THE OLDEST BOY” a New Play by SARAH RUHL Directed by REBECCA TAICHMAN

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

THE OLDEST BOY” a New Play by SARAH RUHL Directed by REBECCA TAICHMAN FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE LINCOLN CENTER THEATER TO PRESENT TWO SPECIAL EVENTS IN CONJUNCTION WITH “THE OLDEST BOY” A New Play by SARAH RUHL Directed by REBECCA TAICHMAN TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28 at 6:00 pm “LIFE IMITATES LIFE, AGAIN AND AGAIN” A TALK BETWEEN KYABJE GELEK RIMPOCHE TIBETAN BUDDHIST MASTER aNd FOUNDER OF JEWEL HEART, MICKEY LEMLE FILMMAKER aNd BOARD CHAIRMAN OF TIBET FUND AND SARAH RUHL AUTHOR OF THE OLDEST BOY IN THE LOBBY OF THE VIVIAN BEAUMONT THEATER FREE TO THE PUBLIC TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4 at 6:00 pm “THE STORY OF REINCARNATION IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM” A TALK BY DR. THUPTEN JINPA LANGRI TRANSLATOR TO HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA AT THE MITZI E. NEWHOUSE THEATER ALL SEATS $20 Lincoln Center Theater will present two special events in conjunction with its production of THE OLDEST BOY, a new play by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Rebecca Taichman, which begins performances at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater on Thursday (October 9). These special events are being presented in association with Tibet Fund. On Tuesday, October 28th at 6:00 pm, LCT will host LIFE IMITATES LIFE, AGAIN AND AGAIN, a discussion between Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche (Tibetan Buddhist Master and Founder of Jewel Heart), Mickey Lemle (filmmaker and Board Chairman of Tibet Fund), and Sarah Ruhl (author of The Oldest Boy). The discussion will be held in the Vivian Beaumont Theater lobby (150 West 65th Street). Admission is free and the event is open to the public; however, seating in the lobby is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis only, beginning a half hour before the talk. Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche was born in Lhasa, Tibet, and was recognized as an incarnate lama at the age of four. He was amongst the last generation of lamas educated in Drepung Monastery before the Communist Chinese invasion of Tibet. He gained renown for his powers of memory, intellectual judgment and penetrating insight. Rimpoche was crucial to the survival of Tibetan Buddhism, and is credited with editing and printing over 170 volumes of rare Tibetan manuscripts that would have otherwise been lost. He was director of Tibet House in Delhi, India and a radio host at All India Radio where he conducted over 1000 interviews, compiling an oral history of the fall of Tibet to the Communist Chinese. In 1988, he founded Jewel Heart, a Tibetan Buddhist Center with centers in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Nebraska, and New York. His collected written works include over 32 transcripts of his teachings, numerous articles, as well as the national bestseller Good Life, Good Death (Riverhead Books 2001) and the Tara Box: Rituals for Protection and Healing from the Female Buddha (New World Library 2004). Rimpoche is a U.S. citizen and lives in Michigan. Mickey Lemle is a producer/director whose work includes the award winning PBS series Media Probes, Emmy Award winning series ZOOM, Peabody Award winning Eye-to-Eye, and The Other Side of the Moon. Lemle produced and directed the Emmy nominated, multi award-winning documentary Compassion In Exile: The Story of the 14th Dalai Lama. Other projects include: Hasten Slowly: the Journey of Sir Laurens Van Der Post, A Woman’s Place Is In The House, and Ram Das (Fierce Grace). He is developing the feature film Brilliant about Larry Brilliant. Currently, Lemle sits on the Board of Tibet Fund, Joseph Campbell Foundation, The 52nd Street Project, and The Rubin Museum. Sarah Ruhl returns to Lincoln Center Theater where her plays The Clean House (Pulitzer Prize finalist, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize) and In The Next Room, or the vibrator play (Pulitzer Prize finalist) had their New York premieres. Her other plays include Stage Kiss; Passion Play, a cycle (Pen American Award); Dead Man’s Cell Phone; Melancholy Play; Orlando; Dear Elizabeth; and Late: a cowboy song (Piven Theatre Workshop). Her plays have been produced across the country, as well as internationally, and have been translated into Polish, Russian, Spanish, Norwegian, Korean, German, French, Swedish, and Arabic. * * * * * On Tuesday, November 4th at 6:00 pm, LCT will host THE STORY OF REINCARNATION IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM, a talk by Dr. Thupten JiNpa Langri, translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The presentation will be held in the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65th Street). All tickets are $20 and are available at the Lincoln Center Theater box office; seating is general admission. 50% of the proceeds from THE STORY OF REINCARNATION IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM will be donated to Tibet Fund. Dr. Thupten Jinpa Langri has been the principal English interpreter to His Holiness the Dalai Lama since 1985. Dr. Jinpa received early education and training as a monk at Zongkar Chöde Monastery in South India where he received the Geshe Lharam degree. He holds a B.A. with Honors in Western Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies, both from Cambridge University. He has translated and edited more than 10 books by the Dalai Lama including Healing Anger, Dzogchen, Path to Bliss, The World of Tibetan Buddhism, The Good Heart: The Dalai Lama Explores the Heart of Christianity, and the New York Times bestseller Ethics for the New Millennium. In addition to contributing articles to various collections and academic journals, Dr. Jinpa has edited Tibetan Songs of Spiritual Experience and written Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Thought: Tsongkhapa’s Quest for the Middle View. He is currently the president of the Institute of Tibetan Classics, and sits on the board of Mind and Life Institute and Tibet Fund. * * * * * THE OLDEST BOY tells the story of Tenzin, the toddler son of an American woman and a Tibetan man, who is recognized as the reincarnation of a high Buddhist teacher. Differing cultures contend with competing ideas of faith and love when two monks seek permission to take Tenzin to a monastery in India to begin his training as a spiritual master. His parents must decide whether to send their young son away or keep him home. THE OLDEST BOY features Ernest Abuba, Tsering Dorjee, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Takemi Kitamura, James Saito, Jon Norman Schneider, James Yaegashi and Nami Yamamoto. The production has sets by Mimi Lien, costumes by Anita Yavich, lighting by Japhy Weideman, sound by Darron L West, puppetry design/direction by Matt Acheson, and choreography by Barney O’Hanlon. Tickets to THE OLDEST BOY, priced at $77 and $87, are available at the Lincoln Center Theater box office (150 West 65 Street), at telecharge.com, or by visiting www.lct.org. A limited number of tickets priced at $32 are available at every performance through LincTix, LCT’s program for 21 to 35 year olds. For information and to enroll, visit LincTix.org. .
Recommended publications
  • Big Love: Mandala Magazine Article
    LAMA YESHE, PASHUPATINATH TEMPLE, NEPAL, 1980. PHOTO BY TOM CASTLES, COURTESY OF LAMA YESHE WISDOM ARCHIVE. 26 MANDALA | July - December 2019 A MONUMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENT: THE MAKING OF Big Love BY LAURA MILLER The creation of FPMT founder Lama Yeshe’s official biography has been a monumental task. Work on the forthcoming book, Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe, has spanned three decades. To understand the significance of this project as it draws to a close, Mandala talked to three key people, all early students of Lama Yeshe, about the production of the book: Adele Hulse, Big Love’s author; Peter Kedge, who initiated and helped fund the project; and Nicholas Ribush, who is overseeing the book’s publication at the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe begins with a refugee Tibetan monks. Together, the two lamas encountered their simple dedication: “This book is dedicated to you, the reader. first Western student, Zina Rachevsky, in 1967 in Darjeeling. The If you met Lama during your life, may you feel his presence here. following year, they went to Nepal, where they soon established If you never met Lama, then come with us—walk up the hill to Kopan Monastery on the outskirts of Kathmandu and later Kopan and meet Lama Yeshe, as thousands did, without knowing founded the international FPMT organization. anything of Buddhism or Tibet. That came later.” “Since then, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been to many Within the biography’s nearly 1,400 pages, Lama Yeshe comes countries and now has a great reputation and has received many to life.
