معرفی
Eric M Greene is a faculty member in the Department of Religious Studies at Yale University, specializing in Chinese Buddhist studies with a particular focus on meditation practices, textual history, and the cultural transmission of Buddhism from India to China during the early medieval period (200-600 CE).
Dr. Greene's research reveals how early Chinese Buddhists approached meditation primarily as a means of gaining visionary experiences that were interpreted as indicators of spiritual purity and progress toward liberation. His work demonstrates that these early meditation practices were fundamentally integrated with repentance rituals (chanhui) and divination practices, forming a distinctive religious culture that differed significantly from later Chan (Zen) traditions. Through meticulous analysis of meditation manuals, including newly discovered Dunhuang manuscripts, he reconstructs how Buddhist contemplative practices were transmitted from India and Central Asia to China and adapted within the Chinese religious context.
His scholarship spans multiple methodological approaches, combining textual criticism, historical analysis, and phenomenological examination of meditation experiences. A consistent theme in his work is the examination of how early Chinese Buddhists interpreted their visionary experiences and the authority they ascribed to these experiences within their religious framework. His research challenges established narratives about the development of Chinese Buddhism by utilizing newly discovered manuscript evidence that provides fresh perspectives on textual transmission, doctrinal development, and religious practice.
Dr. Greene has made significant contributions through his two major monographs published by the University of Hawaii Press: The Secrets of Buddhist Meditation (2021) and Chan Before Chan (2021), which provide comprehensive studies of early Chinese meditation texts along with English translations. His publication record demonstrates consistent scholarly productivity across multiple prestigious journals in Buddhist studies, religious history, and Asian studies, establishing him as a leading scholar in the field of early Chinese Buddhist meditation history.
