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Via Zoom. Registration is required, see details below.Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies is honored to have distinguished scholar, educator and author Dr. Robert Thurman guide us in how Lama Tsongkhapa's profound presentation of the view of reality is understood in both sutra and tantra.
Jey Tsongkhapa Lobsang Drakpa (1357-1419) was one of the greatest scholar-practitioners in the history of Tibetan Buddhism and the founder of the Gelug tradition. While still a young man, Tsongkhapa distinguished himself through intense study, a sharp intellect and meditative accomplishment. In 1398, after a five year retreat, he attained a realization of total clarity in regard to the exoteric middle way teachings about nonduality of samsara and nirvana of Nāgārjuna et al., combined with full clear light immersion through the Esoteric Community unexcelled yoga tantric paths opened up by the same teachers, especially Nāgārjuna and Chandrakirti. In the last twenty-one years of his life, Tsongkhapa dedicated himself to exemplary further practice, teaching, writing, establishing monasteries, and catalyzing major social change in central Tibet.
Jey Rinpoche Tsongkhapa relentlessly pursued his own understanding of the view until he was completely satisfied at having understood the intentions of the Buddha and Indian masters such as Nagarjuna, Buddhapalita, Chandrakirti, and Atisha.
We encourage you to explore Robert Thurman’s books on the life and thought of Lama Tsongkhapa. You can learn more about them or purchase the books here:
The Life and Teachings of Tsongkhapa
https://wisdomexperience.org/product/life-and-teachings-tsongkhapa/
Brilliantly Illuminating Lamp of the Five Stages
https://wisdomexperience.org/product/brilliantly-illuminating-lamp-five-stages/
Dr. Thurman has also recommended reading Thupten Jinpa’s biography TsongKhapa: A Buddha in the Land of Snows
https://www.shambhala.com/tsongkhapa.html
About the event:
This event will be presented via Zoom with registration required. If you are able, please consider being a sponsor of this program along with your registration. You can register with the Ticket link on this page, or the following:
https://tsechenlingcenter.ticketspice.com/the-wisdom-view-of-tsongkhapa-sutra-and-tantra-with-dr-robert-thurman
Registration - $20
Registration with sponsorship - $50
Registration with sponsorship - $108
About Dr. Robert AF Thurman
Robert A.F. 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 artistic and scientific treatises from the Tibetan Tengyur.
TIME magazine chose Professor Thurman as one of its 25 most influential Americans in 1997, describing him as a “larger than life scholar-activist destined to convey the Dharma, the precious teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, from Asia to America.” The New York Times recently said Thurman “is considered the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism.”
Dr. Thurman is known as a talented popularizer of the Buddha’s teachings. He is a riveting speaker and an author of many books on Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics and culture, including The Central Philosophy of Tibet, Circling the Sacred Mountain, Essential Tibetan Buddhism, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, Worlds of Transformation, Inner Revolution, The Life and Teachings of Tsongkhapa (editor), Why The Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World, and, most recently, with Sharon Salzberg, Love Your Enemies.
His own search for enlightenment began while he was a student at Harvard. After an accident in which he lost the use of an eye, Thurman left school on a spiritual quest throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He found his way to India, where he first saw H.H. the Dalai Lama in 1962. After learning Tibetan and studying Buddhism he decided to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk and was the first Westerner to be ordained by the Dalai Lama. However, some years later, he offered up his robes when “he discovered he could be more effective in the American equivalent of the monastery: the university.” He returned to Harvard to finish his PhD. A very popular professor, students call his classes “life-changing.”
As part of his long-term commitment to the Tibetan cause, at the request of H.H. the Dalai Lama, Thurman co-founded Tibet House US in 1987 with Tenzin Tethong, Richard Gere, and Philip Glass. Since then, Uma Thurman, Melissa Mathison Ford, Natalie Merchant, Leila Hadley Luce and many others have served on the board. Tibet House US is a non-profit organization in New York City dedicated to the preservation and renaissance of Tibetan civilization. It maintains a lively museum and cultural center, and offers programs in all aspects of the Tibetan arts and sciences. It recently founded the Menla Retreat + Dewa Spa in the Catskill Mountains to advance the healing arts and wisdom of Tibetan and Asian medicine traditions and offer their resources to the growing demand for alternative and complementary health practices.
Inspired by his good friend the Dalai Lama, Thurman stands on Buddhism’s open reality, and thence takes us along with him into an expanded vision of the world, whether the sweep of history, the subtleties of the inner science of the psyche, or the wonders of the life of the heart. He always shares the sense of refuge in the Dharma, which unfailingly helps us clear away the shrouds of fear and confusion, sustains us with the cheerfulness of an enriched present, and opens a door to a path of realistic hope for a peaceful future.
For more information on the activities and work of Dr. Robert Thurman, please visit:
bobthurman.com
For more information about Tibet House, please visit:
tibethouse.us
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies, 302 Jules Ave, San Francisco, United States
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