The History of Tibet Open House 

The concept of Tibet Open House was conceived when Jan Mayer met Geshe Yeshi Gawa in Ladakh in 2014. Following their meeting, The Linhart Foundation invited Yeshi to Prague in 2015 to solidfy their plans of opening the organization. After this meeting, Yeshi returned to India where he organized a meeting between the board of directors from the Lindhart Foundation and the highest Tibetan officials including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Prime Minister and Minister of Education for the Tibetan Government in Exhile, and the director and principal from the Tibetan school. Tibet Open House was personally blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2016 and was later blessed by His Holiness the Karmapa.

The initiative to start Tibet Open House originated in The Linhart foundation as a result of a long-standing interest in the Far East. The goal of The Lindhart Foundation (which was established in 1987) is to create and support projects that help develop the opinions and the societal and artistic expression of the contemporary generation. The foundation fosters an environment for creative work and youth and artist encounters and introduces art to the general public. The vision of Tibet Open House was to introduce the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of wisdom and compassion to the general public and give some insight into its culture and way of thinking.

The mission of the project is to mutually recognize these two cultures, search for common ground and allow them to inspire and learn from one another.