silver jubilee
schedule
November 6-11, 2023
The Silver Jubilee coincides with the Compassion Center's
annual observance of Tibet Week.
All events listed below are free and open to all.
Please check each event for location and, in some cases, registration links.
Download Silver Jubilee Schedule at a Glance Here.
All times are in the eastern time zone.
Monday , November 6
11:00am-12:00pm
In 1998, in the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a formal Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Emory President William Chase and the Abbot of Drepung Loseling Monastery, Geshe Konchok Pasang. Establishing a formal affiliation between these two illustrious institutions, this ground-breaking collaboration was called the Emory-Tibet Partnership.
The mission of Emory University is to create, preserve, teach, and apply knowledge in the service of humanity, conveyed through the university’s motto, Cor prudentis possidebit scientiam or “The wise heart seeks knowledge.” The vision of Emory Presidential Distinguished Professor, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, is an education of heart and mind. Over the past 25 years, these shared visions have guided the activities of what grew into the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics, resulting in the development of innovative, educational programs that promote human flourishing and are pioneers the field compassion science and research.
To commence this week-long celebration, we plan to renew the Memorandum of Understanding with the current abbot of Drepung Loseling in the presence of senior leadership from the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, and Emory University including President Gregory Fenves, Provost Ravi Bellamkonda and Dean Barbara Krauthamer.
Tibet Week Opening Ceremony
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
1:00-2:00pm
Tibet Week has been an annual tradition at Emory University since 2001. The theme of this year’s Tibet Week is Compassion in Action. It is an opportunity to promote Tibetan culture and celebrate the programs emerging from the collaborative efforts of Emory University and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Attired in traditional monastic robes, the Drepung Loseling Monks of the Mystical Arts of Tibet will begin Tibet Week by preparing for the construction of a mandala sand painting. The opening ceremony begins with the playing of traditional Tibetan musical instruments and a demonstration of the monks’ extraordinary vocal ability through sacred multi-phonic chanting during which they can perform up to three individual notes simultaneously, thus forming a complete chord. At the completion of the opening ceremony, the monks will draw the geometric guidelines that create a kind of ‘blueprint’ for the mandala that will be created with millions of grains of colored sand over the course of Tibet Week.
Mandala Sand Painting
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
2:00-5:00pm
Over the course of five days, the Drepung Loseling monks of the Mystical Arts of Tibet will create a mandala sand painting of Green Tara. Green Tara is a fully enlightened female Buddha associated with wisdom and active compassion.
The mandala starts as a geometric outline which is meticulously filled in with colored sands that are released from metal funnels called chak-purs. A metal rod is rubbed against the grated surface of the chak-pur at varying speeds, creating a vibration that releases the sand as the monks skillfully bring the imagery of the mandala to life. Please refer to the daily schedule for the times that the public can watch the monks at work.
Compassion Meditation
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
5:30-6:30pm
The theme of this meditation is Nurturance.
We connect to nurturing moments to elicit feelings of safety, deepen our appreciation for compassion, and strengthen our motivation to expand it. Spending time immersed in a nurturing moment and the warm feelings associated with it, we begin to recognize the benefit of that moment and other moments like it in our life. This practice supports both the resilience and the motivation to train compassion.
This meditation will be led by Emory-certified Senior CBCT® Teacher and Associate Director for the CBCT® program, Timothy Harrison.
Bridging Two Worlds: Why the Emory Compassion Center Matters
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
7:30 - 9:00pm
When the Emory-Tibet Partnership was founded twenty-five years ago, no one could predict that it would result in three ground-breaking programs positively impacting the lives of tens of thousands of people around the world. Why does the work of the Emory Compassion Center resonate with so many people? What is the vision that has guided that work and contributed to its success? And how can that work be sustained in an uncertain future? Join the co-founders of this remarkable organization along with two leaders from important Tibetan cultural institutions to explore why the Emory Compassion Center matters in a global society.
Geshe Lobsang Samten
Abbot, Drepung Loseling Monastery
Geshe Lhakdor
Director, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
Dr. Robert A. Paul
Dean Emeritus, Emory College of Arts and Sciences and Co-founder, Emory-Tibet Partnership
Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi
Moderated by: Carol Beck, Associate Director for Operations and Communications, Emory Compassion Center
Tuesday, November 7
Mandala Sand Painting
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
10:00am-4:00pm
Community Sand Painting
Emory University Quad
(Tent outside of the Michael C. Carlos Museum)
1:30pm-4:30pm
Try your hand at creating a mandala sand painting! Stationed in a tent on Emory University’s quad outside of the Michael C. Carlos Museum, all are welcome to learn the techniques and use of tools in creating beautiful and elaborate painting constructed with millions of grains of sand. You may also go into the Michael C. Carlos Museum to see the monks of the Mystical Arts of Tibet creating the mandala sand painting of Green Tara.
