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Dr. Robert Thurman delivers a spirited lecture to a packed Milam Auditorium Thursday night. Thurman has been credited with popularizing Tibetan Buddhism in America.

Comprehending conflict

Buddhist scholar explains ongoing Chinese conflict and releases book 'Why the Dalai Lama Matters'

By: Haylee Campbell

Posted: 10/10/08

In the 1997 issue of Time Magazine, Robert Thurman was noted as one of the 26 most influential Americans and is referred to as "the Billy Graham of American Buddhism."

Last night, OSU students and faculty, as well as the general public, were invited to hear Dr. Thurman speak as the opener to this year's Hundere Religion and Culture Lecture Series, with his in-depth information and sense of humor. The lecture took place before a packed house in Milam Auditorium.

"[Thurman] has been a groundbreaker in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West and he has really opened up the doors for the religion," said James Blumenthal, associate professor of South Asian Religions and World Religions at OSU.

Thurman, the father of actress Uma Thurman, spoke about his book, "Why the Dalai Lama Matters," which came out in January of this year.

"I wrote the book because the Dalai Lama is beloved by everyone who knows him. He is very intelligent and an inspiring person," Thurman said.

Thurman's book introduces Buddhism and the Tibetan view of the Dalai Lama, and even focuses more specifically on the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. Thurman discusses the importance of what the Dalai Lama has accomplished through peace and communication between China and Tibet.

He discusses 50-year-old disputes between Tibet and China, as well as the current situations between the two countries. Thurman also proposes two five-step plans to bring peace between the China and Tibet. The proposals would be addressed to the Chinese President and the Dalai Lama,

"The war going on is one of the worst atrocities going on since the 1950s and it is really unnecessary," Thurman said. "The longer that it goes on, the more the people in China and Tibet suffer."

The first step for the Chinese President is to have Hu Jintao, the current President of the People's Republic of China, unify the whole of the Tibetan population administratively, so that the Dalai Lama would have the power to make a decision that would apply to the entire country.

The second and third steps involve removing people that do not want to be in the country but are being forced to stay, and removing any army and police officials that are bringing harm to the Tibetan people.

The fourth thing for Jintao is to let the Dalai Lama return to Tibet. He has not yet returned because of the presence of the Chinese police.

"If he were to return, there would be celebration, and most likely there would be beatings of the people from the police, and the fear of having the Dalai Lama harmed," Thurman said.

The fifth idea is that Hu Jintao and the Dalai Lama present the whole Tibetan plateau to the world as the largest environmentally-protected area in the world, since it is the fountain to the rest of the Asian peninsula, in that it houses the sources for nine different rivers.

"The Dalai Lama is a 'yes we can' person, but without violence," Thurman said.

"Basically, what he was presenting was an idealistic hope for the world and evolution for the human race. I don't know if I agree with the plan, but I understand what he is saying," said Zachary Rose, a junior in history and anthropology at OSU.

Currently, Dr. Thurman holds the Jey Tsong Khapa chair of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Religion Department at Columbia University. He is also President of the Tibet House, a non-profit organization - that he co-founded with Richard Gere - that focuses on the promotion and preservation of Tibetan civilization, and President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, a non-profit organization that focuses on the translations of texts from Tibetan Tanjur.

Thurman has a doctorate from Harvard University and has studied in the Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries in both India and the United States.

He has been studying Tibetan Buddhism for over 30 years, and was a personal student of the Dalai Lama. Thurman was also the first American to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk in 1962.

Haylee Campbell, staff writer

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