Surya Das
Encyclopedia
Lama Surya Das is an American-born lama
in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is a poet, chantmaster, spiritual activist and author of many popular works on Buddhism
; a teacher and spokesperson for Buddhism in the West
. He has long been involved in charitable relief projects in the Third World and in interfaith dialogue. Surya Das is a Dharma heir of Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche
, a Nyingma master of the non-sectarian Rime movement
. His name, which means "Servant of the Sun" in a combination of Sanskrit
(sūrya) and Hindi
(das, from the Sanskrit dāsa
), was given to him by the Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba
.
, New York. He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo
, graduating in 1971, with a degree in Creative Education.
After his best friend's girlfriend, Allison Krause
was killed during the Kent State shootings
, Surya Das began his spiritual journey.
From 1971 to 1976 he traveled in India and Nepal, and studied with spiritual teachers of various traditions: Hindu
teacher, Maharaj-ji (Neem Karoli Baba
), Tibetan Buddhist Lamas Thubten Yeshe
, Kalu Rinpoche
and His Holiness the 16thGyalwa Karmapa
. In 1973 and 1974, he lived in Kyoto, Japan, where he taught English and studied Zen Buddhism under Uchiyama Roshi
. He resided at the newly established Karma Triyana Dharmachakra
monastery in Woodstock, New York from 1977–80. He also studied Vipassana
in the 1970s, with S. N. Goenka
and Anagarika Munindra
, of the Theravadin tradition.
Surya Das attended the first Nyingmapa retreat center in Dordogne, France in 1980. At the center he completed two three and a half year retreats under the guidance of Dudjom Rinpoche
and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He was ordained a lama in the Non-Sectarian Rime movement
of Tibetan Buddhism.
Surya Das travels, teaches and leads meditation retreats throughout the world. He is often called upon as a Buddhist spokesman by the media and has appeared frequently on TV and radio. One episode of the popular ABC TV sitcom Dharma and Greg, called "Leonard's Return," was loosely based on his life and return to America. In 1977 he helped establish Gyalwa Karmapa's KTD Monastery on a mountaintop overlooking Woodstock, New York. In the 1990s Lama Surya Das organized several weeklong International Buddhist Teachers Conferences with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, and America.
He has appeared as a special guest on Bill Maher's TV program, Politically Incorrect
and on the Comedy Central
television show, The Colbert Report. His most recent best selling book is Buddha Is as Buddha Does: The Ten Original Practices for Enlightened Living. Das is based in Cambridge, MA.
in the West.
Surya Das has described Dzogchen the following way:
He brought many Tibetan lamas to teach and reside in the United States and continues to do so. At the request of the late Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche, Surya Das founded Dzogchen Osel Ling Retreat Center as a nature sanctuary, group hermitage and lineage seat outside Austin, Texas, where he conducts annually an intensive, cloistered 100-day autumn retreat for experienced students as well as other shorter retreats during the year.
Lama
Lama is a title for a Tibetan teacher of the Dharma. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru .Historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries...
in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is a poet, chantmaster, spiritual activist and author of many popular works on Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
; a teacher and spokesperson for Buddhism in the West
Buddhism in the West
Buddhism in the West broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice of Buddhism outside of Asia. Occasional intersections between Western civilization and the Buddhist world have been occurring for thousands of years, but it was not until the era of European colonization of Buddhist countries in...
. He has long been involved in charitable relief projects in the Third World and in interfaith dialogue. Surya Das is a Dharma heir of Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche
Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche
Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche was a Tibetan lama born in the Derge region of Kham.At age five, Rinpoche joined a Sakya monastery where he began his Buddhist studies. At age seventeen, he studied Longchen Nyingthig teachings and Dzogchen at the Nyoshul monastery...
, a Nyingma master of the non-sectarian Rime movement
Rime movement
Rimé is a Tibetan word which means "no sides", "non-partisan" or "non-sectarian". In a religious context, the word ri-mé is usually used to refer to the "Eclectic Movement" between the Buddhist Nyingma, Sakya, and Kagyu traditions, along with the non-Buddhist Bön religion, wherein practitioners...
. His name, which means "Servant of the Sun" in a combination of Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
(sūrya) and Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
(das, from the Sanskrit dāsa
Dasa
Dasa is a term used with the primary meaning 'enemy', especially relating to tribes identified as the enemies of the Indo-Aryan tribes in the Rigveda....
), was given to him by the Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba
Neem Karoli Baba
Shri Neem Karoli Baba or Shri Neeb Karori Baba , also known to followers as Maharaj-ji, was a Hindu guru and devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman...
.
Biography
Lama Surya Das was born Jeffrey Miller and raised in Valley Steam, Long IslandLong Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York. He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, also commonly known as the University at Buffalo or UB, is a public research university and a "University Center" in the State University of New York system. The university was founded by Millard Fillmore in 1846. UB has multiple campuses...
, graduating in 1971, with a degree in Creative Education.
