This is Tricycle magazine's interview with actor and free-Tibet activist Richard Gere in which Gere discusses how he came to practice Buddhism, how it has affected his life, and his relationship with his teacher, the Dalai Lama.
		Here are three selections from John Powers' lucid and illuminating book, Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism Introduction An overview of Tibetan Buddhism's doctrines, practices, history and the importance of personal transformation involving visualization, ritual and meditation. Death and Dying in Tibetan Buddhism Dying An excerpt explaining Tibetan Buddhism's strong emphasis on instructions about death and dying Bon: A Heterodox System Before Buddhism entered Tibet in the 7th century, the Bon faith was Tibet's native religious tradition. Bon, from which Tibetan Buddhism has borrowed freely, involved a primitive kind of animism. Its practices included animal and human sacrifice, and magical and occult rituals
		Here is a good summary of the evolution of Buddhism in Tibet, the role of the Dalai Lama and everyday religious practices, beliefs and rituals. From Peter Hopkirk's Trespassers on the Roof of the World-The Race for Lhasa.

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