Our honored speakers include , among others, Her Eminence Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche; Thupten Jinpa, PhD, translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Charles Raison, MD, of Emory University’s Mind-Body Program; and Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, PhD, senior lecturer in Religion and director of the Emory-Tibet Partnership.

• Session One on View will provide commentary on His Holiness’ teachings, illuminating how one’s view affects one’s life.
• Session Two on Meditation will feature present applications of meditation which have significantly benefited individuals, groups and communities.
• Session Three on Action will emphasize audience interaction through an extended period of questions and answers; the focus will be on translating ideas into action and helping people understand how the synergy of view, meditation, and action can transform their lives.

Speakers:

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will present the morning teaching, Finding Wisdom in the Modern World.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is both the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born on July 6, 1935 in northeastern Tibet and was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two. His Holiness began his monastic education at the age of six. At 23 he was awarded the Geshe Lharampa degree, the highest-level degree equivalent to a doctorate of Buddhist philosophy. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent struggle for the liberation of Tibet. His Holiness has traveled to more than 62 countries, spanning 6 continents.

In 1950 His Holiness was called upon to assume full political power after China’s invasion of Tibet in 1949. In 1959, with the brutal suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa by Chinese troops, His Holiness was forced to escape into exile. Since then he has been living in Dharamsala, northern India, the seat of the Tibetan political administration in exile.

A frequent visitor to Washington, DC, His Holiness proposed the Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet in his 1987 address to members of the United States Congress. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007, in recognition of his message of peace, non-violence, inter-religious understanding, universal responsibility and compassion.

His Holiness has met with presidents, prime ministers and crowned rulers of major nations. He has held dialogues with the heads of different religions and many well-known scientists. Since 1959 His Holiness has received over 84 awards, honorary doctorates and prizes, and he has also authored more than 72 books.

His Holiness describes himself as “a simple Buddhist monk.”

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Tsoknyi Rinpoche III

Tsoknyi Rinpoche is one of those rare teachers whose lighthearted yet illuminating style appeals to both beginners and advanced practitioners alike. He is truly a bridge between ancient wisdom and the modern mind. Widely recognized as a brilliant meditation teacher, RInpoche has authored two books, Carefree Dignity and Fearless Simplicity, and retains a keen interest in the ongoing dialogue among Buddhist practitioners, scholars and western researchers, especially neuroscientists.

His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa recognized Tsoknyi Rinpoche III (the present incarnation) as the reincarnation of Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche II. He is a renowned master of the Drukpa Kagyu and Nyingma traditions and holder of the Tsoknyi Lineage, which is based on Ratna Lingpa’s termas. Rinpoche was born into an unbroken father-to-son lineage of realized Dzogchen masters. His great-great-grandfather was the treasure revealer Chokgyur Lingpa, and Rinpoche was trained in that family tradition by his father from an early age.

Rinpoche was born in 1966 and was recognized as a tulku at the age of eight. The spiritual head of two nunneries and one monastery in Nepal and one of the largest nunneries in Tibet, Rinpoche also heads over 50 practice centers and hermitages, with over 2,000 nuns and 900 monks that practice the Tsoknyi and Ratna Lingpa Lineages in the eastern region of Tibet (Nangchen). Ngesdön Ösel Ling Monastery in Kathmandu is his seat in the East, and Yeshe Rangsal in Crestone, Colorado, is his seat in the West.

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Her Eminence Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche

Her Eminence Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche is one of the most renowned Tibetan teachers currently teaching in the West. Born into the Mindrolling lineage, which throughout its history has had many accomplished female masters, Rinpoche was recognized at the age of two by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa as the re-incarnation of the Great Dakini of Tsurphu, Khandro Ugyen Tsomo, who was one of the most renowned female masters of her time.

Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche has been teaching internationally for sixteen years and teaches extensively in both Europe and North America, offering teachings from both the Kagyu and Nyingma schools. She has also established and heads the Samten Tse Retreat Centre in Mussoorie, India which provides a place of study and retreat for monastics and Western lay practitioners, where students from East and West live together in spiritual community. Currently 52 nuns and 30 western students are in residence at Samten Tse.

As president of Samten Tse Charitable Projects, Rinpoche heads various charitable projects and sponsorships including sponsorship of the elderly, Tibetan Women’s development projects, Tibetan youth projects, The Leprosy Project, retreats for Buddhist practitioners and numerous community development projects. Rinpoche is also actively involved with the Mindrolling Monastery in India.

Lotus Garden Retreat Center, the North American Seat of Mindrolling International was established by Her Eminence Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche in 2003. Rinpoche’s vision of Lotus Garden is as a place of study and practice of the Buddha Dharma with the aspiration in particular to assist in the flourishing of the Mindrolling Lineage teachings.

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Robert Thurman, PhD

Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at
Columbia University and President of Tibet House US

A personal friend of the Dalai Lama for over 40 years, Robert A.F. Thurman is Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University and President of Tibet House US, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan civilization. Professor Thurman also serves as President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. The New York Times recently hailed him as “the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism.”

