Jim Rheingans
Jim holds an MA in Tibetan Studies from the University of Hamburg (with minors in Classical Indology and Ethnology) and a PhD from the University of the West of England (taught at Bath Spa University). Next to various postdoctoral research projects at the University of Hamburg, he has taught at the University of Copenhagen and as Acting Professor for Tibetan Studies in Bonn. Jim has been engaged in various interdisciplinary teaching projects and acted as interpreter for Tibetan. His research focuses on Tibetan literary genres, religious history of the Tibetan plateau and Buddhist meditative traditions. Recent publications include Tibetan Literary Genres, Texts, and Text Types (2015) and the monograph The Eighth Karmapa's Life and His Interpretation of the Great Seal (2017). (Source Accessed September 9, 2021)
He recently completed a monograph about The Life and Works of Karma 'phrin las pa (1456–1539).
Library Items
Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice
This publication presents the academic papers presented at the 2nd International Association of Buddhist Universities Conference which took place at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University in Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, Thailand, in 2012. The theme of this large conference was "Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice" and it brought together over 33 Buddhist studies scholars. Of particular relevance to the topic of buddha-nature is Tadeuz Skorupki's paper, "Consciousness and Luminosity in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism" (43–64).
Dhammasami, Khammai, Padmasiri de Silva, Sarah Shaw, Dion Peoples, Jamie Cresswell, and Toshiichi Endo, eds. Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice: Academic Papers Presented at the 2nd IABU Conference, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Main Campus, Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, Thailand. Ayutthaya, Thailand: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, 2012. http://btmar.org/files/pdf/buddhist_philosophy_and_meditation_practice.pdf.
Dhammasami, Khammai, Padmasiri de Silva, Sarah Shaw, Dion Peoples, Jamie Cresswell, and Toshiichi Endo, eds. Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice: Academic Papers Presented at the 2nd IABU Conference, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Main Campus, Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, Thailand. Ayutthaya, Thailand: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, 2012. http://btmar.org/files/pdf/buddhist_philosophy_and_meditation_practice.pdf.;Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice;Buddha-nature as Luminosity;Doctrine;Consciousness;Meditation;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Tibetan Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism;Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice: Academic Papers Presented at the 2nd IABU Conference, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Main Campus, Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, Thailand
The Eighth Karmapa's Life and His Interpretation of the Great Seal (2017)
This book investigates Mikyö Dorje’s biographies and carries out case studies of some of his mahāmudrā (Great Seal) teachings, Buddhist instructions for the acquisition of meditative insight. After surveying a variety of textual sources for the study of the Karmapa’s life and works, this book shows how he developed into one of the most productive scholars of his tradition, who, located within the shifting religious and political hegemonies of his time, managed to acquire a status of singular importance to his school. Rheingans then goes on to analyse Mikyö Dorje’s mahāmudrā teachings by examining selected texts that contain such instructions in historical and doctrinal context. This study contends that the Kagyüpa mahāmudrā constitutes less a static system than an independent key instruction to be adapted by the guru to different students’ requirements and are thus chiefly characterised by didactic pragmatism. (Source: Projekt Verlag)
Rheingans, Jim. The Eighth Karmapa's Life and His Interpretation of the Great Seal: A Religious Life and Instructional Texts in Historical and Doctrinal Contexts. Hamburg Buddhist Studies 7. Bochum, Germany: Projekt Verlag, 2017. https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/4-publikationen/hamburg-buddhist-studies/hamburgup-hbs07-rheingans.pdf.
Rheingans, Jim. The Eighth Karmapa's Life and His Interpretation of the Great Seal: A Religious Life and Instructional Texts in Historical and Doctrinal Contexts. Hamburg Buddhist Studies 7. Bochum, Germany: Projekt Verlag, 2017. https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/4-publikationen/hamburg-buddhist-studies/hamburgup-hbs07-rheingans.pdf.;The Eighth Karmapa's Life and His Interpretation of the Great Seal (2017);Mahamudra;Karmapa, 8th;Jim Rheingans; The Eighth Karmapa's Life and his Interpretation of the Great Seal: A Religious Life and Instructional Texts in Historical and Doctrinal Contexts
Affiliations & relations
- The University of Sydney · workplace affiliation
- University of Hamburg · secondary affiliation
- https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/en/personen/rheingans.html · websites
