KRYZYL, Tuva: Honorable Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Russia, Mongolia and CIS countries Telo Tulku Rinpoche stressed the importance of producing a whole new generation of specialists on Tibetan and Buddhist studies in order to give a new life to the academic disciplines that had been a matter of pride for Russia in the previous centuries.
Telo Tulku Rinpoche was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Conference “Buddhism in the Third Millennium: Trends and Prospects” held between September 7th and 9th 2016 in Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva, Russian Federation. The forum that brought together illustrious scholars from all over Russia and abroad was co-organized by Government of the Republic of Tuva, the Institute of Humanitarian and Applied Social and Economic Studies, the Tuvan State University, Department of Khenpo Lama of Tuva with the support of the Tibetan Culture and Information Center (Moscow) and Save Tibet Foundation (Moscow).
The opening сeremony of the big forum was personally attended by the head of Republic of Tuva Sholban Kara-ool who cordially thanked Telo Tulku Rinpoche unwavering support in inviting important figures of Tibetan Buddhism to Tuva and mentioned that the government supported the idea of creating the Center of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies that has been functioning as part of the Tuvan State University.
Among the prominent Russian scholars who went all the way to Kyzyl to attend the conference in Tuva were Dr. Viktoria Lysenko (Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences); Dr. Sergei Kuzmin and Dr. Alla Shustova (Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences); Dr. Egor Falev (Moscow State University); Dr. Raisa Krapivina (Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences), Dr. Lyubov Abaeva (Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in Ulan-Ude) as well as many others.
Discussions were mainly held around the following areas: 1) Traditional and Western Buddhism in Russia: Development Trends; 2) Buddhism, Education, Science; 3) Buddhism and Traditional Medicine. The conference also included a round table discussions on “Science and Buddhism” and “Buddhist Studies in Russia and Mongolia: Status and Prospects”.
The Conference “Buddhism in the Third Millennium: Trends and Prospects” in Tuva was basically a continuation of the discussions that started in Buryatia in 2014 by the initiative Dr. Boris Bazarov, Director of Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in Ulan-Ude, and then continued in Kalmykia by the efforts of Telo Tulku Rinpoche in 2015. In early 2016 Honorable Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Russia, Mongolia and CIS countries personally requested the head of the Republic of Tuva to host a similar forum so that the scholars could meet and exchange idea that would definitely lead to reviving and reinforcing Tibetan and Buddhist studies in Russia.
During his visit to Tuva Telo Tulku Rinpoche also held the presentation of “Beyond Religion. Ethics for a Whole World” by His Holiness the Dalai Lama that was recently published in Russian language. He also visited a construction site of a new spacious Buddhist temple that has been constructing in Tuva by the head of the republic under the blessing of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
– Report filed by Office of Tibet, Russia –
