Tibet Center

UVA Tibet Center is pleased to join the Virginia Center for the Study of Religion in supporting an online talk by Dr. Kalzang Dorjee Bhutia: “Repairing Relations: Caring for the Sacred Habitat Across Dimensions in Sikkimese Ritual Cosmologies”

Register here:
https://virginia.zoom.us/…/tJ0ldO2hqT8sEtB…

Based at UC Riverside, Dr. Bhutia’s research focuses on environmental histories and the relationships between ecology, development, history, and the vibrant communities of and near Sikkim. His current projects include a Wenner-Gren grant to support a collaborative project between regional scholars to deconstruct colonial representations of the eastern Himalaya, and an ACLS Fellowship. More on Dr. Bhutia’s ACLS-funded projects here: https://www.acls.org/fellow-grantees/kalzang-dorjee-bhutia/

Dr. Bhutia’s talk is one of two organized by UVA Religious Studies doctoral candidate Devin Zuckerman on the theme of Environmental Repair & Relatedness in Himalayan Buddhism as part of her course Buddhism and Environmental Thought and Practice (RELB2067).

The UVa Tibet Center, the UVa Contemplative Sciences Center, and the UVa East Asia Center, are hosting Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro in a visit to UVa grounds the week of April 15-21. During his time at UVa Khenpo will give two public talks.

Public Talk #1

“Tibetan Environmental and Cultural Preservation”
Thursday, April 16th,  3:30-5:00pm
Wilson Hall 301 at the University of Virginia
Khenpo will speak in Tibetan, which will be translated into English.

Registration not required. PLEASE NOTE PREVIOUS DATE POSTE OF APRIL 17TH WAS INCORRECT – IT IS APRIL 16TH

Public Talk #2

“Buddhist Contemplation, Science, and Secular Society: A Dialog wth Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro”. The dialog will be in conversation with Professor David Germano, director of CSC.
Monday, April 20th, 5:30-7:00 pm
Minor Hall 125 at the University of Virginia
Khenpo will speak in Tibetan, which will be translated into English.

REGISTER HERE for the April 20th talk

Biography

Khenpo Tsultrim Lodrö was born in 1962 in Drango County in Sichuan Province’s Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. In 1984 he received monastic ordination at the world-renowned Larung Five Sciences Buddhist Institute (Larung Gar) in Serthar, becoming a disciple of the preeminent spiritual master, Chogyel Yeshe Norbu Jigme Phunstok.  After many years dedicated to the study of the five main sutric treatises and tantric scripture, he was awarded the title of Khenpo in recognition of his scholarship.

For more than twenty years he has overseen monastic education at Larung Gar, producing successive generations of accomplished students. During the 1990s, he gave a series of dharma teachings in Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Over the past decade, Khenpo has concentrated efforts in Tibetan areas, promoting environmental awareness, education, vegetarianism, and the importance of protecting living beings and abstaining from taking life.  At the same time, he has sought to deepen the broader Tibetan community’s understanding of basic dharma, and to this end has travelled widely giving teachings to lay audiences.  Placing great importance on the promotion of Tibetan culture, Khenpo has founded libraries and schools.  Notably, he has also coordinated a team of language specialists and scholars representing all Tibetan regions to collaborate on the compilation of a trilingual (Tibetan-Chinese-English) dictionary of new vocabulary terms.

Two volumes have been published in the past five years:
Chinese-Tibetan-English Illustrated Dictionary of New Daily Vocabulary
Chinese-Tibetan-English Dictionary of New Daily Vocabulary

Over the last ten years, Khenpo has been committed to deepening his understanding of western science and philosophy, and is utilising contemporary methods to disseminate Buddhist culture.   Khenpo has published extensively on Buddhism in both Tibetan and Chinese languages. His Tibetan publications include four volumes of collected writings, and his Chinese monographs include the Wisdom Light series, Stories of Transmigration, Buddhism: Superstition or Wisdom?, The Secret Code for Unlocking Tibetan Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism: Lifting the Veil of Mystery.

The overall visit to the US is supported by The Khyentse Lectureship, the HBH Fund, the Helen Clay Frick Foundation, and William P. T. Lee & Jason J. Lee.

The Buddhist Studies Group at the University of Virginia, an organization devoted to promoting the academic field of Buddhist Studies, is organizing a symposium on the Tibetan Book from November 6-8, 2014.

Schedule

Thursday, November 6

4:30-6:00pm: Keynote

Leonard van der Kuijp, Harvard University
“Books in Tibet: Scribes, Pens and Paper, Writing, Manuscripts, Xylographs, and Text Transmissions”
Nau Hall 101

6:00-7:00pm: Reception

Friday, November 7

All events will take place in NAU 342 unless otherwise noted.

