi, 2nd International Conference on Indian Studies: proceedings, eds. Renata Czekalska & Halina Marlewicz, (Cracow Indological series IV–V), Krakow: Ksiegarnia Akademicka, 2003, 227–238. * Understanding the Buddha: methods and results. Korean Society for Indian Philosophy, 2004. * Major new discoveries about the Buddha’s teachings. Buddhism in the West, eds. Galayaye Piyadassi …
t al T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
London: World Buddhist Foundation, 2005, 149–152. * Thoughts about karma. Buddhism and Jainism, essays in honour of Dr. Hojun Nagasaki on his seventieth birthday, ed. Committee. Kyoto: Heirakuji Shoten, 2005, 740–726 (sic). * Is the Sri Lankan war a Buddhist fundamentalism?, Buddhism, conflict and violence in modern Sri Lanka, ed. Mahinda Deegalle. (Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism series), London & New York: Routledge, 2006, pp. 22–37. * Parodie und Ironie in den Reden des Buddha. RELIGIONEN unterwegs, vol. 12, no. 2, Mai 2006, 4–8. * Popperian Vinaya: conjecture and refutation in practice. Pramåˆak¥rti˙: papers dedicated to Ernst Steinkellner on the occasion of his 70th birthday, eds. Birgit Kellner …
t al T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
Wien: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2007, pp. 203–211. * Why the monks took no delight in the Buddha’s words. South Asian Religions & Culture, v.2 (1), 2008, pp. 83–87. * Why has British education gone so wrong, and why can’t we stop the rot? Popper’s nightmare. '' Hurly-Burly'' (Intl. Lacanian Jnl of Psychoanalysis), (1) Mai 2009, pp. 185–192.


Academic appointments

*Harkness Fellow of the Commonwealth Fund (1961–1963) *Lecturer,
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
(1965–76) *
Boden Professor of Sanskrit The position of Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford was established in 1832 with money bequeathed to the university by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Boden, a retired soldier in the service of the East India Company. He wished th ...
(and
fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
of
Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
),
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
(1976–2004) *Visiting Professor,
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
(1981–82) *Visiting Professor,
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and ''grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...
(1982) *Visiting Fellow,
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
(1986–87) *F. D. Maurice Lecturer,
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
(1994) *Jordan Lecturer,
SOAS SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...
(1994) *Co-editor, Journal of the Pali Text Society (1996–2002) *Gonda Lecturer,
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...
(1997) *Edmund Perry lecturer,
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
(1998) *Visiting Professor, Dongguk University, Seoul (2008) *Visiting Professor, Hong Kong University (2008)


References


External links


Clay Sanskrit Library homepage

Gombrich, Richard Francis
Digital Library & Museum of Buddhist Studies: Buddhist Author Authority Database. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gombrich, Richard 1937 births Academics of King's College London Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Boden Professors of Sanskrit British scholars of Buddhism British historians of philosophy British Indologists British Jews British people of Austrian descent Buddhist studies scholars Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of Wolfson College, Oxford Harvard University alumni Living people Pali scholars People educated at St Paul's School, London