As the first westerner to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, Robert Thurman has worked tirelessly to support His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso’s efforts to re-establish and preserve Tibetan Buddhism in exile. As part of that effort, he co-founded Tibet House U.S. in 1987 at the request of His Holiness. In this talk, he speaks about the history of these efforts, and discusses how vital the preservation of this unique wisdom system is to the world. In presenting the history of Tibet, he demonstrates how Buddhism transformed a culture of warring nomads into a culture primarily devoted to the cultivation and dissemination of peace, vitality, and wisdom. He speaks about the relevance of such a trajectory in the modern time and argues that this example must remain in contemporary discourse to help the world emerge out of the culture of war that dominates the current (modern) political landscape. His vision of how key elements of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan medicine, and Tibetan art can offer an elixir to a world out of balance is as inspiring as it is.
A spiritual masterpiece of unparalleled profundity, The Tibetan Book of the Dead is as applicable today as it was a thousand years ago. While it was written as a guidebook for death, it is equally The Tibetan Book of Life. Studying The Book ironically brings you more fully into life, and gives bi...