Das, Surya

Das, Surya on the DRL

Authors of English Works • Translators • Western Buddhist Teachers

Jeffrey Miller

English Phonetics	Lama Surya Das

Dates

Birth:	1950
Place of birth:	Valley Stream, Long Island, New York

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Translates from:	Tibetan
Translates to:	English

Primary Affiliation (Workplace)

Dzogchen Foundation

Teachers

Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche

Education

BA in Creative Education, SUNY Buffalo (1971)

Biographical Information

Surya Das (born Jeffrey Miller in 1950) is an American lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is a poet, chant master, spiritual activist, author of many popular works on Buddhism, meditation teacher, and spokesperson for Buddhism in the West. He has long been involved in charitable relief projects in the Third World and in interfaith dialogue. Surya Das is a Dharma heir of Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche, a Nyingma master of the non-sectarian Rime movement, with whom he founded the Dzogchen Center and Dzogchen retreats in 1991. His name, which means "Servant of the Sun" in a combination of Sanskrit (sūrya) and Hindi (das, from the Sanskrit dāsa), was given to him in 1972 by the Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba. (Source Accessed Feb 7, 2020)

Publications

• The Snow Lion's Turquoise Mane. HarperSanFrancisco, 1992.
• Natural Great Perfection. With Nyoshul Khenpo. Snow Lion Publications, 1st ed., 1995.
• Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World. New York: Broadway Books, 1998.
• Awakening to the Sacred. New York: Broadway, 2000.
• Awakening the Buddhist Heart: Integrating Love, Meaning and Connection into Every Part of Your Life. New York: Broadway, 2001.
• Letting Go of the Person You Used To Be. New York: Broadway, 2003.
• Natural Radiance: Awakening to Your Great Perfection. Book & CD edition. Louisville, CO: Sounds True, 2005.
• The Big Questions: How to Find Your Own Answers to Life's Essential Mysteries. New York: Rodale Books, 2007.
• Buddha Is as Buddha Does: The Ten Original Practices for Enlightened Living. New York: HarperOne, 2008.
• Words of Wisdom. Kihei, Hawai'i: Koa Books, 2008
• The Mind Is Mightier Than the Sword: Enlightening the Mind, Opening the Heart. New York: Doubleday Religion, 2009.
• Buddha Standard Time: Awakening to the Infinite Possibilities of Now. New York: HarperOne, 2011.
• Make Me One with Everything: Buddhist Meditations to Awaken from the Illusion of Separation. Louisville, CO: Sounds True, 2015.

Links

Wiki Pages

• Das, Surya on the DRL
• Das, Surya on the LIB
• Das, Surya on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

Expand to see this person's philosophical positions on Buddha-nature.

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
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All beings have Buddha-nature
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If "Qualified", explain:
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Which Wheel Turning
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Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
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Zhentong vs Rangtong
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Promotes how many vehicles?
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Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
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What is Buddha-nature?
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Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
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Causal nature of the vajrapāda
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Full Name

Lama Surya Das (b. 1950)

Affiliation

Dzogchen Foundation

Education

BA - 1971 - SUNY Buffalo, Creative Education

Other Information

Lama Surya Das was born Jeffrey Miller and raised in Valley Stream, Long Island, New York. He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo, graduating in 1971, with a degree in Creative Education.

Lama Surya Das (born 1950) is an American-born lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is a poet, chantmaster, spiritual activist and author of many popular works on Buddhism; a teacher and spokesperson for Buddhism in the West. He has long been involved in charitable relief projects in the Third World and in interfaith dialogue. Surya Das is a Dharma heir of Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche, a Nyingma master of the non-sectarian Rime movement. His name, which means "Servant of the Sun" in a combination of Sanskrit (sūrya) and Hindi (das, from the Sanskrit dāsa), was given to him by the Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba.

Source (Accessed May 31, 2012)

State University of New York

The Nyingma, which is often described as the oldest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, traces its origin to Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited Tibet in the eighth century.

Dzogchen is an advanced system of meditation techniques to reveal the innate state of perfection primarily, but not exclusively, espoused by the Nyingma Buddhist tradition and the Tibetan Bön tradition.

Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true.

Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana).

Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature.

The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena.

Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana.