Rama
Dr. Frederick Lenz, an Enlightened teacher, called Rama by his students, was born in San Diego, California on February 9, 1950. Even in his early teenage years, he seemed to have an interest in Buddhism and read a whole set of books ( that he found in his father’s library) on the subject. He studied English and Psychology at the University of Connecticut where he was inducted as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Magna Cum Laude. After winning a highly competitive State of New York Graduate Council Fellowship, he received his MA and Ph.D. in English Literature from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
While pursuing an academic career, he also gave thousands of hours of free lectures on meditation and mindfulness workshops around the world in different schools and universities, including the State University of New York, Long Island University, Harvard, U.C.L.A., Stanford, Heidelberg, and the University of Zurich.
Rama began teaching on his own in 1981, after moving back to San Diego, where he founded his own teaching center called Lakshmi. He taught Buddhist principles and meditation to thousands of people.
Meditation, living and working in the world, the empowerment of women, and focus on modern spiritual enlightenment through the application of Buddhist wisdom form the core of Dr. Frederick Lenz’s teachings (American Tantric Buddhism), which he shared and honed with boundless enthusiasm. Rama believed that with a strong meditative practice, his students could live and work in the world, practice mindfulness, advance their lives, aid others and achieve spiritual and material success.
Rama continually sought modern Western structures and understandings to help today’s spiritual seekers embark on the considerable transformation needed to aim towards enlightenment. Hundreds of Dr. Lenz’s students took his advice on attaining career success in computer science and technology as a means of gaining the mental acuity required to enter into advanced meditative states of mind.
He instructed students on methods for living more productive, fulfilled lives. Rama said that the core of his teachings were contained in his books, Snowboarding to Nirvana and Surfing the Himalayas.
“American Buddhist Rebel: The Story of Rama – Dr. Frederick Lenz”
This award-winning book by Liz Lewinson is a biography of Rama – Dr. Frederick Lenz and is based on remembrances of over 100 of his students, colleagues and contemporaries, along with his own words. This highly acclaimed book immerses the reader in a journey of joyful self-discovery.
