Buddhist lama to visit Birmingham
By Emma Cullwick, Birmingham Mail, June 18 2008
Birmingham, UK -- One of the world’s most senior Buddhist lamas is to travel to Birmingham in a bid to help people relax.
Jigme Losel Wangpo will also give a talk about his life and charity work during his visit to Birmingham Conservatoire in Paradise Place at 7pm on June 27.
A spokesman for Wangpo said: "His eminence is coming to Birmingham to teach the ancient Tibetan Buddhist practice of resting the mind, which is a powerful practice and particularly relevant in today’s world where the ever increasing pace of life often leaves us feeling disorientated, lost and confused.
"His eminence will teach us that when we calm our mind, quieten our thoughts and rest, clarity and confidence naturally arises in our lives.
"By revealing that our mind creates all our emotions, his eminence will explain how we can rest our mind in its natural state."
Known as the seventh Dzogchen Rinpoche, Wangpo is one of the highest lamas in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and is the head of the Dzogchen Monastery, in south India, which was founded more than 400 years ago and is now home to 200 monks.
From the age of 12 he spent seven years being taught at the Buddhist School of Dialectics, where he was personally taught by the 14th Dalai Lama.
When his studies ended he travelled back to Tibet, where he was welcomed by thousands of people, some of which had walked for three weeks in a bid to get a glimpse of him and to offer him gifts of 500 horses and 500 yaks, as well as gold, silver and precious jewels.
He also founded two charities - Dzogchen Shri Senha Charitable Society (DSSCS), a charity aiming to boost the education, health, and social needs of Tibetan refugees in India, and Shenpen, a network of organisations across the world that support the Dzogchen Monastery.
For more information visit www.dzogchen.org.in or www.shenpenuk.org