Michael Pye

Michael Pye (1939-) studied languages and theology at Cambridge, England, and first resided in Japan from 1961 onwards. From 1966 he taught Religious Studies at York, Lancaster and Leeds. In 1982 he moved to Marburg University in Germany as professor for the Study of Religions, and from 1995 to 2000 was president of the International Association for the History of Religions. After retirement he was a guest professor at Ōtani University, Kyōto, and general editor of The Eastern Buddhist, bringing his total residence in Japan to about twenty years. Major publications include Skilful Means. A Concept in Mahayana Buddhism (1978 and 2003), Emerging from Meditation (1990, being translations of the early Buddhist critic Tominaga Nakamoto), Strategies in the Study of Religions (2 vols, 2013) and Japanese Buddhist Pilgrimage (2015).