Tibetan Scholars Meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Review Buddhist Science Textbook

Theckchen Chöling, Dharamsala, India 25 September 2013 – His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s interest in science is well-known. Conversations he began with modern scientists almost thirty years ago have spawned such thriving collaborations as the Mind & Life Institute a non-profit organization dedicated to building a scientific understanding of the mind to reduce suffering and promote well-being. Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness Offers Condolences at the Passing Away of Robert Ford

Dharamsala, HP, India, 26 September 2013 – His Holiness the Dalai Lama offered his prayers and deep condolences in a personal letter to the family members of Robert Ford at his passing away. He stated that Robert Ford occupied a special place in the history of Tibet as the first Englishman employed as an official of the pre-1959 Tibetan Government. His Holiness recalled his many meetings with Robert Ford, Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with members of the monastic community at Vien Giac Vietnamese Buddhist Temple in Hanover, Germany on September 20, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

His Holiness the Dalai Lama Concludes his European Tour with a Visit to the Vien Giac Vietnamese Temple

The concluding engagement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s current tour of Europe was a visit to the Vien Giac Vietnamese Temple in Hanover, Germany. On arrival he recognised several friends among the monks who came to receive him as he stepped out of his car and who then escorted him into the Temple.

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking during his visit to Gymnasium Steinhude in Steinhude, Germany on September 19, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

Ethics for the Young Generation and Strength through Compassion and Solidarity

Hanover, Germany, 19 September 2013 – This morning His Holiness the Dalai Lama was invited to visit the small town of Wunstorf twenty kms or so to the west of Hanover. The Mayor of Wunstorf, Rolf-Axel Eberhardt and his wife received him on arrival at the Town Hall, while a group of young music students played in his honour. Read the rest of this entry »

The United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Several Nations Urge China to Respect Rights of Tibetans at UNHRC Session.

DHARAMSHALA: Over five countries including the US, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and the UK, on Tuesday issued statements at the ongoing 24th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, urging China to respect human rights in Tibet. Read the rest of this entry »

Il Dalai Lama lancia un appello ai monaci buddisti birmani.

Dalai Lama ai monaci birmani: Basta violenze anti-Rohingya
Il leader spirituale tibetano ricorda gli insegnamenti del Buddha e lancia un appello ai monaci birmani: niente più attacchi e violenze contro “i vostri fratelli e sorelle musulmani”. Aung San Suu Kyi chiede emendamenti alla Costituzione per risolvere il problema etnico. Read the rest of this entry »

School children welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama with roses on his arrival at IGS Hanover in Hanover, Germany on September 18, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

Speaking about Young People’s Contribution to a Peaceful World

When His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived at the IGS School Hanover this morning he was met by the Principal and a member of the City Council who gave him a small bust of the philosopher Leibnitz, who lived in Hanover in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Noting the hand-painted flags over the school door he entered the lobby to a musical accompaniment. Read the rest of this entry »

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama gestures during his press conference at the international conference FORUM 2000 in Prague, Czech Republic, on September 17, 2013. The 17th annual Forum 2000 Conference convene global leaders from politics, academia, religion, business and civil society are meeting to discuss key issues facing civilization. The Forum 2000 Foundation was founded in 1996 by Czech President Vaclav Havel, Japanese philanthropist Yohei Sasakawa, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel. According to the organization, the main objective of its conferences is ‘to identify the key issues facing civilization and to explore ways to prevent the escalation of conflicts that have religion, culture or ethnicity as their primary components. (EPA Photo)

Prague. The Dalai Lama on Tuesday urged Myanmar monks to act according to their Buddhist principles, in a plea to end the deadly violence against the country’s Muslim minority.

“Those Burmese monks, please, when they develop some kind of anger towards Muslim brothers and sisters, please, remember the Buddhist faith,” the Buddhist leader told reporters at an annual human rights conference in the Czech capital Prague.

“I am sure […] that would protect those Muslim brothers and sisters who are becoming victims,” Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader said. Read the rest of this entry »

Glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau — the world’s third-largest ice reservoir after those in Antarctica and Greenland — have been losing mass even at surprisingly high elevations/NASA Earth Observatory

Tibetan glaciers are shrinking at their summits.

By Jane Qui [Nature.com]

Ice loss at high elevations threatens water supply for hundreds of millions of people. The Tibetan glaciers are shrinking. Most of the retreat is thought to be taking place at low elevations, but research now shows that the glaciers may also be losing ice at altitudes up to 6,000 metres. “The glaciers are virtually being decapitated from the top by a warming climate,” Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with fellow panelist during their discussion on Democracy, Human Rights and Religious Freedom in East Asia at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic on September 17, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

Closing Panel of the Forum 2000 Conference on Societies in Transition: The Values We Share