CuriosiTEA
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
4:00 - 5:00pm
In 2021, the Carlos Museum commissioned two thangka paintings from the Norbulingka Institute in Dharamsala, India, one of the bhavacakra or “wheel of becoming,” and the other, the Samatha,or the “nine steps of the calming of the mind.” Unfortunately, the paintings were severely damaged in shipping from
India to Atlanta. Enjoy afternoon tea and pastries as master Tibetan artist Buchung Nubgya and Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Conservation, Ella Andrews, discuss their collaborative efforts to repair the two paintings.
Bhavacakra
Samatha
Compassion Meditation
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
5:30 - 6:30pm
The theme of this meditation is Awareness.
We train attentional stability to improve focus, mental clarity, and resilience. Through the cultivation of attention deployment, we strengthen the ability to redirect our attention and keep it where we want it to be. Once we reach a place of attentional stability and clarity, we can turn our attention inward, witnessing unfolding thoughts, emotions, impulses, and other inner experiences while neither pushing them away nor becoming overly entangled in them. Through this practice of non-judgmental awareness, we can cultivate greater insight into our mental and emotional habits and gain greater flexibility in how we respond to these habits. This creates space for greater self-awareness and choice.
This meditation will be led by Emory-certified Senior CBCT® Teacher, Michelle Liberman.
Bridging Science and Spirituality: ETSI’S 18-Year Journey
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
7:30-9:00pm
ETSI’s eighteen-year-long journey has been, in essence, one of bridging science and spirituality, whether to enhance human well-being or to forge a more integrated way of understanding the world around us. This panel will explore these and other exciting issues through the eyes of monastics participating in the program and the scientists and educators deeply involved in supporting these programs.
Chris Impey, PhD
Distinguished Professor, Department of Astronomy
University of Arizona
Arri Eisen, PhD
Nat C. Robertson Distinguished Teaching Professor in Science & Society and Professor of Pedagogy in Biology, the Institute of Liberal Arts, and the Center for Ethics, Emory University
Ven. Rinchen Lhamo Gurung
Current member of the 7th cohort of ETSI’s Tenzin Gyatso Science Scholars
Ven. Stanzin Wangdan
Former member of the 4th cohort of ETSI’s Tenzin Gyatso Science Scholars, Current ETSI research intern at Northwestern University
Geshe Ngawang Samten
Former Vice Chancellor, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath Varanasi
Moderated by: Tsondue Samphel, Assistant Director of SEE Learning and Buddhism and Science Integration Unit Leader, ETSI.
Wednesday, November 8
Mandala Sand Painting
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
10:00am-5:00pm
Compassion Revolution:
Understanding and Responding to the Dalai Lama’s Vision for the Future
Livestream only
11:00am - 12:00pm
Twenty-five years after the founding of the Emory-Tibet Partnership, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s entreaty for the world to focus on compassion has never been stronger. Recently, the Dalai Lama has called for a “compassion revolution,” a revolution that is neither political nor economic, but spiritual—based on compassion as a basic human value shared by all.
What does the Dalai Lama mean by “compassion revolution” and how might we help bring it about? Brought together to address these questions, and to highlight the work of Emory’s Compassion Center in responding to the Dalai Lama’s challenge, is an august panel, each a scholar, author and leader in the field of compassion and its cultivation: Dr. Susan Bauer Wu, President of the Mind and Life Institute and author of A Future We Can Love: How We Can Reverse the Climate Crisis with the Power of Our Hearts and Minds; Dr. Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence and A Force For Good: The Dalai Lama’s Vision for Our World among other works; and Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics and developer of the Cognitively-Based Compassion Training program at Emory University.
Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi
Daniel Goleman
Author of Emotional Intelligence
Susan Bauer-Wu
President, Mind & Life Institute
Brendan Ozawa-de Silva
Associate Teaching Professor, Emory Compassion Center
Community Sand Painting
Emory University Quad
(Tent outside of the Michael C. Carlos Museum)
1:30pm-4:30pm
Theorizing and Reimagining Schools as Central Cultural Contexts of Human Development
Ethics Center Room 252 (RARB 252)
Emory University Campus
4:00 – 5:30pm
In 1979, Bronfenbrenner published the first of a series of scholarly papers charging developmental scientists with the task of studying human development from more naturalistic and contextually and historically-situated points of view. Consistent with that charge, for 30 years my scholarly work has focused on theorizing and researching educational institutions as complex, multilevel, intergenerational sociocultural contexts that affect not only the academic development of children and adolescents, but also their social-emotional, self/identity and ethical development. This work has focused on the longitudinal effects of schooling on adolescent development, on methods for imparting developmental knowledge in teacher education programs, on experimental research on the impacts of mindfulness programs for educators and students alike, and on the cultivation of student flourishing in higher education. In this talk, I highlight the importance of theorizing schools as central contexts of holistic human development, offer a few research examples, and situate this work within a contemporary need to reimagine education in order to address pressing global challenges in the 21st century.
Dr. Roeser is the Bennett-Pierce Chair in Caring and Compassion, Professor of Human Development and Family Science in the College of Health and Human Development at the Pennsylvania State University.
Compassion Meditation
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
5:30-6:30pm
The theme of this meditation is Agency.
