The 15th Tibetan Opera festival ("Shoton") , an annual celebration of Tibetan Opera (Lhamo), was blessed and inaugurated by His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje. The event opened at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) in Dharamsala on 27th March, 2010. His Holiness presided at the TIPA performance as the chief guest. From all over India and Nepal, Tibetan Opera associations from Tibetan communities came together to perform Tibetan dramatic arts. Through dramatic performances of song and choreographed dance, vibrant traditional Tibetan artistic practices were expressed.
KHORYUG (Environment in the Tibetan language) is an association of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries that have taken His Holiness's vision to heart and are committed to developing environmental protection projects in our own locales. Khoryug currently consists of thirty six monasteries across India, Nepal and Bhutan that are working together to help create an environmental awakening in the Himalayas on the importance of forest protection, water conservation, wildlife preservation, climate change adaptation and waste management.
In the past two years, His Holiness has called for environmental commitments from Kagyu monasteries, nunneries and centers, which has resulted in many forestation activities by monasteries. In the last year, he has chaired two conferences on environmental protection for Kagyu monasteries and nunneries, with a goal of building environmental management capacity within the Kagyu Sangha. He said that ultimately, he would like Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and nunneries to become leaders on environmental issues, working within their community to address threats such as deforestation, water scarcity, wildlife extinction, pollution and climate change. Monasteries will update their progress on the website and will manage much of the information available there.
The launch was held at Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya, Bihar, India on December 22nd and had an audience of over 1500 monks, nuns and followers. Also present were H.E Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Drupon Rinpoche, Ringu Tulku and Drupon Dechen Rinpoche. Presentations included a general overview of environmental issues in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau by Dekila Chungyalpa, WWF; a compiled report of this year's activities by all the Khoryug monasteries by Khenpo Kesang Nyima, Rumtek Shedra, and a talk by His Holiness himself.
KHORYUG was created by His Holiness, the Seventeenth Karmapa, Ogyen Thinley Dorje, during the 2nd Kagyu Conference on Environmental Protection in October 2009.
In the last 15 years, TED has captured the Internet scene by providing 18 minute lectures from the leading thinkers and doers of our generation. In 1984, TED started out as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has broadened to include the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, and the annual TED Prize.
From November 4-7, in TEDIndia Conference, leading thinkers and doers in India came together to discuss the future and present. The concluding talk of the conference was by His Holiness the Karmapa which was streamed online over the internet to a world-wide audience, as was the whole of the conference. His Holiness suggested that the information age provides an opportunity not simply for information exchange, but for quality connections. The acceleration of technological connectivity can be enhanced by "heart centered design" based on "heart-to-heart connections" which can supervene on purely informational exchanges. His Holiness also spoke directly and intimately of his own childhood, suggesting that despite everything a seven year old is a seven year old -- that when he was taken to Tsurphu, he perhaps thought his recognition as Karmapa meant more toys rather than more responsibilities. His Holiness seemed to make a genuine heart connection to his audience, and a blogger suggested that "there was no better way to end the conference." The Karmapa Foundation will provide links to His Holiness's talk when TED chooses to make it available.
The Gyalwang Karmapa was the keynote speaker on International Climate Day at the Tibetan Children's Village in Dharamsala, India. His Holiness has become a leading voice in the Tibet Community for environmental awareness.
International Day of Climate Action was marked by 4,600 events were held in more than 177 countries around the world. In his talk, His Holiness Gyalwang Karmapa said that there are many ways for us to be kind and generous towards others.
"We as Buddhists believe that benefiting others is an act of kindness, and the first thing that comes to our mind, as act of kindness, is giving alms to the poor. That's not the only way, there are many ways to be kind. Taking care of the environment and nature is also a very important act of kindness that can benefit many humans and animals alike in the future."
Speaking of the interdependence of human activity and our environment, the Karmapa pointed out that "Even the oxygen which is essential for our existence is taken from plants - we cannot produce it ourselves. Because of this interdependence, our single actions and wrongdoings can affect the world,"
His Holiness surprised the assembly when he gave a PowerPoint presentation about the environment. His Holiness said that every human being has a responsibility towards preserving nature and that we must act now if the fight against climate change and the destruction of the environment are going to be won.
"Human greed is unlimited and uncertain. We have wants for many things that we don't even put to use. I heard most Tibetan families in the settlements have one or more motorcycles. We all know that we Tibetans like to follow the West. Many westerners go on long bicycle rides to places as far as Ladakh. So, why don't we Tibetans get rid of our motorcycles and get bicycles?," His Holiness Karmapa said as he laughed away along with the audience.
