Tibetan Buddhism Research Paper

Introduction and Overview
This paper will focus upon the fundamental roles of Hollywood and various celebrities such as Richard Gere in the popular spiritual “fad” based on Tibetan Buddhism. This paper will explore how this new “exotic” American adoption of Tibetan Buddhism via the Beastie Boys and other Hollywood A-lusters symbolizes a new point of convergence linking the Eastern and Western worlds. While, at the outset globalization and the increased exchange and incorporation of other cultures etc. is a step in the right direction (away from geographic border lines) towards the formation of a more peaceful and higher functioning world community; the depth of the American new age on-taking of Tibetan Buddhism is shallow in terms of
Thus, the Europeans generally toted the Bible and the Western Classical Tradition along with the European Academic Traditions as well as their varied European, Christian and Greco-Roman beliefs and notions (Mullen). Thus, it is necessary to recognize these Western beliefs, acknowledging that Europeans brought with them the aforementioned religious constructs and that eastern religion such as Islam, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism and Shintoism etc. were not yet brought into the western framework at this time. Nonetheless, these aforementioned eastern religious schools and traditions did eventually transcend from their Eastern birthplace over to the west and were fused within the cultural realm of America and more broadly the western world (Kernan). The fused cultural hearth of the west is generally recognized as constituent of a religious “pluralism” extending yet including the withstanding Biblical, Judaism vs. Christianity points of divergence as well as diversity within its reach
The BBC report specified an amalgam of well known big screen celebrities including Robert, Di Nero and significantly a Tibetan Buddhist American spokesman; the famous celebrity Mr. Richard Gere. Further, the program reported that such celebrities’ visits to the New York City Tibetan Buddhist Center, which was relayed to the public; has resulted in an increasingly diffused heightened general interest of the publicized religion within America pop culture. The irony is made even clearer via this celebrity advocacy religious innuendo; generally most credible religious sects identify profound individuals who diverge distinctly from Hollywood celebrities (such as wise or holy individuals etc.) Jesus Christ is the Christian superstar who is recognized for being “awesome” in a multitude of extremely different ways than pop culture recognizes Lindsay Lohan as a star ( for her amazing fashion sense despite her continued drug induced stupor…) Thus, the Dalai Lama within Tibetan Buddhist religious idealism proves to be recognized as a identifiably divergent type of