FOR MEDIA BOOKINGS:
FOR REVIEW COPY REQUESTS:
Lisa Braun Dubbels, Publicist Catalyst Publicity & Promotion Group 651.343.7315 • lisa@catalystpublicity.com
Krista Margies, Publicist Sterling Publishing 646.688.2510 • kmargies@sterlingpublishing.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Wisdom of the Buddhist Masters Nine Buddhist leaders speak out on today’s most important issues With the American economy in crisis, disapproval of the War in Iraq on the increase and a contentious election in which social issues play a pivotal role, millions of Americans are turning to the comfort of religious teachings for guidance through these uncertain times. When most people think of the religion of Buddhism, they think of pacifism—but that’s not necessarily so, says author Robert Sachs, author of The Wisdom of the Buddhist Masters (Sterling, September 2008). According to author Sachs, Buddhism is informed, intelligent, compassionate, and skillfully engaged activism. Its goal is peace, but it does not shy away from confrontation and conflict. To illustrate his point, Sach references the monks of Viet Nam and Myanmar, and those of the current crisis in Tibet. And this is what Sachs feels that people need to know about the Buddha and his teachings. What does Buddhism have to say about sickness, poverty, and warfare—or social and political action? Would the wisest, most renowned Buddhist teachers go on the record and reveal their thoughts and perspectives on a wide array of contemporary issues? Sachs decided to find out: he created a questionnaire, brought it to some of the most esteemed Buddhist masters, and interviewed them. Their comments and conclusions are inspirational…and often surprising. The Wisdom of the Buddhist Masters is filled with the observations of deeply spiritual thinkers on the global problems that confront us today, from the conflict in the Middle East to global warming. These are people who are steeped in meditation, widely traveled, and have seen human misery and warfare with their own eyes. They offer empowering words of wisdom and show us how we can become part of the impetus for change and make a real difference. Most importantly, these teachers go beyond religious platitudes, and refuse to shy away from politically incorrect conclusions or ideas contrary to the pacifism so often associated with Buddhism.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Robert Sachs is a member of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and the personal student of His Holiness Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche. He works to integrate contemporary medical treatment with ancient wisdom in many areas, and is the author of The Passionate Buddha: Wisdom on Intimacy and Enduring Love and The Buddha of War. He lives in California.
Contributors to The Wisdom of the Buddhist Masters: H.H. Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche Ven. Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche Geshe Michael Roach Ajahn Amaro Roshi Joan Halifax Ven. Thubten Chodron Christopher Titmuss Tenzin Robert Thurman
Some of the provocative topics covered in The Wisdom of the Buddhist Masters include: Sickness Poverty War Cloning Stem Cell Research Education Pursuit of Wealth Influence of the media Rise of fundamentalism
THE WISDOM OF THE BUDDHIST MASTERS Common and Uncommon Sense Robert Sachs Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama Watkins Books, a division of Sterling Publishing ISBN10: 1-58270-197-0 ISBN13: 9781905857906 Price $17.95, Trade Paper 240 pages • 5 1/4 X 8 ½ September 2008
A Selection of Insights from The Wisdom of the Buddhist Masters WAR “Really, I am not all that interested in politics. But, I am interested in American people’s mind power. At this time, Americans and how they are being led is very naïve. “In all times, military people have to follow orders. They cannot think a lot. Military should be more or less like that. Otherwise, you can’t find well. If you have a bunch of philosophers in the field, you can’t fight well. Soldiers are supposed to be machine-mind-like. At the same time, the leaders must be thoughtful to prevent something bad from happening. They must exercise judgment and be able to anticipate situations before they occur. Nowadays, however, the leaders are not like that and this is a big mistake.” --HH Kunzing Shamar Rinpoche “…if there is a prosperity and everyone has their own share and, at the same time, if the spiritual teachings that people follow guide them to contentment and gratitutde as nobel qualities rather than position-taking or the desire to destroy the other, then the global situation would be radically different. Poverty and religious competition would be greatly diminished.” —Ven. Ajahn Amaro “Lately the answers to the critical questions about the war given by leaders running the war in Iraq are not really good—not really convincing. Even these leaders are naïve and their being naïve is causing a problem. If your excuse is to find weapons of mass destruction or to create democracy, that is one thing. But the war-creators know the real reason is for petrol money and Hussein is blocking the profits that they could be making.” --HH Kunzing Shamar Rinpoche EDUCATION “We don’t need more education that creates the machine mind. If people in the US develop common sense, then this will be good because the US is the most powerful country in the world. In Buddhism, we teach to follow direct logical science and indirect logical science. Indirect logical science is invisible science to help one judge and get an accurate understanding. In Europe and the US, all there is is direct logical science. They don’t know that the indirect logical science is important” --HH Kunzing Shamar Rinpoche FUTURE “If we could start acting today, taking the first steps towards realizing our own highest aims, we would soon begin to feel the confidence and sense of worth that leads us to deep and lasting joy. Why wait for someone else to rescue and uplift us? Why not act on our own, as individuals, in the name of goodness, dignity, freedom, or whatever we hold most dear. Why not educate ourselves, heal ourselves, and then share the best of the best with everyone?” --Ven. Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche ON STEM CELL RESEARCH “I don’t know that this is a Buddhist point of view or my own point of view, but if we can do something to make better or improve the health of beings, I don’t see the problem. I mean, if it is against nature, then we shall soon find out anyway. Nature will work against us. In a more global way, when we
