In his college years, Rama attended the University of Connecticut where he was inducted as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Gallery of Frederick Lenz
100 Nicolls Rd, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
After winning a highly competitive State of New York Graduate Council Fellowship, Frederick Lenz received his Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
After winning a highly competitive State of New York Graduate Council Fellowship, Frederick Lenz received his Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Total Relaxation - The Complete Program to Overcome Stress, Tension, Worry and Fatigue
(Total Relaxation provides the most effective program ever...)
Total Relaxation provides the most effective program ever devised to overcome stress. Whether you are a businessman who has been told by your doctor that your blood pressure is dangerously high, a working mother who is tense and irritable because your family and career more time and energy than you have, or a single person subjected to a host of economic, social and personal pressures, you need a simple and practical method of easing the tension and stress in your life.
(In 1983, when Rama - Dr. Frederick P. Lenz recorded a ser...)
In 1983, when Rama - Dr. Frederick P. Lenz recorded a series of profound and powerful talks entitled Insights: Talks on the Nature of Existence. This book is a transcript of those talks.
Surfing the Himalayas. Conversations and Travels with Master Fwap
("Surfing the Himalayas" is the engaging story of a young ...)
"Surfing the Himalayas" is the engaging story of a young American snowboarder who travels to the Himalayas seeking the ultimate high -- but surfs into an experience more transcendent than he could have ever imagined.
("A collection of lyric Buddhist poetry by Rama - Dr. Fred...)
"A collection of lyric Buddhist poetry by Rama - Dr. Frederick P. Lenz, this book is a first edition work published by Dr. Lenz's teaching organization. It contains verse ranging from contemplative to rhapsodic, from "Normality." to "The Inner Buddha."
(The continuation of the national phenomenon, Surfing the ...)
The continuation of the national phenomenon, Surfing the Himalayas, takes the crack American snowboarder down the mountain again, this time around with greater spiritual enlightenment he gains through experience (the greatest teacher of all). As our snowboarder continues his lessons of enlightenment with Master Fwap, he also encounters earthly love in the form of a beautiful and wise Danish woman. A paradox ensues and a mystery is set forth, the secret of “the missing dimension.” The secret must be understood and solved before our snowboarder can comprehend the next levels of Buddhist lessons.
(The 28 transcribed lectures from the luminous Lakshmi Ser...)
The 28 transcribed lectures from the luminous Lakshmi Series lectures of 1982 and 1983 are contained in this book. As a teacher, Rama - Dr. Frederick Lenz expected his students to study, understand and live the foundations of self-discovery. These foundations are described in the Lakshmi Series.
Frederick Philip Lenz, III was a spiritual teacher who taught what he termed American Buddhism, including the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, Vedanta, and Mysticism. Lenz was also an author, software designer, businessman, and record producer.
Background
Born on February 9, 1950, in San Diego, California, Frederick Lenz's family moved to Connecticut when he was three years old. His mother’s family had a large home in Stamford. His first immersion into the deep, absorbed states of consciousness, known in Sanskrit as Samadhi, happened when he was only three years old. He recalled sitting in his mother’s garden as it dissolved into light and the world went away.
Lenz's father, Frederick Lenz Jr., worked as a marketing executive and later went on to become the mayor of Stamford from 1973 to 1975. His mother, Dorothy Lenz, was a housewife and a student of astrology. His mother and father divorced when he was seven years old, his father remarried six years later. His mother died when he was sixteen years old. Lenz spent his childhood living alternately with his father, aunt and uncle, and grandparents.
Education
In his youth, Rama at first attended Catholic schools and then, upon his parents' divorce and his father's subsequent remarriage, attended Stamford public schools. In his college years, Rama attended the University of Connecticut where he was inducted as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Magna Cum Laude. After winning a highly competitive State of New York Graduate Council Fellowship, he received his Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
While visiting Nepal, Frederick Lenz encountered a Tibetan Buddhist teacher who predicted that Rama would regain his past life enlightenment and revive a lost lineage of ancient knowledge – predictions that seemed impossible at the time but in fact, came to fruition. While avidly pursuing his academic studies, he also spent thousands of hours teaching and offering free meditation/mindfulness workshops to people across the globe.
He was instrumental in thousands of people learning how to meditate. Soon after receiving his Ph.D., he became a best-selling author - his first book, Lifetimes - True Accounts of Reincarnation, was hailed for its honest, straightforward stories of real people's past life memories. He was invited to speak on many television shows and at universities. His next book, Total Relaxation, provided many keys, tips, and solutions to dealing with life's pressures. This book was also lauded by the medical and psychological communities, and Rama was invited to make numerous TV appearances, including on the "Phil Donahue" show.
Throughout his twenties, when he meditated, Rama went into the deep, absorbed state of consciousness known in Sanskrit as samadhi. After meditating, his awareness would return to a state of duality. At the age of 30, after years of profound meditations and teaching others to meditate, Rama cycled into a new state – sahaja nirvikalpa Samadhi – where the state of Samadhi is always in the mind and there is no duality. He was now Enlightened.
