Journey and Milestones
Background Information
Experience
Dr. Bob Miller
Research Editor
Bob translates and edits texts on the monastic life for monastics, scholars, and the reading public.
Bob was a monk from 2001–2015, serving as director of two Tibetan Buddhist monastic communities, one in Australia and one in India. He has interpreted for Tibetan lamas since 2000 and translated Vinaya texts for 84000 since 2011. After earning a BA in Asian History, Bob studied Tibetan in India, and from 2000–2007 he served as interpreter for Gyumé Khenzur Rinpoche (Geshe Tashi Tsering) in Australia. From 2007–2015, he studied under Garje Khamtrul Rinpoche in India. Bob earned his PhD from UC Berkeley in 2023.
During his time as a monk, Bob came to appreciate how monastic texts teach not only a "way of looking" at the world but also a way of living (or being) in the world. Traditionally, this "way of being" is learned during a five- to ten-year apprenticeship, during which new monks and nuns live with or near their monastic mentor. The mentor is an instructor but also a role model and surrogate parent to the new monastic. Through his work at 84000, Bob hopes to bring attention to the social-emotional dimension of monastic learning, showing how it is an essential, but often overlooked, complement to the philosophical reflection and meditation practices that lead to liberation.