Arriving at the Zofin Palace Prague, Czech Republic, this morning, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was received by Tomáš Vrba, a publisher who is Chairman of the Forum 2000 Board of Directors. He escorted him to a meeting with the press in the Knights’ Hall. His Holiness answered the first question about whether he is disappointed when political leaders are reluctant to meet him by repeating what he has said elsewhere that he is primarily concerned with meeting the public to discuss human values with them. Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness and the late President Vaclav Havel's wife Dagmar Havlova looking at a poster depicting Vaclev Havel's arrests in his office in Prague, Czech Republic on September 16, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

Forum 2000 Conference on Societies in Transition

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is in Prague at the invitation of the Forum 2000 Foundation established by his old friend President Vaclav Havel. This is his tenth visit since he came first in 1990, three months after the Velvet Revolution that ended 41 years of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Shortly after he was last here in 2012, President Havel died. Today, His Holiness expressed a wish to visit Havel’s office to pay his respects. This he duly did, being met at the entrance to the building by Dagmar Havlova, the late President’s wife who escorted him inside. His Holiness touched his head to the chair in which Havel sat when they last met and laid a silk scarf upon it. When he asked if they had anything bearing President Havel’s own handwriting a signed copy was found of his last play ‘Leaving’, which Dagmar Havlova presented to His Holiness. Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama says China’s Tibet policy now ‘more realistic’

[AFP] Vilnius — The Dalai Lama said Friday he believed China was being “more realistic” about Tibet after decades of what he termed failed hardline policy. Beijing has long accused Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader of encouraging separatism and violence, but the Nobel Peace laureate said Friday he is only seeking “meaningful autonomy” for Tibetans within China and accepts Chinese rule.

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I tre monaci condannati: Choedar, Sonam Gonpo e Sonam Choedar

Tibet, monaci condannati a 4 anni per “attività politiche non autorizzate”

Le condanne sono arrivate dopo 1 anno di detenzione preventiva. Nei raid sono stati arrestati anche altri religiosi, rilasciati dopo aver firmato un documento in cui si impegnano a non fare alcun tipo di attività politica. L’area di Wonpo sempre più nel mirino delle autorità. Lhasa (AsiaNews) – Le autorità giudiziarie della contea tibetana di Kardze – nella provincia cinese del Sichuan – hanno condannato alla galera tre monaci buddisti arrestati lo scorso anno nel corso di un raid compiuto dalla pubblica sicurezza. I tre – Choedar, Sonam Gonpo e Sonam Choedar – sono in prigione da diversi mesi: fino a ora la loro sorte era sconosciuta. La pena varia dai 3 ai 4 anni di galera per “attività politiche non autorizzate”. Le condanne sono state confermate dal Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and fellow Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi during their meeting in Prague, Czech Republic on September 15, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

Teaching the Eight Verses for Training the Mind in Prague

On his way through the hotel lobby in Prague, Czech Republic, as he was setting out for the venue of today’s teachings, His Holiness the Dalai Lama encountered a group of Tibetans who had come from Austria where they live to listen to his public talk yesterday. They stayed overnight and were taking the opportunity to see him again before returning home. He took a few minutes to extol to them the value and richness of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He stressed that Tibetan is the language most appropriate for conveying what the Buddha’s teachings mean. Therefore, it is really worth preserving. In the twenty-first century Buddhists need to read, study and come to an understanding of Buddhism, not just recite prayers and mantras without thinking about them. Many were overcome with emotion. Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama

China Cracking down on Tibetan culture, by Vishal Gulati

Dharamsala, Sep 16 (IANS) The Chinese government has stepped up its crackdown on Tibetan artistes and intellectuals as part of its tactics to crush their language and culture, say  exiled Tibetans here.

They say the Chinese authorities have been enforcing a ban on songs that either invoke their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in exile or highlight their aspirations.

“Singer Shawo Tashi has become the latest Tibetan to be arbitrarily detained and sentenced,” human rights watchdog Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), based here, told IANS. Read the rest of this entry »

Tibetan monks and endangered cats [The Economist]

A new study of the snow leopard’s habitat across the Tibetan plateau has found that Tibetan Buddhist monasteries may be better equipped than formal preservation programmes to protect the endangered cats from poaching,retaliatory killing by farmers and other deadly perils. The key is their ability to extend their influence across administrative boundaries and maintain safe space for the animals. Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with a group of physically challenged young people who play music together on his arrival at the Tipsport Arena before the start of his talk in Prague, Czech Republic on September 14, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

Compassion & Respect in Today’s Society

This morning, after three days in Vilnius, Lithuania, His Holiness the Dalai Lama flew to Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. He was received at the Airport by Karel Schwarzenberg, former Foreign Minister in the Czech government and leader of the TOP 09 party, Tomas Hudecek, Mayor of Prague, and Executive Director of the Forum 2000 Foundation, Jakub Klepal. Arriving at his hotel, Tibetans from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria and Czech supporters of Tibet were gathered to welcome him. After lunch, he greeted a group of physically challenged Czechs who play music together as he was on his way to the Tipsport Arena, venue for his public talk. His first words from the stage, having greeted the audience of more than 6000, were in tribute to his late friend and founder of Forum 2000, President Vaclav Havel. “He was a humble, genuinely good human being, who put on no airs. From the first he was honest and truthful. Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking to members of the press during the second day of this three day visit to Vilnius, Lithuania on September 12, 2013. Photo/Zymantas Morkvenas

