Posted By: Tammy Taylor
Posted On: April 30, 2018
Imagining Tibet was a long, but interesting compilation. The book was comprehensive and covered the history of Western interaction with Tibet in a thorough, though sometimes long winded manner. I was especially interested by the discussions on how people in general tend to see other cultures thru their own lens and how the West has romanticized Tibet for its own fulfillment. As a self proclaimed environmentalist, the chapter about the environment and the effects of modernization interested me, especially the discussion that it is easy to push your own values as one sits in their warm house with electricity and all the modern conveniences. The insight into the goals and aims of the exiled 14th Dalai Lama and the other lamas in exile was thought provoking. The book left me wondering and interested in what the future will hold for Tibetan Buddhism and what do the majority of people in Tibet want? Is religion still important or has materialism become a priority? Does the Dalai Lama believe that a return to Tibet is possible or has he shifted his effort toward sharing the religion as its only means of survival? In my curriculum for middle school art students this concept of seeing an art piece through ones own lens and then discovering more about it to understand a culture is my takeaway.