Louis Komjathy (“Dr. K”; Ph.D., Religious Studies; Boston University) is a leading independent scholar-educator, outsider-scholar, and translator. He also has been described as an academic dissident, court exile, thought-criminal, and “the most dangerous man inside/outside of academia.” Some have conjectured that he is the multi-locating superhero known as the Black-5. He is founding Director and Distinguished Professor of Unlearning at The Underground University (TUU) and founding co-editor (with Kate Townsend) of Square Inch Press (SIP), a newly-established independent Daoist publisher. He researches and has published extensively in Animal Studies, Contemplative Studies, Daoist Studies, and Religious Studies, following specific interests in contemplative practice, embodiment, and mystical experience. In addition to over thirty academic articles and book chapters, Dr. Komjathy has published fourteen books to date. These include the more recent Entering Stillness: A Guide to Daoist Practice (with Kate Townsend) (Square Inch Press, 2022), a poetic and practical introduction to tradition-based Daoist practice-realization from an applied, committed, and lived perspective; Primer for Translating Daoist Literature (Purple Cloud Press, 2022), a practical introduction to translating classical Chinese Daoist literature and the first bilingual Daoist sourcebook; the Twentieth Anniversary Edition (TAE) of the classic Handbooks for Daoist Practice (Square Inch Press, 2023), which is the first and only tradition-based Daoist sourcebook of Daoist literature; the long-awaited Dàodé jīng: A Contextual, Contemplative, and Annotated Bilingual Translation (Square Inch Press, 2023), which is the first Daoist contemplative translation utilizing a Daoist scholar-practitioner approach; and Traces of a Daoist Immortal: Chén Tuán of the Western Marchmount (Brill, 2024), the first comprehensive and systematic study of the Daoist mountain hermit and eventual immortal Chén Tuán (Xīyí [Infinitesimal Subtlety]; d. 989). He is currently working on a number of independent book projects focusing on Daoist commentary literature, Daoist embodiment, and Daoist meditation, which address interpretive issues related to hermeneutics, embodiment, and praxis, respectively. His larger work explores cross-cultural practices and perennial questions related to contemplative awareness, embodied aliveness, beyond-states, and transtemporality. He lives in semi-seclusion in the wooded ravines of Ravinia, Illinois with his wife Kate Townsend, dog-companion Takota (Friend-to-Everyone), and surrounding birdsong.