work against nature, when we do thing to the earth, like dig it up for the purpose of making money without any regard for nature, then, from a Bon and Buddhist point of view, nature provokes us, with such things as hurricanes and tsunamis.” --Geshe Tenzin Wagyal Rinpoche VIOLENCE “We teach people how to stop their anger, not by a band-aid method, like saying you shouldn’t get angry because it is not a nice thing to do, or you shouldn’t get angry because people won’t like you so much. No, you shouldn’t get angry because of emptiness. The only way to stop creating violence in your world is to stop creating it in your own mind.” --Geshe Michael Roach There are some rather sad parallels in that, of course, Saddam Hussein executed his citizens, but George Bush, as the governor of Texas, ordered the execution of 150 of its citizens. There are sickening parallels. When the West points its accusatory finger at some other ugly regimes in the world, it should remember that it has the other three fingers pointing at itself.” --Christopher Titmuss FUNDAMENTALISM “I think that humans typically like to polarize or identify with one side or another. And polarization is an expression of seeing the world in a very dualistic manner. It is very difficult to hold a position in the middle, and fundamentalism is, of course, an approach that is very interesting in that it basically posits a self and other. It is a very human position to take, but I don’t think that it is a position that is going to lead to long-term harmonious survival.” --Roshi Joan Halifax PARENTING “I think that the most important thing a parent can do is to give their children a lot of love. You can’t put your child in a bell glass to protect them from influences in the world. But I think you can model inclusivity and harmony. Your behavior with your child is of course through the expression of loving kindness and compassion. I think that the basic message is to love your kids and model what it is to be love in the world.” --Roshi Joan Halifax GLOBAL WARMING “The dharma perspective is, you know, everybody can go ahead and kill themselves and they will just be reborn and they will have to deal with this on the next planet. They can destroy the entire planet and then they will be reborn and suffer again on the next planet. So they might as well wake up and try to deal with it on this planet. That would be more intelligent. And I think that they will do that—with the help of the angels and the dakinis.” --Tenzin Robert Thurman ARE WE IN A DARK AGE? “The situation we’re in is what we are in. It exists due to the karma we created in the past. It is also an opportunity for us to act for the benefit of others in the world and create good karma that will influence our future experiences. Accepting the situation for what it is, and seeing it as the environment in which we will develop equal love for all sentient beings, brings more happiness now.” --Ven. Thubten Chodron
Featured leaders The Wisdom of the Buddhist Masters His Holiness Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche or the Shamarpa (Tibetan: ་དམར་པ་; Wylie: Zhwa-dmar-pa; literally, "Person (i.e. Holder) of the Red Crown"), also known as Shamar Rinpoche or more formally H.H. Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche is a lineage holder of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and the mind manifestation of Amitabha Buddha, He is traditionally associated with Yangpachen monastery near Lhasa. Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche is originally from Eastern Tibet. Also known as Rinpoche (meaning 'precious teacher'), he received traditional training from the great masters of his time in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Tarthang Tulku left Tibet in 1959 after the disruption of his culture. From 1959 to 1967, he taught Buddhism at Sanskrit University in India. In 1968, Rinpoche came to the United States where he has lived and worked continuously. To support Tibetan refugees, preserve Tibetan culture and make the teaching of Buddhism accessible to Western students, Rinpoche initiated many projects and established over 20 organizations including the Nyingma Institute, Tibetan Aid Project, Dharma Publishing, the Yeshe De text preservation project, and the international Nyingma Centers. Visit our links page for more information about these organizations. Rinpoche is a visionary thinker who has authored over a dozen books that expand understanding of the human heart and mind. Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Tenzin Wangyal is a teacher (lama) of the Bön Tibetan religious tradition. He is founder and director of the Ligmincha Institute and several centers named Chamma Ling, organizations dedicated to the study and practice of the teachings of the Bön tradition. He was born in Amritsar, India. After his parents fled the Chinese invasion of Tibet, he received training from both Buddhist and Bön teachers, attaining the degree of Geshe, the highest academic degree of traditional Tibetan culture. He has been in the United States since 1991 and has taught widely in Europe and America. Tenzin Wangyal has an intense interest in the interpretation, control and application of dreams and has written fairly extensively on lucid dreaming and dream yoga as well as Dzogchen in Bön tradition. Geshe Michael Roach and Christie McNally. Geshe Michael Roach is the founder and spiritual director of Diamond Mountain. He was born in Los Angeles in 1952 and was raised in Phoenix, AZ. As a student at Princeton University he concentrated his studies in religion and ancient Sanskrit and Russian language. He met his teacher Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin in 1972 in the U.S. and studied very closely with him after that time. He was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1983 and is entirely fluent in the spoken and written Tibetan language. After approximately 20 years of daily intensive study with Khen Rinpoche in New Jersey and at Sera Mey monastery in Southern India, Geshe Michael received the Geshe degree in 1995 (akin to a Doctorate of Divinity). He has also studied extensively at Sera Mey with Geshe Thubten Rinchen, one of the great living scripture teachers. In the Fall of 2004, Roach established Diamond Mountain University in Arizona where he serves as director. Ajahn Amaro, is co-abbot of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, California, a center for ordinary lay people to practice in the Thai Forest Tradition. Roshi Joan Halifax is a Zen Buddhist roshi, anthropologist, ecologist, civil rights activist, shaman, hospice caregiver, and the author of several books on Buddhism and spirituality. She currently serves as abbot and guiding teacher of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a Zen Peacemaker community which she founded in 1990. Halifax-roshi has received Dharma transmission from both Bernard Glassman and Thich Nhat Hanh, and previously studied under the Korean master Seung Sahn. In the 1970s she collaborated on LSD research projects with her ex-husband Stanislav Grof, in addition to other collaborative efforts with Joseph Campbell and Alan Lomax. She is founder of the Ojai Foundation in California, which she led from 1979 to
1989. As a socially engaged Buddhist, Halifax has done extensive work with the dying through her Project in Being with Dying (which she founded). Venerable Thubten Chodron is an American Tibetan Buddhist nun and a central figure in reinstating the Bhikshuni (tib. Gelongma) ordination of women. She is a student of H. H. XIVth Dalai Lama, Tsenzhap Serkong Rinpoche, Thubten Zopa Rinpoche and other Tibetan masters. Born in 1950, she grew up near Los Angeles, California, United States and earned her B.A. in History, University of California at Los Angeles in 1971. She took a course with Ven. Lama Yeshe and Ven. Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1975, inspiring her to study and practice Tibetan tradition at their monastery in Nepal. At age 27, she received Sramanerika (novice) ordination in 1977. In 1986, she travelled to Taiwan to receive the full Bhikshuni ordination. She has studied and practiced Buddhism of the Tibetan tradition extensively, in India and Nepal, and for three years at Dorje Pamo Monastery in France. She has held several significant posts, including Director of the spiritual program at Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy for two years, Resident Teacher at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore and nine years as Spiritual Director and Resident Teacher at Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle. And she has written numerous articles and books, such as "Open Heart, Clear Mind;" "Buddhism for Beginners;" "Taming the Mind;" "Working with Anger;" and "How to Free Your Mind: Tara the Liberator." Ven. Chodron is known for her work in re-establishing the Bhikshuni lingeage, cultivating interfaith dialogue, creating Dharma outreach in prisons, and she teaches the Dharma worldwide. Her teaching emphasizes practical application of Buddhist practices in daily life and she is respected for making them easily understood and practiced by Westerners. Ven. Chodron is a co-founder of Life as a Western Buddhist Nun, the international conference of Western Buddhist teachers. She was also a crucial participant in the 1993 and 1994 Western Buddhist teachers conferences with H. H. XIVth Dalai Lama and was instrumental in the creation of the 2007 International Congress on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha, where plans for re-establishing Bhikshuni lineage are expected to be finalized. She is currently Abbess of Sravasti Abbey, a Buddhist monastery near Newport, Washington. Christopher Titmuss, a former Theravada Buddhist monk, is an author of books on Dharma and an Insight Meditation meditation instructor residing in Totnes, Devon, United Kingdom. He was a journalist before becoming a monk, spending six years in Thailand and India from 1970 to 1976. He is especially known for being a steadfast exponent of engaged Buddhism, speaking and writing on social and political matters. He is also the co-founder of Gaia House in Devon, England. A senior Dharma teacher in the West, he is the author of numerous books including Light on Enlightenment, An Awakened Life and Transforming Our Terror. He is especially known for his teachings and inquiry into emptiness and liberation. He is also a steadfast exponent of engaged Buddhism, speaking and writing on social and political matters. Tenzin Robert Thurman is an influential and prolific American Buddhist writer and academic who has authored, edited or translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. He is the Je Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, holding the first endowed chair in this field of study in the United States. He also is the co-founder and president of the Tibet House New York and is active against the People's Republic of China's control of Tibet. He is the author of a number of titles on Tibetan Buddhism, the most recent being Why the Dalai Lama Matters (Atria Books/Beyond Words).