    [Show full text]
  • Arya Nagarjuna's
    Arya Nagarjuna’s Praise to Satisfying Sentient Beings A Commentary------S------ on the Awakening Mind Teachings by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Bylakuppe, India ․ December 2015 Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies www.kurukulla.org Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies 68 Magoun Avenue ◆ Medford, MA 02155 USA ◆ www.kurukulla.org © 2015 by Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies All rights reserved. Published 2015. 1,500 copies printed for free distribution. Texts reproduced with kind permission from: English translation of Praise to Satisfying Sentient Beings © Geshe Tsulga, Thubten Damchoe and Yeshe Chodron, 2008; revised by Thubten Damchoe and Yeshe Chodron, 2015. English translation of A Commentary on the Awakening Mind © Geshe Thupten Jinpa, 2006; revised 2007. Chinese translation of Praise to Satisfying Sentient Beings © Sera Je Trehor Lharampa Geshe Choewang, 2015 Chinese translation of A Commentary on the Awakening Mind © Jamyang Rinchen (Chun Yuan Huang) Front cover art with kind permission from Robert Beer. Back cover photo with kind permission from Amdo Ganzey Tshering. Photo of Tara & Stupa with kind permission from David Zinn. Cover & Book design by Gopa & Ted2, Inc. Contents ------S------ Tribute: Sera Je Trehor Lharampa Geshe Tsulga v Foreword x Acknowledgements xiii English Texts 1 A Commentary on the Awakening Mind 25 Praise to Satisfying Sentient Beings Chinese Texts 菩提心釋 31 歡喜有情讚 45 About Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies 48 Opposite: Geshe Tsulga (left) and HHDL (right) in Mundgod, India 2002 Tribute: Sera Je Trehor Lharampa Geshe Tsulga ------S------ “Your Holiness is the root of peace and happiness for the whole world in general, and in particular, for the Tibetan people and their culture as both face extinction.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Buddhist Metaphysics: the Making of a Philosophical Tradition
    EARLY BUDDHIST METAPHYSICS This book provides a philosophical account of the major doctrinal shift in the history of early Theravada tradition in India: the transition from the earliest stratum of Buddhist thought to the systematic and allegedly scholastic philosophy of the Pali Abhidhamma movement. Conceptual investigation into the development of Buddhist ideas is pursued, thus rendering the Buddha’s philosophical position more explicit and showing how and why his successors changed it. Entwining comparative philosophy and Buddhology, the author probes the Abhidhamma’s shift from an epistemologically oriented conceptual scheme to a metaphysical worldview that is based on the concept of dhamma. She does so in terms of the Aristotelian tradition and vis-à-vis modern philosophy, exploiting Western philo- sophical literature from Plato to contemporary texts in the fields of philosophy of mind and cultural criticism. This book not only demonstrates that a philosophical inquiry into the conceptual foundations of early Buddhism can enhance our understanding of what philosophy and religion are qua thought and religion; it also shows the value of fresh perspectives for traditional Buddhology. Combining philosophically rigorous investigation and Buddhological research criteria, Early Buddhist Metaphysics fills a significant gap in Buddhist scholar- ship’s treatment of the conceptual development of the Abhidhamma. Noa Ronkin received her PhD from the University of Oxford. She is currently a lecturer in the Introduction to the Humanities Programme and a Research Fellow at the Center for Buddhist Studies, Stanford University. Her research interests include a range of issues associated with Indian Theravada Buddhist philosophy and psychology, the Abhidhamma tradition and comparative Indian philosophy.