9:30-9:50am: Michael Suarez (Rare Book School, University of Virginia) – “Toward a Global Bibliography”
10:00-11:00am: David Vander Muelen (University of Virginia) – “Bibliographical Ways to Read a Book”

Respondent: Natasha L. Mikles (University of Virginia)
Q&A Session

11:00-11:15am: Break
11:15am-12:45pm: Panel: “Manuscripts – How can we use bibliographic methods to look at manuscripts? What will we find?”

Jake Dalton (UC Berkeley) – “Recent Bibliographic Advances in the Study of the Tibetan Dunhuang Manuscripts”

Dan Hirshberg (University of Mary Washington) – “Not One, Not Two, but Three, and now Five? Comparing the Analog and Digital Reproductions of Nyang rap’s Chos ‘byung Manuscripts”

12:45-1:45pm: Lunch Break
1:45-3:15pm: Panel: “Print – How can we use bibliographic methods to look at printed materials? What will we find?”

Marta Sernesi (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) – “Towards a History of Early Tibetan Printing: New Evidence and Uncharted Territories”

Ben Nourse (University of Virginia) – “A Question of Style: Regional, Sectarian, and Printing House Styles of Tibetan Language Woodblock Printing”

Respondent: David Whitesell (University of Virginia, Rare Book School)

3:30-5:00pm: Panel: “Modern Innovations”

Michael Sheehy (Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center) – “An Ontology for the Digital Tibetan Book”
Lauran Hartley (Columbia University) – “Bookish Questions for Tibetan Studies in the Digital Age”

Respondent: Kurtis Schaeffer (University of Virginia)

Photo: Bradley Aaron

Saturday, November 8

9:00-10:15am: Roundtable Discussion: Adapting Bibliographic Methodologies to Tibetan Materials (Nau 342)

Kurtis Schaeffer (University of Virginia)
David Vander Meulen (University of Virginia)

Recorder: Natasha Mikles (University of Virginia)

10:15-10:30am: Break
10:30 – 11:30am: Agniezka Helman-Wazny (University of Arizona) – “Tibetan Books: An Uneasy Alliance of Science and History”
11:30am-12:30pm: James Canary (Indiana University) – “Exploring the Tibetan Book”
12:30-1:30pm: Lunch Break
1:30 – 3:30pm: Papermaking Workshop led by James Canary  at Dean Dass Classroom, 111 Ruffin Hall

All sessions are open to the public.
For more information, visit: facebook.com/BuddhiststudiesUVa

Key People: Graduate Students: Natasha Mikles; Ben Nourse; Kurtis Schaeffer, Professor and Department Chair. All organizers are from the University of Virginia’s Department of Religious Studies.

Tibetan Monks Sacred Arts Tour

Join the Bryan Innovation Lab at the Steward School for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Monks of Drepung Gomang Monastery are visiting the Bryan Innovation Lab February 17-21, 2014.

The monks will visit the Bryan Innovation Lab to provide the Steward community with an opportunity to better understand the relationship between Tibetan culture and the science of thought. Through the monks’ varied activities, the students will learn about mindfulness, cultural studies, and traditional foods in an effort to understand their global position in a connected world. The Steward School joins with many modern academic institutions in studying the relationship between quantitative science and contemplative science as demonstrated in Tibetan culture. While on campus, the monks will create a sand mandala in the Wellness Studio, conduct various workshops, visit with Steward students, and perform traditional music and dance throughout the week.

February 17-21 Events

WELCOME: On Monday February 17th, join the Bryan Innovation Lab in welcoming the monks along with a talk on Tibetan Buddhism by UVa Tibetan Studies PhD student Eva Natanya Rolf and the Gomang monks.

SAND MANDALA: From 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. each day, you are invited to observe and take photos of the daily creation of a sand mandala.  A group of monks will dedicate their time solely to creating this masterpiece.

MEDITATION: At 11 a.m. each day, you are invited to various workshops on meditation.

CULTURAL PAGEANT: On Thursday February 20th, be sure to join us for the Cultural Pageant. A reception and discussion on compassion by University of Virginia Tibetan Studies PhD student Nick Trautz will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Bryan Lab, and the Cultural Pageant will take place from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Lora M. Robins Theatre. During the pageant, the monks will perform traditional Tibetan music and dance. Click here to register for this event.

CLOSING: On Friday afternoon from 3:30-5:30 p.m., join us outside the Bryan Lab for the closing ceremony and the blessing of Petronis Pond.

Click here to register for Thursday evening’s Cultural Pageant

Location

Bryan Innovation Lab at the Steward School
11600 Gayton Road, Richmond VA 23238

Take 64 East to Gaskins Road South. Take a right onto Gayton road (at Gayton shopping center) the school and Bryan Innovation Lab is on Gayton Road.