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Dr. Rina Sircar, core faculty in the Asian
and Comparative Studies program at CIIS,
has been with CIIS for many years, having
earned a Doctoral degree in Indian Philosophy
from Gujarat University, India, in 1974
and a second Ph.D. in South Asian Studies
from the California Institute of Asian Studies
in 1976.
In addition to more than 30 years of teaching experience and authoring several publications, Dr. Sircar is co-founder and resident meditation teacher of the Taungpulu Kaba-Aye monastery and its San Francisco center, where she conducts retreats on mindfulness, insight, healing, and death and dying in the Theravada forest tradition. Dr. Sircar currently holds the World Peace Buddhist Chair in the Philosophy and Religion department. Conducted by Jim Ryan, co-director of Asian and Comparative Studies, and Sharon Roe, graduate student in Asian and Comparative Studies, this interview took place on March 2, 2003.
Jim Ryan: You came to CIIS in 1974
to study with Dr. Chaudhuri. What was the
Philosophy and Religion program like at
that time?
Rina Sircar: Dr. Chaudhuri taught
philosophy and religion, and Zen Buddhism
was also taught. There was no teacher for
Theravada Buddhism. So from the very first
month, I taught and studied.
On my last day of classes, I thought that Dr. Chaudhuri looked a little tired and suggested that he go out for a walk. He said, "Yes, Rina, but first let me give you your dissertation topic." I reminded him that he had given me the topic a long time ago and that, furthermore, I had completed the writing. He replied, "Oh, really? Good. Congratulations." And then he changed my topic, which had been on the epistemological and logical aspects of Buddhism. But he said, "Do something that will help you. Do the psycho-ethical aspects. That will help you."
JR: What sort of courses did you
teach when you started?
RS: My first class was the essence
of Theravada Buddhism, and I also taught
Pali. Gradually they heard about my healing
work and asked me to teach healing at the
Institute. In the beginning I was a little
confused about who would take the class
because Buddhist healing is very different
from yoga and the types of healing that
they were teaching.
The first healing they found out about was my work with one of my students. I was reluctant to practice the healing I learned from my teachers and the healers they sent me to in the villages of Burma. I come from a family of medical doctors and my brother had warned me, "Don't do any of your rubbish there! Don't make a fool out of yourself." So the first thing I told my student was, "You can't tell anybody. You have to keep it really secret and very, very confidential, because if Dr. Chaudhuri or Bina Chaudhuri find out then it will get back to my brother and he will be very, very angry." She agreed, so I worked with her over a period of several days. When she went back to the hospital they found nothing. They didn't do any surgery and only told her to come back in six months. After that got around, I worked all over the hospital. Some of the doctors wanted to know what I was doing during my healing sessions because people were feeling very good about it. I told them, "There is nothing to say about it. You have to do it. If you talk, that is not a healing." Some of them started taking classes here at school and later joined the monastery and are still members.
JR: Did Dr. Chaudhuri also teach
Western philosophy?
RS: He taught East-West Comparative
Philosophy, not totally Western. He really
was a giant in his field. Dr. Chaudhuri
was not an ordinary person, because in his
presence, things became so different. During
my first interview with him, I could not
take one minute with him. His eyes were
like two electric light bulbs.
JR: Yes, you can see that in some
of the pictures of him. Well, you've now
been here at CIIS since 1974. What can you
say about what is special about the Institute?
RS: You know this school is very
unique. That's why I came here. I was admitted
to Stanford and other places, but when I
visited this school I didn't want to go
anywhere else. Our school really has heart.
Asian and
Comparative Studies Program
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