Around 60 University and High school students as well as recent graduates participated in an Intensive Four-Day Workshop on Buddhism titled “Buddhism 101: Essence of Philosophy and Practice” in Brooklyn, New York. The Workshop, which started on Thursday, August 20 and ended Sunday, August 23, was organized by the Office of Tibet, New York. The Workshop venue was the beautiful and spacious Tibet Center, Rato Kyongla Rinpoche’s center in Brooklyn, at the edge of the East River. The participants were mostly Tibetan youth, with about twenty students from the Walung, Sherpa, Tamang and Kalmyk communities.
Mr. Lobsang Nyandak, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Americas, opened the Workshop with a short speech welcoming the students. He spoke of His Holiness’s visit to New York in May as the genesis of this workshop. When His Holiness met with the leaders of the local Himalayan Buddhist communities, he suggested an introductory workshop to Buddhism for youth. Then Professor Robert Thurman gave the first lecture, on the Story of the Buddha and the Jataka Tales, followed by another lecture on Buddhism in the Modern world.
Jigme Gorap, an Accounting Associate with Harry and Abrams, a publishing firm in Manhattan, said of the workshop, “This was an opportunity way too good to miss. I took a couple of days off from work and immediately registered for it. I hope this is the start of many more to come.”
The other speakers were Lama Kelsang Gyaltsen, from Tsechen Kunkyab Ling, who discussed the Four Noble Truths in great depth, and Venerable Thutop, from Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca, who took the students through the Six Perfections on the Path to Enlightenment. Lama Pema Wangdak, from Palden Sakya Center who was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, taught the Law of Causality and a special session on Meditation.
Each session included a lecture followed by a Question & Answer period. The weekend sessions, which include topics on Buddhism and Science: Faith & Reason, the History of Buddhism and the Application of Buddhist Teachings to Everyday Life were all taught by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, Principal Translator to His Holiness and Director of the Institute of Tibetan Classics in Montreal.
Office of Tibet, New York,submitted this report.
