McLEOD, Ken 1948-

PERSONAL:

Born 1948. Education: University of British Columbia, M.A. (mathematics); studied with Ven. Kalu Rinpoche; participated in three-year Buddhist retreat for Westerners, 1976. Religion: Buddhist.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Unfettered Mind, 13323 Washington Blvd., Suite 302, Los Angeles, CA 90066-5144. E-mail—ken@unfetteredmind.org.

CAREER:

Unfettered Mind, Los Angeles, CA, founder, teacher and executive director, 1990—. Organized and addressed a number of conferences and programs on Buddhism.

WRITINGS:

(Translator) Jamgon Kongtrul, The Great Path of Awakening: An Easily Accessible Introduction for Ordinary People: A Commentary on the Mahayana Teaching of the Seven Points of Min, Shambhala (Boston, MA), 1986.

(Translator) Rinpoche Thrangu, Moonbeams of Mahamudra: The Direct Meditation on the Mind, Snow Lion Publications (Ithaca, NY), 1999.

Wake up to Your Life: Discovering the Buddhist Path of Attention, Harper San Francisco (San Francisco, CA), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS:

Ken McLeod was born in 1948. He first became interested in Buddhism in the 1960s. He was a student of the Tibetan meditation master Ven. Kalu Rinpoche, and helped translate his works and establish a Buddhist center in Vancouver, British Columbia. While there he received his M.A. in mathematics from the University of British Columbia. In 1976 he traveled to France to help establish the first three-year retreat training for Westerners, entering the retreat himself. He became an instructor in the contemplative practices of Karma Kagyu and Shangpa traditions. In 1985 he moved to Los Angeles to take over Kalu Rinpoche's center. In 1990, after Rinpoche's death, McLeod set up a non-profit organization called Unfettered Mind, a Buddhist service organization that provides instruction, training programs, and guidance in Buddhist methods. McLeod acts as executive director and head teacher of the organization, and also translates and writes. He has translated two works: one by Jamgon Kongtrul, The Great Path of Awakening: An Early Accessible Introduction for Ordinary People: A Commentary on the Mahayana Teaching of the Seven Points of Min and one by Rinpoche Thrangu, Moonbeams of Mahamudra: The Direct Meditation on the Mind.

In 2001 he published his own work, Wake up to Your Life: Discovering the Buddhist Path of Attention. McLeod discusses many traditional Buddhist concepts within the context of an American life. He covers the practice of tonglen, an act of giving and taking that allows one to empathize with others, and the concept of emptiness wherein one sees everything as an illusion and therefore empty. Tom Lane of Enlightenment explained McLeod's approach, "McLeod, while respectful of tradition, is an iconoclast who believes that the essence of the teachings is best conveyed through the terminology and imagery of the culture in which they are being taught." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote, "He offers very charming stories, unclouded prose, step-by-step meditations, charts and quotes from such varied sources as Bob Dylan, Milarepa, Rumi, Yogi Berra, and anonymous Buddhist sayings." Peter Clothier in the Los Angeles Times called it "one of the most complete and satisfying workbooks of its kind," and observed, "For anyone serious about developing a meditation practice, this book will be an invaluable guide through the thickets of self-deception, skepticism and despair that invariably accompany one along the path."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2001, Peter Clothier, review of Wake up to Your Life: Discovering the Buddhist Path of Attention.

Publishers Weekly, February 26, 2001, review of Wake up to Your Life, p. 80.

ONLINE

Enlightenment,http://www.enlightenment.com/ (November 27, 2001), Tom Lane, review of Wake up to Your Life.

Unfettered Mind,http://unfetteredmind.com/ (September 9, 2003).

Writers' Representatives,http://www.writersreps.com/ (November 27, 2001), review of Wake up to Your Life with biography of Ken McLeod.*