Why is Tibetan Buddhism so popular or famous in the West?
There are so many other movements, but it seems that Tibetan Buddhism is at the forefront. If the average American were to quote some renown Buddhist, it would most likely be the Dalai Lama - who is no official authority on non-Tibetan forms of Buddhism.
Any reason why Tibetan Buddhism specifically is so famous or popular?
WRS - Namo Amitabha Buddha! Namo Amida Buts(u)! Na Mo A Mi Tuo Fo!
A good part of it is that China is taking some active steps to destroy Tibetan culture. Tibet is a very different place than China, and isn’t too happy about being under their rule. China has a good interest in stamping out what they can of Tibetan culture so they fit in to China better. China also isn’t real big on religion anyway right now. This is why the Dalai Lama is exiled, and also why he is out writing books and speaking and stuff (which attracts westerners) instead of doing whatever it is a Dalai Lama is supposed to do.
Celebreties became attracted to the politcal situation, which is where “Free Tibet” came from. This got kind of a random assortment of Westerners interested in Tibetian Buddhism.
Tibetan Buddhism is intereting in it’s own right. It’s probably the most formalized sect of buddhism and has a lot of emphasis on colorful ritual and a panalopy of diety-like saints. It’s nowhere near the austere religion found in Japan, for example. It’s really more of it’s own thing that just another branch of Buddhism, and it’s sad to see it in exile due to poltics.
Well, Tibetan Buddhism is a mixture of Bon, the original animist Tibetan religion, and Buddhism. Many people even categorize it in its own category, dividing Buddhism into Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Vajrayana, although a very colorful tradition, is in no way representative of the lush variety that is found in Buddhism. I am sure some Theravadins would strongly disagree with some beliefs or practices of Vajrayogis.
Is it just because of the pop-appeal of Tibet’s cause and its colorfulness and pretty rituals that it’s so popular in the West?
Why not Pure Land Buddhism? Or Soka Gakkai? Or Won Buddhism? Or Theravada?
WRS
Have you actually seen stats on American membership/following of these other forms. Perhaps just because a few famous people are followers it has gotten more exposure.
How large are these groups? (Forgive me, I’m operating on my view of how visible certain groups of Buddhism are.)
Why are celebrities drawn to Tibetan Buddhism? (I read Orlando Bloom joined Sako Gakkai, which is rare for a celebrity, I guess.)
Besides, doesn’t Buddhism teach impermanence and monasticism? What’s a monk doing agitating for political power or influence? What business does a monk have trying to regain his old throne? Do Western supporters of Tibet agree with the position of the Dalai Lama as omnipotent autocrat in a theocracy? I don’t see why this is such a big deal, something that would attract so much attention. (There are, certainly, far better causes to be worried about or involved in.)
WRS
Are you actually curious about how popular it is and why or would you like to debate how wrong it is? Curious about the conflicts of any religioous heirarchy with real world politics?
And Zen Buddhism is pretty widespread. I would bet bigger that Tibetan.
Slight nit pick, the 14th Dalai Lama is widely recognized as one of the foremost Buddhist scholars living. Not just Tibetan Buddhism.
To take a stab at the OP, I think a lot of the appeal of Tibetan Buddhism has to do with the Tibetans themselves and the land. Tibet is really undescribable but amazing place. The Tibetans are simply fantastic people. It is hard not to be captivated if you’ve ever had a chance to visit Tibet and spend time there.
What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?
“Make me one with everything!”
Thank you, I’ll be here all week! 
I’d say Tibetan Buddhism is famous but not popular. It seems to serve more as a stock symbol for an exotic, esoteric tradition than as an actual religion or philosophy. I doubt most people who’ve heard of it could name any of its central tenets. Same probably applies to Buddhism in general (suffering? emptiness? what?).
Two recent examples I came across: the short story “Nine Billion Names of God” by Arthur Clarke and the movie “The Golden Child”. Both borrow Tibetan culture to tell their respective stories but neither exemplifies Tibetan Buddhism at all. I guess vague notions of magic and secret teachings are more interesting than hearing about how you don’t really exist.
I’d hazard a guess that Zen Buddhism is much more popular than Tibetan Buddhism in the U.S. Every big city has at least one Zen Center, but you don’t see many Tibetan temples. Also, look at the “Eastern Religions” shelf at your local Barnes & Noble. It’s almost all Zen Buddhism.
It’s also worth noting that Western Zen Buddhists tend to practice the central feature of Zen (sitting meditation) much more than Asian Zen Buddhists do. Meditation is mostly left to the monks in Asia.
Actually, “Nine Billion Names of God” by Arthur Clarke examplefies one of the main criticisms of Tibeten Buddhism - it tends to be inward oriented, disregarding all things outside themselves. Their critics say that this extends to the point where they disregard the poverty of those around them.
I didn’t get a sense of this from the story but it’s been several months since I read it. One could say this criticism is only applicable to practitioners who have misunderstood the philsophy and that, for instance, the bodhisattva ideal (reincarnating until all sentient beings overcome suffering), which is central to the tradition, advocates just the opposite.
But regardless, I was thinking more along the lines of the story ascribing to the monks a belief in a Supreme Being, which no orthodox Buddhist has. Buddhists also deny the existence of a soul. They actually consider a belief in soul to be the fundamental cause of our ongoing suffering.
There’s a lot of mumbo jumbo disguised as Buddhism in Western culture. One movie that comes to mind which seemed to get the philosophy right was Scorsese’s Kundun. The movie quoted extensively from Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life.