A Deep Dive into the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism and Interreligious Learning 

Presenters: Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Brian Robinette, and John Makransky
June 14, 2022
A Deep Dive into the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism and Interreligious Learning
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is a renowned modern Tibetan lama. His teachers and mentors were among the most eminent twentieth century figures of Tibetan Buddhism. Under their tutelage, he completed the monastic curriculum in Buddhist philosophy and was given the most extensive and in-depth training in the meditative and ritual practices of Tibetan Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism. Rinpoche has been entrusted with positions of retreat master, guiding teacher and abbot in several important Tibetan monasteries in India. In 2002, because of his deep meditation training, leading neuroscientists requested Rinpoche to take part in pioneering research on effects of meditation on the brain. Over the past twenty years, Rinpoche has emerged as one of the leading Tibetan meditation masters of his generation, and one of the most effective teachers of Buddhist concepts and meditation practices to modern audiences.
Two of Boston College’s theologians, Brian Robinette and John Makransky, engage Mingyur Rinpoche in a dialogue to delve deeply into the heart of Tibetan Buddhist understanding and practice, explore how such teachings may meet Western minds and modern problems, and attend to aspects of Christian understanding and practice that are newly highlighted in such a rich interreligious conversation.
Co-sponsored by the School of Theology and Ministry, Theology Department, and Institute of Liberal Arts.
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Brian Robinette is Associate Professor of Theology at Boston College. He teaches and researches in the areas of philosophy, theology, and spirituality. While working within a Catholic theological context, Brian is committed to interfaith learning and has learned deeply from Buddhist contemplative traditions.
John Makransky is Associate Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology at Boston College, Senior Advisor for Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche’s Centre of Buddhist Studies in Nepal, and former president of the Society of Buddhist-Christian studies. John's scholarly writing focuses on connections between devotion, compassion, and wisdom in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, on adapting Buddhist practices to meet contemporary minds, and on theoretical issues in interfaith learning.