Robina Courtin

{{Infobox religious biography

|name = Robina Courtin

|image= 2007.07.29.VRC.AnmlLibPotLuck037.jpg

|caption = Robina Courtin in 2007

|birth name =

|alias =

|dharma name =

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1944|12|20}}

|birth_place = Melbourne, Australia

|death_date =

|death_place =

|nationality =

|religion = Tibetan Buddhism

|school = Gelugpa

|lineage =

|title =

|location =

|education =

|occupation = Tibetan Buddhist nun

|teacher =

|reincarnation of =

|predecessor =

|successor =

|students =

|spouse =

|partner =

|children =

|website = [http://www.robinacourtin.com/ www.robinacourtin.com]

}}

Robina Courtin (born 20 December 1944, in Melbourne, Australia{{cite web

|last = Gregory

|first = Kathleen

|title = Interview with Robina Courtin

|work = Interviews

|publisher = Ordinary Mind

|date = October 2001

|url = http://www.ordinarymind.net/Interviews/interview_Oct2001.htm

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020202223316/http://ordinarymind.net/Interviews/interview_Oct2001.htm

|url-status = dead

|archive-date = 2 February 2002

|access-date = 26 November 2007

}}) is a Buddhist nun in the Tibetan Buddhist Gelugpa tradition and lineage of Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In 1996 she founded the Liberation Prison Project, which she ran until 2009.[http://www.robinacourtin.com/biography.php Biography]{{cite web

|title=Ven. Robina

|publisher=Liberation Prison Project

|url=http://www.fpmt.org/teachers/resident/robinacourtin.asp

|access-date=26 November 2007

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071124142155/http://www.fpmt.org/teachers/resident/robinacourtin.asp

|archive-date=24 November 2007

|url-status=dead

}}

Biography

Courtin was raised Catholic, and in her youth was interested in becoming a Carmelite nun.{{cite web

| last = Saucy

| first = Suzanne

| title = Buddhism Behind Bars: An Interview with the Venerable Robina Courtin

| publisher = Common Ground

| date = May 2004

| url = http://commongroundmag.com/2004/05/buddhismbehindbars0405.html

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301194733/http://commongroundmag.com/2004/05/buddhismbehindbars0405.html

|archive-date=2007-03-01 |access-date=15 April 2014

}}

In her young adulthood, she trained as a classical singer while living in London during the late 1960s.{{cite web

|title=Nun's voice breaks new ground in music

|work=The Sunday Morning Herald

|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/nuns-voice-breaks-new-ground-in-music-20170829-gy6fq2.html

|access-date=29 August 2017

}}

She became a feminist activist and worked on behalf of prisoners' rights in the early 1970s. In 1972 she moved back to Melbourne. Courtin began studying martial arts in 1974, living in New York City and, again, back in Melbourne. In 1976, she took a Buddhist course taught by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa in Queensland.

In 1978 Courtin ordained at Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala. She was editorial director of Wisdom Publications until 1987 and editor of Mandala until 2000. She left Mandala to teach and to develop Liberation Prison Project.

Robina Courtin's work has been featured in two documentary films, Christine Lundberg's On the Road Home (1998) and Amiel Courtin–Wilson's Chasing Buddha (2000), and in Vicki Mackenzie's book Why Buddhism? (2003).{{cite web

|title = Ven. Robina Courtin

|publisher = Chasing Buddha Pilgrimage

|url = http://chasingbuddha.org/ven_robina.htm

|access-date = 26 November 2007

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080303200423/http://chasingbuddha.org/ven_robina.htm

|archive-date = 3 March 2008

}} Her nephew's film, Chasing Buddha, documents Courtin's life and her work with death row inmates in the Kentucky State Penitentiary.{{cite journal

| last = Alston

| first = Macky

| title = Filmmaking as spiritual practice and ministry

| journal = Cross Currents

| volume = 54

| issue = 1

| pages = 76–83

| date = Spring 2004

| url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2096/is_1_54/ai_n6095116

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080906195341/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2096/is_1_54/ai_n6095116

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = 2008-09-06

| access-date =26 November 2007

}} In 2000, the film was nominated for best direction in a documentary by the Australian Film Institute.

