About
Jan Willis is Professor of Religion Emerita at Wesleyan University. She holds a PhD in Indic and Buddhist Studies from Columbia University. Willis has studied Tibetan Buddhism with teachers in India, Nepal, Switzerland, and the U.S. over five decades and taught Buddhism courses for over 45 years. She is author of several books on Buddhist meditation and philosophy, including "The Diamond Light: An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation" (1972) and "Dharma Matters: Women, Race, and Tantra" (2020). Her research areas include Buddhist meditation, hagiography, women in Buddhism, and Buddhism and race. She has published articles and essays on these topics.
Teaching focus
Jan Willis's teaching focus sits inside Tibetan Buddhism, with shamatha leading into Mahamudra or Dzogchen pointing as the working ground. Tibetan teaching as offered here keeps the structure of the path visible. Refuge, bodhicitta, shamatha, and pointing instruction toward the nature of mind, with attention to which preliminaries are necessary and which can be opened up to practitioners willing to do the work without traditional gating. For practitioners with substantial prior experience, the teaching doesn't slow itself down or restate foundations that are already in place. Across the body of work, the consistent thread in Jan Willis's teaching is the refusal to let practice become abstract. The instruction asks for direct contact with what's actually arising, and the framing supports practitioners in giving it that. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion.
Background
Jan Willis is Professor of Religion Emerita at Wesleyan University. She holds a PhD in Indic and Buddhist Studies from Columbia University. Willis has studied Tibetan Buddhism with teachers in India, Nepal, Switzerland, and the U.S. over five decades and taught Buddhism courses for over 45 years. She is author of several books on Buddhist meditation and philosophy, including "The Diamond Light: An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation" (1972) and "Dharma Matters: Women, Race, and Tantra" (2020). Her research areas include Buddhist meditation, hagiography, women in Buddhism, and Buddhism and race. She has published articles and essays on these topics. She is the author of “The Diamond Light: An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation” (1972), “On Knowing Reality: The Tattvartha Chapter of Asanga's Bodhisattvabhumi” (1979), “Enlightened Beings: Life Stories from the Ganden Oral Tradition” (1995); and the editor of “Feminine Ground: Essays on Women and Tibet” (1989). Additionally, Willis has published numerous articles and essays on various topics in Buddhism, Buddhist meditation, hagiography, women and Buddhism, and Buddhism and race. In 2001, her memoir, “Dreaming Me: An African American Woman’s Spiritual path” was published, and in 2008 it was re-issued by Wisdom Publications as “Dreaming Me: Black, Baptist, and Buddhist, One Woman’s Spiritual path.” In December of 2000, TIME magazine named Willis one of six “spiritual innovators for the new millennium.” In 2003, she was a recipient of Wesleyan University’s Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Newsweek magazine’s “Spirituality in America” issue in 2005 included a profile of Willis, and Ebony magazine in 2007 named Willis one of its “Power 150” most influential African Americans. In October and November of 2012, Jan spent seven weeks in a Buddhist nunnery in Thailand and in September of 2013, she walked the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. In April of 2020, her book “Dharma Matters: Women, Race, and Tantra -- Collected Essays by Jan Willis” was released. Jan Willis's teaching is anchored at Spirit Rock. The teaching draws from Tibetan Buddhism, with shamatha leading into Mahamudra or Dzogchen pointing as the working ground. Areas of particular focus include advanced practice. Jan Willis's teaching keeps the Tibetan structure visible while making it reachable for practitioners outside the traditional monastic context. Refuge, bodhicitta, and the recognition of awareness threaded through ordinary instruction. Practitioners drawn to Jan Willis's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way.
Lineage
Jan Willis teaches within Tibetan Buddhism. She has studied with Tibetan Buddhists in India, Nepal, Switzerland, and the U.S. In April of 2020, her book “Dharma Matters: Women, Race, and Tantra -- Collected Essays by Jan Willis” was released. Current affiliation runs through Spirit Rock. Jan Willis teaches as a fully ordained monastic. The lineage shapes the form of the teaching, not just its content. Practitioners encountering it find a transmission line still actively developing. The lineage shapes the form of the teaching, not just its content. Practitioners encountering it find a transmission line still actively developing. The lineage shapes the form of the teaching, not just its content. Practitioners encountering it find a transmission line still actively developing.
What to expect
In Jan Willis's online programs, expect guided sittings, structured teaching segments, and group discussion that takes the medium seriously rather than treating it as a fallback. Expect refuge, occasional Tibetan elements like short chanting or pointing instruction, and practical guidance for working the practice into ordinary life rather than only into formal sitting. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own.
