Columbia University professor Robert Thurman stands alone among scholars of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. He was the first Westerner to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and he is the renowned translator of many seminal Buddhist texts, including The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
On Making the World We Want, you will hear a very different Thurman as he speaks candidly on what he considers the most urgent issue of our time: how Buddhism is now poised to revolutionize the entire course of humanity.
In this passionate, incisive, and often hilarious joyride of the mind and spirit, Thurman explores: mindful communities as "enlightenment factories" and how they have sparked "inner" revolutions throughout history; the Buddha's philosophy of life, liberty, and the pursuit of real happiness; how compassion and nonduality spur social action; the vision of sacred texts for the future of humanity; and much more.
"The Buddha founded a quiet revolution," asserts Thurman, "a total reorientation of the habits of individuals and entire societies." On Making the World We Want, you will learn how each of us can participate in this monumental revolution today. Robert Thurman
Robert Thurman currently teaches at Columbia University and holds the first endowed chair in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in America. He received Upasika ordination in 1964 and Vajracharya ordination in 1971, both from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is a cofounder of Tibet House in New York City, a cultural nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the endangered civilization of Tibet. Robert Thurman is the author of Essential Tibetan Buddhism; Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness and many other original books and translations of sacred Tibetan texts.