Throughout his 20s, Rama had practiced with an Indian teacher but as his own meditative experiences deepened and his past life enlightenment returned, Rama saw that it was time to start his own teaching program. He formed his first teaching organization in 1981 and called it Lakshmi, after the Indian goddess of beauty and abundance. Soon, as his abilities - to communicate and transmit the essential teachings of enlightened Buddhist mind and fill entire auditoriums with the golden light of the superconscious - became known, thousands of people in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Boston, Chicago and New York began to attend his lectures; many hundreds applied to become his students.
Rama ran his student program like a college graduate program. All of his students lived in their own homes and managed their own lives. Rama believed that with a strong meditative practice, his students could live and work in the world, practice mindfulness, advance their lives, aide others and achieve spiritual and material success. He selected computer science because the profession provided training for the mind, and a strong mind is necessary for a strong meditation practice. He taught his students and members of the public countless ways to lead a successful spiritual and material life in an overcrowded and psychically polluted world.
From 1981 and for the next 17 years, Rama’s ability to communicate and transmit the essential teachings of Tantric Buddhism became one of his hallmarks. He made advanced topics easy to understand. While he spoke extemporaneously and at length on many topics, sometimes just one or two words to a student would keep the student transforming for months. To encounter a fully awakened American Buddhist teacher was an extraordinary experience.
Rama effortlessly exuded the Siddhas (powers) that are described in Buddhist and Hindu texts. For people attending Rama’s talks, witnessing levitation, disappearance, beautiful colors and waves of golden light all around Rama and spreading through the hall or room – were commonplace. His attitude towards such phenomena was pure and humble – he said that if people saw the reality of the Siddhas, they would also believe that enlightenment was real.
In the mid-nineties, Rama published two more books, the best-selling novel, Surfing the Himalayas, and the sequel – Snowboarding to Nirvana. He said that these books contained the core of his teachings. Working with Zazen, a band that he formed and produced, he created numerous musical albums, capturing and conveying the energy of enlightenment through the music.
Rama attracted seekers who had commitment and fortitude. The people who studied with him tended to be rebels – strong, intelligent and self-reliant people who wanted an uncommonly fine physical and spiritual life.
Frederick Lenz passed away on April 12, 1998, in Long Island, New York, and willed the majority of his estate to support all forms of American Buddhism.
Lenz's work, including his teaching and projects, focused on modern spiritual enlightenment through the application of Eastern religious principles. The main themes of his teaching included the practice of meditation, living and working in the world, and the enlightenment of women.
Views
As a young teen, Frederick Lenz recalled reading an entire set of (unopened) books he found in his father’s library on the subject of Buddhism. He felt a natural affinity for the teachings. Rama's goal was to find his past life students and bring them to enlightenment. He constantly sought practical, Western means to help his students to transform and grow. He was a feminist and strong advocate of the power of women. He was an advocate of computer science starting in 1981, a time when a PC weighed about 50 pounds and had 16 kb of memory.
Quotations:
“I like miracles. They inspire me. Miracles cause you to believe, to have faith in the unseen, to look further into things, deeper into things. Miracles are the fun of enlightenment. When a teacher does a miracle – an enlightened teacher – and someone sees it, they’re astonished. Suddenly they have faith in what the teacher has to say about self-discovery and spirituality and enlightenment.”
"Enlightenment is a timeless void. It's an emptiness that's filled with the most excellent light. That light is suffused through every part of your being. It is your being. There's no sense of separation between yourself and the light. There's no self but the light. That's enlightenment – timeless, stillness, perfection."
"Only a pure heart, a completely pure heart can house eternity. Your heart has to be absolutely pure. You can only want that which is absolutely good. You have to live in goodness all the time, and nothing else can matter. There can be no thought of self, no apartheid in the inner world. No discrimination. It's only with that absolute humility and purity that you can make friends with God because otherwise you're just too busy with all your desires."
"The mindset used in computer science is very similar to the mindset we use in Zen and in the more advanced stages of self-discovery. Programming will aid a person in developing their mind and will aid their meditation, in my opinion… The mental structures that are used in computer science, particularly in working with relational database and artificial intelligence, are very similar to exercises that are done in Buddhist monasteries."
Membership
Dr. Lenz was a major contributor to National Public Radio in Connecticut and a donor and supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Cancer Institute, the AIDS Fund, Amnesty International, the National Museum of Women and the Arts in Washington, D.C., Shotokan Karate, The Cousteau Society and the Audubon Society.
Phi Beta Kappa
Personality
Frederick Lenz was extremely polite and treated all whom he encountered with respect, gentleness and courtesy. He was disarming with his humble and down to earth manner, yet he was hip, had a terrific sense of humor, and kept abreast of important matters happening around the planet.
Physical Characteristics:
Rama was tall at 6’3”, had curly hair and lucid, shining hazel green eyes.
Interests
Artists
Stephen King, Clyde Barker
Sport & Clubs
scuba diving, snowboarding, martial arts
Connections
Lenz dated some of his followers and students, but said it was similar to dating someone from church.