Lama Marut
Born Brian K. Smith to a second-generation Baptist minister, Lama Marut had a strong interest in spirituality from a very young age, along with a passion for motorcycles, surging, and yoga. He earned a PhD in comparative religion before becoming an ordained Buddhist monk. He has worked as a professor at Columbia University and the University of California Riverside and has published three academic books. Lama Marut is founder and spiritual director of three spiritual centers and serves as a founding board member and staff teacher at the Yoga Studies Institute.
In addition to the committed coterie of students at his centers, Lama Marut tours extensively around the US and abroad. He teaches at yoga studios, retreat centers, and public venues attended by hundreds of enthusiastic students of all ages, races, and religious backgrounds. Lama Marut appeals to the young, hip, and urban practitioners of yoga; to Western Buddhists of all generations; and to those without formal religious affiliations looking for practical, down-to-earth answers for how to live the good life in complicated times.
Titles By This Author
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Lama Marut is a great teacher, a master. . . . His conviction is palpable. He's not giving us information, he's leading us to self-revelation. That's a different quality of teaching. And his joy in doing it is indescribably fun. . . . He's changed me in just about every way. I'm happy, and I know how to perpetuate that.
—Lindsay Crouse, Academy Award Nominated Acress
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I can think of few teachers of spirituality more capable of offering the profound and rich traditions of Buddhism and the visionary voices of yoga. When you meet Lama Marut you encounter greatness, a place where the heart and mind are one, and the company you keep presents a rare presence that can change your life.
—Douglas R. Brooks, Author and Professor of Religion, University of Rochester
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Lama Marut skillfully and eloquently describes how happiness naturally emerges as a reward of authentic spiritual practice. A marvelous guide for those choosing to walk on joy’s path.
—Michael Bernard Beckwith, author of Spiritual Liberation
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This book is so good I wish I had written it myself! Seriously, you really should try to overcome your fear of bliss and start living the way Lama Marut suggests, desperately seeking yourself—your real, deep down, joyful being indivisible from the infinite love energy of the unreasonably free happiness that is the reality of this universe! Cannot recommend this delightful book enough. It should accompany your day to day from now on, if you’re smart and lucky!
—Robert Thurman, Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Buddhist Studies, Columbia University, Co-founder of Tibet House US, author of Why the Dalai Lama Matters
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Lama Marut knows how to describe concepts clearly and to make a persuasive case while entertaining his readers. His chapter on forgiveness is a particularly compelling gem of brevity. This provocative, "hip" guide (there's a motorcycle on the cover) doesn't weasel out on the importance of living a "morally pure life" to achieve happiness.
—Molly Lyons, Publishers Weekly
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“
While reading this book, thinking about this book, and trying his suggestions I have begun to experience what life is like when one puts 'the horse before the cart.' I am experiencing a lot more time and a lot more love, and I am extremely grateful. It's brilliant.
—Mary McDonnell, Academy Award nominated actress for Dances With Wolves
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“
Lama Marut is a great teacher, a master. . . . His conviction is palpable. He's not giving us information, he's leading us to self-revelation. That's a different quality of teaching. And his joy in doing it is indescribably fun. . . . He's changed me in just about every way. I'm happy, and I know how to perpetuate that.
—Lindsay Crouse, Academy Award Nominated Acress
-
“
I can think of few teachers of spirituality more capable of offering the profound and rich traditions of Buddhism and the visionary voices of yoga. When you meet Lama Marut you encounter greatness, a place where the heart and mind are one, and the company you keep presents a rare presence that can change your life.
—Douglas R. Brooks, Author and Professor of Religion, University of Rochester
-
“
Lama Marut skillfully and eloquently describes how happiness naturally emerges as a reward of authentic spiritual practice. A marvelous guide for those choosing to walk on joy’s path.
—Michael Bernard Beckwith, author of Spiritual Liberation
-
“
This book is so good I wish I had written it myself! Seriously, you really should try to overcome your fear of bliss and start living the way Lama Marut suggests, desperately seeking yourself—your real, deep down, joyful being indivisible from the infinite love energy of the unreasonably free happiness that is the reality of this universe! Cannot recommend this delightful book enough. It should accompany your day to day from now on, if you’re smart and lucky!
—Robert Thurman, Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Buddhist Studies, Columbia University, Co-founder of Tibet House US, author of Why the Dalai Lama Matters
-
“
Lama Marut knows how to describe concepts clearly and to make a persuasive case while entertaining his readers. His chapter on forgiveness is a particularly compelling gem of brevity. This provocative, "hip" guide (there's a motorcycle on the cover) doesn't weasel out on the importance of living a "morally pure life" to achieve happiness.
—Molly Lyons, Publishers Weekly
-
“
While reading this book, thinking about this book, and trying his suggestions I have begun to experience what life is like when one puts 'the horse before the cart.' I am experiencing a lot more time and a lot more love, and I am extremely grateful. It's brilliant.
—Mary McDonnell, Academy Award nominated actress for Dances With Wolves