About Luke Thompson

Luke Thompson received his PhD from Columbia University in 2017 and his MA (in Buddhist Studies) from the University of Bristol (UK) in 2008. While his academic research focused on medieval Japanese Buddhist intellectual history, he is interested in Buddhism beyond Japan, and has lived or spent extended periods in Buddhist monasteries in Japan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, northern India, England, and the US. He currently teaches Buddhist Studies courses in NY State prisons as a faculty member of the Bard Prison Initiative. He also tutors in Classical Japanese, is a practicing, licensed massage therapist, and in 2021 will begin training as a psychotherapist.

Luke Thompson's research focuses on medieval Japanese Buddhist intellectual history, though he has interests in Buddhism beyond Japan, and particularly in anthropological approaches to Buddhism.

NBN Episodes hosted by Luke:

Ilana Maymind, "Exile and Otherness: The Ethics of Shinran and Maimonides" (Lexington Books, 2020)

August 13, 2021

Exile and Otherness

Ilana Maymind
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In Exile and Otherness: The Ethics of Shinran and Maimonides (Lexington Books, 2020), Ilana Maymind argues that Shinran (1173–1263), the founder of Tr…

Vanessa R. Sasson, "Yasodhara and the Buddha" (Bloomsbury, 2020)

March 18, 2021

Yasodhara and the Buddha

Vanessa R. Sasson
Hosted by Luke Thompson

By combining the spirit of fiction with the fabulism of Indian mythology and in-depth academic research, Vanessa R. Sasson shares the evocative story …

Steven Collins, "Wisdom as a Way of Life: Theravāda Buddhism Reimagined" (Columbia UP, 2020)

March 16, 2021

Wisdom as a Way of Life

Steven Collins
Hosted by Luke Thompson

This wide-ranging and powerful book argues that Theravāda Buddhism provides ways of thinking about the self that can reinvigorate the humanities and o…

Geoffrey C. Goble, "Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition" (Columbia UP, 2019)

December 15, 2020

Chinese Esoteric Buddhism

Geoffrey C. Goble
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In his recent book, Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition (Columbia University Press, 2019), Geof…

Thomas Patton, "The Buddha’s Wizards: Magic, Protection, and Healing in Burmese Buddhism" (Columbia UP, 2018)

February 11, 2019

The Buddha’s Wizards

Thomas Patton
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In his recent monograph, The Buddha’s Wizards: Magic, Protection, and Healing in Burmese Buddhism(Columbia University Press, 2018), Thomas Patton exam…

Anna Andreeva, "Assembling Shinto: Buddhist Approaches to Kami Worship in Medieval Japan" (Harvard UP, 2017)

February 7, 2018

Assembling Shinto

Anna Andreeva
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In her recent monograph, Assembling Shinto: Buddhist Approaches to Kami Worship in Medieval Japan (Harvard University Asia Center, 2017), Anna Andreev…

Bryan D. Lowe, "Ritualized Writing: Buddhist Practice and Scriptural Cultures in Ancient Japan" (U Hawaii Press, 2017)

December 4, 2017

Ritualized Writing

Bryan D. Lowe
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In his recent monograph, Ritualized Writing: Buddhist Practice and Scriptural Cultures in Ancient Japan (University of Hawaii Press, 2017), Bryan D. L…

Justin R. Ritzinger, "Anarchy in the Pure Land: Reinventing the Cult of Maitreya in Modern Chinese Buddhism" (Oxford UP, 2017)

October 9, 2017

Anarchy in the Pure Land

Justin R. Ritzinger
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In his recent monograph, Anarchy in the Pure Land: Reinventing the Cult of Maitreya in Modern Chinese Buddhism (Oxford University Press, 2017), Justin…

Scott A. Mitchell, "Buddhism in America: Global Religion, Local Contexts" (Bloomsbury, 2016)

April 2, 2017

Buddhism in America

Scott A. Mitchell
Hosted by Luke Thompson

Scott A. Mitchell's recent monograph, Buddhism in America: Global Religion, Local Contexts (Bloomsbury, 2016), provides a much-needed up-to-date overv…

Benjamin Schonthal, "Buddhism, Politics and the Limits of the Law: The Pyrrhic Constitutionalism of Sri Lanka" (Cambridge UP, 2016)

March 3, 2017

Buddhism, Politics and the Limits of the Law

Benjamin Schonthal
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In his recent monograph, Buddhism, Politics and the Limits of Law: The Pyrrhic Constitutionalism of Sri Lanka (Cambridge University Press, 2016), Benj…

Erik W. Davis, "Deathpower: Buddhism's Ritual Imagination in Cambodia" (Columbia UP, 2015)

January 20, 2017

Deathpower

Erik W. Davis
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In his recent monograph, Deathpower: Buddhism's Ritual Imagination in Cambodia (Columbia University Press, 2015), Erik W. Davis explores funerary ritu…

