Born in 1947 of Lithuanian immigrants in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I attended New York City public elementary and high schools and then Columbia and Fordham Universities for undergraduate and graduate studies. My years in Fordham’s doctoral program in theology were among my most enjoyable, mainly because of professors Ewert Cousins (1927-2009) and Thomas Berry (1914-2009). My experiences in a Zen community led me to want to explore the relationship between Christian mysticism and Buddhist thought. Cousins was deeply interested in inter-religious dialogue, and therefore quite open to being my thesis mentor. Thomas Berry’s extensive study of world religions provided a great complement to Cousins’ expertise in medieval mysticism, and both were deeply influenced by Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955).
After receiving my PhD from Fordham and already equipped with an MLS from the Columbia School of Library Service, I went to serve as Head Librarian first at Wadhams Hall Seminary College, Ogdensburg, NY, and then at Bethany College, Bethany, WV, and as part-time faculty member at both schools. In 1988, I came to Boston College where I worked with faculty and students as Subject Librarian for the Theology, Philosophy, German Studies, and Classical Studies Departments as well as supervised librarian colleagues as the Head of Collection Development until my retirement in 2016.
While at Boston College, I served as Secretary and web editor for the College Theology Society. I am currently web editor and blog moderator for the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.
Jonas Barciauskas
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Dissertation
The Dynamic of Person in Eckhart’s Mysticism and Its Relation to the Sunyata Doctrine. Ph.D. Dissertation; Fordham University, 1984. (Download PDF – 27.5 MB)
Publications
Landscapes of Wisdom: In Search of a Spirituality of Knowing. Lanham, Md. : University Press of America, 2000. (Download PDF – 25.3 MB)
“Leaves of Light: The Textual Journeys of Dante and García Márquez.” Cross Currents 43, no. 2 (Summer 1993): 212-229.
“A Rooted Flower, A Radiant Stone: Eckhart on Nature.” In An Ecology of the Spirit: Religious Reflection and Environmental Consciousness, edited by Michael Barnes, 111-123. Lanham, MD: The College Theology Society; University Press of America, 1994.
“Sitting in the Moving Moonlight: Contemplating a Zen Sesshin and a Catholic Baptism.” Parabola 15, no. 1 (February 1990): 30-34.
Header photo: Nemunas River and surrounding countryside in Lithuania, taken from the Seredžiaus I piliakalnis (Seredžius I hillfort – 14th cen. CE
Ecozoic Cafe 