Thomas Forsthoefel

Thomas Forsthoefel is a professor of religious studies at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, as well as a poet and author. He has a special interest in Hinduism and Buddhism and has written on both new religious movements and established traditions within these faiths, while his own background is Roman Catholic. He is married to Beth Gylys, professor of English and Creative Writing at Georgia State University and a fellow poet.

Biography

In 1999, Forsthoefel met the 14th Dalai Lama while attending a conference of scholars in India. In 2008 he edited an anthology of the Dalai Lama's writings and contributed to a documentary film on him.
In 2010, Forsthoefel was named Poet Laureate of Erie County, Pennsylvania. He said that he was going to use that position to promote a program to introduce poetry to people incarcerated in local prisons. His tenure as poet laureate was renewed for 2011.
In 2011, The [New York Times] quoted Forsthoefel concerning the high school from which he had graduated, Fordson High School of Detroit, and its overnight football practices to accommodate Muslim students fasting for Ramadan:

Forsthoefel's published books include:

Four charismatic thinkers on violence and non-violence: analysis and evaluation
Epistemologies of religious experience in medieval and modern Vedānta
Knowing beyond knowledge: epistemologies of religious experience in classical and modern Advaita
Gurus in America co-editor with Cynthia Ann Humes
Soulsong: Seeking Holiness, Coming Home
The Dalai Lama: essential writings editor