    [Show full text]
  • A Spiritual Teaching Transmitted Across the World
    INSIDE: • Tibetans Compelled to Return Home from Kalachakra • Secretary of State Tillerson on Tibet • Larung Gar Destruction Intensifies • John Oliver Airs Interview with the Dalai Lama SPRING 2017 A SPIRITUAL TEACHING TRANSMITTED ACROSS THE WORLD THE DALAI LAMA DELIVERS HIS 34TH KALACHAKRA EMPOWERMENT IN BODH GAYA, INDIA From the President INTERNATIONAL Dear Friends, COUNCIL OF ADVISORS The last time I wrote to you in these pages, a new U.S. President was Harrison Ford about to take office. As the Trump administration enters its fourth Hideaki Kase month, our priority now is to maintain consistent, bipartisan support Kerry Kennedy for Tibet in the halls of government. Bernard Kouchner Vytautas Landsbergis Despite great uncertainty surrounding the new administration’s foreign policy, so far, we have Mairead Maguire been encouraged by the positive reception we have encountered in dozens of meetings ICT’s Adolfo Perez Esquivel team has organized in both the House and Senate. We have also reached out to the presidential Jose Ramos-Horta transition team to brief team members and ensure that key positions in the White House and Rabi Ray State Department have the correct information with regard to the current situation inside Tibet. Professor Samdhong Rinpoche Sulak Sivaraksa During the weeks before the confirmation hearing for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, we worked hard to make sure that Senators would pose questions about U.S. policy on Tibet and receive his Tenzin N. Tethong written answers, which are discussed on page 3 of this issue. We were happy to receive Secretary Desmond Tutu Tillerson’s pledge to uphold the basic tenets of U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Tibethaus, Frankfurt
    Nyare Khentrul (Gelek) Rinpooche has passed away To our great sorrow we have learnt that the eminent Tibetan Master Nyare Khentrul Rinpoche, better known as Gelek Rinpoche, passed away yesterday at 6 am local time in the USA. Rinpoche was one of the most important early trail blazers to establish Tibetan Buddhism in the West. He was brilliant at holding the balance between maintaining the undiluted traditional knowledge and the transfer to the west with all its own idiosyncratic conditions. He still came from the generation of scholars born in old Tibet. 1939 he was born as a nephew of the 13th Dalai Lama. As a recognized incarnation he first experienced life in a monastery. He completed his studies in Drepung monastic university at a very young age with a geshe title. In 1959 he escaped to India, along with many of his fellow Tibetans and returned his monks vows then. He was one of the first students of the Young Lamas Home School. He came to the West early, to the USA, where amongst others he kept close contact with famous poet Allen Ginsberg and musician Philip Glass. He founded the Buddhist organization Jewel Heart, which amongst others, has a sister organization in Holland. Gelek Rinpoche is a close friend of our spiritual guide Dagyab Rinpoche. They knew each other since childhood. Due to this deep bond between them many students of one lama are also students of the other. Gelek Rimpoche has also given teachings in Tibethaus and Chödzong, (the predecessor to Tibethaus). He will remain unforgettable. This teachings were carried equally by profound wisdom and great humor and were always relevant to daily life.
    [Show full text]
  • Ways of Knowing Tibetan Peoples and Landscapes
    HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Volume 24 Number 1 Himalaya; The Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Article 18 No. 1 & 2 2004 Ways of Knowing Tibetan Peoples and Landscapes Wim Van Spengen Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya Recommended Citation Van Spengen, Wim. 2004. Ways of Knowing Tibetan Peoples and Landscapes. HIMALAYA 24(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol24/iss1/18 This Research Article is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WIM VAN SPENGEN WAYS OF KNOWING TIBETAN PEOPLES AND LANDSCAPES In this concluding essay, I first sketch a brief outline of a Peoples and Landscapes perspective within a wider and changing social science context; second, present an overview of the field of Tibetan studies with particular refer- ence to recent work in geography and anthropology; third, reflect briefly on ways of knowing “Tibetan Peoples and Landscapes;” and, fourth, situate the contributions of the authors to this special issue within their fields. uite a few will remember the 1995 movie clearly delineated, and that their substance would go The Bridges of Madison County in which unchanged and unchallenged over space and time. Qthe main characters Clint Eastwood and These new insights and interpretations also shattered Meryl Streep have a brief affair set against the notions of fixed identity: social, cultural, as well as background of a wooden bridge, so characteristic territorial.
    [Show full text]
  • This Book Addresses Some of the Most Fundamental and Troublesome Questions That Have Driven a Wedge Between the Realms of Western Science and Religion for Centuries
    [from the back cover]: This book addresses some of the most fundamental and troublesome questions that have driven a wedge between the realms of Western science and religion for centuries. Consciousness at the Crossroads is the result of a series of meetings between the Dalai Lama and a group of eminent neuroscientists and psychiatrists. The Dalai Lama regularly dedicates several days out of his busy schedule to engage in these kinds of meetings, which have resulted in more than a decade of fruitful dialogue between Buddhism and Western science. Is the mind nothing more than an ephemeral side-effect of the brain’s physical processes? Are there forms of consciousness so subtle that science has not yet identified them? How does consciousness begin? How do we know what we know? Buddhism, with its emphasis on empirical observation of mental processes, offers insights into these thorny questions, while the Dalai Lama’s own incisive, clear approach and open-minded pursuit of knowledge both challenges and offers inspiration to Western scientists. Born in Amdo, Tibet in 1935, Tenzin Gyatso was recognized as THE FOURTEENTH DALAI LAMA, spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet. He has served as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India, since the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959. Winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize today he is known the world over as a great spiritual teacher and a tireless worker for peace. Consciousness at the Crossroads Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism Edited by Zara Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston, and B.
