Devotion as a Path 

to

Divinisation and Buddhahood

 Eva Natanya 

Vajradhara

• What can a path of genuine devotion to the guru look like in Buddhist practice?
• What is the basis for authentic refuge and faith in the Buddha?
• What are some of the benefits and pitfalls of devotional practice when applied to human teachers
• How might a contemplative path of transformative devotion in Buddhism be fruitfully compared with the path of worship and divinisation (or theosis) described in both Eastern and Western Christian traditions? 

This intensive one-day workshop will combine talks and guided meditations in a spirit of inquiry and openness to interfaith questions as they arise today, while remaining deeply rooted in the ancient principles of both Buddhist and Christian Contemplative Practice.

Eva Natanya is a scholar of Christian systematic theology and Tibetan Buddhism, with long-term experience in interreligious dialogue worldwide. She is an academic lecturer, writer, translator, retreat leader, and teacher of meditation. Following a nine-year career as a professional ballet dancer with both the New York City Ballet and the Royal Ballet of England, she earned an MA in Christian Systematic Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, and a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia. She is the editor of Open Mind: View and Meditation in the Lineage of Lerab Lingpa (2018) and co-editor of Fathoming the Mind: Inquiry and Insight in Düdjom Lingpa’s Vajra Essence (2018), both by Dr. B. Alan Wallace. Her own work explores the deep connections between Christian and Buddhist thought at rigorous levels of theology, ethics, mysticism, and contemplative prayer. She has co-authored a book on living Resurrection faith as a contemplative practice (forthcoming Fall 2020). Eva spends the majority of each year in solitary meditation retreat, living in remote mountains of Colorado.                                                                               www.evanatanya.com