David Seyfort Ruegg

David Seyfort Ruegg
Born	1931 New York, NY
Scientific career
Fields	Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies
Institutions	School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

David Seyfort Ruegg (New York, 1931) is an eminent Buddhologist with a long career, extending from the 1950s to the present. His specialty has been Madhyamaka philosophy, a core doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism.

Ruegg graduated from École des Hautes Etudes in 1957 with degrees in historical science and Sanskrit. He published his thesis "Contributions à l'histoire de la philosophie linguistique indienne" ("Contributions to the History of Indian Linguistic Philosophy") in 1959. He received a second doctorate in linguistics from the Sorbonne in Paris, where his thesis was "La théorie du tathâgatagarbha et du gotra : études sur la sotériologie et la gnoséologie du bouddhisme" ("The Theory of Gotra and Tathâgatagarbha: A Study of the Soteriology and Gnoseology of Buddhism"), with a second half thesis on Bu Rin chen grub's approach to tathâgatagarbha. In 1964 he joined the faculty of the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient, where he researched the history, philology and philosophy of India, Tibet and Buddhism.

From 1966-1972 Ruegg occupied the Chair of Languages and Cultures of India and Tibet at Leiden University. His predecessor was Jan Willem de Jong and his successor was Tilmann Vetter. He has since become associated with the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Ruegg was president of the International Association for Buddhist Studies (IABS) from 1991 to 1999.

L.S. Cousins called Ruegg "certainly the leading scholar today" on the subject of tathâgatagarbha doctrine.

Publications

• Contributions à l'histoire de la philosophie linguistique indienne, Paris, Éd. de Boccard (Public. de l'Institut de civilisation indienne, 7). 1959
• The life of Bu ston Rin po che, Roma, Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente. 1966
• The study of Indian and Tibetan thought: some problems and perspectives, Inaugural lecture, Chair of Indian Philosophy, Buddhist Studies and Tibetan, University of Leiden, E. J. Brill. 1967
• La théorie du tathâgatagarbha et du gotra : études sur la sotériologie et la gnoséologie du bouddhisme, Paris, EFEO (PEFEO, 70). 1969
• Le traité du tathâgatagarbha de Bu ston Rin chen grub, Paris, EFEO (PEFEO, 88). 1973
• The literature of the Madhyamaka school of philosophy in India, Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz (History of Indian Literature, 7/1). 1981
• Buddha-nature, Mind and the problem of Gradualism in a comparative perspective: On the transmission and reception of Buddhism in India and Tibet (Jordan Lectures 1987), London, SOAS, University of London. 1989
• Ordre spirituel et ordre temporel dans la pensée bouddhique de l'Inde et du Tibet, Paris, Collège de France (Public. de l'Institut de civilisation indienne, 64). 1995