Gurudas Sunyatananda

Lama Gurudas Śūnyatānanda (1963-) is a respected theologian, philosopher, teacher and postmodern Buddhist monk, who is the founder and spiritual leader of the Order of Contemplative Monks of the Eightfold Path [http://dharmadudeunplugged.com Order of Contemplative Monks of the Eightfold Path] ] -- an intentional community of Franciscan and Buddhist monastics, dedicated to following a contemporary, non-theistic synthesis of traditional Tibetan Buddhism, Bon Buddhism, Science of Mind and Zen, blended with the apostolic charisms of Benedictine and Franciscan monasticism and service.

Born Frederick Robert Salvato, on 16 February 1963 to Hungarian-Slovak and Italian parents, he grew up in the Greater Philadelphia area, and later moved with his family to Central Florida. Among his siblings are singer/songwriter and record producer, Frank Salvato II.

At the age of seven, Salvato took Refuge in the Three Jewels as a Buddhist, and began studying under a Benedictine priest, who was also an Advaita sanyassin. From the age of eight until he was thirteen, he studied Aikido and Japanese Buddhism. At sixteen, he professed his solemn vows to live according to the Bodhisattva Ideals of the Buddhist Mahayana tradition.

Committed to the Franciscan charism of caring for the sick, dying, poor and marginalised, the young monk also decided to pursue a bi-vocational calling to make the world his monastery, and become a Franciscan. In 1983, he professed Solemn Vows as a Franciscan, before Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Grady, in Orlando, Florida. Eighteen years later, he was ordained as a priest, for the Mariavite Old Catholic Church, by Archbishop Anthony Hash, D.D. At that time, he received the spiritual name Francis-Maria of the Immaculata.

His Franciscan community elected him to the episcopacy in 2003, and on January 18, 2004, he was consecrated as a bishop by Bishop Carlos Harvin of the African American Catholic Congregation, in Washington, D.C., according to the Eastern tradition. Bishop Harvin was assisted by Bishop Michael J. Carroll.

In 2007, deciding that he was uncomfortable with the oppression, intolerance and theology of the institutional church, then Archbishop-Exarch Francis-Maria of the Immaculata retired from public service, renouncing his association with the institutional church, and returning to his roots as a simple Franciscan-Buddhist monk.

He resumed the use of his original spiritual name, Gurudas Sunyatananda, which means "Servant of the Teacher in the Bliss of Emptiness."

He began teaching what he would refer to as the Dharma of Compassion -- a postmodern synthesis of the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, Science of Mind, and the wisdom of his teachers, Swami Abishiktananda, Paramahansa Yogananda, Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, Louise L. Hay, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, Thomas Merton, Anthony de Mello and Thich Nhat Hanh.

Drawing on the essential teachings of Buddha Sakyamuni and Rabbi Jesus the Nazarene, he became recognised as a respected lama, whose message liberated the authentic teachings of these spiritual masters from the mythos of religion and cultural adaptations.

In late 2007, Lama Gurudas Sunyatananda founded the Lojong Monastery and Lojong Institute, and began traveling throughout the United States and Canada, doing lectures and retreats.

He holds a doctoral degree in theological anthropology, and a master's degree in clinical pastoral counseling.

He presently resides in a small hermitage, in South Central Pennsylvania.

References

* " [http://www.spiritusproject.org The Franciscan Companions of the Immaculata] " Retrieved January 3, 2008.
* Sunyatananda, Ven. Gurudas (2008). "The Dharma of Compassion: One Monk's Reflections on the Teachings of the Enlightened & Anointed Ones". Lojong Media Publications, Atlanta, GA.
* National Conference of Independent Catholic Bishops. Washington, D.C.
* "Songs of the Night Skies" -- May. 1993 feature article in "Science of Mind Magazine".
* " [http://www.servantfranciscans.net The Order of Servant Franciscans] " Retrieved January 30, 2008.
* " [http://www.dharmadudeunplugged.com The Spiritus Project] " Retrieved January 3, 2008.

External links

* [http://www.dharmadudeunplugged.com The Contemplative Monks of the Eightfold Path] official website
* [http://www.dharmadudeunplugged.com/dharmatalks Writings & Reflections] online repository of spiritual works of Lama Gurudas Sunyatananda
* [http://www.religiousscience.org/ United Centers for Spiritual Living (UCSL)]