Rob Nairn
Encyclopedia
Rob Nairn is a South Africa
n Buddhist
teacher, author and populariser. He is a follower of Tibetan Buddhism
, in the Karma Kagyu
lineage.
and to receive a postgraduate diploma in criminology from Edinburgh University. He then returned to Rhodesia
(now Zimbabwe
) to become an advocate of its High Court.
Nairn was appointed as a magistrate
at 21, which was the youngest ever appointment of this type in the then Rhodesia. He went on to become the private secretary to Minister of Justice, Law and Order of that country as well as a senior lecturer
in law
and criminology at the then University of Rhodesia.
Moving to South Africa, Nairn became a senior lecturer in law at the University of Cape Town
and later a professor of law and criminology
and the Director of the Institute of Criminology at the same institution. In 1979 Nairn published a paper "To Read or Not to Read, Aspects of Prisoners' Rights", which exposed the illegality in international law of the South African law that permitted prison officials to deny prisoners reading materials. This article was picked up by the US press, causing embarrassment to the apartheid government. As a result Nairn was banned from South African prisons, cutting him off from his main research topic.
monk in the 1960s, and he trained in this tradition for around ten years. From 1989 to 1993 he took part in a four-year isolation retreat at the Kagyu Samyé Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre
in Scotland
.
Currently Nairn is the Africa
n representative for Akong Rinpoche
and is responsible for eleven Buddhist centres in South Africa and three other African countries.
As he was instructed by the 14th Dalai Lama to teach meditation and Buddhism in 1964 and also instructed by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa
to teach insight meditation in 1979, Nairn spends much of his time teaching and running retreats in Southern Africa
as well as the United Kingdom
, Ireland
, Iceland, the United States
, Italy
, The Netherlands and Germany
.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
teacher, author and populariser. He is a follower of Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
, in the Karma Kagyu
Karma Kagyu
Karma Kagyu , or Kamtsang Kagyu, is probably the largest and certainly the most widely practiced lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mongolia, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and current...
lineage.
Academic education and legal career
Graduating from the University of Rhodesia with an LL.B (Hons) (London), he was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship for postgraduate studies in UK and went on to study criminology, psychology and law at King's College LondonKing's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
and to receive a postgraduate diploma in criminology from Edinburgh University. He then returned to Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
(now Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
) to become an advocate of its High Court.
Nairn was appointed as a magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
at 21, which was the youngest ever appointment of this type in the then Rhodesia. He went on to become the private secretary to Minister of Justice, Law and Order of that country as well as a senior lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
and criminology at the then University of Rhodesia.
Moving to South Africa, Nairn became a senior lecturer in law at the University of Cape Town
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
and later a professor of law and criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
and the Director of the Institute of Criminology at the same institution. In 1979 Nairn published a paper "To Read or Not to Read, Aspects of Prisoners' Rights", which exposed the illegality in international law of the South African law that permitted prison officials to deny prisoners reading materials. This article was picked up by the US press, causing embarrassment to the apartheid government. As a result Nairn was banned from South African prisons, cutting him off from his main research topic.
Buddhist path
Nairn's first contact with Buddhism was with a TheravadinTheravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
monk in the 1960s, and he trained in this tradition for around ten years. From 1989 to 1993 he took part in a four-year isolation retreat at the Kagyu Samyé Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre
Kagyu Samyé Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre
Kagyu Samyé Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre is a Tibetan Buddhist complex associated with the Karma Kagyu school located at Eskdalemuir, near Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.- History :...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Currently Nairn is the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n representative for Akong Rinpoche
Akong Rinpoche
Chöje Akong Rinpoche is a tulku in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and a founder of the Samye Ling Monastery. He was born in 1939, near Riwoq in Kham, Eastern Tibet. At the age of two he was discovered by the search party seeking the reincarnation of the previous Akong, Abbot of Dolma...
and is responsible for eleven Buddhist centres in South Africa and three other African countries.
As he was instructed by the 14th Dalai Lama to teach meditation and Buddhism in 1964 and also instructed by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa
Rangjung Rigpe Dorje
The sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje was spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism...
to teach insight meditation in 1979, Nairn spends much of his time teaching and running retreats in Southern Africa
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
as well as the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Iceland, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, The Netherlands and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
External links
- Current teaching programme
- Excerpts from the book - Living, Dreaming, Dying on Kagyu Samye Ling website
- Rob Nairn in the Kagyu Samye Ling website's teaching archive
DVDs
- Psychology of Buddhism, ISBN 0-9585057-4-8
- Psychology of meditation, ISBN 0-9585057-3-X