Visiting the Lithuanian Parliament and Vilnius City Hall

People in Vilnius, Lithuania, could be heard expressing surprise about the unusually good weather for the time of year, attributing it to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s presence in the city. He laughed off the suggestion, pointing out that if he had any ability to influence the weather he’d be sure to use it when he wanted to fly. This morning he drove to the nearby Academy of Arts, where his first public engagement was a meeting with the press. He began by outlining his two lifelong commitments: encouraging the adoption of human values as a basic source of happiness and promoting inter-religious harmony. He also highlighted the media’s responsibility to increase awareness of such issues among the public. Read the rest of this entry »

Three children conducting an interview with His Holiness the Dalai lama for Lrytas TV in Vilnius, Lithuania on September 13, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

The Path to Peace and Happiness in a Global Society

At the Academy of Arts Vilnius, Lithuania once more, the first of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s engagements today was a meeting with Buddhists and supporters of Tibet. He began by paying his respects before an image of the Buddha that had been set up to one side of the dais. He explained that today the Buddha is commonly regarded as a symbol of compassion. However, to begin with he was a sentient being who clarified his mind, cleansing it of defilements, gradually overcoming all mistaken conceptions and acquiring wisdom through the application of intelligence.

In ancient India the practice of morality, single pointed concentration and penetrative wisdom were the three trainings common to spiritual practice. Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama lays flowers at the foot of the Freedom Monument in Riga, Latvia on September 9, 2013. Photo/Igor/SaveTibetRussia

The Path to Peace and Happiness in a Global Society

His Holiness the Dalai Lama began his second full day in Riga, Latvia, by giving two interviews. The first was conducted by Arnis Ritups, a bluff philosopher who moderated his public talk yesterday, for Rigas Laiks (The Riga Time) magazine. Uncompromising in his questions he asked, “Have you understood the nature of thought?” to which His Holiness replied that his daily practice is essentially about examining the nature of the mind. When he asked, “Am I speaking with the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara?” His Holiness replied that he never claims to be a Bodhisattva, and that Avalokiteshvara is his boss. Regarding his predecessors as Dalai Lama, he lauded the qualities of the first seven, noting that while many of them experienced spiritual visions, the significant contribution he himself has made is in establishing a dialogue between Buddhist science and modern science. Read the rest of this entry »

Tibet, le forze di sicurezza cinesi sparano contro manifestanti: feriti

Il Fatto Quotidiano 8 ottobre 2013

Fuoco cinese contro manifestanti tibetani. Le forze di sicurezza  hanno sparato aperto il fuoco contro la folla che chiedeva il rilascio di un concittadino, arrestato per aver protestato contro l’ordine di esibire la bandiera nazionale della Cina. Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama presenting Tereze Telpe with the Dalai Lama Award for Youth Compassion at the start of his talk in Riga, Latvia on September 9, 2013. Photo/Igor/SaveTibetRussia

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaks on the Culture of Compassion

At the end of a long journey from India, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was warmly welcomed when he landed under bright skies in the northern European port city of Riga, capital of Latvia, yesterday. Members of the organizing committee for his visit, led by Janis Martins Skuja, met him at the airport and a smiling crowd of well-wishers awaited his arrival at his hotel.

His program today began with a meeting with the press. He opened, declaring:
“I’m very happy to be here for my third visit to this very pleasant city. Wherever I go I try to generate awareness of the sameness, the oneness of humanity. Read the rest of this entry »

Preghiera per la pace

L’Unione Buddista Italiana in questo momento in cui le voci di guerra sembrano sovrastare le voci di pace, si unisce nel silenzio della meditazione e della preghiera all’appello che S. S. Papa Francesco ha rivolto a tutti gli uomini e le donne di buona volontà per accendere una luce di speranza nella risoluzione di un conflitto che già ha pagato il tributo di migliaia di vittime . Read the rest of this entry »

Dolma Kyab

Il governo inglese chiede alla Cina di sospendere l’esecuzione di Dolma Kyab

William Hague, Segretario di Stato inglese agli Affari Esteri, ha chiesto ieri al governo cinese la sospensione della condanna a morte sentenziata il 17 agosto nei confronti di Dolma Kyab (nella foto), marito di Kunchok Wangmo, la donna tibetana di trentuno anni immolatasi con il fuoco a Taktsa, Contea di Dzoege, nella regione di Ngaba, il 13 marzo 2013. “Chiediamo alle autorità cinesi la commutazione della sentenza e la sospensione dell’esecuzione”, ha dichiarato Hague alla Camera dei Comuni, auspicando un “processo libero e conforme agli standard internazionali”. Qual’è il comportamento del governo italiano?

Kunchok Wangmo, deceduta sul luogo dell’immolazione, aveva compiuto l’estremo atto di protesta di fronte all’ufficio che ospita i funzionari cinesi. Read the rest of this entry »