Perfect vs Transcendent Wisdom : Force For Good Class Series with Robert AF Thurman
In this short video Professor Robert AF Thurman discusses the ‘The Vimalakirti Sutra’ in the context of ‘The Heart Sutra’ explaining the distinctions in the Sanskrit, Tibetan & Pali translations comparing the difference between perfect + transcendent wisdom.
Includes an overview of the multi-perspective nature of Buddhahood & a discussion of the concept of transcendent generosity.
“Nothing is nothing. It’s not a place that you can go. So, no one gets to go there. Everyone always goes somewhere else. And if they would know that…if they would listen to their intuition that, that’s the case…because everything that’s ever happened in nature…the second law of thermo-dynamics is about energy. Then they become concerned about where they are going to go. And that makes your mind now open to be able to deal with whatever comes up and more aware of it. It gives you…that’s your whole purpose in life.”
Robert AF Thurman via www.awaken.com.
To read Professor Thurman’s translation of ‘The Vimalakirti Sutra’ online please visit: www.read.84000.co
This talk was recorded during the 2016 Force For Good Class #6 at Tibet House US in New York City.
‘A Force For Good’ is a Tibet House US course to further the Dalai Lama’s contemporary world initiatives, from His Holiness’ American Institute of Buddhist Studies and Mind & Life Institute science dialogues (Universe in a Single Atom) and His creation of Abhidharma 2.0 through the “Science for Monks” programs, his “secular ethics” (Ethics for the New Millennium and Beyond Religion), His nonviolent approach to conflict resolution, including His Nobel Peace Laureate activities to seek dialogue and a win-win reconciliation with China in the face of the ongoing ethnicidal policies in Tibet (Freedom in Exile and Man of Peace: The Illustrated Life Story of Tibet’s Dalai Lama) & along with his emphasis on positive activism (A New Reality: Charter of Universal Responsibility).
Tibetan Monks Debating at Sera Monastery Tibet Thumbnail Photo by Will De Freitas.
This video is an excerpt from the Tibet House US Member video “Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Sources : Madhyamaka Lam Rim” (1:56:24) and is apart of the Force For Good Class Series.
To join the on-going #ForceForGood series please visit: www.tibethouse.us.
To watch more videos from past ‘Force for Good’ programs please visit the Tibet House US Member Archive, available to monthly supporters.
Full access starts at $2 a month.
? Music by Tenzin Choegyal, Used with Permission www.tenzinchoegyal.com
About Robert AF Thurman
Suggested Books & Audio by Robert AF Thurman:
Man of Peace: Illustrated Life Story of Tibet’s Dalai Lama (Book), Infinite Life: Awakening to Bliss Within (Book), Anger: The Seven Deadly Sins (Book), Inner Revolution (Book), Circling the Sacred Mountain : A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas (Book), Essential Tibetan Buddhism (Book), The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between (Book) The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism (Book), The Central Philosophy of Tibet (Book), The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture (Book), Life & Teachings of Tsong Khapa (Book), Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World (Book) & Liberation Upon Hearing in the Between: Living with the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Audio).