Brooke Schedneck, "Thailand's International Meditation Centers" (Routledge, 2015)

May 16, 2016

Thailand's International Meditation Centers

Brooke Schedneck
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In her recent monograph, Thailand's International Meditation Centers: Tourism and the Global Commodification of Religious Practices (Routledge, 2015),…

Heather Blair, "Real and Imagined: The Peak of Gold in Heian Japan" (Harvard U Asia Center, 2015)

January 20, 2016

Real and Imagined

Heather Blair
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In her recent monograph, Real and Imagined: The Peak of Gold in Heian Japan (Harvard University Asia Center, 2015), Heather Blair explores the religio…

Sarah H. Jacoby, "Love and Liberation: Autobiographical Writings of the Tibetan Buddhist Visionary Sera Khandro" (Columbia UP, 2014)

September 26, 2015

Love and Liberation

Sarah H. Jacoby
Hosted by Luke Thompson

Sarah H. Jacoby's recent monograph, Love and Liberation: Autobiographical Writings of the Tibetan Buddhist Visionary Sera Khandro (Columbia University…

Steven E. Kemper, "Rescued from the Nation: Anagarika Dharmapala and the Buddhist World" (U Chicago Press, 2015)

June 27, 2015

Rescued from the Nation

Steven E. Kemper
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In his recent book, Rescued from the Nation: Anagarika Dharmapala and the Buddhist World (University of Chicago Press, 2015), Steven E. Kemper examine…

John K. Nelson, "Experimental Buddhism: Innovation and Activism in Contemporary Japan" (U Hawaii Press, 2013)

May 7, 2015

Experimental Buddhism

John K. Nelson
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In his recent book, Experimental Buddhism: Innovation and Activism in Contemporary Japan (University of Hawaii Press, 2013), John K. Nelson delves int…

Stuart Young, "Conceiving the Indian Buddhist Patriarchs in China" (U Hawaii Press, 2014)

April 25, 2015

Conceiving the Indian Buddhist Patriarchs in China

Stuart Young
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In Conceiving the Indian Buddhist Patriarchs in China (University of Hawai'i Press, 2015), Stuart Young examines Chinese hagiographic representations …

Tanya Storch, "The History of Chinese Buddhist Bibliography: Censorship and Transformation of the Tripitaka (Cambria, 2014),

March 18, 2015

The History of Chinese Buddhist Bibliography

Tanya Storch
Hosted by Luke Thompson

Tanya Storch's recent book, The History of Chinese Buddhist Bibliography: Censorship and Transformation of the Tripitaka (Cambria, 2014), focuses on t…

Meir Shahar and John Kieschnick, "India in the Chinese Imagination" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2014)

February 11, 2015

India in the Chinese Imagination

Meir Shahar and John Kieschnick, eds.
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), eleven scholars (including editors John Kie…

Charlotte Eubanks, "Miracles of Book and Body: Buddhist Textual Culture and Medieval Japan (U California Press, 2011)

February 6, 2015

Miracles of Book and Body

Charlotte Eubanks
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In Miracles of Book and Body: Buddhist Textual Culture and Medieval Japan (University of California Press, 2011), Charlotte Eubanks examines the relat…

R. Keller Kimbrough, "Wondrous Brutal Fictions: Eight Buddhist Tales from the Early Japanese Puppet Theater" (Columbia UP, 2013)

January 23, 2015

Wondrous Brutal Fictions

R. Keller Kimbrough
Hosted by Luke Thompson

In his recent book, Wondrous Brutal Fictions: Eight Buddhist Tales from the Early Japanese Puppet Theater (Columbia University Press, 2013), R. Keller…

Erik Braun, "The Birth of Insight: Meditation, Modern Buddhism, and the Burmese Monk Ledi Sayadaw" (U Chicago Press, 2013)

January 8, 2015

The Birth of Insight

Erik Braun
Hosted by Luke Thompson

Erik Braun's recent book, The Birth of Insight: Meditation, Modern Buddhism, and the Burmese Monk Ledi Sayadaw (University of Chicago Press, 2013), ex…

Jacob Dalton, "The Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism" (Yale UP, 2011)

December 25, 2014

The Taming of the Demons

Jacob Dalton
Hosted by Luke Thompson

Jacob Dalton's recent book, The Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism (Yale University Press, 2011), examines violence (bo…

Clark Chilson, "Secrecy's Power: Covert Shin Buddhists in Japan and Contradictions of Concealment" (U Hawaii Press, 2014)

November 11, 2014

Secrecy's Power

Clark Chilson
Hosted by Luke Thompson

Clark Chilson's new book, Secrecy's Power: Covert Shin Buddhists in Japan and Contradictions of Concealment (University of Hawai'i Press, 2014) examin…