His Holiness spoke at a lecture event on ‘world peace and youth'

March 29, 2009 - IIC, New Delhi

Gyalwang Karmapa launches his booklet: Environmental Guidelines for Karma Kagyu Buddhist Monasteries, Centers and Community

Gyalwang Karmapa’s booklet, Environmental Guidelines for Karma Kagyu Buddhist Monasteries, Centres and Community went on sale at the end of Kagyu Monlam. So far the booklet has been published in English and Chinese; the Tibetan edition should be available in February/March 2009. His Holiness briefly described the booklet and his own deep concerns about the environment on the second day of the Western teaching.
He explained how he had first spoken about environmental concerns at the end of the 25th Kagyu Monlam. He had mentioned his worries again in his concluding speech at the 26th Kagyu Monlam. He then detailed the five sections of the booklet, by highlighting the destruction of forests in India and Tibet, the danger to water supplies, the protection of wildlife, the need for waste management, and the threat of global warming and climate change.
He admitted the culpability of some monasteries in cutting down trees to be sold as timber. This had to be stopped and those forests replanted.
Glaciers and snow melt in the Himalayan region are the source of water and thereby the source of life for millions of people throughout Asia, rivers from Tibet flow to China, Burma, India and Pakistan, so it was essential to both protect the source and prevent the rivers becoming polluted.
There had been some advances in the area of wildlife protection. A few years ago in Tibet it was the custom to use tiger and leopard skins and other animal skins for decoration, but since His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama condemned this practice, it had mostly stopped, and this had helped prevent the extinction of these animals in Asia. For those people who still ate meat, Gyalwang Karmapa emphasized the need to think seriously about reducing the amount of meat they eat because the additional resources needed to produce meat had a direct effect on the environment.
He explained that monasteries did not have a training or culture in waste management so by giving them special training so that they could lead by example, he hoped that knowledge and practice would spread into society at large.
As to the crisis of climate change – especially in the Himalayan regions where it is happening up to five times more quickly - it was a change which would affect everybody in the world.
The next stage of implementation of his proposals will be a conference in mid-March for abbots and Rinpoches. Each monastery will be asked to appoint an environmental protection co-ordinator, and these people will receive additional training.

Tibetan Children's Village (TCV) school of Dharamsala celebrates its 48th founding anniversary celebration on 25th of October. His Holiness Dalai Lama and Gyalwang Karmapa were invited by the school to attend the celebrations as chief guests.

TCV's founding anniversary day was huge celebration event. The day-long celebration showcased children presenting colorful cultural programs, fascinating callisthenic display formations and an impressive performance by the school band. There were also traditional Tibetan song and dance performances by individual and group artists. ..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The actual event usually lasts for three days.

On the second day TCV School observed its 24th Inter- House Athletic meet which is an annual inter-house games and sports competition. The Gyalwang Karmapa was the chief guest for this program.

The Gyalwang Karmapa arrived at 8:50 am, he was heartily welcomed by all the students and heads of the school including Jetsun Pema La (His Holiness Dalai Lama's sister) The athletic competition lasted until after lunch. The Songtsen House was the winner for this year's competition. Gyalwang Karmapa addressed the event mentioning not to be dismayed by any competition but to strive more to excel. Later he visited the school's museum where they were displaying Tibetan Religion and Cultural after that he left for his residence.

Headquartered here in the Northern Indian town of Dharamsala, TCV is the largest residential school of the exiled Tibetan community and also one of the largest of its kind in India.

TCV was founded in 1960 as a nursery school with over 51 Tibetan refugee children. The foundation has now become a thriving, integrated educational community for destitute Tibetan children in exile, as well as for hundreds of those escaping from Tibet in each passing year.

It has established branches in India extending from Ladakh in the North to Bylakuppe in the South. The educational foundation claims it has over 15,000 children under its care each year and has given education to over 50,000 students till date.

His Holiness with the children at the museum

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Monday, June 2, 2008