Surya Das

Surya Das (born Jeffrey Miller in 1950) is an American lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.^[1] He is a poet, chantmaster, spiritual activist and author of many popular works on Buddhism; a meditation teacher and spokesperson for Buddhism in the West.^[1] 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,^[2][3] a Nyingma master of the non-sectarian Rime movement, with whom he founded the Dzogchen Center and Dzogchen retreats in 1991. 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 in 1972 by the Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba.^[4]

Early life and education

Surya Das was born Jeffrey Miller and raised in Valley Stream, Long Island, New York.^[5] He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo, graduating with honors in 1971, with a degree in Creative Education.^[6]

Early studies

After his best friend's girlfriend, Allison Krause was killed during the Kent State shootings,^[1] Surya Das began pursuing spirituality.^[1] From 1971 to 1976 he traveled in India. There he studied Hinduism with Neem Karoli Baba^[7] as well as Vipassana in the 1970s, with S. N. Goenka and Anagarika Munindra, of the Theravadin tradition.^[8][9] He was given the name Surya by Neem Karoli Baba 1972.^[10]

In 1973 and 1974, he lived in Kyoto, Japan, where he taught English and studied Zen Buddhism^[11] under Uchiyama Roshi.^[12]

During his travels in India and Nepal, Das studied with Tibetan Buddhist Lamas Thubten Yeshe,^[13] Kalu Rinpoche,^[14] His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa,^[15] Tulku Urgyen,^[16] Thrangu Rinpoche,^[16] Dezhung Rinpoche,^[16] and Kangyur Rinpoche.^[16]

He resided at the newly established Karma Triyana Dharmachakra monastery in Woodstock, New York from 1977–80. Surya Das attended the first Nyingmapa retreat center in Dordogne, France in 1980. At the center he completed two Dzogchen three and a half year retreats under the guidance of Dudjom Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.^[16] He was ordained a lama in the Non-Sectarian Rime Movement of Tibetan Buddhism^[8] and was empowered to teach in 1984.^[16]

He has worked with the Dalai Lama since the early 1990s on a variety of projects. That included organizing several weeklong International Buddhist Teachers Conferences with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, and America.^[17] He also founded the Western Buddhist Teachers Network.^[18]

Writing, teaching

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.^[1] In 1977 he helped establish Gyalwa Karmapa's KTD Monastery on a mountaintop overlooking Woodstock, New York.^[17]

He has appeared as a special guest on Bill Maher's TV program, Politically Incorrect^[18] and on the Comedy Central television show, The Colbert Report.^[18][19] His most recent best selling book is Buddha Is as Buddha Does: The Ten Original Practices for Enlightened Living.^[20] Surya Das is based in Cambridge, MA.^[21]

Dzogchen Foundation

In 1991 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 Buddhism in the West.^[22] According to the foundation, Dzogchen introduces and unveils the "innate spiritual intelligence or intrinsic awakefulness" in practitioners, with Surya Das stating, "It is the and perfect nature of all things."^[23]

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 located on the Pedernales River west of 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.^[21]

Bibliography

Notes

Further reading

• Link to appearance on The Colbert Report
• Snow Lion Interview 2008
• Tricycle Magazine interview with Lama Surya Das

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Surya Das.

• Official website
• Ask The Lama
• Official Dzogchen Foundation website