Sam Julius van Schaik is an
English tibetologist
Tibetology () refers to the study of things related to Tibet, including its history, religion, language, culture, politics and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of ...
.
Education
He obtained a PhD in
Tibetan Buddhist literature
Tibetan may mean:
* of, from, or related to Tibet
* Tibetan people, an ethnic group
* Tibetan language:
** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken diale ...
at the
University of Manchester in 2000, with a dissertation on the translations of
Dzogchen texts by
Jigme Lingpa
Jigme Lingpa (1730–1798) was a Tibetan '' tertön'' of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the promulgator of the Longchen Nyingthig, the Heart Essence teachings of Longchenpa, from whom, according to tradition, he received a ...
.
Career
Since 1999 he has worked at the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
in
London, and is currently a project manager for the
International Dunhuang Project
The International Dunhuang Project (IDP) is an international collaborative effort to conserve, catalogue and digitise manuscripts, printed texts, paintings, textiles and artefacts from the Mogao caves at the Western Chinese city of Dunhuang and ...
, specialising in the study of Tibetan Buddhist manuscripts from
Dunhuang.
He has also taught occasional courses at
SOAS, University of London
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 ar ...
.
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.
In February 2019 van Schaik was appointed as the head of the
Endangered Archives Programme at the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
.
Books
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).
* ''Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts from Dunhuang: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Stein Collection at the British Library'', co-authored with
Jacob Dalton
Jacob "Jake" Dalton (born August 19, 1991) is a retired American gymnast who was a member of the University of Oklahoma gymnastics team and the United States men's national gymnastics team. He represented the United States at the 2012 Summer Ol ...
(Leiden: Brill, 2006).
* ''
Tibet: A History'' (London: Yale University Press, 2011).
* ''Manuscripts and Travellers: The Sino-Tibetan Documents of a Tenth-Century Buddhist Pilgrim'', coauthored with
Imre Galambos
Imre Galambos (Chinese name 高奕睿, pinyin Gāo Yìruì; born 1967) is a Hungarian Sinologist and Tangutologist who specialises in the study of medieval Chinese and Tangut manuscripts from Dunhuang. He is a professor of Chinese Studies at the ...
(Berlin: de Gruyter, 2012).
* ''Tibetan Zen: Discovering a Lost Tradition'' (Boston & London: Snow Lion, 2015).
*''The Spirit of Zen'' (Yale University Press, 2018), winner of the 2019 Tianzhu Book Prize for Excellence in Chan Studies
* ''Buddhist Magic: Divination, Healing, and Enchantment Through the Ages'' (Boulder: Shambhala 2020)
His
edited volume An edited volume or edited collection is a collection of scholarly or scientific chapters written by different authors. The chapters in an edited volume are original works (not republished works).
Alternative terms for edited volume are ''contribut ...
s include:
* ''Esoteric Buddhism at Dunhuang: Rites and Teachings for this Life and Beyond'', co-edited with
Matthew Kapstein
Matthew T. Kapstein is a scholar of Tibetan religions, Buddhism, and the cultural effects of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He is Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and Director of Tibetan ...
(Leiden: Brill, 2010).
[Reviews of ''Esoteric Buddhism at Dunhuang'':
*
*
]
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
External links
Sam van Schaik's academic blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Schaik, Sam
Employees of the British Library
Living people
Tibetologists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Alumni of the University of Manchester
English historians