Claude Jürgens

After graduating in Civil Engineering, Claude Jürgens (Yeshe Metog) worked in research fields of Transportation and Spatial Planning while also studying Sociology and Philosophy. From 2006 to 2013, she studied Buddhist Philosophy and Tibetan Language at the Sarah College and Thosamling Institute near Dharamsala and at the Kagyu College in Dehradun, India. Currently, she dedicates her time to various translation projects within the Drikung Kagyu tradition. Some of her translated works include:

• Ein Meer von Nektar: Die entscheidenden Punkte für eine Klausur in den Bergen (Jigten Sumgön)
• Ein Strom von Nektar: Öffentliche Lehrreden (Jigten Sumgön)
• Die eine Absicht: Mit dem Kommentar von Khenpo Kunpal “Der Schatz der Herzessenz aus Schriften und Logik” und dem Überblick von Rinchen Jangchub “Lichtschein der Juwele” (Jigten Sumgön)
• Ein Weg zu geistigem Frieden: Die 37 Übungen der Bodhisattvas von Thogme Sangpo (Garchen Rinpoche)

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Dr. Katrin Querl

Dr. Katrin Querl, former Research Assistant at the Institute for Indology and Central Asian Studies at Leipzig University, completed intensive studies at the universities of Munich and Vienna, where she earned her PhD. She also underwent six years of training at the Kagyu College in Dehradun. Alongside her work as a Tibetan interpreter and translator of Buddhist texts, she is responsible for the content development of Dharmadhara. Currently, she is translating Rinchen Jangchub’s commentary on the “Single Intention” from Tibetan into English. Her publications of Drikung texts include:

• Die großen Drikung-Unterweisungen an die Versammlung (Jigten Sumgön und Dragpa Jungne)
• Two Wings Spread: A Selection of Teachings on Means and Discriminative Knowledge (Jigten Sumgön)

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Prof. Dr. Jan-Ulrich Sobisch

Dr. Jan-Ulrich Sobisch, formerly Professor of Tibetology at the University of Copenhagen, is currently a researcher at Ruhr University Bochum. Many of his books and articles are accessible online at Academia.edu. His freely accessible English-language blog (dgongs1.com) focuses on Jigten Sumgon’s “Single Intention” (Gongchik). His major publications include:

• The Buddha’s Single Intention: Drigung Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön’s Vajra Statements of the Early Kagyü Tradition (Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism). Ab 14.4.2020 erhältlich.
• Divining with Achi and Tārā: Comparative Remarks on Tibetan Dice and Mālā Divination: Tools, Poetry, Structures, and Ritual Dimens (Prognostication in History, Band 1). Ab 26.9.2019 erhältlich. (Mit Solvej H. Nielsen).
• Three-Vow Theories in Tibetan Buddhism: A Comparative Study of Major Traditions from the Twelfth through Nineteenth Centuries (Contributions to Tibetan Studies, Band 1).
• Funkensprühen des kostbaren Vajras: Der Lebensweg der völligen Befreiung des Dharmaherrn Jigten Sumgön und Biografie des Verfassers (Sherab Jungne). (Mit Christine Sommerschuh).

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Sonam Spitz

Sonam Spitz holds a B.A. in Buddhist Studies and Himalayan Language from Rangjung Yeshe Institute, Kathmandu, a B.A. in Classical Indology, and an M.A. in Classical Indology from the University of Hamburg. He studied at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute from 2006-2009 and the University of Hamburg from 2009-2015. Since 2009, he has been working as an interpreter for Tibetan-speaking Buddhist teachers and as a translator of texts of the Drikung Kagyu lineage. Sonam speaks German, English, and Tibetan and works with Sanskrit sources. From 2016-2017, he taught Tibetan and Sanskrit at the University of Copenhagen. Since 2015, he has participated in the Vikramashila Translation Project under the direction of Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen. His published translations of Drikung texts include:

• Die Gelübde der Drei Fahrzeuge (Phagmodrupa und Jigten Sumgön)
• The Garland of 50 Sadhannas Accompanying the 50 Empowerments of the Drikung Tradition (Rigdzin Chökyi Dragpa)
• The Great Teachings to the Assembly (Jigten Sumgön)
• The Sun that Illuminates the Small Hundred-Thousand: Marpa’s Commentary on the Hevajra Tantra (Marpa)

Alex Roth

Alex came in touch with Tibetan Buddhism in 2008 through the Tibet House in Frankfurt where he participated in the Lamrim study program running from 2009-2012. Later, after his B.A. in Tibetology at the University of Hamburg in 2016, Alex studied 3 more years in Tibetan Studies (Master) and was temporarily responsible for the Indology department’s secrectary. After a creative pause, he restarted working in his field for the Cataloguing Project of Chetsang Rinpocheʼs archive under Dr. Jan Sobisch (since 2023). He will join the Dharmadhara team as studies coordinator.