Former Kalon Tripa (Tibetan PM) visits Russia

By Myrto Voyatzis / June 23, 2014;

Former Kalon Tripa Venerable Professor Samdhong Rinpoche visited Russia from May 26 until June 7 at the invitation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Kalmyk Buddhist Temple and the Save Tibet Foundation in Moscow. This was his first visit to the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Samdhong Rinpoche at the international confernce in Ulan Ude, Russia
Photo: Facebook/Samdhongrinpoche

His visit initially took place in Ulan Ude, the capital of Buryat Republic, where he participated in the “International Conference on Buddhism in the Changing World,” organised by the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies. During the conference, Rinpoche read a message that His Holiness the Dalai Lama had sent to the conference, and gave two talks entitled “The Challenges Faced by Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Community in the Modern World” and “Scientific Evidence of the Theory and Practice of Buddhist Meditation”. He co-chaired the panels on “Buddhism, Philosophy, Science and Comparative Studies” and participated in the round-table discussion on “Buddhism in the West” and “Russian-Mongolian Cooperation in Studying Buddhism”. At the public presentation of Prof Robert Thurman’s book “Why the Dalai Lama matters?”, Rinpoche spoke about the “Role and Activities of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for the Modern World”.

Devotees welcoming Samdhong Rinpoche and Telo Rinpoche (left)
Photo: Facebook/Samdhongrinpoche

From June 3 to June 6, the former Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-exile visited Elista, the capital of Kalmyk Republic, at the invitation of the President of Kalmyk Buddhist Union, Reverend Telo Tulku Rinpoche, and former Prime Minster of the Kalmyk Republic, Mr Vladimir Sengleev. Samdhong Rinpoche gave public teachings on “Commentary on Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend” in the main temple of Kalmykia and had meeting with members of the Friends of Tibet Society.

On his last day, Rinpoche gave a public talk: “Meditation as Tool for Inner Transformation: How to deepen one’s Spiritual Practice and Avoid Mistakes”, organised by Save Tibet Foundation in Moscow.