Buddhism

Editor in Chief

Richard Payne, Yehan Numata Professor of Buddhist Studies, is the Dean of the Institute of Buddhist Studies at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. He grew up in the San José area where there is a large and vibrant Japanese American community centered on the San Jose Buddhist Betsuin. At San José State University his interests came to focus on modern Continental philosophy and psychology, completing his studies for both a BA (Philosophy-Psychology, 1972) and an MA (Philosophy,1975) there. He also pursued studies at the Nyingma Institute, Berkeley, receiving an MA (Buddhist Studies, 1981), with a thesis on the concept of apoha in the Buddhist epistemologists (published, Journal of Indian Philosophy, 1987). In order to continue work on Buddhism, he entered the doctoral program in History and Phenomenology of Religion at the Graduate Theological Union. His dissertation research was on the votive fire offering (Skt. homa, Jpn. goma) in the Shingon tradition, and included training for the Shingon priesthood on Mt. Koya in Japan. He graduated in 1985 (dissertation published, Sata Pitaka series, 1991), at which point he began teaching for the Institute of Buddhist Studies. In 1994 he was appointed to his current position. He continues to be active in the fields of Japanese Buddhist studies, ritual studies, and the cognitive study of religion. He also serves as editor-in-chief of the Institute’s annual journal, Pacific World, and is chair of the Editorial Committee of the Pure Land Buddhist Studies Series.

“Graduate students are by necessity deeply and critically engaged in the literature within emerging areas of research. This knowledge puts them in an ideal position to write for Oxford Bibliographies. I am particularly excited about the potential of this award as a pathway to including articles on cutting-edge topics, and I think it is an important acknowledgement of the significant contribution graduate students routinely make to the production of new scholarship.”

--Damon Zucca, Reference and Online Publisher, Oxford University Press