Biography
John Makransky combines an academic career as a professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology at Boston College with his role as a lama (spiritual teacher) in the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Having practiced meditations of compassion and wisdom from Tibetan traditions for thirty years, John has pioneered new ways of making them accessible to people of all backgrounds and faiths.
John has studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism since 1978 under the guidance of revered Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug teachers. In 2000, he was installed as a lama in the lineage of the Tibetan master Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche and his Western Dharma heir Lama Surya Das, one of the foremost Western meditation teachers and founding director of Dzogchen Center. John is a guiding teacher at meditation retreats throughout the U.S. sponsored by Dzogchen Center (teaching schedule), where he has become renowned for guiding thousands of participants in their discovery of innate wisdom and love.
John also offers meditation workshops for social workers, therapists, counselors, educators, community activists, and other helping professionals sponsored by diverse institutions, such as Boston College's School of Social Work, the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, and Contemplative Mind in Society. He recently published a book of meditations and teachings to empower people in family life, work, social service, and activism entitled Awakening Through Love: Unveiling Your Deepest Goodness (Wisdom Publications, 2007).
Additionally, John is the author of Buddhahood Embodied: Sources of Controversy in India and Tibet, coeditor of Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections by Contemporary Buddhist Scholars, and co-chair of the Buddhist Reflection Group in the American Academy of Religion. He is also senior faculty advisor and lecturer for Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche's Center for Buddhist Studies in Kathmandu University.
He lives outside Boston with his wife, two sons, and dog.
Downloadable bio (PDF)