- Jan Willis
Janice Dean Willis, or Jan Willis (born 1948) is Professor of Religion at
Wesleyan University , where she has taught since 1977; and the author of books onTibetan Buddhism . She has been called influential by "Time Magazine " [ December 2000; Willis was named as one of six "Spritual innovators for the new millennium" ] , "Newsweek ," [ "Spirituality in America," 2005. ] , and "Ebony Magazine " [ May 2007 issue cites her as one of the 150 most influential African Americans (one of sixteen religious leaders so named). ]Willis grew up in
Docena, Alabama (near Birmingham), as the daughter of a Baptist deacon and steelworker. While traveling through Asia during the early 1970's, she became the student of Tibetan lamaThubten Yeshe , who encouraged her academic pursuits. She received BA and MA degrees in philosophy from Cornell University (thesis: "History, Faith, and Kerygma; A Critique of Bultmann's Existentialist Theology."), and a Ph.D. in Indic and Buddhist Studies fromColumbia University (dissertation: "A Study of the Chapter on Reality Based Upon the Tattvartha-patalam of Asanga's Bodhisattvabhumi.").She is the author of the following books:
:*"Dreaming Me: An African American Woman’s Spiritual Journey." New York: Riverhead Books, 2001. :*"The Diamond Light: An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation." New York: Simon & Schuster, 1972.:*"On Knowing Reality: The Tattvartha Chapter of Asanga's Bodhisattvabhumi." Columbia UP, 1979. :*"Enlightened Beings: Life Stories from the Ganden Oral Tradition." Wisdom Publications, 1995.:*(editor)"Feminine Ground: Essays on Women and Tibet." Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1989.
Since 2006 she has contributed to the group blog "On Faith" (sponsored by "Newsweek" and the "
Washington Post ") alongsideElie Wiesel ,Desmond Tutu , andMadeline Albright , among others.External links
* [http://www.janwillis.net Personal site]
* [http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/jan_willis/2006/11/we_mustbecome_as_empty_vessels_1.html "On Faith" (blog)]References
Other sources
*Paine, Jeffrey. "Re-Enchantment: Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West." Norton, 2004. Willis's experience with Lama Yeshe is discussed on pp. 64-70.
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