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EDUCATION
B.A., Yale University
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison
Dissertation topic: "Alternative constructions of buddhahood in Buddhist wisdom literature of India and Tibet."
BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Makransky received his PhD in Buddhist Studies and South Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Fulbright-sponsored research in India, Nepal and Tibet. He did post-doctoral research at the University of Iowa, then taught at Middlebury College before joining the theology department at Boston College. Having studied for twenty-five years with Lamas of four Tibetan Buddhist lineages, Makransky was installed as a Lama in the Nyingma order of Nyoshul Khenpo in August 2000. He has conducted workshops and meditation retreats throughout the United States, both for practicing Buddhists and for Christians, Jews and others interested in comparative and dialogical encounter with Buddhist traditions.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Makransky researches Indian Buddhist texts to see how doctrines of enlightenment (buddhahood) have developed in connection with diverse forms of Buddhist meditation, philosophical analysis, and ritual practice. Other research has focused on theoretical and practical connections between transcendental insight, compassion and devotion in Tibetan and Indian Buddhist traditions. He has also compared specific aspects of Buddhist and Christian anthropology and soteriology.
TEACHING
The Religious Quest I & II
Tantric Buddhism
Buddhist Scriptures and Commentaries
Mahayana Buddhist Philosophy
Tibetan Buddhist Traditions
Contemplation and Ethics: Buddhist and Christian (co-taught)
Spiritual Disciplines of Buddhists in Asia
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND AWARDS
Makransky has been active in the American Academy of Religion, International Association of Buddhist Studies, Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies, Society of Comparative Theology, and has been serving on the board of directors for the Dzogchen Foundation and the Kurukulla Tibetan Buddhist centers. He has also served for several years as director of the program of Vajrayana Buddhist studies at the Barre Center of Buddhist Studies in central Massachusetts.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
His publications include Buddhahood Embodied: Sources of Controversy in India and Tibet (1997); "Historical Consciousness as an Offering to the Trans-Historical Buddha" and "Contemporary Academic Buddhist Theology: Its Emergence and Rationale" in Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections by Contemporary Buddhist Scholars which he co-edited with Roger Jackson (2000); "Mahayana Buddhist Ritual and Ethical Activity in the World" in Buddhist-Christian Studies Journal (2000); "Buddhist Perspectives on Truth in Other Religions: Past and Present," in Theological Studies Journal (2003), and "Buddhist Analogues of Sin and Grace: A Dialogue with Augustine," forthcoming in Augustinian Heritage.
PUBLICATIONS SINCE 2002
Books:
Awakening Through Love: A Buddhist guide for Unveiling Deepest Goodness. Boston: Wisdom Publications, July 2007.
Articles:
“Buddha and Christ as Mediations of Ultimate Reality: A Mahayana Buddhist Perspective.” Buddhism and Christianity in Dialogue. Edited by Perry Schmidt-Leukel. London: SCM press, 2005.
“Response to Dr. Schmidt-Leukel’s Theology of Religions.” Buddhism and Christianity in Dialogue. Edited by Perry Schmidt-Leukel. London: SCM press, 2005.
“Tathagata.” Encyclopedia of Religion, second edition. Edited by Lindsay Jones. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005.
“No Real Protection without Love and Compassion.” Journal of Buddhist Ethics, volume 12 (2005), 25-36.
“Buddhist Analogues of Sin and Grace: A Dialogue with Augustine.” Studies in Interreligious Dialogue (2005), 5-15.
“A Buddhist Response to Richard Kearney on Religious Good and Evil.” Journal of Interdisciplinary Crossroads (2005).
“Buddhahood and Buddha Bodies.” Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Edited by Robert Buswell, New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004.
“Buddhist Perspectives on Truth in Other Religions: Past and Present,” Theological Studies Journal, vol. 64 no.2 (2003), 334 – 361.
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