Prince Siddhartha was asserting his human right to seek his own flourishing and fulfillment as a human individual rather than serve the community as a king at the wish of his father and of his society. He didn't consider that he was able to really help people who he was supposed to be helping as their ruler. In this episode Professor Thurman discusses the topic of human rights and buddhism, as well as other engaging topics. This episode was recorded on December 10, 2015 in a class taught by Professor Thurman. Human Rights and Buddhism – Episode 46 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Image via www.himalayanart.org. Listen to more archive recordings from from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

In this episode Professor Thurman talks about the Seventeen Great Scholars of Nalanda. They taught at Nalanda, which was a renowned Buddhist University, which traditionally is said to have grown out of a monastery established during the Buddha's time. His Holiness the Dalai Lama often says that he is not necessarily a follower of this or that particular school of Tibetan Buddhism. Rather he traces his spiritual ancestry or lineage to the Seventeen Great Pandits of Nalanda. Professor Thurman also explains the three main dispensations of Buddhist teachings, and shares with us a compelling biography of the great master Shantideva, one of the Seventeen Great Pandits. This episode is an excerpt from the lecture given at Tibet House US in New York City, October 21, 2015, as part of a lecture series called “The Infinite Lifestyle: The Nalanda Path of Transcendent Perfections.” Shantideva: Seventeen Great Pandits of Nalanda - Episode 45 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Image via Wikimedia. To watch the full recordings from this + other past events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. Learn about joining the Tibet House US Membership Community with a monthly tax-deductible donation by visiting: www.tibethouse.us. The song ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

What does it mean to become a Buddha? Does it mean to disappear into space separate from everything? To feel superior? To become a servant of others? In this episode Professor Thurman discusses what it means to be a Buddha, talks about extreme views of absolutism and nihilism and about the necessity of critical and analytical thinking when listening to the teachings. Buddhism 101 : What does Buddha Feel? - Ep. 44 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Amitabha/Amitayus Image via www.tibethouse.us. This episode is an excerpt from the lecture given at Tibet House US in New York City, October 28, 2015, as part of a lecture series called “The Infinite Lifestyle: The Nalanda Path of Transcendent Perfections.” This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us.

We all know what anger is. When a situation is going wrong for us — when something we wanted to see happening doesn't, or when something we don't want to see happening is happening — we get frustrated. That frustration is a fuel of anger. Some people may advise: "Just swallow your anger," but if you still are feeling angry and are merely not expressing it, your anger can become internalized and make you depressed. Therefore other people choose to express it… But there are also other ways to approach it. In this podcast Professor Thurman talks about anger. Drawing from the Way of the Bodhisattva, the renowned work of the famous Buddhist scholar and saint Shantideva , he explains the ways of preventing anger from overwhelming you. This episode is an excerpt from the lecture given at Tibet House US in New York City, November 4, 2015, as part of a lecture series called “The Infinite Lifestyle: The Nalanda Path of Transcendent Perfections.” Shantideva: Anger Management - Ep. 43 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Image via www.himalayanart.org. This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

"Since I and other beings, both, in wanting happiness are equal and alike, what difference is there to distinguish us, that I should strive to have my happiness alone?" In this podcast Professor Thurman discusses the ideas, advanced by Buddhist teachers, in this case skillfully expressed by saint and scholar Shantideva: it's by abandoning self-preoccupation and by cultivating concern for others, that we can experience happiness, and not by ignoring other beings, as we are much more used to doing. By expanding our field of attention to thinking of how what we do affects others, we can shift our habit of self-concern for "others-concern", and that can make us happier. This episode was recorded on October 27, 2015 in a class taught by Professor Thurman. Shantideva: Exchanging Oneself for Others - Ep. 42 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Image via www.himalayanart.org. This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

When we look at mother-beings and see how they really are—quite unhappy, having a lot of problems, growing old—we naturally wish to relieve their unbearable feelings, and this wish takes a form of unbearable compassion. We are afraid that this will be an unpleasant experience for us, but there is a difference, Professor Thurman explains, between compassion and empathy. Once we feel the suffering of others together with them, we wish to get rid of beings' suffering and think how to make them feel happy in the midst of their frustrations or dis satisfactions. And we make a heroic resolve or determination, that we will help them to be free of suffering. This episode was recorded on October 27, 2015 in a class taught by Professor Thurman. Heroic Resolve: Conceiving the Bodhisattva Spirit - Ep. 41 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Image via www.himalayanart.org. This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

In this podcast Professor Thurman shares insights on the concepts of virtue, beauty and skillfulness in Tibetan Buddhism. We think of virtue as beautiful and associate the good with light and brightness. By drawing from the etymology of the Tibetan word "virtuous", Professor Thurman shows how virtue also includes aspects of beauty and skillfulness. He goes on to analyze the evolutionary cause of beauty, and how we can define creativity in Tibetan Buddhism. This episode is an excerpt from the recording made for compiling the "Bob's Thoughts book" on October 18, 2015. Evolutionary Cause of Beauty – Episode 40 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Tara Image via www.himalayanart.org. This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

This episode is a continuation of last week's episode on the fifth chapter of the famous Vimalakirti Sutra. An object of love and inspiration for many lay practitioners, as well as monastics, the Sutra is known for giving an in-depth explanation & analysis of key buddhist concepts, such as emptiness, non-duality, self & non-self, and so on. The 5th chapter relates to Prajnaparamita or Transcendent Wisdom. This episode was recorded on October 8, 2015 in a class taught by Professor Thurman. Relative & Absolute: Conversation between Manjushri & Vimalakirti, Part 2 – Ep. 39 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Vimalakirti Debates Manjushri Dunhuang Mogao Caves image via www.wikimedia.org. This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

In this episode Professor Thurman expounds the profound teaching, contained in the fifth chapter of the famous Vimalakirti Sutra, which he translated and has been teaching for nearly forty years. An object of love and inspiration for many lay practitioners, as well as monastics, the Sutra is known for giving an in-depth explanation & analysis of key buddhist concepts, such as emptiness, non-duality, self & non-self, and so on. The 5th chapter relates to Prajnaparamita or Transcendent Wisdom. This episode was recorded on October 8, 2015 in a class taught by Professor Thurman. Relative & Absolute: Conversation between Manjushri & Vimalakirti, Part 1 - Ep. 38 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Vimalakirti Debates Manjushri Dunhuang Mogao Caves image via www.wikimedia.org. This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

Death is just like going to sleep.. And then we are going to wake up. The way, in which we wake up, has to do with how we have lived today. In this podcast Professor Thurman offers a discourse on the topic of death and dying: what is happening, when we die, what follows it? Can we take rebirth where we like, and what is the difference between conscious and unconscious dying? The episode was recorded on April 24, 2015 at the Open Center conference "The Art of Dying: Spiritual, Scientific and Practical Approaches to Living and Dying". This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York and Wisdom Publications. “The Art of Dying : Buddhism 101 - Ep. 37″ of the Bob Thurman Podcast” is apart of the Buddhism 101 series using classic teachings from the archives of Robert AF Thurman to elucidate basic concepts of the tradition.