In 2001, Courtin created Chasing Buddha Pilgrimage,{{cite web |url=http://www.chasingbuddha.org/index.htm |title=Chasing Buddha Pilgrimage |access-date=2011-01-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120165136/http://chasingbuddha.org/index.htm |archive-date=20 January 2011 }} which lead pilgrimages to Buddhist holy sites in India, Nepal, and Tibet to raise money for the Liberation Prison Project{{cite web

| title = Venerable Robina Courtin

| publisher = Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition

| url = http://www.liberationprisonproject.org/robina/index.php

| access-date = 21 July 2008

}} an association engaged for the Tibetan cause.[http://www.liberationprisonproject.org/news/04.25.08LPPSupportsTibet.php Liberation Prison Project prays and protests for Tibet]

Books edited

{{Cite book

| last = Zopa

| first = Thubten

| editor-last = Courtin

| editor-first = Robina

| editor2-last = Finnegan

| editor2-first = Diana

| editor3-last = Bernard

| editor3-first = Michelle

| title = Dear Lama Zopa: Radical Solutions for Transforming Problems into Happiness

| publisher = Wisdom Publications

| year = 2007

| isbn = 978-0-86171-289-2

}}

{{Cite book

| last = McDonald

| first = Kathleen

| editor-last = Courtin

| editor-first = Robina

| title = How to Meditate: A Practical Guide

| publisher = Wisdom Publications

| year = 2006

| isbn = 0-86171-341-9

}}

{{Cite book

| last = Yeshe

| first = Lama Thubten

| editor-last = Courtin

| editor-first = Robina

| title = Becoming the Compassion Buddha: Tantric Mahamudra for Everyday Life

| publisher = Wisdom Publications

| year = 2003

| isbn = 0-86171-343-5

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/becomingcompassi00thub

}}

{{Cite book

| last = Yeshe

| first = Lama Thubten

| editor-last = Courtin

| editor-first = Robina

| editor2-last = Cameron

| editor2-first = Alisa

| title = The Bliss of Inner Fire: Heart Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa

| publisher = Wisdom Publications

| year = 1998

| isbn = 0-86171-136-X

}}

{{Cite book

| last = Rinpoche

| first = Lama Zopa

| editor-last = Courtin

| editor-first = Robina

| editor2-last = Cameron

| editor2-first = Alisa

| title = Transforming Problems into Happiness

| publisher = Wisdom Publications

| year = 1993

| isbn = 0-86171-038-X

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/transformingprob00thub_0

}}

=Books=

{{Cite book

| last = Dondrub

| first = Thubten

| title = Spiritual Friends: Meditations by Monks and Nuns of the International Mahayana Institute

| publisher = Wisdom Publications

| year = 2001

| isbn = 0-86171-325-7

}}

{{Cite book

| last = MacKenzie

| first = Vicki

| title = Why Buddhism?: Westerners in Search of Wisdom

| publisher = Element Books

| year = 2003

| isbn = 0-00-714228-5

}}

=Periodicals=

{{Cite news

| last = Morris

| first = Linda

| title = A lifeline over the prison walls of the mind

| newspaper = The Sydney Morning Herald

| date = 28 April 2005

| url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/A-lifeline-over-the-prison-walls-of-the-mind/2005/04/27/1114462103536.html

|access-date=15 April 2014

}}

{{Cite news

| last = Walker

| first = Vanessa

| title = Robina and the hoods

| newspaper = The Australian

| date = 15 November 2000

}}

=Audio/Video=

{{cite episode

| title = Chasing Robina

| series = The Spirit of Things

| series-link = Radio National

| credits = Rachael Kohn, Geoff Wood

| network = Radio National

| airdate = 2003-07-13

| season = July 2003

| url= http://www.abc.net.au/rn/relig/spirit/stories/s897932.htm

}}

{{cite episode

| title = Venerable Robina Courtin

| series = The Religion Report

| series-link = Radio National

| credits = Stephen Crittenden, David Rutledge

| network = Radio National

| airdate = 2005-05-04

| season = Wednesday 4 May 2005

| url= http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/relrpt/stories/s1365062.htm

}}

{{cite video

|people = Robina Courtin

|date = 9 September 2007

|title = Compass – Key to Freedom

|url = http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s2039488.htm

|medium = Television production/DVD

|publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation

|access-date = 26 November 2007

|quote= Compass follows Robina Courtin as she visits inmates at Long Bay and Junee prisons in NSW.

}}.

{{cite podcast

|url = http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2008/09/bg-089-venerable-robina-courtin-bodhisattva-ceo/

|title = Episode 89: Venerable Robina Courtin: Bodhisattva CEO

|website = Buddhist Geeks

|host = Vince Horn, Ryan Oelke

|publisher = Buddhist Geeks

|date = 21 September 2008

|access-date = 26 March 2009

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100308071043/http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2008/09/bg-089-venerable-robina-courtin-bodhisattva-ceo/

|archive-date = 8 March 2010

}}

{{cite video

|people = Robina Courtin

|date = 3 October 2008

|title = Be Your Own Therapist

|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nasIq4E9nNg

|medium = Web

|publisher = Google Tech Talks

|access-date = 7 October 2008

}}

Robina Courtin (August 2016). "[https://tricycle.org/dharmatalks/unraveling-our-emotions/ Unraveling Our Emotions]." Dharma Talk for Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.
{{cite podcast

|url = https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/conversations-robina-courtin/8861692

|title = Conversations: Why a Buddhist nun found her way to death row

|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation

|host = Richard Fidler

|date = 7 September 2017

}}