Jan Willis, PhD, is Professor of Religion at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. She has studied with Tibetan Buddhists for over four decades, and has taught courses in Buddhism for 39 years. She has published a number of books and articles on various topics in Buddhism, including her memoir, Dreaming Me: Black, Baptist and Buddhist, One Womans Spiritual Journey. In December 2000, Time magazine named Willis one of six “spiritual innovators for the new millennium" and in May 2007 Ebony magazine named Willis one of its “Power 150” most influential African Americans.