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This week we talk to Robert Thurman
Robert Thurman is Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University, President of Tibet House US, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan civilization, and President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. The New York Times recently hailed him as “the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism.”
The first American to have been ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk and a personal friend of the Dalai Lama for over 40 years, Professor Thurman is a passionate advocate and spokesperson for the truth regarding the current Tibet-China situation and the human rights violations suffered by the Tibetan people under Chinese rule. Professor Thurman also translates important Tibetan and Sanskrit philosophical writings and lectures and writes on Buddhism, particularly Tibetan Buddhism; on Asian history, particularly the history of the monastic institution in the Asian civilization; and on critical philosophy, with a focus on the dialogue between the material and inner sciences of the world’s religious traditions.
Popularizing the Buddha’s teachings is just one of Thurman’s creative talents. He is a riveting speaker and an author of many books on Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics and culture, including Essential Tibetan Buddhism, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Infinite Life: Seven Virtues for Living Well, Inner Revolution, The Jewel Tree of Tibet, and Why the Dalai Lama Matters.
His latest book is a graphic biography of the Dalai Lama called Man of Peace: the illustrated life story of the Dalai Lama of Tibet
In This Interview, Robert Thurman and I Discuss…
- The Wolf Parable
- His book Man of Peace: the illustrated life story of the Dalai Lama of Tibet
- Buddha Nature and Buddhahood
- Enlightenment: When you get it, you realize that you’ve always had it
- Whether or not we can actually reach enlightenment in this lifetime
- His experience of tasting enlightenment
- Clear light of bliss
- The Buddha’s mind in us
- We are the Buddha’s reality body
- That the Buddha is pure love
- That the future Buddha is currently manifesting as dogs
- Kalachakra
- That we can find a way to talk with our enemies and find peace
- The common theme of “Love Thine Enemy” across religions and traditions
- How the current Dali Lama is working to lay the path for all beings to reach enlightenment
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