Why the Dalai Lama Matters

Why the Dalai Lama Matters, Buddhist Scholar Robert Thurman from his book by the same title. (some excerpts From San Francisco Chronicle's interview with Thurman)
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Thurman, 66, the Je Tsong Khapa professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, has devoted his life to the study and preservation of Tibet's unique cultural heritage. He is the author of several books on Tibetan Buddhism and the co-founder, along with Gere, of New York's Tibet House. Thurman was chosen as one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans in 1997.

The news from Tibet has been pretty grim lately, but you remain optimistic that the situation will improve ... that the Tibetans will one day be able to live there freely and practice their religion. What gives you hope that will happen?

I base my hope — as the Dalai Lama bases his — on what is realistic. And I believe reality dictates that the Tibetans are the ones who can live sustainably in Tibet. They're the ones who can restore and maintain the Tibetan plateau, their ancestral home, as they have for thousands of years. And it has to be healthy in order to be of benefit to its neighboring regions. It's the water tower of Asia — it's where everybody's water comes from, India, China, Southeast Asia. It's also the source of the wind — the jet stream that rises up out of the plateau, affecting the weather all around the planet. So if Tibet is messed up then the world gets messed up. This is why Tibet should matter to everybody.

Why are the Tibetans the only ones who can take care of Tibet?

In part, because it's three miles above sea level. If Chinese people could live up there comfortably, they would have been there 500 years ago in huge numbers. They are not genetically adapted to live at that high altitude without serious health problems.

You argue in your latest book, "Why the Dalai Lama Matters," that the Dalai Lama could be one of China's greatest assets. What is it that he can offer them?

He's a great asset for several reasons. First, he is the key to giving them legitimate sovereignty over Tibet as an autonomous region within China because he would inspire his people to vote that way. Secondly, he can help to restore some sense of contentment and calm within the Chinese populace, especially among those who are poor and have not yet benefitted from China's economic rise. Thirdly, he could become a true ambassador for China in the world, which they are going to need increasingly as they rise to true superpower status.