John Bush, BA '70

Alumnus, Buddhist, documentarian

The 2006 UB Distinguished Speaker Series will begin on a historic note, as His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama makes a presentation in UB Stadium on Tuesday, September 19.  Many events on campus and in the WNY community occurred leading up to his visit, including the national premier of the documentary, “Vajra Sky over Tibet,” produced and directed by John Bush, BA’70.

A film for change

“Vajra Sky over Tibet” tells the powerful and moving story of what remains of the brilliant culture of Tibet.  In his documentary, which was shot over a month’s time and without Chinese authorities’ permission, Bush portrays the unending struggle for Tibetans’ right to practice their religion that has gone on since 1959.  The film also reveals how present-day Chinese culture is infiltrating into Tibet, and the impact of the Dalai Lama’s exile has over Tibetan Buddhism’s culture

True peace

Bush’s desire for a peaceful world grew while at UB.  A student in the late 60s when many college students began exploring new possibilities and philosophy in world politics, Bush was a campus anti-war activist.  Some of his fondest memories are of Bruce Jackson a Samuel P. Capen Professor of American Culture who was just starting his career as a professor at UB. Together, some of Bush’s other professors and fellow students explored deeper into the suffering in Asian cultures. “I felt continuous outrage and frustration at the death and suffering being inflicted on Asians by my government. I was also getting burned out. At the same time there was an emerging counter-culture here at UB that affirmed the higher aspirations of humanity.  We also looked to the East for models of inner peace and harmony.  I ultimately realized that I needed to go deeper into this understanding and find true peace within myself,” said Bush. 

Connections

After graduating in 1970, Bush began a cross-continent tour through Europe and the Middle East, and ultimately landed in India, where within a week he was living in a Buddhist monastery and mediating 12 hours a day.  Several Tibetan Lama teachers became very influential in Bush’s life.  “(They) helped me realize that the wisdom of this tradition is also very contemporary and a roadmap for the evolution of human consciousness,” Bush said.

During his time in India, Bush reconnected with another UB alumnus, Jeffrey Miller, BA ’72.  Miller, now known as Lama Surya Das, is one of the foremost Western Buddhist meditation teachers and scholars, and will also be speaking on campus September 19.  Bush and Surya Das spent much time together in India, sharing the same Buddhist teachers as well as hiking through the Himalayas, and remain close friends today.

Bush holds a very special place for Buffalo in his life and in his art.  “My art is grounded fundamentally in my early awakenings here, and the film fulfills a vision that began at Buffalo.  It is a sweet reconciliation to show my film here.  I am grateful for the invitation.”  

Read the September 12 Buffalo News’ review of “Vajra Sky over Tibet.”
Click Here

Written by Jessica Griffin
September 2006

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