Cyrus was educated at the University of Alabama and received his PhD from the University of Washington in 1996. In 1985 Cyrus was the leader of the Smithsonian Institute's Associates Tour to Tibet and China, one of the first groups allowed into Tibet after many years of travel restriction by the Chinese government. He was a Tsadra Foundation fellow from 2003–2015. He is currently an independent scholar and translator and lives in the woods on Whidbey Island north of Seattle, Washington.
Completed Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow:
- King of the Empty Plain: The Tibetan Iron-Bridge Builder Tangtong Gyalpo, Lochen Gyurmé Dechen
- Treasury of Esoteric Instructions: A Commentary on Virupa’s "Vajra Lines," Lama Dampa Sönam Gyaltsen
- The Buddha from Dölpo: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, rev. ed.
- Treasury of Esoteric Instructions, Lama Dampa Sonam Gyaltsen, Virupa
- Song of the Road, The Poetic Travel Journal of Tsarchen Losal Gyatso, Tsarchen Losel Gyatso
Previously Published Books:
- The Buddha from Dolpo: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen
- Luminous Lives: The Story of the Early Masters of the Lam ’Bras Tradition in Tibet
- Hermit of Go Cliffs: Timeless Instructions from a Tibetan Mystic, Godrakpa
- Taking the Result as the Path: Core Teachings of the Sakya Lamdré Tradition
Library Items
Dölpopa emphasized two contrasting definitions of the Buddhist theory of emptiness. He described relative phenomena as "empty of self-nature," but absolute reality as only "empty of other," i.e., relative phenomena. He further identified absolute reality as the buddha nature, or eternal essence, present in all living beings. This view of an "emptiness of other," know in Tibetan as shentong, is Dölpopa's enduring legacy.
The Buddha from Dölpo contains the only English translation of three of Dölpopa's crucial works. A General Commentary on the Doctrine is one of the earliest texts in which he systematically presented his view of the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment. The Fourth Council and its Autocommentary (which was not in the first edition of this book) were written at the end of his life and represent a final summation of his teachings. These translations are preceded by a detailed discussion of Dölpopa's life, his revolutionary ideas, earlier precedents for the shentongview, his unique use of language, and the influence of his theories. The fate of his Jonang tradition, which was censored by the central Tibetan government in the seventeenth century but still survives, is also examined. (Source: Shambhala Publications)Affiliations & relations
- Tsadra Foundation · workplace affiliation
- Sakya · religious affiliation
- Dezhung Rinpoche · teacher
- Chogye Tritsen Rinpoche · teacher
- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche · teacher