    [Show full text]
  • Qt70g9147s.Pdf
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Previously Published Works Title Tibetan Buddhist dream yoga and the limits of Western Psychology. Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/70g9147s ISBN 9781440829475 Author ROSCH, E Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California In R. Hurd & K. Bulkeley (Eds.) Lucid dreaming: New perspectives on consciousness in sleep. Volume 2: Religion, creativity, and culture. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2014, pp 1-22. Tibetan Buddhist Dream Yoga and the Limits of Western Psychology Eleanor Rosch Department of Psychology University of California, Berkeley “Look to your experience in sleep to discover whether or not you are truly awake.”1 The Buddha has been called both The Awakened One and The Enlightened One, and both of these qualities are evoked by the word lucid in the way that we now use it to refer to lucid dreaming. However, the uses to which lucidity in dreams has been put by the West is limited and relatively superficial compared to lucidity in dreams, dreamless sleep, daily life, and even death in the practices of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. As the Tibetan teacher Tendzin Wangyal puts it, “Dream practice is not just for personal growth or to generate interesting experiences. It is part of the spiritual path and its results should affect all aspects of life by changing the practitioner’s identity, and the relationship between the practitioner and the world.”2 What does that mean? How can it be accomplished? And what implications might these practices have for our psychology and for Western science more generally? In this chapter I will address such questions, first by discussing the Buddhist material, and then by examining the ways in which the effects of lucidity in Tibetan Buddhist practitioners challenge basic assumptions about bodies and minds in Western science.
    [Show full text]
  • Spiritual Materialism
    Spiritual Materialism What Christians can learn from Buddhists about integration in the inner life Thomas A. Baima Mundelein Seminary March 4, 2019 This academic year had a difficult beginning. The scandals pushed aside virtually everything else. The attractiveness of the priestly and theological vocation was obscured. Consequently, my annual academic address will reflect on the struggles which this year has brought to the seminary, especially as they affect the inner life. I’m not going to rehearse the whole story but let me begin with two quotations. The Washington Post: . recently noted that a major religious organization in North America had revealed serious misconduct by its spiritual leaders, including some at the very highest ranks, that the organization had failed to do adequate background checks on its leaders, mishandled complaints by victims, resisted involving the civil authorities when crimes were reported, hid the problem from their members and the public, refused to remove leaders who were credibly accused and resisted policy changes that would provide accountability.1 1 Kristine Phillips and Amy Wang “‘Pure evil’: Southern Baptist leaders condemn decades of sexual abuse revealed in investigation,” The Washington Post (February 10, 2019) https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/02/10/pure-evil-southern-baptist-leaders-condemn- decades-sexual-abuse-revealed-investigation/?utm_term=.a1545907a36c 1 The New York Times reported: Late last month, a former [religious leader] released a report alleging that [one of the highest-ranking leaders] had sexually abused and exploited some of his most devoted . followers for years. [There was] drunken groping and forcefully extracted sexual favors. The report said that senior leaders .
