By Matt Dimler
DYBERRY TWP. — Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government, currently in exile in Dharmasala, India will be speaking on Monday, July 28th from 9:30 to 10:30 am at the Himalayan Institute north of Bethany. The focus of his talk will be his new book, Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World: Tibetan Buddhism and Today’s World, which is “a series of dialogues on spirituality, life in the modern world, and life for Tibetans,” says Himalayan Institute spokesperson Marge Watkins.
Rinpoche, who is currently one of the world’s leading scholars on Tibetan Buddhism, escaped from Tibet with the Dalai Lama during the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959.
Since then he has earned respect as an authority on the teachings of Ghandi, has served as vice-chancellor of higher Tibetan Studies in India, and was nominated by the government of India to be a member of the board of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research. He is also part of the Asiatic Society of West Bengal, the Sikkim Research Institute, and the Central Institute for Buddhist Studies, among other organizations.
Scholarship aside, he is also a doctor of Divinity and also of Tantric studies. “Professor Rinpoche is a fully ordained Buddhist monk, a scholar, and a philosopher,” Watkins told The Wayne Independent.
As Prime Minister of the Government of Tibet in Exile he answers directly to the Dalai Lama himself and works with him tirelessly for the preservation of culture and Tibetan heritage.
Rinpoche’s appearance at the institute stems from an April meeting with Ishan Tigunait, director of the Himalayan Institute’s global humanitarian projects, and an Indian delegation in regard to establishing an Indian Himalayan center. The global centers seek to “provide rural enpowerment for local people with the mission of social regeneration,” according to Watkins, “We provide them with vocational training so they can have a sustainable means of income.”
She went on to say, “Rather than providing aid we believe on training people so they can support themselves based on the surroundings that they’re in.”
After the meeting the Institute extended him an invitation to speak here in Wayne County, and, despite a busy statesman’s schedule, he was able to come to Honesdale for one night before leaving for further affairs in Europe.
Of Rinpoche, Watkins says, “The preservation of traditional heritage to reestablish a non-violent human society has been a lifelong mission of [his].”
The talk is free and open to the public, but space is limited, so interested parties are encouraged to register online at www.HimalayanInstitute.org or by phone at 800-822-4547 x2.
