World of Gesar

Robin Kornman—professor of comparative literature, senior dharma teacher, and member of the Nalanda Translation Committee—died in 2007. In the decade before his passing, he focused mainly on translating the Epic of Gesar of Ling, now published by Penguin Random House.

Beginning in 1971, Larry Mermelstein became a close student of the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist meditation master and scholar. He has served as a senior teacher in the Vajradhatu/Shambhala community for decades, as well as being a member of the board of directors for some twenty years, now long ago. He is a founding member and the executive director of the Nalanda Translation Committee for over forty-five years and is a long-time consulting editor to Shambhala Publications.

Jane Hawes, MD, became a student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1977 and received Vajrayogini abhisheka in 1996. She is a student of Khen Namdrol Rinpoche and a member of Light of Berotsana Translation Group for which she has been active in editing and formatting many liturgical texts. She began studying Tibetan with the late Robin Kornman, PhD, in 2002 and now studies with Lama Chönam. She has completed a translation of volume four of the Gesar epic with Lama Chönam, which will be published in August, 2021 by Shambhala Books, entitled The Taming of the Demons. She was responsible for compiling and preparing for publication The Epic of Gesar of Ling: Gesar’s Magical Birth, Early Years, and Coronation as King, as well as editing David Shapiro’s books, Gesar of Ling: A Bardic Tale from the Snow Land of Tibet and Gesar and COVID-19: An Ancient Warrior Returns to Battle the Pandemic. She practiced Internal Medicine in Milwaukee, WI for 35 years, served as a preceptor for Residents in training, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

David Shapiro became a student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1973 and was the founder-director of the Milwaukee Dharmadhatu (now the Milwaukee Shambhala Center). He currently serves as an occasional speaker at the Jikoji Zen Center in California. He was a practicing internist for 35 years and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at The Medical College of Wisconsin. He is a past president of the Milwaukee Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and held numerous administrative positions with Ascension Healthcare-WI including eight years as Chief Medical Officer. He is a member of the Light of Berotsana Translation Group and the Heart Essence Sangha Council. He contributed the historical introduction to the first book of the epic and is the author of Gesar of Ling: A Bardic Tale from the Snow Land of Tibet and Gesar and COVID-19: An Ancient Warrior Returns to Battle the Pandemic.  David volunteers as a tax-preparer and financial advisor for a local charitable facility.