Rupert Mark Lovell Gethin (born 1957, in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

) is Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Department of

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

Religious Studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

and codirector of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, and (since 2003) president of the

Pali Text Society The Pāli Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts." Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The ...

. He holds a BA in Comparative Religion (1980), a master's degree in Buddhist Studies (1982), and a PhD in Buddhist Studies (1987), all from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. He was appointed Lecturer in Indian Religion by the University of Bristol in 1987, and then Professor In Buddhist Studies in 2009. His main area of research is the history and development of Buddhist thought and practice in the Nikayas and

Abhidhamma The Theravada Abhidhamma tradition, also known as the Abhidhamma Method, refers to a scholastic systematization of the Theravāda school's understanding of the highest Buddhist teachings ( Abhidhamma). These teachings are traditionally believed ...

. His major publications include ''The Buddhist Path to Awakening'' and ''Sayings of the Buddha: New translations from the Pali Nikayas''. His 1998 book ''The Foundations of Buddhism'' is frequently used in university-level classes on Buddhism in English-speaking countries. Gethin is a practicing Buddhist. He initially studied meditation in the Samatha Trust organisation, which has its roots in the meditation practice of Nai Boonman, a former Thai

Theravada ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...

n Buddhist monk. Gethin has led a class on mindfulness of breathing in Bristol since the 1990s.

References

Sources

External links

Gethin's staff page at the University of Bristol
with publication history and biography
University Chaplaincy - Buddhist Chaplains
1957 births Academics of the University of Bristol Alumni of the University of Manchester British scholars of Buddhism Living people Linguists of Pali Scottish Buddhists {{UK-reli-bio-stub