Robert Thurman: Buddhism Will Civilize the West

Robert Thurman, the great American Buddhist, gave a talk in Vancouver last month, and with a few edits the whole thing has been made accessible in 10 video clips hosted at YouTube. All 10 clips are also embedded in Thurman’s website, which he currently titles after his new book coming out in June, Why The Dalai Lama Matters.

In his talk Thurman presents his great theme, that Buddhism is a matrix of civilized behavior, and among other attributes he lists education and the examination of reality as key to the nature of civilization. He describes his talk as a discussion of “Buddhism in the context of the crisis we face as a struggling species on an overstressed planet.”

Thurman further summarizes his talk:

“When the eminent British historian Arnold Toynbee said in 1971 that the most important event of the 20th century was the encounter of the West with Buddhism, he did not mean merely the entrance of one more world religion onto the scene. Buddhism is more than a “religion” as we currently use the term, and includes a scientific vision, a multi-faceted educational system, and a resilient ethical way of life.”
- Robert Thurman at UBC’s Chan Centre

Here are the ten clips with my selected highlights from his talk.

Disruptive Obama

Is government the friend of sustainability or its enemy? The most generous opinion on this matter from sources I consult is that government is slow, and this alone renders it inadequate to the emergency needs of the current global eco-decay.

Enter now the disruptive force of Senator Obama, whose adherents at any rally are notable for their diversity, sprawling across the whole demographic spectrum of America.

Obama is a disruptive force like any other disruptive technology. And disruption is always worth a generous look, to see if change for the better may be coming.