Robert Magliola - Career

Career

Magliola received his doctorate in 1970 from Princeton University in comparative literature with specialty and dissertation in phenomenology/hermeneutics, see diss. in microform format, here). He is retired from the (interfaith) Graduate School of Philosophy and Religions, Abac Assumption University (Thailand), where he was professor of philosophy and religious studies; and from National Taiwan University, where he was distinguished chair professor in the Graduate School of Liberal Arts. In 1983–84, he taught and researched at Tamkang University in Taiwan while on sabbatical from Purdue University, where he had taught since 1969 and been a (full) professor since 1981. In 1985 he moved to the Orient, taking up residence there en permanence. He continued publication in Buddhism and deconstruction and also did interdisciplinary writing and conferencing on postmodernism (in literature and Religious Studies) throughout this period. A Carmelite lay tertiary (1982–present), he began to write more extensively both on the application of Derridean thought-motifs to Catholic theology, and on Catholic meditation (see Christian Meditation and see Contemplation), making an invited presentation in 1999 on ‘Catholic Meditation in Tibetan Vajrayana Form’ for the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Federation of Asian Bishops Councils (See Proceedings for 2nd Day, Feb. 2, 1999, here).

In Thailand since 1994, he researched Theravada Buddhism and also underwent training in Vipassanā-Satipatthana meditation (Wat Mahathat, Bangkok). He organized and chaired the Thai delegation of Buddhist and Catholic scholars from Assumption University to the quadrennial international meetings of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies (1996, 2000), having begun presenting papers there in 1992. After a return of two years to teaching in Taiwan, he formally retired from university teaching as of summer, 2002, and currently lives in the United States of America where his three children, Lorinda-marie, Jon-carlo, and Clara-marie, and his several grandchildren reside. Since 2002, he has taught minicourses (see course information, Global Family for Love and Peace, here), organized forums, and been an interfaith retreatant at the Manhattan (NYC) Center of the Wu Sheng Monastery, Ling Jiou Shan Buddhist Society, Kung-Liao, Taiwan (2002–2005) . In spring 2012 Ling Jiou Shan opened a new Center in Flushing, NYC, enabling Magliola to resume his affiliation as interfaith retreatant and consultant (2012- ). From 2002 through 2007 he has been a co-editor (see some of these edited books, here) for volumes in the book-series “Seminars on Culture and Values” for the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He contributes his services as co-editor (2008– ) of the DES Journal (3 issues a year; c. 20,000 circulation), academic review of Delta Epsilon Sigma, national scholastic honor society for students/faculty/alumni of Catholic colleges and universities . He was a Seminar Associate (2002–2011) of the Seminar in Buddhist Studies (a faculty and graduate student forum), Columbia University, and studied (autumn 2010–summer 2012) the meditative mode of Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo as it is taught at the Downtown New York Meditation Community (Manhattan, N.Y.C.), where Peter Doobinin leads the Insight Meditation Program (vipassanā). In Italy--as of spring 2012--Magliola practices at Villa Vangelo e Zen ("The Gospel and Zen"), Desio (Lombardia), where the Director is padre Luciano Mazzocchi, S.X., who belongs to the Society of St. Francis Xavier for the Foreign Missions and who, after twenty years in Japan, is a certified Soto Zen teacher with established centers throughout Italy (see also the Italian blogs associated with the website of La Stella del Mattino Italian Buddhist Community, Zen monk Mauricio Yushin Marassi, director, discussing Magliola's review of P. Knitter's Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian, here).