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Christopher Wilkinson

Master of Arts Thesis: Clear Meaning: Studies on the Thirteenth Century rDzogs-chen Text (1988). The University of Calgary. (PDF on file)

About

Christopher Wilkinson began his career in Buddhist literature and Dharma practice in 1972 at the age of fifteen, when he took refuge vows from his guru and root teacher Dezhung Rinpoche. That same year he began formal study of Tibetan language at the University of Washington under Geshe Ngawang Nornang and Turrell Wylie. Over the following years, Dezhung Rinpoche introduced him to many major Tibetan masters, including Kalu Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, among others. From early on, Wilkinson identified with the Rimé, or non-sectarian, movement. He also received extensive instructions from Kalu Rinpoche and completed the traditional five hundred thousand Mahamudra preliminary practices. In his later life he undertook several lengthy meditation retreats, and for three years beginning at age eighteen he lived as a Buddhist monk in the household of Dezhung Rinpoche (root teacher) while continuing his university studies.

Wilkinson graduated from the University of Washington in 1980 with two B.A. degrees, one in Asian Languages and Literature and another in Comparative Religion, earning College Honors, Magna Cum Laude distinction, and Phi Beta Kappa membership. Afterward, he spent two years traveling to Buddhist pilgrimage and holy sites throughout Asia, including India and Nepal. Returning to Seattle, he worked for five years in refugee resettlement before resuming formal Buddhist studies at the University of Calgary. There he completed an M.A. in Buddhist Studies in 1988 and wrote a groundbreaking thesis on the Yangti/Yangtik transmission of the Great Perfection tradition, titled Clear Meaning: Studies on a Thirteenth Century rDzog chen Tantra. He later worked in Berkeley, California on a critical edition of the Sanskrit Perfection of Wisdom in 20,000 Lines, and also pursued intensive study of Burmese language in Hawaii.

In 1990 Wilkinson went to Sulawesi, Indonesia, where he served for three years as a visiting professor of English language and literature while exploring the remnants of the ancient Sri Vijaya empire. After returning to the United States, he worked as a research associate or fellow for the Shelly and Donald Rubin Foundation, contributing to the early development of what would become the Rubin Museum of Art. In the years that followed, he taught for five years as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Calgary and served for many years as a Research Fellow at the Centre de Recherches sur les Civilisations de l’Asie Orientale at the Collège de France. At one stage he was also described as completing a doctoral dissertation at Leiden University’s Institute for Area Studies on an eighth-century Yoginītantra first translated into Tibetan.

Wilkinson’s religious affiliation is identified in one entry as Sakya, though his teachers, practice background, and scholarly work reflect a broad engagement with Tibetan Buddhist traditions, especially in a Rimé spirit. Beginning around 2009–2012, he increasingly devoted himself to translating Tibetan literature, including the seven-volume Sakya Kongma Series and numerous Great Perfection tantras. Across these efforts, he has published many volumes of translation and continues this work into the present.

Influences

Ngawang Kunga Trinlay Sakyapa, Jigdral Dagchen Sakya Rinpoche, Dhongthog Rinpoche, H.H. Karmapa Rangjung Rigpay Dorje, Kalu Rinpoche, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Geshe Ngawang Nornang, Carl Potter, David Ruegg, Turrell Wylie, Gene Smith, Karen Lang, Richard Solomon, Jack Hawley, David Jackson, Cyrus Stearns, Herbert Guenther, Eva Neumeier-Dargyay, Leslie Kawamura, Robert Thurman, Paul Nietupski, Lou Lancaster, David Snellgrove, Jean-Luc Achard, Steve Landsberg, Tsultrim Alione, Carolyn Klein, Rob Mayer, Jonathan Silk, David White, Mark Tatz, Steve Goodman, and Kennard Lipman.

Publications

Attachments