Roger Jackson, PhD, is a regular visiting faculty member of Maitripa College and is Professor Emeritus of Asian Studies and Religion at Carleton College. He was trained under Geshe Sopa and other great Tibetan Buddhist masters, and has over 35 years of experience with the study and practice of Mahamudra and other aspects of Tibetan tradition. His special interests include Indian and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and ritual; Buddhist religious poetry; religion and society in Sri Lanka; the study of mysticism; and contemporary Buddhist thought.
His 2019 book, Mind Seeing Mind: Mahāmudrā in the Geluk Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism (Wisdom Publications) – which was awarded the 2020 Toshihide Numata Award for the “outstanding book in any area of in Buddhist Studies” – is read regularly in Maitripa College’s biennial Mahamudra seminar.
He has published numerous other books about Buddhist thought. He is the author of Is Enlightenment Possible? (1993), Tantric Treasures (2004), Rebirth: Mind, Karma, and Cosmos in the Buddhist World (2022), and Saraha: Poet of Blissful Awareness (2024); co-author of The Wheel of Time: Kalachakra in Context (1985); editor of The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems (2009); co-editor of Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre (1996), Buddhist Theology (1999), Mahamudra and the Bka’ brgyud Tradition (2011), and Mahāmudrā in Indian and Tibet. In addition, he has published many articles and reviews, both scholarly and popular. He is a past editor of the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies and the Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies. He speaks regularly at colleges, universities, scholarly conferences, and dharma centers.
Roger is a respected scholar and teacher, who has forged close connections with many great Tibetan masters, as well as scholars of Buddhism in the West, and brings his learning, experience, and enthusiasm into the classroom and community at Maitripa College.
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