Curated OER
Dalai Lama Peace and Conflict Resolution
Students explore philosophy by researching the Dalai Lama. In this peaceful living lesson, students discuss the Dalai Lama and his unique views of the world before reading the story Can You Say Peace? Students answer study questions...
PBS
Pbs: Independent Lens: Unmistaken Child
'Unmistaken Child' is an independent film by Nati Baratz about the search for the reincarnation of Tibetan master Geshe Lama Konchog, who died in 2001. His disciple, Tenzin Zopa, was charged with the task of finding his reincarnation and...
Other
The Tibetan and Himalayan Library: Collected Tantras of the Ancients
The Tibetan Buddhist Canon is one of the three most important canons of Buddhist and religious literature in the world. Here you will find a complete catalog of the controversial collection of esoteric texts, compiling several of the...
Brown University
Brown University: Tibetan Buddhist Wall Paintings: A Photographic Survey
A survey of three Buddhist temples in the Mustang district of Tibet. Includes words of a Tibetan prayer as well as an audio file, details about Mustang, explanations of Tibetan art, and images of paintings found in the temples.
University of Oxford (UK)
Arts & Humanities Research Council: British Photos of Central Tibet
A wonderful site that includes over 6000 photos taken by British officials and tourists. You can create your own picture album and send it to a friend. Clicking on "Places" will show you a map of where the photographers traveled.
PBS
Pbs: Frontline: Dreams of Tibet: Buddhism
An excerpt from Trespassers on the Roof of the World discusses the spread of Buddhism to Tibet and the origin of some of the unique practices of Buddhism seen in Tibet, such as rule by lamas and the prayer-wheel, or mani-chuskor.
Buddha Dharma Education Association
Buddha Net: Tibetan Buddhism Timeline
Buddhanet offers a timeline of the history of Tibetan Buddhism beginning around 200 C.E. and continuing to the present.
Other
Buddhist Artifacts the Support of Spiritual Realization
A site by Tulku Thondup explaining the significance of Buddhist art in Tibet. This is an excerpt from a talk given at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1990. The basis is how the Buddhist devotees in Tibet use religious objects as tools...
Other
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra: Kagyu Lineage
A page from Karma Triyana Dharmachakra with links to biographies of the Karmapas and other important Kagyu tradition teachers.
Smithsonian Institution
Freer | Sackler Galleries: Tibetan Healing Mandala
A site in response to the September 11 tragedies. Twenty Buddhist monks constructed a madala at the Sackler gallery.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Tibetan Buddhist Orders
Over the centuries four religious movements in Tibet evolved into the four religious orders of Tibetan Buddhism. These orders are all based on Buddhism from India, but they have different founders and lineages of teachers, prefer...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism
Buddhism was introduced into Tibet from India and China beginning in the 600s. Over the succeeding centuries, Buddhism became the dominant cultural form in Tibet, exerting a powerful influence not only over religion, but also over...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Buddhist Text About the Bodhisattva Manjushri
This Tibetan manuscript is one of the oldest objects in the museum's Tibetan collection. It consists of twenty-two loose pages. The text is written in U-chen script, in pure gold ink, which has been applied on a ground of lapiz lazuli...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Goddess of White Umbrella: Buddhist Deity Ushnisha Sitatapatra
The Goddess of the White Umbrella (the Buddhist deity Ushnisha-sitatapatra) is one of many powerful female deities. She manifests her power with her thousand heads, arms, and legs. She has eyes on the palms of each of her hands and soles...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Mandala of the Buddhist Deity Chakrasamvara
A mandala is a schematic diagram that portrays the sacred environment of a particular deity. The mandala is used by practitioners as a guideline for meditation. It helps people visualize the way in which they will restructure the world...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
The main image in this painting is Avalokiteshvara (1), the Bodhisattva of Compassion. He is the principle patron deity of Tibet. He sits on a lotus throne upon a lunar disc. This god takes many forms, such as the Dalai Lamas of Tibet,...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Buddhist Deity Mahakala as a Brahman
Mahakala Bramanarupa is one of over 70 different deities of the Mahakala type. These are wrathful deities particularly adept at quelling monsters and overcoming demons, whether they be outer, inner or secret. Some deities, such as...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Tibetan Thangka Painting (Sacred Pictures)
In Tibet, religious paintings come in several forms, including wall paintings, thangkas (sacred pictures that can be rolled up), and miniatures for ritual purposes or for placement in household shrines. Thangkas were commissioned for...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Buddhist Protector Deity Penden Lhamo
Penden Lhamo is one of the more wrathful female deities of Buddhism. Among her many roles, she is the special protector of the city of Lhasa, the Gelukpa Order, and the Dalai Lamas of Tibet. She was invited to Tibet in around the...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Cabinet for Storing Offerings
This black cabinet was once stored in the gongkhang of an unknown temple in Tibet. Forbidden to the uninitiated, the gongkhang is a special room set aside for the worship of wrathful deities, where only the initiated monks of the...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Prayer Wheel
Prayer wheels are an example of Buddhist technology. This technology allowed the faithful to multiply the number of prayers they expressed by millions. This is because prayer wheels are filled with copies of mantras (sacred spells...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Thunderbolt and Bell
The vajra (Tibetan: Dorjie) and bell (Sanskrit: ghanta; Tibetan: drilbu) are the most important ritual objects of Tibetan Buddhism. Most every lama has a pair and knows how to use them. They represent "method" (vajra) and "wisdom"...
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Vajrayana
An article on Vajrayana, one of the three Buddhist routes to enlightenment. The article includes the history of Vajrayana and its teachings, as well as information about its development in places beyond India, such as China, Japan, and...