Basic Buddhism

This classic course was recorded in the mid 1980's as we neared the end of the second Christian Millennium; many prophetic voices were being raised to speak of revelation and other apocalyptic visions. Some western mystics even mentioned the future Buddha, Maitreya, in connection with a returning Christ or Christ impulse. What do the Buddhists, themselves, say about the end of the world as we know it? What is Buddhist apocalyptic? This workshop examines these questions with full rigor. Robert Thurman discusses the prophecy by Guatama Buddha and allows us to probe into details that predict when Maitreya will come. Thurman analyzes the teachings of the future Buddha, presently a bodhisattva residing in the Tushita heaven, who will descend to earth to preach anew the dharma.