Dr. Yao-ming Tsai
Associate Professor,

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT

August 2004-present: Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, National Taiwan University
August 2001-July 2004: Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Asian Humanities, Huafan University
February 1998-July 2001: Assistant Professor, Graduate Institute of Asian Humanities, Huafan University

EDUCATION

Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, December 1997
Group in Buddhist Studies (an inter-disciplinary program)
M.A., National Taiwan University, Taiwan, July 1987
Department of Philosophy
B.A., National Taiwan University, Taiwan, July 1981
Department of Sociology

FIELDS OF SPECIALTY
Indo-Chinese Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Philosophy of Life, Indian Philosophy

ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS:
2006
* Research Methods and Academic Resources for Buddhist Studies, Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing, 2006.
* An Open Path for Constructing Buddhology: Buddhist Doctrines of Meditation, Wisdom and Tathagata-garbha, Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing, 2006.

2001

* The Teachings of Prajnaparamita and the Purification of the Buddha-field: Collected Papers on a Buddhist Approach to the World of Buddhism, Nantou: Right View Publications, 2001.

ARTICLES and BOOK CHAPTERS


2006
¡§Meditation Design in the Suramgama-samadhi-Sutra,¡¨ Dharma Drum Journal of Humanities 3 (December 2006): 135-162.
* ¡§Interpretative Approach to Navigating Concepts Concerning the Doctrine of Nondual Middle Way: Maneuver into Buddhist Approach to Unfolding Thorough Reality of the Life World,¡¨ National Taiwan University Philosophical Review 32 (October 2006): 115-166.
* ¡§Literary Review and Prospect of the Buddhist Philosophical Articles Published during 1996-2005: Mainly Based on the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies and Philosophy East and West,¡¨ Journal of the Center for Buddhist Studies, National Taiwan University 11 (July 2006): 277-292.
2005
* ¡§Reflections on Philological-Textual Studies and Its Application in Buddhist Studies,¡¨ Saty?bhisamaya: A Buddhist Studies Quarterly 34 (September 2005): 93-236.
2004
* ¡§Buddhist Doctrine of ¡§Neither Increase Nor Decrease in the Realm of Sentient Beings¡¨ in the Anunatvapurnatva-nirdesha: A Doctrinal Development from the Realm of Sentient Beings, Dharmadhatu, Dharmakaya, to Tathagatagarbha,¡¨ National Taiwan University Philosophical Review 28 (October 2004): 89-155.
* ¡§Meditative Practices of the 15th Assembly of the Prajnaparamita-Sutras,¡¨ Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal 17 (July 2004): 49-93.
2003
* ¡§Deciphering the Extant Prefaces and Postscripts to the Suramgama-samadhi-Sutra: In the Light of the Study of the Textual Background to the Sutra,¡¨ Journal of the Center for Buddhist Studies, National Taiwan University 8 (July 2003): 1-42.
* ¡§A Step-by-Step Guide for the Research Process in Buddhist Studies,¡¨ Saty?bhisamaya: A Buddhist Studies Quarterly 25 (June 2003): 201-209.
2002
* ¡§The Teaching of Buddha Aksobhya according to the Sutras of the Perfection of Wisdom: A Manifestation of the Purification of the Buddha Field,¡¨ Yuan Kuang Buddhist Journal 7 (December 2002): 1-27.
* ¡§Towards an Understanding of the Dharma-door of Non-duality in the Agama-sutra and the Vimalakirti-nirdesha-sutra,¡¨ Journal of the Center for Buddhist Studies, National Taiwan University 7 (July 2002): 1-26.
* ¡§Multiple Functions of Meditative Practices on the Path to Emancipation in the Agama-sutra,¡¨ Saty?bhisamaya: A Buddhist Studies Quarterly 20 (March 2002): 83-140.
2000
* ¡§Buddhist Manuscripts in Sanskrit Found at Gilgit: Remarks from the perspective of Buddhist Studies,¡¨ Saty?bhisamaya: A Buddhist Studies Quarterly 20 (June 2000): 1-128.
* ¡§Teaching in accordance with the Students¡¦ Aptitudes and the Distinction between Oneself and Others according to the Analects of Confucius, the Agamas, and the Sutras of the Perfection of Wisdom,¡¨ Journal of the Center for Buddhist Studies, National Taiwan University 5 (July 2000): 37-78.
* ¡§Toward a Professional Study of the Buddhist Religion,¡¨ Philosophical Forum 32 (May 2000): 114-126.
* ¡§The Formation of Vehicles and the Proposition of the Three Vehicles in the Sutras of the Perfection of Wisdom,¡¨ Special Edition of the 11th International Conference on Buddhist Education and Culture, edited by Huafan University Press, Taipei: Huafan University Press, 2000, pp. 130-164.
1999
* ¡§Purification in the Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita,¡¨ Journal of the Center for Buddhist Studies, National Taiwan University 4 (July 1999): 1-41.
1998
* ¡§Controversy over the Geographical Origins of Mahayana: A Criticism,¡¨ Journal of the Center for Buddhist Studies, National Taiwan University 3 (July 1998): 77-97.
1997
* ¡§Bodhisattva-niyama in the Context of the Three Pathways as Depicted in the Pancavimsatisahasrika-prajnaparamita-sutra,¡¨ Newsletter of the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, Academia Sinica 7/1 (March 1997): 109-142.

 

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:


2007
* ¡§Ethical Considerations regarding Sensual Desires on the Path to Enlightenment: A Philosophical Inquiry based on the 12th Assembly of the Sutras of the Perfection of Wisdom,¡¨ presented at the International Conference on Celibacy and Religious Enlightenment / Salvation, in Seoul, Korea, held by International Center for Korean Studies, Institute of Korean Culture, Korea University, August 2-3, 2007, 28 pages.
 * ¡§Instructional Guidance concerning ¡§Residing Places of the Present Life,¡¨ ¡§Cyclic Existence,¡¨ and ¡§Multiple Paths of Life Cultivation,¡¨ in the Sutras of the Perfection of Wisdom: With a Special Focus on Settling down to Life from the Perspective of Philosophy of Life,¡¨ presented at The International Scientific Conference: Domestication of Buddhism, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, jointly held by National Taiwan University and National University of Mongolia, July 8-9, 2007, 17 pages.
 * ¡§Seeing as an Interface for Spiritual Cultivation towards an Open Path of Life: A Philosophical Inquiry based on the Diamond Sutra,¡¨ presented at The Seoul Conference of Asian Philosophy in 2007: Rethinking Philosophy in Asia, in Seoul, Korea, held by Korean Philosophical Association, June 1-2, 2007, 19 pages.

 

DISSERTATION:


Searching for the Origins of Mahayana and Moving toward a Better Understanding of Early Mahayana, University of California at Berkeley, December 1997, directed by Professor Lewis R. Lancaster.

 

COURSES REGULARLY TAUGHT


Sanskrit
Guide to Writing Philosophical Essays
Philosophy of Religion
Introduction to Buddhism
Buddhist Inquiry into Life
Buddhism in Sui-Tang Dynasties
Seminar in Buddhism
Seminar in Buddhist Path to Emancipation
Seminar in Buddhist Path to Enlightenment
Seminar in Buddhist Prajnaparamita
Seminar in the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy
Seminar in Buddhist Doctrine of Consciousness-Only
Seminar in Tathagatagarbha's Philosophy of Life