Asian and Comparative Studies Program

How did you become interested in Asia and Buddhism?

Since I was a child, I've been intrigued and magnetized by the arts and ideas of Asia. From an early age, I recall pretending that I was a samurai warrior or kung fu master, reading Chinese stories, imagining that I was a yogi with superpowers, and being lured by the images of the "enchanting East."

At the age of 20, I traveled to India and Nepal for the first time as an undergraduate in the Naropa University study abroad program. In Kathmandu, I was fortunate to meet and receive instructions from several Tibetan Buddhist meditation masters. Catalyzed by their advice to enhance my practice through study, I forged a course of study culminating in a B.A. in Asian Studies from Wheaton College in Massachusetts.

Upon graduation, I spent ten months studying and traveling throughout South and Southeast Asia. During this time, I engaged in intensive study with Buddhist meditation masters in Thailand, India, and Nepal. While living in Thailand, I also edited a book on the socially engaged practices of Buddhism and wrote articles on Buddhist responses to social and ecological issues. I then spent seven months on pilgrimage traveling to the major places of the Buddha's life in India and Nepal, as well as the primary places of pilgrimage in Central Tibet. Returning to America, I moved to New York City to study classical Tibetan texts at Columbia University.

These experiences led to me to choose my course of graduate study in Asian Philosophy and Religion. Currently, I am completing my doctoral work in Buddhist Studies, concentrating on Mahayana and Vajrayana understandings of consciousness and its transformations.

What specifically appealed to you about CIIS?

CIIS's integrative educational philosophy is definitely what is most appealing about the Institute. This is what sets us apart from other graduate schools. Our educational approach, based upon Haridas Chaudhuri's integral philosophy, interfuses knowledge and experience, mind and heart, and spirit and psyche. Carried out by the CIIS faculty, and reflected in how we learn and approach our material, this integral educational vision makes CIIS a place where we can pursue our academic and professional training, and makes CIIS an important place to learn.

Why did you choose Asian and Comparative Studies at CIIS?

I chose this program because it offers a unique synthesis of the academic and contemplative dimensions of education. Although in general, Asian spiritual and philosophical traditions balance the ever-present tension between study and practice, the scholar and the yogi, it is unusual to find a graduate school within the Academy that maintains this balance. CIIS is one of these places.

Because the practical and meditative dimensions are so often neglected in the study of Asia's wisdom traditions, it is often more difficult to approach and understand some of the experiential nuances proposed by these traditions. As a doctoral student in the Asian and Comparative Studies program, I am being trained in the languages and research skills that enable me to access these traditions. The program also encourages and supports my endeavors to learn from the living exemplars of these traditions.

Since the program offers and fosters an enriched educational classroom environment, and provides regular faculty advising, I am able to pursue my graduate work integrating contemporary scholarship with the living knowledge of Asia's contemplative traditions.

What has been the most significant and exciting aspect of studying in the Asian and Comparative Studies program?

The most significant and exciting aspect of my education in the program has been the tutelage and attention that I have received from my faculty advisors. Having the opportunity to work so closely with experts in the field has enabled me to excel in my personal research, while acquiring the skills that I will need for my own teaching and writing. Within the program, I have had the good fortune to study a wide range of subjects pertaining to Asian or comparative philosophy and religion. During my time in the program, I have studied and consulted with faculty members on a variety of topics and now realize that this time was indispensable to my education.

What aspect of your studies has had the most impact on you and your life?

Training in the classical languages of Asia has had the most impact on my academic work and my personal outlook. At the doctoral level in the Asian and Comparative Studies program, students are required to prove competency in a classical Asian language of their choice. Fortunately, I was able to study both Sanskrit and Tibetan, and have found that by acquiring the skills necessary to access these bodies of literature, I have gained precious keys to unlocking some of the richest treasuries of planetary knowledge.

What is unique or special about the CIIS community?

Our community at CIIS is a community of people sincerely focused on developing the sensitivities we need to be able to reach out and offer our talents to the world. Although students and faculty come from a plurality of backgrounds, and share a diversity of cultural and intellectual interests, the single uniting force within the CIIS community is our common commitment to finding personal ways of bringing what we learn at CIIS into our lives and work.

What are your plans after you graduate from CIIS? What do you plan to do with your degree from CIIS?

After graduating from CIIS, I plan to continue my career in the field of Asian Studies as a writer, translator, and college instructor. My education at CIIS has prepared me for a teaching position at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and upon graduation from CIIS, I will seek such positions.

Asian and Comparative Studies Program