Robert Thurman - Wisdom Is Bliss: Four Friendly Fun Facts That Can Change Your Life

ALSO BY ROBERT THURMAN

The Brilliantly Illuminating Lamp of the Five Stages (with Lama Tsong Khapa)

The Central Philosophy of Tibet: The Essence of True Eloquence (with Lama Tsong Khapa)

Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas (with Tad Wise)

Esoteric Community Tantra and the Illuminating Lamp (with Vajradhara and Chandrakrti)

Essential Tibetan Buddhism

The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture

Infinite Life: Awakening to Bliss Within

Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness

The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism

The Life and Teachings of Tsongkhapa

Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier (with Sharon Salzberg)

Man of Peace: The Illustrated Life Story of the Dalai Lama of Tibet (with William Meyers and Michael G. Burbank)

Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment (with Denise Patry Leidy)

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Liberation Through Understanding in the Between

Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World

Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet (with Marylin Rhie)

Available from Hay House
Please visit:

Hay House USA: www.hayhouse.com
Hay House Australia: www.hayhouse.com.au
Hay House UK: www.hayhouse.co.uk
Hay House India: www.hayhouse.co.in

* * *

Copyright 2021 by Robert Thurman

Published in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com
Published in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au
Published in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk
Published in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover design: Barbara LeVan Fisher

Interior design: Greg Johnson/Textbook Perfect

Indexer: J S Editorial, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4019-4343-1

E-book ISBN: 978-1-4019-4878-8

Audiobook ISBN: 978-1-4019-6320-0

To my Mothers,

who bravely create the miracle of life

and caringly enable its infinite livability;

To my Fathers,

who madly love them,

and stand diamond true, in joyous awe;

To my Lamas, the soul friends,

who open the door to the clearlight reality

of blissful freedom and compassionate love!

and

To all my Children, every kind and hue,

the long now many coming generations

on this magnificent planetary buddhaverse!

May all the travelers upon the road
Find real happiness wherever they go,
And gain without needing too much struggle,
The highest goals which will fulfill their hearts!...
All of these practices were taught
By the Buddha for the sake of wisdom.
Thus those who wish to free themselves
From suffering must cultivate this wisdom.

SHANTIDEVA (8TH CENTURY)

Dont try to use whatever you learn
from Buddhism to be a Buddhist;
use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are.

H. H. THE DALAI LAMA

I love the Buddha, I really do. But I am not promoting the religion of Buddhism for anyone. I love just as much Ms. Buddha the Vajrayogin, Her Holiness the Shekinah, the Great Mother, the blessed Moses, holy Mary, sweet Jesus, brave Khadijah, the holy Muhammad, wise Laozi, insightful Confucius, Radha and Krishna, Uma and Shiva, White Buffalo Woman, Wakan Tanka, Quetzalcoatl, Chalchiuhtlicue, countless shamanic teachers of indigenous peoples, and every single wise and loving grandmotherso many holy teachers, gods, and saints! They all perform such wonders and benefit so many, opening all kinds of amazing doors for all kinds of beautiful people, each to discover their own divine qualities, their wise intelligence and loving heart.

I do mention my beloved Shakyamuni Buddha more often, since I meet him more and more as I learn, discovering how helpful he has been to meas a super-scientist, a super-educator, and a cool, global, social revolutionary; not so much as a spiritual person doing the great work of a religious prophet or a religion organizer.

I follow His Holiness the Dalai Lamas sincere policy and prime directive not to missionize or convert anyone from or to any religion or secular belief system. In fact, it is quite natural to stick to that policy, since the Buddha himself rebelled against the religions of his own time and, rather, set out to understand, rationally and experientially, the nature of reality.

The historical Buddha was a rigorous scientist, in the modern sensethat is, an explorer of reality. I also unequivocally declare that he is the scientist who successfully, accurately, and comprehensively discovered the real reality, the miracle of bliss-void-indivisible freedom, yet for the sake of all the others did not ignore the less real realities.

Buddha was also an educator, so I try to learn and teach his curriculum, designed to enable any serious student of whatever faith or doubt to achieve reliable, lasting happiness. I have spent five decades doing university teaching about Buddhism, somewhat mischaracterized as a world religion (since flat-earth, modern Euro-American philosophy departments have not yet discovered the Pacific Ocean of world-class, Buddhist and non-Buddhist critical philosophies). In this book I intend to teach the real thing, a buddhas threefold super-education, which is divided into eight branches.

Buddha had to be an educator, rather than a prophet or religion founder, since he had achieved his goal of an exact and complete understanding of reality by using reason, experiments to open his own mind, and death-transcending vision. He realized that since he, once a pampered yuppie prince, had been able to do it, other human beings also could do it. From his own experience, he could help them as a teacher by streamlining the process. He could not just transplant his realization into their minds. They could not get their own realizations just by believing whatever he said. He could only provide them with a prospect of full realization along a path of learning and experiencing they could followthey would have to travel on their own. But we should never be discouraged; lets remember that he himself and all those who succeeded with his teachings over the millennia were originally just like you and me.