About Me English, male, born 1983. I'm personally devoted to presectarian, early Buddhism, used to be a monk (then, Bhikkhu Santi) in the Thai Theravada forest tradition (Wat Pah Nanachat and branches) for six years, and left basically because I felt so alienated in modern(ist) Theravada tradition.
I'm not technically 'fluent' in Pali but I can muddle by fairly comfortably, likewise I muddle by even less perfectly in BH Sanskrit and Sanskrit, and did a basic Sanskrit grammar unit in Uni. I no longer plan on learning classical Chinese and Tibetan, altho I once aspired to and might go back to it.
I enjoy the suttas/ sutras most, but specialise in comparative early Vinaya studies because I feel responsible for it since hardly anyone else does it!
I'm sympathetic to later schools and their members, altho my sympathy struggles to extend to Theravadin Fundamentalists (i.e., those opposed in principle to historical criticism of the tradition), Traditionalists (those who attribute authority of a kind which is illegitmate according to the early texts to later developments in the tradition which are not, by reasonable probability, Buddhavacana or Savakavacana explicitly endorsed by the Buddha), Commentarialists (those who give undue authority to the traditional Commentaries, which they never claimed for themselves) and Abhidhammikas (those who treat the traditional Abhidhamma texts as if they were authoritative Buddhavacana, when in fact they are later developments by savakas) because of all the grief I've had from them! I have lots of friends in Chinese Mahayana tradition, and am more than sympathetic to early Madhyamaka teachings.
I'm going to be starting academic Buddhist studies with a BA at Bristol University, UK, in Oct 08, and hoping to continue to make a career in academia teaching and researching. Hopefully in the last stage of my life I can return to the Sangha, if my wife (hopefully by then!) gives permission!
As well as Buddhism, I'm also very interested in politics, sociology and philosophy of science, although I don't know enough to contribute to wikipedia on those topics.