Peter Della Santina was born in the USA. He had spent many years studying and teaching in South and East Asia. He received his BA. in religion from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA in 1972 and a MA in philosophy from the University of Delhi, India two years later. He did his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies also from the University of Delhi, India in 1979.
He worked for three years for the Institute for Advanced Studies of world Religions, Fort Lee, New Jersey as a research scholar translating 8th century Buddhist philosophical texts from the Tibetan. He taught at several Universities and Buddhist centers in Europe and Asia including, the University of Pisa in Italy, the National University of Singapore and Tibet House in Delhi, India. He was the Coordinator of the Buddhist Studies project at the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore, a department of the Ministry of Education from 1983 to 1985.
More recently, he was a senior fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla, India and taught Philosophy at the Fo Kuang Shan Academy of Chinese Buddhism , Kaoh-shiung, Taiwan.
For twenty-five years Peter Della Santina had been a student of H.H. Sakya Trizin, leader of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism and of eminent abets of the Sakya Tradition. He has practiced Buddhist meditation and has completed a number of retreats.
He had published several books and articles in academic journals including Nagarjuna's Letter to King Gautamiputra, Delhi 1978 and 1982 and Madhyamaka Schools In India, Delhi 1986 and the Madhyamaka and Modern Western Philosophy, Philosophy East and West, Hawaii, 1986.
He was also the Vice President of The Sapan Fund and is currently helping to lead a Dharma study group in Chico
Some of the articles written by Dr Santina available on line are:-
The Tree of Enlightenment An Introduction to the Major Traditions of Buddhism
The Abhidharma
Nagarjuna: A Good Friend
causality and emptiness The Wisdom of Nagarjuna by Peter Della Santina
Buddhism in Practice by Peter Della Santina (text only 90K)
Buddhism in Practice by Peter Della Santina (HTML version 90K)
Discourse on Happiness
The Door of Happiness
To Touch and Be Touched A Buddhist Pilgrimage video available for purchase from Henry Ganzler.
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