Building on the practice of relating to our thoughts, emotions, and other experiences without judging, repressing, or over-identifying with them, we can now learn to see our ups and downs from a broader perspective and develop the ability to respond to ourselves with greater understanding and kindness in the face of our setbacks. With greater understanding and acceptance that challenges are a natural part of life, we can explore the potential to transform those challenges into growth, meaning, and purpose.
This meditation will be led by Emory-certified CBCT® Teacher, Kimble Sorrells.
Cultivating Compassion in Education Systems: SEE Learning implementation at the national, district, and school level
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
7:30 - 9:00pm
SEE Learning is a global program aimed at cultivating students’ social, emotional, and ethical skills. Since its official launch in 2019, the program has grown to be implemented in more than 40 countries at differing scales. In this expert panel, affiliates from several different countries will share their strategies adapting SEE Learning to their educational systems.
Marius Luca
Verita Foundation, Romania
Dianne Andree
Decatur City Schools (USA)
Valentin Conde
Gaia+ (Brazil)
Moderated by: Ryder Delaloye, Associate Director for SEE Learning®
Thursday, November 9
Mandala Sand Painting
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
10:00am-5:00pm
Community Sand Painting
Emory University Quad
(Tent outside of the Michael C. Carlos Museum)
1:30pm-4:30pm
Compassion Meditation
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
5:30 – 6:30pm
The theme of this meditation is Inclusivity.
By attuning to our own human condition, strengthening self-compassion, and fortifying our personal resilience, we can bring our attention to others by connecting on the basis of common humanity and taking steps to expand our circle of concern. Through this recognition of our common humanity, we can now deepen our connection with others by making visible our interdependence and, in turn, promote feelings of gratitude and tenderness. This unleashes warm-heartedness for others through both an awareness of our common humanity and our interdependence, allowing us to attune to what others are up against and allow our compassion to grow and expand to a wider circle of beings.
This meditation will be led by Emory-certified Senior CBCT® Teacher, Penny Clements.
Cross-Cultural Manifestations of Compassion Training
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
7:30 - 9:00pm
Join us for this panel discussion featuring certified compassion trainers from Africa, Europe, and Asia, to explore the opportunities and challenges for implementing compassion training in different contexts and responding to diverse cultures and backgrounds. As Emory embarks on an ambitious program – the Compassion Shift – to bring the promising benefits of compassion training across the world, there is much to learn about the interaction between the universal aspirations of the program and the local contexts where it is implemented.
CBCT® (Cognitively-Based Compassion Training) is a program developed at the Emory Compassion Center to enhance emotional awareness and resilience, to build a more accurate and inclusive understanding of others, and to intensify innate altruistic motivation. Research suggests that compassion training has beneficial and enduring impacts, improving health outcomes, reducing stress, enhancing self-compassion and compassion for others, and enhancing an overall sense of wellbeing.
Timothy Onyango Otuoma
Co-founder and Managing Director, Mindful African Initiative
Corina Aguilar-Raab
Senior CBCT® Teacher, Clinical Psychologist, Psychotherapist, and Post-Doctoral Associate
Ariunzaya Artbazar
Director, SEE Learning Mongolia
Moderated by: Timothy Harrison, Associate Director for CBCT®
Friday, November 10
Mandala Sand Painting
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
10:00am-5:00pm
Saturday, November 11
Mandala Sand Painting
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
10:00am-3:30pm
Tibet Week Closing Ceremony
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
3:30-4:30pm
To conclude the week, the mandala sand painting will be deconstructed shortly after completion. The sand is swept into a vessel and carried to a nearby body of water and released. The sand is carried naturally by the water throughout the world bringing with it the blessing of healing. After hours of work, it may seem strange that the mandala sand painting is so quickly deconstructed. This serves as a metaphor for impermanence, a central concept in Buddhist philosophy acknowledging that we live in an ever-changing world. This awareness encourages us to live in the present moment and to not take a view of the ups or downs of life as fixed and unchanging.
Tibet Museum Exhibition
Ackerman Hall, 3rd Floor
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
Each day
10:00am-5:00pm
The Tibet Museum’s traveling exhibit “A Long Look Homeward” will be displayed at the Carlos Museum during Tibet week. This is an exhibition based on these memories of eleven representatives of the Tibetan community in exile whose own personal stories, interwoven with the story of their nation and have selected visual representations of their memories. The exhibition is a fabric of symbols, visuals and narratives that weave together a collective consciousness of memory, commemoration, and hope of the Tibetan people. These stories take you, the visitor, on a journey depicting the darkness of Tibet’s invasion, destruction and oppression, shedding light on the magnificent past of Tibet and expressing hopes for its future. Additionally, there will be panels describing three principal commitments of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
There will also be a “Wall of Wisdom,” which is a collection of 108 questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his response to the questions during his many interactions with the public around the world. Using a touch screen, you can read his response to these 108 questions. You can also watch short videos of important speeches by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
This event is made possible through the generous support of: The Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics, the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University Office of Global Strategy and Initiatives, Emory University Department of Religion, and Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc.
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