Dylan Esler
UCLouvain (University of Louvain), Centre d’Études Orientales « Institut Orientaliste de Louvain », Scientific Collaborator
Associate Translator, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
Dylan Esler is a scholar and translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts. He holds a PhD from the University of Louvain and an MA in Buddhist Studies from SOAS, University of London. He works for 84000, an organization devoted to the translation into English of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. Previously, he was a researcher at the Center for Religious Studies (CERES) of the Ruhr-University Bochum. He is affiliated with the Oriental Institute of Louvain (CIOL), where he has held the Satsuma Chair, and has also taught at the Inalco in Paris. Dr Esler’s research interest focuses on early Nyingma expositions of Dzogchen and Tantra.
Dylan Esler is a scholar and translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts. He holds a PhD from the University of Louvain and an MA in Buddhist Studies from SOAS, University of London. He works for 84000, an organization devoted to the translation into English of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. Previously, he was a researcher at the Center for Religious Studies (CERES) of the Ruhr-University Bochum. He is affiliated with the Oriental Institute of Louvain (CIOL), where he has held the Satsuma Chair, and has also taught at the Inalco in Paris. Dr Esler’s research interest focuses on early Nyingma expositions of Dzogchen and Tantra.
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Papers by Dylan Esler
Here, perfection is no longer looked upon as an ideal to be attained after years (or even lifetimes) of strenuous religious practice, but is rather seen to be the innate state of every individual. The deepest dimension of the mind is thus considered to be primordially pure and utterly perfect.
According to this perspective, any attempt to improve, transform or control the mind is bound to spoil the game and vitiate this intrinsic perfection. Meditative practice is not the cultivation of something extrinsic or new, but rather a process of letting be and of becoming accustomed to a mode of effortless spontaneity.
In this paper, I will explore both the philosophical underpinnings of this notion of effortless spontaneity and its practical ramifications. I will do so by examining key terms used in Dzogchen to evoke this notion of effortless spontaneity, thereby providing a kaleidoscopic entry point into the subject.
Ensuite, nous examinerons quelques-uns des rêves mentionnés dans le texte, tout en montrant certaines différences avec le passage correspondant du Ratnakūṭa-sūtra.
Nous poursuivrons en examinant le contexte contemplatif de l’oniromancie et du yoga du rêve, et terminerons par une présentation du fondement métaphysique de ces pratiques méditatives.
The paper seeks to address the following questions: Is it possible to establish parallels between such contextually distant systems of thought as rDzogs-chen on the one hand and Heidegger’s philosophy on the other, without falling into the trap of confusing the two and overlooking their respective differences? Can such a dialogue, established across space and time, be helpful in deepening our understanding of an ancient system like rDzogs-chen? Can the latter in turn aid us in addressing some of the problems facing contemporary man?
In the course of the paper, an important issue will be addressed, an issue which confronts anyone seriously engaged in the translation of philosophical and contemplative works: Translation, if it is to be worthy of the name, cannot be understood as the word-for-word information-transfer of the literalist, which, when left to its own devices, yields nothing but patent nonsense. In order to be worthy of the name, translation must be conceived as an ongoing hermeneutical process which, in bridging two (or more) worlds of meaning, opens up horizons of interpretation beyond those of the ‘original’ text. It thereby becomes a mirror in which the hermeneutical concerns of author, translator and reader are mutually reflected, dissolving the seemingly insurmountable barriers of space and time which would otherwise separate them.