Shajin Lama of Kalmykia Telo Tulku Rinpoche Meets with Hambo Lama of Buryatia Damba Ayusheev

On November 16, 2020, a meeting took place at the Ivolginsky Datsan between the honorary representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Russia, Mongolia and the CIS countries, Shajin Lama of Kalmykia Telo Tulku Rinpoche, and Pandito Hambo Lama Damba Ayusheev. During the warm meeting, the heads of the Buryat and Kalmyk clergy discussed questions of Buddhist education in Russia, the holding of the International Buddhist Conference “Buddhism and Education in Russia in the Context of Humanitarian Security” and the Second International Academic and Practical Conference “Buddhism in the Dialogue of Cultures of East and West: Past, Present, Future,” as well as prospects for further cooperation. According to Telo Tulku Rinpoche, the main topic of discussion between the spiritual leaders of the two regions was plans to create in Kalmykia an institution of higher education (an institute, university or academy) for Buddhist monks and laypeople. “At present there are two specialized institutions of higher education in Russia offering a Buddhist education: the Buddhist University ‘Dashi Choinkhorlin’ in Buryatia and the Aginsky Buddhist Academy in Zabaykalye; however, given the vast geography of Russian Buddhism, as well as the history of its development, we also need institutes in the two other traditional Buddhist regions — Kalmykia and Tuva,” said the honorary representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Russia, Mongolia and the CIS countries, Shajin Lama of Kalmykia Telo Tulku Rinpoche. According to Telo Tulku Rinpoche, “the clergy of each of the Buddhist regions bears full responsibility not only for the development of the religious, but also the philosophical and scholarly aspects of the Buddha’s Teaching in its territory.” “Pandito Hambo Lama Damba Ayusheev received our plans to create a Buddhist institute in Kalmykia extremely positively. Undoubtedly, our cooperation in the field of Buddhist education will be useful not only for the Buddhists of Buryatia and Kalmykia, but for Russia as a whole,” he noted. “Buddhism today arouses great interest among the broadest public, and I see the task of Buddhist institutes as being to acquaint Russians with the richest spiritual heritage of Buddhism, which for several centuries was an inseparable part of Russia’s spiritual life,” Rinpoche emphasized. According to Telo Tulku Rinpoche, Kalmykia has made a firm decision to create a Buddhist institute, and he expressed the hope that a similar institute would soon appear in Tuva as well. “In Tuva the construction of the main Buddhist temple (khüree) is being completed, the construction project of which was blessed by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. It would be right if this temple became not only a place of worship, but also an educational center where the philosophical and scholarly components of the Buddha’s Teaching are studied in depth,” Rinpoche noted. The delegation that arrived in the Republic of Buryatia on a working visit also included the senior administrator of the Central Khurul “The Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni” Yonten Gelong; the assistant to the Shajin Lama of Kalmykia Khongor Elbikov; the director of the “Kalmyk Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences” (KSC RAS) Viktoria Kukanova; the specialist of the documentation support sector Inna Mandzhieva; and the head of the sector of inclusive and distance education at Kalmyk State University Alexander Khanaev.