The Rebel Buddha book tour will be making its way to Toronto soon and no doubt everyone will wake up thanks in part to the frosty fall air that Canada provides.
Rebel Buddha is the title of the latest book by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, the founder and principle teacher of Nalandabodhi. It is getting quite a bit of buzz in Buddhist circles as it is delivering a contemporary view of Buddhism and delivering teachings in a real-world manner. Be sure to look for a book review on this blog shortly…
For more information on the event, check out the Rebel Buddha website here where you can get all of the details you’ll need for this very special day.
Gonkar Gyatso is to be credited with the exceptional design of the Rebel Buddha on the cover of this book. I took some liberties above to Fall-ify his design to make it suit our Canadian climate. Please visit his website to see more of his work as he is a true talent as you can see from these images below.
He seems to becoming the new “Rock Star” of Buddhism…( poor Brad Warner ). I am afraid he will fall into the same old American trap of being popular and making money though. The costs for seeing him speak are getting ridiculous.
Oh there are quite a few Rock Stars out there! There’s both good and bad that goes along with this. That’s certain.
I too hope that financial gain doesn’t become a priority for these Buddhist teachers, but I do doubt that anyone truly makes big bucks off of being an author and hosting speaking engagements.
I like to look at examples such as Pema Chodron, Susan Piver and Thich Nhat Hanh who drew the attention of Oprah but haven’t “sold out” (or at least haven’t done so in my eyes anyways)
As for ticket prices, I believe there should be subsidized prices for those who are lower income or unemployed. I would gladly pay extra to help a dharma brother or sister out.
Thanks for the perspective.