Dr. Rolf Scheuermann

Bild von Rolf Scheuermann

Internationales Kolleg für Geisteswissenschaftliche Forschung "Schicksal, Freiheit und Prognose. Bewältigungsstrategien in Ostasien und Europa"




Curriculum Vitae

In 2010, Rolf Scheuermann received a Magister in Tibetan and Buddhist Studies (major) and Indology (minor), and in 2017, a doctorate in Buddhist Studies from the University of Vienna. Previously in 2004, he also obtained a diploma in Buddhist Studies from the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute, New Delhi. His dissertation focused on the famous doctrine of the Four Dharmas of sGam po pa (Dwags po chos bzhi), a short work that belongs to the genre of the Stages of the Path (lam rim), which has been relatively neglected so far in Western studies. Its author is the famous monk yogi sGam po pa bSod nams rin chen (1079–1153) who played a crucial role during the second spread of Buddhism in Tibet. Apart from this work on the early bKa' brgyud tradition, his further research focuses on Tibetan eschatology, Tibetan strategies for coping with the future, the Jo nang tradition's gZhan stong-Madhyamaka philosophy and its specific interpretation of buddha nature, the translation of Buddhist works, but also cultural exchange processes. He has been coordinating the research projects of the IKGF since 2014 but is on partial leave from April 2017 to September 2018 in order to substitute the Junior Professor of Central Asian Studies at the University of Leipzig.

Selected Bibliography

  • Glimpses of Tibetan Divination. Past and Present. Proceedings of the International Workshop at the IKGF, Erlangen, December 2–3, 2014, and of the Panel "Tibetan Divination" held at the XIV. IATS Seminar, Bergen, June 22, 2016. Donatella Rossi, Petra Maurer, and Rolf Scheuermann (eds.). Brill, forthcoming 2018.
  • "Vibhuticandra's Svapnohana and the Examination of Dreams". In: Glimpses of Tibetan Divination. Past and Present. Donatella Rossi, Petra Maurer, and Rolf Scheuermann (eds.). Brill, forthcoming 2018.
  • The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra "Akṣayamati’s Questions". English Translation of the Āryākṣayamatiparipṛcchānāmamahāyānasūtra. With Stefan Schley and Per K. Sørensen. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, Khyentse Foundation, forthcoming 2018.
  • "'One will die soon!' – Predictions of Death in Tibetan Buddhist Divination Manuals". In: Fate, Longevity, and Immortality. Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, Michael Lackner, Fabrizio Pregadio (eds.). Firenze, Sismel Edizioni del Galluzzo (Micrologus XXVI), 2018 (in print).
  • "Alcoholic Drinks and Drinking, Buddhism". In: Arvind Sharma (ed.). Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Dordrecht: Springer, 2017.
  • "sGam po pa’s Doctrinal System: A Programmatic Way to Buddhahood for Beings of Varying Capacity, Both Gradual and Sudden?" In: Revue d'Études Tibétaines 37, Décembre 2016, 335–351 .
  • The Noble Sūtra of the Great Vehicle "Dependent Arising". English Translation of the Āryapratītyasamutpādanāmamahāyānasūtra. With Casey Kemp and Khenpo Konchok Tamphel (under the supervision of Tom Tillemans). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, Khyentse Foundation, 2016 .
  • The Sūtra of the Teaching on the Magical Display of Miracles Produced by the Buddha's Powers. English Translation of the Buddhabalādhānaprātihāryavikurvāṇanirdeśasūtra. With Gregory Forgues, Casey Kemp and Khenpo Ngawang Wöser. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, Khyentse Foundation, 2016 .
  • "The Four Dharmas of sGam po pa – A Brief Examination of Padma dkar po's Famous Dwags po'i chos bzhi'i rnam bshad skyes bu gsum gyi lam nyin mor byed pa". In: Zentralasiatische Studien No. 44. Andiast: IITBS, 2015, 121-144.
  • When Sūtra Meets Tantra – Sgam po pa’s Four Dharma Doctrine as an Example for his Synthesis of the bKa’ gdams- and Mahamudra-Systems. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Vienna, 2015 (350 pp.), .
  • "When Buddhist Teachings Meet – Preliminary Remarks on the Relationship Between the Four Dharmas of sGam po pa and Kun dga' snying po's Parting from the Four Attachments". In: Current Issues and Progress in Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Third International Seminar of Young Tibetologists, Kobe 2012 (Journal of Research Institute, vol. 51). Tsuguhito Takeuchi, Kazushi Iwao, Ai Nishida, Seiji Kumagai and Meishi Yamamoto (eds.), Kobe: Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, 2013, 465–487.
  • The Noble Sūtra of the Great Vehicle Entitled the Three Bodies. English Translation of the Āryatrikāyanāmamahāyānasūtra. With Casey Kemp and Khenpo Konchok Tamphel. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, Khyentse Foundation, 2013 .
  • Das gZhan stong dbu ma'i rgyan des rJe btsun Tāranātha Kun dga' snying po - Tibetischer Text und Übersetzung. Diploma Thesis, University of Vienna, 2010 (157 pp.).

Lectures, and conference/symposium papers, etc. (a selection)

2015 “Religiöse Traditionen und Praktiken Tibets.” KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Mathematisch-Geographische Fakultät
2015 “Purifying Karma by Reciting Sūtras? A Tibetan Perspective.” XXI IAHR World Congress, Erfurt.
2015 “Sgam po pa’s Doctrine: A Systematic Way of Coping with the Future for Beings of Varying Capacity, Both Gradual and Sudden?” ISYT Conference, Leipzig, September 9, 2015.
2014 17th Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Wien: “A Seventeenth Century Criticism on the Tibetan Reception of Buddhism – Tāranātha’s Ornament of Gzhan stong Madhyamaka.”
2014 Workshop “Translating and Transferring Buddhist Literature”, University of Vienna: “Translating the Dharma(s): Some Notes on the Translation of the Four Dharmas of Sgam po pa.”
2013 13th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Ulaanbaatar: “Solving the Unsolvable: Padma dkar po's Commentary on the Four Dharmas of Sgam po pa.”
2012 Workshop “Sacred Topography and Cultural Transfers in the Himalayas”, University of Vienna: „The Bka’ gdams pa Connection: A Fourfold topos for the Gradual Path and its Journey of Transformation throughout the Religious Landscape of Tibet.”
2012 Karmapa International Buddhist Institute, New Delhi: “Educating Translators for Buddhist Texts (Special Lecture).”
2012 Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal University: “Tracing Cultural Transfers Between the Tibetan Buddhist Traditions and India (Special Lecture).”
2012 3rd International Seminar of Young Tibetologists, Kobe: “When Buddhist Teaching Meet – Preliminary Remarks on the Relationship Between the Four Dharmas of sGam po pa and Kun dga’ snying po’s Parting from the Four Attachments.”