Buddhism: The lives of my cohort, six months later

My M.A. class in Bristol, from the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, was composed of three other full time students; three brilliant and talented women from quite diverse backgrounds (I had a secret crush on each of them until I learned, one by one, that they all had boyfriends and/or husbands… tisk tisk – oh well – I’ve ended up with the very lovely Ana and won’t complain a bit). I’m very thrilled and honored to have studied with these wonderful women, and thought I’d devote a quick post to where they are now.

Allison you heard a bit about in March (she’s the one with the BA from Oxford). Then she and her boyfriend were volunteering in education services in India. Today she’s back in England, Birmingham to be precise, looking for work at the moment.

Heather is an American with a British husband and two wonderful daughters. Today she is back in the U.S., just getting settled after a long moving process, but already moving on to new projects. One of those may be a book, another is the Dharma Wheel Game, which she’s been working on for a long time (It’s the perfect gift for that Buddhist who has it all… hehe…). Actually I think it would be great for anyone looking for a fun way to introduce kids to Buddhism – it combines the fun atmosphere of a game and actually teaches the basics of Buddhism.

Last but not least is Mary: half Greek, half Hawai’ian, with a British boyfriend. Today she is finishing her own second M.A. (in Creative Writing) and also has a website where she offers writing workshops that combine her various interests.

There were a few part-timers and post-grads:

• Helmut from Bavaria (I’m not sure what he’s up to),
• Simon from Birmingham (a polymath who seems to know the Vissudhimagga inside and out, did work at Cambridge, spent a month or so in a Japanese Zen monastery… I’m not sure what he’s up to either),
• Asaf from Israel (he studied Pali a bit with Richard Gombrich at Oxford and, last I heard, was traveling and/or studying in Sri Lanka), and
• Steve from whoknowswhere (in England)… (he worked and still works at the Sharpham College for Buddhist Studies and Contemporary Enquiry with John Peacock and Stephen Batchelor)

Then there’s me, li’l ol’ me. I have my own blog. All of my whoopetty-do happenings are here somewhere. One to add is that yesterday I received an email from the head of the department of Religious Studies here saying that they need someone to take over the 150+ student Introduction to Buddhism course… So… if some strings can be pulled and some funding hoops can be jumped threw, I’ll be teaching Religious Studies 211 rather than English Composition 101 in the fall! And in the Spring I might be given an upper division course of my choice in the Religious Studies department! Wow!