In this podcast Professor Thurman gives a brief history of the Western discovery of Buddhism and how there have often been misrepresentations of its central ideas—Dharma (or Dhamma), nirvana, karma—confusions some times brought over from the Asian sources countries, some imposed in attempts to modernize or Westernize Buddha’s expressions of how he sees the world. The podcast includes questions from retreat participants about nonviolence and the definition of what makes a society Buddhist.

This podcast is apart of the ‘Buddhism 101’ Series using classic teachings from the Robert Thurman archive to elucidate basic concepts of the tradition.

Recorded at the 2008 Hiking in the Catskills Retreat at Menla, Phoenicia, New York.

Image by Matjaz Krivic from the Tibet House US Exhibition “Silent Spaces” on Display through March 2017.