Journey of the North Star

Douglas Penick has worked as a research associate at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and at The Institute for Urban Studies, and also as a chef at Gordon Matta Clark’s Food. He has studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism for more than 30 years, and written and taught on Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian religion, history, and culture. He wrote the National Film Board of Canada’s prize-winning two-part series on the Tibetan Book of the Dead and the libretti for two operas: King Gesar (Sony CD with YoYo Ma, Serkin, Ax, et. al.) and Ashoka’s Dream (Santa Fe Opera) with composer, Peter Lieberson. He has also written pieces to music by Philip Glass and for choreographer Katsura Kan. He is the author of three books deriving from the epic cycle on the life of King Gesar of Ling: Crossings on a Bridge of Light, the Warrior Song of King Gesar, and The Brilliance of Naked Mind.