By Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Nov 10: In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Emory-Tibet Partnership, the Emory News Center issued an official announcement on November 7, announcing the renewal of the partnership between Emory University and Drepung Loseling Monastery. The partnership emphasised in essence their commitment to advancing a shared vision in collaboration with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
A quarter-century in the past, the Dalai Lama, then holding the title of Emory’s Presidential Distinguished Professor, was present at the signing of a ground breaking agreement known as the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI) with Emory and Drepung Loseling in 1998. This pioneering collaboration marked the inception of the first-ever partnership between a Western institution and a distinguished Tibetan monastic university, aimed at developing and implementing an extensive science education curriculum for Tibetan monastics.
The ETSI originated from a shared vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Emory, aimed at integrating compassion and ethics through science. This vision blossomed into a global center of education and research called the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics (CCSCBE). The center’s core programs include the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI), Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT) and Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning (SEE Learning).
Marking its 25th anniversary, the renewed partnership between Emory University and the Drepung Loseling Monastery brought together senior leadership from the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, the Institute of Buddhist Dialects, and Emory University. President Gregory L. Fenves, Provost Ravi V. Bellamkonda, and Emory College Dean Barbara Krauthamer participated in a comprehensive review of the Memorandum of Understanding, originally signed in 1998 in the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, alongside the current abbot of Drepung Loseling, Emory News Center noted.
“It has been an honour that His Holiness the Dalai Lama entrusted us with several of his most cherished visions: developing a comprehensive and sustainable science education program for Tibetan monastics, a program for the education of both heart and mind in pre-school through university, and promoting the cultivation of compassion through all sectors of society,” said Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, executive director of The Compassion Center and who formalised the Emory-Tibet Partnership in 1998. “Relying on personal experience, common sense, and scientific evidence, this holistic approach focuses on fundamental human values and is not dependent upon the beliefs of any particular value system,” he further stated.
