Malcolm Smith
About
Malcolm Smith, often styled Ācārya Malcolm Smith (b. 1962), is an American translator, commentator, and Buddhist practitioner known for his contributions to the English-language study of Tibetan Buddhism, especially Dzogchen and the Sakya tradition.
Raised in western Massachusetts, Smith began studying Buddhadharma in 1984. He met H.H. Sakya Trizin in 1989 and subsequently studied Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy for several years under Khenpo Migmar Tseten at the Sakya Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He later received the ācārya degree from the Sakya Institute in 2004, completed a traditional three-year solitary retreat, and graduated from the Shang Shung Institute’s School of Tibetan Medicine in 2009.
Smith has been a sudent of Great Perfection teachings since 1992. His principal Dzogchen teachers include Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, and H.H. Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche. As a scholar-practitioner translator, he is especially known for making important Tibetan Buddhist works accessible to English readers through translations, commentaries, and historical introductions, including major Dzogchen and Sakya texts published by Wisdom Publications and other presses.
Books
Buddhahood in this Life: The Great Commentary by Vimalamitra
Teachings
Clarifications on Dharmakaya and Dzogchen's Basis
Why *Rigpa* Is Not “Awareness”: Ācārya Malcolm Smith on Precise Dzogchen Translation. READING NOTES - Why Rigpa Is Not "Awareness"
Wisdom Courses
The Nine Yanas: A Dzogchen Perspective
Notes for Dzogchen: Ten Key Terms by Malcolm Smith
Reference
Compilation of Acarya Malcolm Smith's & Other Teachers' Posts
Acarya Malcolm on Dzogchen and Advaita Vedanta
Clarifications on the Term "Rigpa"
Recognizing Rigpa vs Realizing Emptiness, and the Different Modalities of Rigpa