Jean-Luc ACHARD (PhD) is a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, National Center for Scientific Research) in Paris and a member of the Centre de Recherches sur les Civilisations de l’Asie Orientale (CRCAO). He is also the creator and editor of the Revue d’Études Tibétaines (RET), a free online magazine of Tibetan Studies available on the Digital Himalaya website hosted by Cambridge University. His main fields of research are the studies of the Bonpo and Nyingmapa traditions in general, and their specific Dzokchen lineages and teachings in particular.
- Dzogchen Wiki (in French)
- Blogs: Tibetan Studies and Dudjom Sungbum
Contact: jean-luc.achard@college-de-france.fr
Stéphane ARGUILLÈRE (PhD) is professor of Tibetan language and civilization at the Inalco (Paris, 2013—). “Agrégé” professor of philosophy, he was fully trained in Western philosophy at Sorbonne university, while learning Tibetan language at the Inalco. He devoted his doctoral thesis (2002) to the life, work and thought of Longchenpa; it was published in 2007 (Peeters) under the title: Profusion de la Vaste Sphère: Klong chen rab ‘byams (1308-1364), sa vie, son œuvre et sa doctrine. His research focuses on the history of philosophical ideas and more broadly on the history of religions in the Tibetan world. He is also the author of several translations from Tibetan into French: Nyoshül Khenpo’s poems (Gallimard 1999), Mipham’s commentary on the ninth chapter of the Bodhicāryāvatāra (2004), and Gorampa Sönam Senge’s The Distinction of Views (Fayard 2008). His most recently published book (Tülku Tsullo, Manuel de la transparution immédiate, Le Cerf, 2016, English forthcoming) is a translation of a manual of Dzokchen meditation practice belonging to the Jangter tradition.
Contact: stephane.arguillere@inalco.fr
Tenpa Tsering BATSANG (M. Phil.) was born in Tibet and studied Tibetan language and history, Sanskrit, as well as Indian and Tibetan Buddhism at CIHTS (Sarnath). He has been a lecturer in Tibetan language at the Abt. für Mongolistik und Tibetstudien at the University of Bonn. He is an associate editor for the Lamrim Chenmo Project, was a professor of English at CIHTS and a professor of Tibetan language at SINI. He is currently a lecturer (chargé de cours) at the Inalco.
Publications: Co-translator (with Gyurme Dorje and Davis Baltz) of The Questions of Ratnacandra (Ratnacandraparipṛcchā) for 84000. He is the author of “Mipham on the concept of the Two Truths” (Lumbini Prabha, 2020, vol.5, pp. 220-228) and “Terma Teaching and Criticism of their Sources,” (Lumbini Prabha, 2021, Vol. 6, pp. 125-132.
Contact: tenpatsering.batsang@inalco.fr
Cécile DUCHER (PhD) defended her PhD dissertation on the Marngok Kagyü history in 2017 at the EPHE (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris) and won the 2019 Khyentse Foundation Award for Outstanding PhD Dissertation in Buddhist Studies. She was the Numata Invited Professor of Buddhist Studies in Vienna University (Summer Semester 2021) and is currently a lecturer at the Inalco (Paris). She studied traditional buddhology in India for several years, and is fluent in Tibetan. She published several articles on Marpa Lotsawa Chökyi Lodrö and the Ngok lineage and is specialized in religious history and Buddhist studies. (CV)
Contact: cecile.ducher@inalco.fr
Simon MARTIN is a graduate in Philosophy (Université de Bretagne Occidentale – Brest), in Tibetan (Inalco – Paris) and in Sanskrit (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3) and works as Ingénieur d’études on this project.
Jay VALENTINE (PhD) is an associate professor of philosophy and religion at Troy University (2015— ). He received his BA from the University of Delaware in Philosophy (2002). Dr. Valentine then relocated to Boulder, Colorado, where he earned an MA in Religious Studies from Naropa University (2004). His studies at Naropa University focused on the theology and practices of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. At that time he also began to train in the research languages of Tibetan and Sanskrit. Dr. Valentine earned his PhD from the University of Virginia (2013). There he also focused on the religions of philosophies of Buddhism and Hinduism in the History of Religions Program.
Dr. Valentine’s dissertation, The Lords of the Northern Treasures: The Development of the Institution of Rule by Successive Incarnations, examines the biographies and autobiographies of the patriarchs of the Northern Treasure Tradition as it developed from a community guided by charismatic revealers of scriptures and artifacts to one that was led by a series of (re)incarnations. Since then, he has published several articles that focus on different aspects of the early history of the Northern Treasure Tradition.
Contact: jvalentine@troy.edu