Miami University Plans Tibetan Culture Week Ahead of His Holiness’ Visit[Saturday, 13 March 2010, 12:14 p.m.]

A file photo of Miami University students with His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Dharamshala: Miami
University is holding a Tibetan Culture Week from 22-26 March in
preparation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit in October, The Oxford Press reported Friday.The week will offer a series of lectures, meditation sessions and a prayer ceremony that are free and open to the public.Geshe Kalsang Damdul, assistant director of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics based in Dharamsala, will lead the events.The
programmes come ahead of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to Miami
University on 20-22 October to recognise a programme that takes
students to Dharamsala, India for an entire semester.“The
success of the program is what promoted the Dalai Lama to accept the
university’s invitation,” said Professor Deborah Akers. “He receives
hundreds of invitations so we’re very lucky he accepted ours.”The
College of Higher Tibetan Studies has taken 65 students to Dharamsala
with the semester-long program last fall and summer sessions during the
last five years. Students live among Tibetan refuges and take courses
on Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan medicine and meditation, as well as an
intensive sequence of language courses in Chinese, Tibetan and Hindi.“The students return with a broader view on life. It’s a very unique program,” Akers said.During
Tibetan Culture Week, the public will be invited to Sangsol (incense
burning ceremony) at noon on 22 March, at the Hub near Upham Hall. On
24 March, Geshe Damdul will present “An Introduction to Tibetan
Meditation” from 9 to 10 a.m. and a lecture “Toward a Compassionate
World in the 21st Century” from 3 to 4 p.m. in 212 McMillan.Throughout
his visit, Geshe Damdul will meet with faculty and students to discuss
Buddhist philosophy and issues between China and Tibet.On 25
March, “Global Women’s Day: Tibetan Women” will be held from 11 a.m. to
2 p.m. at Shriver Center and a showing of the film “Kundun” will take
place from 7 to 9 p.m. in 101 Bachelor Hall. The Association of Women
Students is sponsoring the events. The film is co-sponsored by Students
for a Free Tibet.Miami established a relationship with the
Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India, during summer
workshops in Tibet led by Dr. Humayun Sidky and Dr. Deborah Akers from
2004-2008. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a patron of this institute,
one of the premier institutions for study of Buddhist thought and
philosophy.A university delegation, led by Provost Jeffrey
Herbst and including anthropology chair Dr. Linda Marchant and Prof.
Mark Allen Peterson, visited Dharamsala in Fall 2009 and signed an
affiliation agreement. The following year, the department made its
Tibetan studies a semester-long program.