Buddha Nature: Environmental Protection in the World of Buddhism
Friday, May 3, 2013
6 to 8pm
[Image Description: A painting that features a school, a teacher with seated pupils, mountains, and animals.]
This event featured Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist teacher and author; Dekila Chungyalpa, Director, Sacred Earth Program, WWF with a silent auction of a Buddhist Tangka and refreshments and hors d'oeuvres served.
All proceeds supported WWF's Sacred Earth Program
The event kicked off with a silent auction of “The Kailash Tangka,” painted by Leslie Nguyen Temple. More information below. Description and image of the artwork can be found here.
About the Speakers
Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist Master of the Kagyu Order. He was trained in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism under many great masters including HH the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa and HH Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche. He has traveled and taught Buddhism and Meditation in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and Asia for over twenty years and has keen interest in Science and Buddhist dialogues. He has authored several books including Path to Buddhahood; Teachings on Gampopa’s Jewel Ornament of Liberation and Confusion Arises as Wisdom – Gampopa’s Heart Advice on the Path of Mahamudra as well as several children’s books both in Tibetan and European languages.
Dekila Chungyalpa is the Director for WWF’s Sacred Earth Program, which partners with faith leaders and institutions to protect biodiversity, natural resources, and environmental services in the Amazon, East Africa, Eastern Himalayas, Mekong region, and the United States. Prior to creating the Sacred Earth program, Dekila spent six years leading WWF's efforts in the Mekong region on large-scale strategies for hydropower and climate change and five years designing and managing community-based conservation projects with WWF's Eastern Himalayas program. Dekila also serves as the environmental advisor for Khoryug, an association of Tibetan Buddhist Himalayan monasteries working on environmental issues under the auspices of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa.
For more information on the WWF Sacred Earth Program, please visit: www.worldwildlife.org/religion
About the Artwork
The "Kailash Tangka," kindly donated by Ms. Elsie Walker, was commissioned in 2001 from Leslie Nguyen Temple to illustrate the Himalayan region’s pristine beauty raise awareness about endangered species.
This silk appliqué tangka represents the south facing Sacred Mount Kailash overlooking the sacred Manasarovar and Raksha Tal lakes with its surrounding landscape. Represented in the artwork are snow leopards, lynx, ibex, blue sheep, Tibetan antelopes, black necked cranes, golden eagles, lammergeyers, Himalayan ducks, marmots and hares. In the forefront is Trugo Gompa; the monastery where the idea to create this project was born. Tibetan and Indian pilgrims and devotees are illustrated, highlighting harmony between human beings and nature.
Posters of this image were produced to sell at Trugo Monastery with proceeds intended to establish a medical clinic there. The poster also served to spread a message, printed in both Chinese and Tibetan language: "When you travel please make sure the environment is clean and the water is clean. Protect the animals. Don't randomly throw rubbish and encourage you friends to go with you."