Christopher Key Chapple is an

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

and scholar of the renouncing

religions of India Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification o ...

, namely

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. He is Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology at

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

, Los Angeles. He has written several books on the history and

philosophy of yoga Yoga philosophy is one of the six major important schools of Hindu philosophy,Maurice Phillips (Published as Max Muller collection), The Evolution of Hinduism, , PhD. Thesis awarded by University of Berne, Switzerland, page 8 though it is only ...

, and on the intersection of religion and

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

Life

Chapple received his bachelor's degree in comparative literature and religious studies at the

State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

in 1976. He went on to complete his master's degree in Buddhism (1978) and PhD in history of religions (1980) at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

. He noted in an interview that he initially struggled to reconcile Buddhism's "emptiness" with Yoga's self-realisation, and commented that the '' Yogavasistha'' answered the debate on "the tension between emptiness and consciousness in superbly poetic verse." He has published numerous books and papers on the history and philosophy of

Indian religions Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification o ...

, and on the intersection of religion and

. Chapple advises the International Summer School of Jain Studies, the

Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology The Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology is a multireligious and interdisciplinary project founded in 1998 and based at Yale University since 2006. Since 2023, it has operated under the auspices of the Yale Center for Environmental Justice (YCEJ). In ...

, the Ahimsa Center ( Pomona), the Dharma Academy of North America (

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

), the Jain Studies Centre (

SOAS The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

), the South Asian Studies Association, and International School for Jain Studies (

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

). He founded the Masters Program in Yoga at

, where he is Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology.

Works

Yoga

* ''Karma and Creativity'' (1986, SUNY) * ''Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Traditions'' (1993, SUNY) * ''Reconciling Yogas'' (2003, SUNY) * ''Yoga and the Luminous: Patanjali's Spiritual Path to Freedom'' (2008, SUNY) * ''Living Landscapes: Meditations on the Elements in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain Yogas'' (2020, SUNY) ;Edited * ''Yoga in Jainism'' (2015, Routledge) * ''Engaged Emancipation: Mind, Morals and Make-Believe in the Moksopaya/Yogavasistha'' (2016, with Aridam Chakrabarti, SUNY)

Religion and ecology

* ''Ecological Prospects: Religious, Scientific, and Aesthetic Perspectives'' (1994, SUNY) * ''Hinduism and Ecology'' (2000, with

Mary Evelyn Tucker Mary Evelyn Tucker is the co-founder and co-director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology with her husband, John Allen Grim. Tucker teaches in the joint Master's program in religion and ecology at Yale University between the School of the E ...

, Harvard) * ''Jainism and Ecology'' (2002, Harvard) * ''Yoga and Ecology'' (2009, Deepak Heritage) * ''In Praise of Mother Earth: The Prthivi Sukta of the Atharva Veda'' (2011, with O. P. Dwivedi)

References

External links

Interview on Religion and Ecology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapple, Christopher Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Indologists Yoga scholars Loyola Marymount University faculty Stony Brook University alumni Fordham University alumni