Robert Buswell
Curriculum Vitae
Current Academic Positions
Professor, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, UCLA
Director, Center for Buddhist Studies, UCLA
Education
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley. December 1985. Buddhist Studies.
Dissertation Title: "The Korean Origin of the Vajrasamadhi-Sutra: A Case Study in
Determining the Dating, Provenance, and Authorship of a Buddhist Apocryphal
Scripture." UMI #8609960. Readers: Lewis Lancaster, Michael Rogers, Michel Strickmann
M.A., With Distinction. U.C. Berkeley. June 1983. Sanskrit (South and Southeast
Asian Studies). Three comprehensive examinations: 1) Abhidharma Literature:
Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosabhaya with Yasomitra's Sphurthavyakhya;
2) The Sanksrit Grammarians: Patanjali's Mahabhasya Bhahuvrihyahnika with
Kasikavrtti and Nyasabhasya; 3) general examiniation in South and
Southeast Asian Studies.
A.B., With Highest Honors. U.C. Berkeley. June, 1981. Chinese (Oriental Languages).
Valedictorian. Honor's Thesis: "Syncretic Trends in Chinul's Thought: An Annotated Translation
of the Wondon songbullon [Treatise on the attainment of Buddhahood according to
the Complete and Sudden school]."
Fieldwork in Buddhist Monasticism: Wat Bovoranives, Bangkok, Thailand, 1972-73
(Theravada); Polam-ji, Landau Island, Hong Kong, 1973-74 (Ch'an); Songgwang-sa, Cholla Namdo,
Korea, 1974-79 (Son and Hwaom).
University of California, Santa Barbara. September, 1971 - December 1972. Asian Studies
Recent Major Grants and Awards
1995-96: Research grant for conference "Korea's Place in the East Asia Buddhist Tradition."
$30,000 in funding received from the joint committees on Chinese, Japanese and Korean
Studies of ACLS/SSRC.
1994: Puri Foundation Prize for Scholarly Achievement in Buddhist Studies, Han'guk Pulgyo
Yon'guwon, Korea.
1994: Korean Foundation, "Developing the Korean Studies Infrastructure at UCLA." Principal
investigator for five-year grant ($750,000 total) to fund two new faculty positions in Korean
Studies and the new Center for Korean Studies.
1994: Francis Wayland Lecturer in Liberal Learning, Brown University
1993: Distinguished Visiting Lecturer, University of Oregon, Department of Religious Studies.
1991: International Studies and Overseas PRogram, UCLA, Travel Grant
Membership in Professional Organizations and Scholarly Societies
Listed in Who's Who in Religion
International Association of Buddhist Studies
American Academy of Religion
American Oriental Society
Association for Asian Studies
Phi Beta Kappa
Pojo sasang yon'guwon [Institute for the Study of Chinul's Thought]
Research Publications
Books
1992: The Zen Monastic Experience: Buddhist Practice in Contemporary Korea.
Princeton: Princeton University Press. 245pp
1992: Paths of Liberation: The Marga and its Transformations in Buddhist Thought.
Coeditor (w/ Robert M. Gimello) and contributor. Studies in East Asian Buddhism series, no 7.
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, A Kuroda Institute Book. 525pp
1991: Tracing Back the Radiance: Chinul's Korean Way of Zen. Classics in
East Asian Buddhism, no. 2. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, A Kuroda Institute
Book. 232pp (Paperback abridgment of The Korean Approach to Zen).
1990: Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha. Editor and Contributor. Honolulu: University
of Hawaii Press. 338pp.
1989: The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea: THe Vajrasamadhi-Sutra,
A Buddhist Apocryphon. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 315pp. [A Korean translation
of this book is presently in progress and is scheduled for publication by Minjok-sa Publishers,
Seoul]
1983: The Korean Approach to Zen: The Collected Works of Chinul. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press. 468pp.
Articles
1995: "The Hagiographies of the Korean Monk Wonhyo (617-686)." In Buddhism in
Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
1993-94: "Zen Buddhism and the Context of Belief." Cahiers d'Extreme-Asie 7
(1993-94): 283-318.
1993: "The Debate Concerning Moderate and Radical Subitism in Korean Son Buddhism."
In Han'guk chonggyo sasang ui chae chomyong, Chinsan Han Kidu paksa hwagap kinyom
(Reconsiderations of Korean Religious Thought, in Honor of the Sixtieth Birthday of
Chinsan, Dr. Han Kidu), pp 489-519. Iri, Korea: Won'gwang University Press, 1993
1992: "Zen Monastic Practice in Korea." Korean Culture 13-3 (Fall, 1992): 34-44
1992: "The Path to Perdition: The Wholesome Roots and their Eradication." In Paths
to Liberation: The Marga and Its Transformations in Buddhist Thought, ed. Buswell and Gimello,
pp. 107-134
1991: "Wonhyo's Philosophical Thought." Translation from the Korean, with annotation, of "Wonhyo ui
chorhak sasang," by Pak Chonghong. In Assimilation of Buddhism in Korea: Religious
Maturity and Innovation in the Silla Dynasty, Studies in Korean Religion and Culture, vol. 4,
ed. Lewis R. Lancaster and Chai-shin Yu. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1991.
1991: "The Reception of Buddhism in Korea and its Impact on Indegenous Culture."
Translation from the Japanese, with annotation, of "Chosen ni okeru Bukkyo juyo to shinkan'nen"
[The Reception of Buddhism in Korea and the conception of spirits], by Inoue Hideo. In
Introduction of Buddhism to Korea: New Cultural Patterns, Studies in Korean Religion and
Culture, vol. 3, ed. Lewis R. Lancaster and Chai-shin Yu. Berkeley: Asian Humanities
Press, 1991.
Reviews
1993: Review of Once Upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline,
by Jan Nattier. Journal of Asian Studies 52-1 (1993): 120-1.
1986: Review of The Forest Monks of Sri Lanka: An Anthropological and Historical
Study, by Michael Carrithers. Marg (Delhi), vol. 36, no. 3 (1986): 97-98
1984: Review of Studies in Ch'an and Hua-yen, edited by Robert M. Gimello and
Peter N. Gregory. University Publishing Book Supplement (University Press Books, Berkeley)
vol. 1, no. 2 (November, 1984).
1983: Review of Buddhist Faith and Sudden Enlightenment, by Sung Bae Park.
Korean Studies 7 (1983): 123-125.
1983: Review of Discipline: The Canonical Buddhism of the Vinayapitaka, by
John C. Holt. Journal of Asian Studies 52 (1983): 436-437.