The first American to have been ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk, Professor Thurman is a passionate advocate and spokesperson for the truth regarding the current Tibet-China situation and the human rights violations suffered by the Tibetan people under Chinese rule. Thurman’s knowledge of Tibetan history and culture is often sought by policy makers; he has testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Professor Thurman’s scholarly and popular writings focus on the “inner revolution” that individuals and societies successfully negotiate when they achieve enlightenment. He defines this inner revolution as accurate insight into the true nature of reality and determined compassion for the suffering beings. He is a riveting speaker and an author of many books on Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics and culture, including Circling the Sacred Mountain, Essential Tibetan Buddhism, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, Infinite Life: Seven Virtues for Living Well, Inner Revolution, The Jewel Tree of Tibet and, most recently, Why the Dalai Lama Matters.

Thurman’s work and insights are grounded in more than 35 years of serious academic scholarship. He holds B.A., A.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard and has studied in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in India and the United States. A long-time advocate of Buddhist monasticism, Thurman was ordained in 1962. He gave up his robes after several years when he discovered he could be most effective in the American equivalent of the monastery.

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Thupten Jinpa, PhD

Visiting Research Scholar, Stanford Institute for Neuro-Innovation and Translational Neurosciences and President, Institute of Tibetan Classics

Thupten Jinpa has been a principal English translator to His Holiness the Dalai Lama since 1985. He has translated and edited more than a dozen books by the Dalai Lama including the New York Times bestseller Ethics for the New Millennium (Riverhead, 1999), Transforming the Mind (Thorsons, 2000 ), and Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality (Morgan Road Books, 2005). Jinpa’s own works include Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Philosophy and Mind Training: The Great Collection.

Thupten Jinpa received his early education and training as a monk and received the Geshe Lharam degree from Ganden Monastic University, south India. Jinpa holds a B.A. with Honors in Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies, both from Cambridge University, U.K., where he also worked as a research fellow in Eastern Religion. Since 1999 Jinpa has been the President of the Institute of Tibetan Classics and Editor-in-Chief of the Institute’s Library of Tibetan Classics series, and heheads its project of critical editing, translation and publication of key classical Tibetan texts.

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Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, PhD

Director, Emory-Tibet Partnership; Co-Director, Emory-Tibet Science Initiative; and Co-Director, Emory Collaborative for Contemplative Studies; and Senior Lecturer, Department of Religion, Emory University

Dr. Negi serves as Co-Director of the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative; Co-Director of the Emory Collaborative of Contemplative Studies. In addition, he has contributed to the development of a number of programs linking Emory University with Tibetan institutions of higher learning in India. His career has focused on the potential of mind to affect well-being on physical, emotional and mental levels and is now centered in three areas:

• Clinical research on the behavioral, immune and stress impacts of contemplative practices;
• Developing and implementing a science curriculum for Tibetan monastics; and
• Teaching Tibetan Buddhism both at Emory University and Atlanta’s Drepung Loseling.

Born in Kinnaur, a small Himalayan kingdom adjoining Tibet, Geshe Lobsang was chosen at age 14 to study at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, the private school of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. In 1985 he entered Drepung Loseling Monastery in Karnataka, Southern India, to continue his studies, and in 1994 he received the Geshe Lharampa degree, the highest level of learning in Tibetan Buddhism. At the suggestion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Lobsang also completed a Ph.D. at the Institute for Liberal Arts at Emory University.

In 1991 Geshe Lobsang established Drepung Loseling, the North American seat of Drepung Loseling Monastery, and continues to serve as its president and spiritual director. Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc. has grown to become one of North America’s leading centers for the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism, and offers courses by the most highly respected scholars of that tradition. Geshe Lobsang is regularly invited to lecture on Tibetan Buddhism and on mind-body interactions, and is a frequent participant in interfaith dialogues.

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Charles Raison, MD

Assistant Professor, Mind-Body Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine

In addition to his Professorship in the Mind-Body Program, Dr. Raison serves as Director of the Behavioral Immunology Clinic at the Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Raison attended medical school at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and won the Missouri State Medical Association Award. He completed residency training at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Raison served as Director of Emergency Psychiatric services and Associate Director of consultation and evaluation services at UCLA prior to joining the faculty at Emory University.

The recipient of several teaching awards, Dr. Raison receives research funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His research focuses on bi-directional relationships between stress and immune systems, especially as these pertain to depression in the medically ill.

His research ranges from immune system effects on central nervous system functioning to the application of compassion meditation as a strategy to prevent depressive symptoms in college students via reduction in stress-related inflammatory activity. He is also internationally recognized for his expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of interferon-alpha-induced depression and anxiety.

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Deborah Rozelle, Psy.D.

Deborah Rozelle, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist and trauma specialist with over 30 years clinical experience. She has been a practicing Tibetan Buddhist for the past 20 years, and is an active member of Jewel Heart (www.JewelHeart.org) community.

In her private practice Dr. Rozelle integrates Buddhist psychology into her work with children, adults, and consultees. In addition, she currently serves as Senior Fellow at Garrison’s Initiative for Transforming Trauma; is a Senior Advisor to the United States Office of Refugee Resettlement-Unaccompanied Minors Trauma Program; and presents nationally and internationally. She is a certified EMDR therapist and EMDRIA-approved consultant; was on the board of the New England Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation; and was on faculty at the Trauma Center at JRI in Boston, MA for many years.

While there, Dr. Rozelle helped design and implement a UNICEF-sponsored, school-based psychosocial training program for Turkey earthquake victims; and she served on Bessel van der Kolk’s clinical team for a ground-breaking NIMH-funded EMDR research study that compared EMDR, Prozac and placebo conditions.

Contact Website: www.dalailamaDC09.com

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