    [Show full text]
  • Self-Compassion: Integrating Buddhist Philosophy and Practices with Western Psychotherapy and a Group Counselling Curriculum
    SELF-COMPASSION: INTEGRATING BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICES WITH WESTERN PSYCHOTHERAPY AND A GROUP COUNSELLING CURRICULUM by Amy Roomy MEd, University of Victoria, 2000 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Curriculum Theory and Implementation Program Faculty of Education Amy Roomy 2017 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2017 Approval Name: Amy Roomy Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title: Self-Compassion: Integrating Buddhist Philosophy and Practices with Western Psychotherapy and a Group Counselling Curriculum Examining Committee: Chair: Shawn Bullock Associate Professor Heesoon Bai Senior Supervisor Professor Charles Scott Supervisor Adjunct Professor Allan MacKinnon Internal/External Examiner Associate Professor Thupten Jinpa External Examiner Adjunct Professor School of Religious Studies McGill University Date Defended/Approved: May 18, 2017 ii Abstract In this dissertation, self-compassion and its significance to us are explored from the bifocal perspective of contemporary Western psychotherapy and Buddhist wisdom traditions containing philosophical, spiritual and psychological teachings. The dissertation explores the dialogue and synthesis that have been transpiring for the last few decades between Buddhist and Western psychological systems as proposed and practised by Buddhist and Western psychotherapists, psychiatrists and teachers on compassion and self-compassion. My personal orientation and experience of both Buddhism and the practice of Western psychotherapy serve to promote here a rich, meaningful integration and application of self-compassion in the arenas of education and human service, including schooling and mental health. Chapter 1 is a discussion of the context for my inspiration to study and research self- compassion as a Buddhist practitioner and psychotherapist. In chapter 2, I examine the Buddhist concept of self, as it is integral to the understanding of self-compassion.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Absence of Self: a Critical Analysis of Tsongkhapa's Philosophy of Emptiness
    East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Undergraduate Honors Theses Student Works 5-2012 On the Absence of Self: A Critical Analysis of Tsongkhapa’s Philosophy of Emptiness. Jesse Shelton East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/honors Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Shelton, Jesse, "On the Absence of Self: A Critical Analysis of Tsongkhapa’s Philosophy of Emptiness." (2012). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 33. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/33 This Honors Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. On the Absence of Self: A Critical Analysis of Tsongkhapa’s Philosophy of Emptiness Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of Honors By Jesse Shelton The Honors College University Honors Program East Tennessee State University April 16, 2012 ____ Dr. Douglas Duckworth, Faculty Mentor __________ Dr. Joe Green, Faculty Reader ____ Dr. William Burgess, Faculty Reader 0 Introduction Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) is one of Tibet’s most notable philosophers and his philosophy reflects what came to be formalized as the Geluk tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.1 Tsongkhapa’s primary concern, and the focus of this paper, is the philosophy of śūnyatā, or emptiness. Interpreted in various ways, emptiness grew to become one of the central doctrines for most schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The doctrine of emptiness proposes, in general terms, that all phenomena, objects, people, experiences, thoughts, etc., have no intrinsic existence.
    [Show full text]
  • Delivering Service and Support
    THE TIBET FUND YEARS SPECIAL REPORT HIS HOLINESS THE 14TH DALAI LAMA 1 SIKYONG Dr. LOBSANG SANGAY Senator Dianne Feinstein 2 3 Program (KAP) was initiated to address and nunneries as well as cultural None of our work would have been the unmet medical, educational, and institutions such as the Tibetan possible without the support of our economic needs of Tibetans in Tibet. Institute for Performing Arts, Library partners, individual donors, grants PRESIDENT With funding from private donors, TTF for Tibetan Works and Archives, and from foundations, and major funding RINCHEN DHARLO built Chushul Orphanage and funded Nepal Lhamo Association. from the US Department of State’s two other children’s homes. TTF also Bureau of Population, Refugees and funded the construction of Lhasa Eye In 1997, we initiated the Blue Book Migration and Bureau of Education Center and sponsored several surgical Project, which is seen as an effective and Cultural Affairs, The Office of eyes camps restoring more than 2,000 way for individuals to support the Citizen Exchanges of the Bureau of sights. KAP at that time has won the Tibetan people. From 1997 to 2015, Educational and Cultural Affairs, support and confidence of Tibetan TTF has raised a total of over $310,000 and the USAID. We would like to authorities at the highest levels both in from individual donors and transferred express our deepest gratitude to the perSOnal Tibet and in exile and has successfully that fund to the Central Tibetan US Congress and Administration, reflections provided resources and training for Administration. Establishment of the whose continued support and belief education and health projects in Tibet Tibetan Sponsorship Program in 1999 in our mission has provided critical as well as in mainland China and study has also been very satisfying.
    [Show full text]