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Abstract Tibetan Buddhism was virtually unknown outside of its Himalayan stronghold before the Chinese occupation of Tibet, which precipitated an exodus eventually numbering more than 100,000, including most of its prominent lamas. Almost immediately, Westerners began to1 find their ways to India and Nepal, to establish relationships with these teachers, and to invite them to travel and live in the West. In little more than forty years, this little known branch of the world’s quietest major religion has reached around the globe to establish a presence in nearly every major city and area of the West. Hundreds of thousands of Westerners are now involved in some way with Tibetan Buddhism, and while it may or may not eventually become a major religion in the West, it has become clear that there is only one major barrier to its further expansion: the emergence of a cadre of Western-born teachers. Even if there were enough qualiWed Tibetan teachers who were willing to live in the West (and there are not, given the rapid expansion of Tibetan Buddhism), there are many reasons that reliance on Tibetan teachers alone would impede the development of Tibetan Buddhism there. Tibetan lamas need Wnancial support that is beyond the means of many smaller Buddhist centers. They have their own problems dealing with life in a foreign place where they are often isolated from other Tibetans and by the language barrier.
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