An interview with
Marek Mejor
Position & Affiliation: Professor at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Warsaw; head of the Research Centre of Buddhist Studies
Date: March 9, 2020 in Oxford, United Kingdom
Interviewed by: Anna Sehnalova
Cite this archive
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Oral History of Tibetan Studies project.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:28 Can you tell us about your life please?
- 6:29 Tibetan studies as an auxiliary for Buddhist studies
- 8:27 Hungary as a stronghold of Tibetan Studies
- 10:15 JRF at Wolfson College, Oxford
- 12:09 Memories of the Alexander Csoma de Kőrös Symposium
- 14:47 Memories of the 4th IATS Conference in Germany
- 18:36 Memories of the International Association for Buddhist Studies
- 20:33 Stay at Hamburg University
- 22:05 Memories of the on 2nd Dharmakirti conference
- 23:17 Tibetan studies at University of Warsaw
- 25:15 Visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Poland in 1993
- 29:45 Career at Poznań University
- 34:42 Acknowledgment of Ireneusz Kania’s Polish translations
- 36:50 About the Jesuits in Tibet
- 40:31 When and how did you start teaching in Warsaw?
- 42:39 How did you get interested in Indian culture in the first place?
- 44:18 What did you find so interesting about it?
- 47:05 How was it studying in Poland in the early 70s?
- 50:18 Why are you working on Tibetan Buddhist texts that are still in use?
- 52:39 Are you are combining textual studies with fieldwork?
- 53:52 When were you able to travel to India?
- 56:23 How was it for you coming to a Tibetan place after spending so many years studying Tibetan culture?
- 58:15 How have your research interests developed?
- 59:59 Have you been involved in His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to Poland?
- 1:04:55 Have you also been involved in the Polish Academia of Sciences?
- 1:08:09 Why do you think in Eastern European Tibetan studies are usually combined with Mongolian studies?
- 1:09:59 Would you think being involved in Buddhist philosophy has influenced your life or your approach to daily practice?
- 1:10:58 Did you develop some interest in Western philosophy as well?
- 1:12:52 Throughout your career, would you think that our approach or methods of Tibetan-Buddhist studies have been changing?
- 1:19:48 How was it establishing and teaching Tibetan shortly after the fall of the communist regime? How was the situation in the early 1990s?
- 1:22:46 How does the department look like now?
- 1:25:24 Have you been involved in the International Association for Tibetan Studies?
- 1:26:26 What about your involvement in the IABS? How have you seen its changes and developments?
- 1:28:06 What has your career in Buddhist studies given to you? How has it changed your life?
- 1:29:36 What did you find the most interesting and challenging in your work?
- 1:32:55 What do you consider your most significant academic contribution and why?
- 1:35:38 What do you still plan to pursue?
- 1:37:18 Since we are conducting this research for future and current students and researchers, do you have a message for them?
Additional info
Prof. dr hab. Marek Mejor, professor at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Warsaw; head of the Research Centre of Buddhist Studies; special fields of interest: Sanskrit, Buddhist studies (Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan), Indo-Tibetan studies, history of Indian Studies. Studied in Warsaw, Oxford, Hamburg, Tokyo; cofounder of the journal „Studia Indologiczne” (Journal of Indological Studies); chairman of the Committee of Oriental Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences; vice-president of the Polish Oriental Society; author of books and papers on Sanskrit and Buddhist studies.