Lama Marut

Venerable Sumati Marut

Sumati Marut (a.k.a. Brian K. Smith) is the son and grandson of Baptist ministers, a motorcycle enthusiast, a former surfer, a Ph.D. of Comparative Religions and a fully ordained Buddhist monk.

His unique background and easy, down-to-earth style has attracted thousands of followers around the world of all ages and walks of life who gather to hear his call for a revolution of true and lasting happiness. He uses Western cultural signposts, pop references, and humor to help remove cross-cultural hurdles. A perfect combination of warmth and wit, Lama Marut makes even the most esoteric brain-busters of Eastern philosophy work as practical tools for immediate transformation. Lama Marut pulls no punches in his hardcore presentation of timeless spiritual truths and their profound relevance to our modern Western world. Ruthlessly compassionate, he insists that the goals of the spiritual life are totally realizable – here and now.

Lama Marut has been teaching religion for 25 years. As a Sanskrit scholar and Professor of Comparative Religions, he taught at Columbia University and the University of California, Riverside, where he is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies. For the past decade, he has been as a popular teacher of Buddhist and yoga philosophy, spirituality, and meditation.

Venerable Marut serves as a founding Board member and Staff Teacher of the Yoga Studies Institute (www.yogastudiesinstitute.org), a non-profit educational institute that grounds students in the classical tradition of yoga. He is also the founder and Spiritual Director of the Asian Classics Institute of Los Angeles (www.aci-la.org), ACI-Cape Ann (www.aci-capeann.org) and ACI-Reno (www.aci-reno.org). The three centers are charitable, non-profit 501(c)3 organizations dedicated to providing the authentic teachings of Mahayana Buddhism for serious study and personal practice. They serve their local communities and thousands of people worldwide via webcast by offering a full schedule of formal study courses, guided meditation, yoga classes, special workshops and community events.

Lama Marut’s audio and video podcasts are downloaded 25,000 times each month, and his monthly newsletters and daily inspirational Twitters reach thousands more students across the world. Along with countless academic articles and encyclopedia entries, he has published three academic books – Classifying the Universe: The Ancient Indian varna System and the Origins of Caste (published by Oxford University Press), Reflections on Resemblance, Ritual, and Religion (published by Oxford University Press), and The Laws of Manu (translated with Wendy Doniger and published by Penguin Books). He is currently at work on Inciting Happiness: Radical Contentment and Revolutionary Spirituality in a Post-Consumerist Age – the first book in which he distills his decades of study, practice and personal insight into a useful, straightforward, comprehensive guide for how to live the truly good life.