Jules Levinson

Jules Levinson began studying Buddhist view, meditation, and conduct under the guidance of Jeffrey Hopkins and a series of eminent Tibetan lamas at the University of Virginia in 1976. He graduated in 1994 with a doctoral degree in Buddhist studies. He has taught courses in Buddhist Studies, the Religions of Asia, and Tibetan language at Naropa University, Stanford University, the University of Virginia, and Hamline University. In the 1970s, Jules began practicing Buddhist meditation under the guidance of Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, and in 1984 he attended Seminary at Bedford Springs, PA.

Since 1988, Jules has served frequently as a translator for Thrangu Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyatso Rinpoche, and other prominent teachers of the Kagyü and Nyingma traditions of Buddhadharma. In 1995 and 1998, he accompanied Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche to Nepal and India, where they were able to study under the guidance of Khenpo Namdröl Tsering, senior teacher at the Ngagyür Nyingma Institute established by Drupwang Penor Rinpoche. He has been a member of the Nalanda Translation Committee for many years. Together with Lama Chöying Namgyel and Sangye Khandro, he has established the Light of Berotsana Translation Group for the translation of critical and profound works drawn from the Kagyü and Nyingma traditions of textual study and contemplative practice.

At present, he lives in Boulder, CO, working as a translator and teaching in the Department of Religious Studies at Naropa University.