Tibet House US was founded in 1987 by Columbia University professor Robert Thurman, actor Richard Gere and modern composer Philip Glass (among others) at the behest of the 14th H.H. Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. It was initially organized in New York City, USA, and the Tibet House US is still based there. Their current address is 22 West 15th Street, New York, NY 10011.
Its stated purpose, as taken from the Tibet House website:
- To present to the West Tibet's ancient traditions of art and culture by means of creating a permanent Cultural Center, with Gallery, Library, and Archives, and developing traveling exhibitions, print publications and media productions
- To preserve and restore Tibet's unique cultural and spiritual heritage, by means of developing a Repatriation Collection for future repatriation of outstanding examples of Tibetan art, creating an archive of rare photographs, opening a research library, making a Web site on the Internet for the wide distribution of information, and providing support to conservation activities both inside and outside of Tibet
- To share with the world Tibet's practical systems of spiritual philosophy and mind sciences, and its arts of human development, intercultural dialogues, nonviolence, and peacemaking, by means of innovative programs in cooperation with educational and other cultural institutions.
Famous quotes containing the words tibet and/or house:
“They have their belief, these poor Tibet people, that Providence sends down always an Incarnation of Himself into every generation. At bottom some belief in a kind of pope! At bottom still better, a belief that there is a Greatest Man; that he is discoverable; that, once discovered, we ought to treat him with an obedience which knows no bounds. This is the truth of Grand Lamaism; the “discoverability” is the only error here.”
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)
“Great geniuses have the shortest biographies. Their cousins can tell you nothing about them. They lived in their writings, and so their house and street life was trivial and commonplace. If you would know their tastes and complexions, the most admiring of their readers most resembles them.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)