I am a 29-year-old AHRC PhD research student at the University of Liverpool. I'm
mainly interested in Madhyamaka Buddhism as a reaction to Abhidharmic
essentialism and in establishing whether or not Madhyamaka can
be successfully put forth as a no-bullshit, no-superstition, anti-essentialist means of living according
to Nāgārjuna.
I'm also very interested in Nāgārjuna's formulation of emptiness and in exploring how Madhyamaka might be soteriologically effective if all phenomena are indeed empty and if, as Nāgārjuna argues, there is no difference between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. On top of this, I am also learning Sanskrit, which is both incredibly frustrating and incredibly rewarding. The hope is that my thesis will contain a translation and discussion of something - I'm not sure what as yet.
More generally, I play in a band which you can find here. I've been jobbing abut in bands since I was 15, so I have been about a bit longer than my age might suggest! I have a German Shepherd, Romanian Shepherd (we're not sure which flavour just yet; she's only 8 months old and was a rescue from Romania!), a cockatiel and a Senegal parrot - I spend a lot of my time surrounded by animals. When not gigging myself, I can usually be found in dive pubs wittering on about Buddhism and catching bands.