After his best friend's girlfriend, Allison Krause
Allison Krause
Allison B. Krause was an honor student at Kent State University, Ohio, when she was shot and killed by the Ohio Army National Guard in the Kent State Massacre, while protesting the invasion of Cambodia and the presence of the National Guard on the Kent State campus...
was killed during the Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970...
, Surya Das began his spiritual journey.
From 1971 to 1976 he traveled in India and Nepal, and studied with spiritual teachers of various traditions: Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
teacher, Maharaj-ji (Neem Karoli Baba
Neem Karoli Baba
Shri Neem Karoli Baba or Shri Neeb Karori Baba , also known to followers as Maharaj-ji, was a Hindu guru and devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman...
), Tibetan Buddhist Lamas Thubten Yeshe
Thubten Yeshe
Thubten Yeshe was a Tibetan lama who, while exiled in Nepal, co-founded Kopan Monastery and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition...
, Kalu Rinpoche
Kalu Rinpoche
Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar and teacher. He was one of the first Tibetan masters to teach in the West.-Early life and teachers:...
and His Holiness the 16thGyalwa Karmapa
Rangjung Rigpe Dorje
The sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje was spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism...
. In 1973 and 1974, he lived in Kyoto, Japan, where he taught English and studied Zen Buddhism under Uchiyama Roshi
Kosho Uchiyama
was a Sōtō priest, origami master, and the former abbot of Antaiji near Kyoto, Japan.The author of more than twenty books on Zen Buddhism and origami—of which Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice is best-known—Uchiyama graduated from Waseda University with a masters...
. He resided at the newly established Karma Triyana Dharmachakra
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Woodstock, New York, USA, which serves as the North American seat of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyu lineage. It was founded in 1976 by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. The abbot has been Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche...
monastery in Woodstock, New York from 1977–80. He also studied Vipassana
Vipassana
Vipassanā or vipaśyanā in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi . Vipassana is one of the world's most ancient techniques of meditation, the inception of which is attributed to Gautama Buddha...
in the 1970s, with S. N. Goenka
S. N. Goenka
Satya Narayan Goenka is a leading lay teacher of Vipassanā meditation and a student of U Ba Khin. He has trained more than 800 assistant teachers and each year more than 100,000 people attend Goenka sponsored Vipassana courses....
and Anagarika Munindra
Anagarika Munindra
Anagarika Shri Munindra , also called Munindraji by his disciples, was a Bengali vipassana meditation teacher, who taught many notable teachers including Dipa Ma, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Surya Das. Anagarika simply means a practicing Buddhist who leads a homeless life without...
, of the Theravadin tradition.
Surya Das attended the first Nyingmapa retreat center in Dordogne, France in 1980. At the center he completed two three and a half year retreats under the guidance of Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom Rinpoche is the title of a prominent line of tulkus of the Nyingmapa order of Tibetan Buddhism. Dudjom Rinpoche was born in 1904 on the tenth day of the sixth month in the year of the wood dragon in Southern Tibet in a region called the "hidden land" of Pema Ko. He died on January 17, 1987...
and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He was ordained a lama in the Non-Sectarian Rime movement
Rime movement
Rimé is a Tibetan word which means "no sides", "non-partisan" or "non-sectarian". In a religious context, the word ri-mé is usually used to refer to the "Eclectic Movement" between the Buddhist Nyingma, Sakya, and Kagyu traditions, along with the non-Buddhist Bön religion, wherein practitioners...
of Tibetan Buddhism.
Surya Das travels, teaches and leads meditation retreats throughout the world. He is often called upon as a Buddhist spokesman by the media and has appeared frequently on TV and radio. One episode of the popular ABC TV sitcom Dharma and Greg, called "Leonard's Return," was loosely based on his life and return to America. In 1977 he helped establish Gyalwa Karmapa's KTD Monastery on a mountaintop overlooking Woodstock, New York. In the 1990s Lama Surya Das organized several weeklong International Buddhist Teachers Conferences with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, and America.
He has appeared as a special guest on Bill Maher's TV program, Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect is a late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997, and later on ABC in 1997, which cancelled it in 2002....
and on the Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
television show, The Colbert Report. His most recent best selling book is Buddha Is as Buddha Does: The Ten Original Practices for Enlightened Living. Das is based in Cambridge, MA.
Dzogchen Foundation
In 1991 Lama Surya Das returned from his two decades in Tibetan monasteries and retreats to establish the Dzogchen Foundation and Centers to help further the spread of Tibetan BuddhismTibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
in the West.
Surya Das has described Dzogchen the following way:
He brought many Tibetan lamas to teach and reside in the United States and continues to do so. At the request of the late Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche, Surya Das founded Dzogchen Osel Ling Retreat Center as a nature sanctuary, group hermitage and lineage seat outside Austin, Texas, where he conducts annually an intensive, cloistered 100-day autumn retreat for experienced students as well as other shorter retreats during the year.