Our Mission

At Tibet House US, we are dedicated to preserving, presenting, and promoting Tibetan culture through education, art, scholarship, and public programs. Our work protects cultural materials, supports the study and practice of Tibetan traditions, and introduces audiences to their contributions to philosophy, ethics, meditation, medicine, and the arts.

Founded in New York City in 1987 at the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we were established as a permanent cultural institution. Our co-founders Robert A.F. Thurman, Richard Gere, and Philip Glass brought together scholarship, public advocacy, and the arts to support the preservation of Tibetan cultural and religious heritage and communicate its contemporary relevance.

At our New York City cultural center, we present exhibitions, lectures, Buddhist teachings, meditation instruction, and cultural events. Our educational programs bring you into direct contact with teachers, scholars, and artists. Our publications, recorded teachings, and online programs extend this work beyond our physical center, providing resources for students, practitioners, researchers, and the general public.

Preserving Tibetan art and historical records is a specific responsibility we undertake. Established in 1992, our Repatriation Collection holds donated paintings, sculptures, ritual objects, and examples of Tibetan daily life, with the ultimate goal of returning them to a national museum in a culturally liberated Tibet. Our Old Tibet Photographic Archive, also established in 1992, preserves historical photographs and related records documenting Tibetan communities, places, and traditions.

We have also contributed to the international study and presentation of Tibetan art. The exhibition Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, co-curated by Robert Thurman and Marylin M. Rhie, opened in 1991 and subsequently traveled to museums internationally. Our exhibitions and accompanying publications have provided opportunities to study Tibetan artworks within their religious, philosophical, and historical contexts. Our annual benefit concert, under Philip Glass’s artistic direction, brings musicians and audiences together to raise funds and public awareness for our work.

Our Menla Retreat & Dewa Spa in the Catskill Mountains extends our mission through residential study, retreats, and programs focused on Tibetan healing arts and sciences. The property was donated to us in 2002, and its development was spearheaded by Robert and Nena Thurman. At Menla, we offer Buddhist teachings, meditation, yoga, and other educational and wellness programs, while our Dewa Spa includes Tibetan therapies among its services.

Our co-founder Robert A.F. Thurman, who died on June 16, 2026, helped establish the scholarly and educational foundations of our work. As one of our co-founders and Columbia University’s first Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, he devoted his career to teaching, translating Buddhist texts, and explaining Tibetan intellectual traditions to wider audiences. His work included the continuing effort to translate the Tibetan Tengyur into English. We are an associated institution in the publication of these translations through the Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series.

We continue this educational commitment through our programs, publications, and teaching resources, including our current Bob’s Buddhism series honoring Thurman’s work. Our recent initiatives also include co-producing The Third Pole with Nicholas Films, connecting public education about Tibetan and Himalayan cultures with environmental issues affecting the region.