The Gyalwang Drukpa + Susan Sarandon

“We experience with a deep sense of appreciation. We learn with a spacious mind of humility. After all, there are things that others know, and that we don’t know. Of course, there are things that we know, and that others have yet to know. ”
– The Gyalwang Drukpa
According to Buddhist thinking, ignorance is the greatest impediment to enlightenment. In our fall conversation series Ignorance, we aim to clear the path a little.
Presented with the Live to Love Foundation

About the Speaker

The Gyalwang Drukpa is the head of Drukpa Order of Buddhists, also known as the Dragon Order. TheDrukpa Lineage is one of the main Buddhist schools of the Himalayas with a 1,000-year legacy in India and over four million Drukpa Buddhists practicing throughout the world. Recipient of a United Nations Millennium Development Goals Award for his environmental initiatives, the Gyalwang Drukpa’s humanitarian work includes programs to promote gender equality, establish educational institutions, medical clinics and meditation centers, and rebuild heritage sites in the Himalayas. He is also the founder and spiritual director of the Druk White Lotus School in Ladakh, India, which provides a modern education while preserving local culture to children in the area. His core philosophy is to convert compassion into action, creating concrete solutions for today’s problems. Utilizing an holistic approach to solving problems, this energetic leader has spearheaded numerous environmental projects and educational initiatives in India. He works diligently to “green” India through tree planting, and has organized numerous events breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for most trees planted in 30 minutes.
The actress Susan Sarandon has been nominated for an Oscar® for her performances in Thelma and Louise, Lorenzo’s Oil, The Client, and Atlantic City and brought home both an Academy Award® and a SAG® Award for her role as Sister Helen in Dead Man Walking. Selected film credits include Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, Lovely Bones Enchanted, Speed Racer, Elizabethtown, Shall We Dance?, The Banger Sisters, In the Valley of Elah, Alfie, Moonight Mile, Igby Goes Down, Twilight, Step Mom, The Hunger, Cloud Atlas, Arbitrage, Snitch, The Company You Keep, The Witches of Eastwick, Cradle Will Rock, Little Women, The Front Page, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Pretty Baby. Her versatility extends to her work in television. At HBO, she received an Emmy® Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries for Bernard and Doris, as well as an Emmy and SAG nomination for You Don’t Know Jack with Al Pacino. Upcoming films include The Last of Robin Hood with Kevin Kline and Dakota Fanning, The Calling with Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace and Donald Sutherland and Tammy with Melissa McCarthy.