Monika Sailer
Monika Sailer
Contact:
E-Mail: monika.sailer@univie.ac.at
Monika Sailer’s research is primarily concerned with Tibetan studies and the rnying ma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Her main areas of interest are the religious practice, history, and culture of the "white sangha" of non-monastic, non-celibate religious professionals (gos dkar lcang lo'i sde).
Her studies concentrate on vajrayāna and rdzogs chen transmission lineages of the rnying ma, with an emphasis on gter ma.
More specifically, she studies the practices and texts authored, compiled and edited by bDud 'joms 'Jigs bral ye shes rdo rje (1904-1987) who was one of the most eminent rnying ma teachers of the 20th century and head of the rnying ma after the exodus from Tibet.
Monika’s dissertation will focus on the translation and contextualization of 'Jigs bral ye shes rdo rje’s personal journal, in cooperation with researchers at Oxford University. This journal manuscript was composed in preparation for bDud 'joms rin po che’s spiritual biography (rnam thar). The longterm perspective is to work towards a biography of this outstanding scholar and accomplished yogin.
Besides her academic work, Monika has had a career in the corporate world and is a long-standing confessional Buddhist, involved in practice and sangha care.