05/27/2026
Join us next week at The Local Bird in Cooperstown, NY for a special public talk and meditation with Dr. John Makransky on How Compassion Works.
John Makransky taught as an Associate Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology at Boston College, is the President of the international Society of Buddhist-Christian Studies, senior advisor and lecturer in Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche’s Centre for Buddhist Studies in Nepal, co-founder of the Foundation for Active Compassion and of Courage of Care (two socially engaged contemplative organizations), developer of the Sustainable Compassion Training (SCT) model, and author of the popular meditation manual Awakening through Love.
Dr. Makransky’s academic writings have focused on connections between doctrine and practice in Asian Buddhism, on adapting Buddhist contemplative practices to meet contemporary needs, and on theoretical issues in interfaith learning.
For the past fifteen years, he has taught ways to cultivate sustainable care and compassion, adapted from Buddhism in newly accessible ways, to school teachers, healthcare professionals, social workers, psychotherapists, those who work with prisoners, the hungry, and the dying.
He has offered contemplative workshops at Kathmandu University, Harvard Divinity and Medical Schools, Brown University, Emory University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Virginia, Boston College, Catholic Charities, Mind and Life Institute, and many other institutions.
