Jeffrey Hopkins is an American Tibetologist. He is Emeritus of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia, where he taught for more than three decades since 1973. He has authored more than twenty-five books about Tibetan Buddhism, among them the highly influential Meditation on Emptiness, which appeared in 1983, offering a pioneering exposition of Prasangika-Madyamika thought in the Geluk tradition. From 1979 to 1989 he was the Dalai Lama's chief interpreter into English and he played a significant role in the development of the Free Tibet Movement. In 2006 he published his English translation of a major work by the Jonangpa lama, Dolpopa, on the Buddha Nature and Emptiness called Mountain Doctrine.
The Dalai Lamas are believed to be an exemplification of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and therefore the defender of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are realized beings inspired by a wish to achieve Buddhahood for the advantage of all sentient beings, who have vowed to be reborn within the world to assist humanity.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is widely known as Buddhism’s preeminent spiritual master and teacher, embodying the very best aspirations of this .