6 July 2008
The Origin of the Dalai Lama
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The Dalai Lama
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The institution of the Dalai Lama - the Buddhist 'Pope' of Tibet - has a history that goes back at least to the 12th century, but Buddhist myth traces the origin of the Dalai Lama to a Brahmin boy who met the Buddha under the Bodhi tree. Professor of Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, Robert Thurman, traces the unusual history of the Dalai Lama.
Guests
Dr Robert Thurman
"is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University, President of the Tibet House U.S., a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan civilization, and President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, a non-profit affiliated with the Center for Buddhist Studies at Columbia University and dedicated to the publication of translations of important texts from the Tibetan Tanjur. 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. Time magazine chose Professor Thurman as one of its 25 most influential Americans in 1997."
Further Information
Publications
Title: Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World
Author: Robert Thurman
Publisher: Atria Books/ Beyond Words, 2008
URL: http://dalailamamatters.com/
Presenter
Rachael Kohn
Producer
Geoff Wood and Rachael Kohn
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