Robert Thurmanis the author of the critically acclaimed, popular original booksInner RevolutionandInfinite Lifeand a translator of sacred Tibetan texts, includingThe Essence of True EloquenceandThe Tibetan Book of the Dead.He teaches at Columbia University and holds the first endowed chair in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in America. Cofounder of Tibet House US and Menla Mountain Retreat Center, he lives in New York City and Woodstock, New York.