Buddhism and the Environment - Sunday Symposium at Maitripa College

BUDDHISM & SCIENCE: THE ENVIRONMENT

Sunday, December 4: 10:00am - 4:30pm

The Crisis: Is It Too Late?

A Scientist's View: Dr. Christina Hulbe

Healing Ecology: Dr. David Loy

Can Individuals Make a Difference?

Buddhist Traditions on the Environment: Yangsi Rinpoche

Sacred Geography: Matteo Pistono

Green Business: Mark Waller

Respondent: Dr. James Blumenthal

$30 General Public - REGISTER at www.maitripa.org

Information on speakers:

Dr. James Blumenthal is an associate professor of Buddhist philosophy at Oregon State University and founding faculty member in Buddhist Studies at Maitripa College. He is the author of The Ornament of the Middle Way: A Study of the Madhyamaka Thought of Santaraksita (2004), editor of Incompatible Visions: South Asian Religions in History and Culture (2006), co-author and editor with Geshe Lhundup Sopa of Steps on the Path: A Commentary on the "Shamatha" Chapter of Tsongkhapa's Lamrim Chenmo (forthcoming, 2012) in addition to more than 40 articles in academic journals, books, and popular periodicals on various aspects of Buddhist thought and practice. In 2004 he had the honor of translating Nagarjuna's "Sixty Stanzas of Reasoning" for His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the occasion of his public teachings on the text in Pasadena, California.

Dr. Christina Hulbe is a geophysicist who specializes in glaciology, using computer simulations of glacial systems to study how and why they change over time. Christina received her MS in Geology at Ohio State University and her PhD in Geophysics at the University of Chicago. She is currently a Professor of Geology and Department Chair at Portland State University. Ongoing projects in her research group involve century-scale and shorter variability in ice discharge from West Antarctica, fracture mechanics in floating ice, and efforts to improve the representation of ice sheets in the coupled climate system models used to make climate projections. She has also advised students working here in Oregon, including geophysical investigations of structural geology in the upper Klamath Basin and projected changes in Deschutes Basin groundwater recharge due to global warming. She has conducted field work in Alaska and Antarctica. Christina is a parent who cares very much about how the decisions we make today turn into the opportunities and challenges the world's children will face tomorrow.

Dr. David Loy is a Zen teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition. He has published numerous articles in Buddhist magazines and scholarly journals, and serves on the editorial or advisory boards of five journals and the organizations Buddhist Global Relief, the Clear View Project, and the Ernest Becker Foundation. David lectures primarily on the encounter between Buddhism and modernity, with particular focus on social and ecological issues. His recent work with what he calls “Healing Ecology: A Buddhist Perspective on the Eco-crisis” has been featured in the Journal of Buddhist Ethics and in scholarly conferences. His most recent books include The World Is Made of Stories and Money, Sex, War, Karma. Loy is a professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy, and has taught at Singapore University, Bunkyo University (Japan), Xavier University, University of Cape Town, South Africa, and Naropa University, and was a scholar in the Institute for Advanced Study at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Matteo Pistono is a writer, practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, and author of In the Shadow of the Buddha: Secret Journeys, Sacred Histories, and Spiritual Discovery in Tibet. Pistono’s images and writings about Tibetan and Himalayan cultural, political, and spiritual landscapes have appeared in The Washington Post, BBC's In-Pictures, Men's Journal, Kyoto Journal, and HIMAL South Asia. Pistono was born and raised in Wyoming where he completed his undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of Wyoming, and in 1997 he obtained his Masters of Arts degree in Indian Philosophy from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. After working with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. on Tibetan cultural programs, Pistono lived and traveled throughout the Himalayas for a decade, bringing to the West graphic accounts and photos of China’s human rights abuses in Tibet. He is the founder of Nekorpa, a foundation working to protect sacred pilgrimage sites around the world, and he sits on the Executive Council of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, Rigpa Fellowship, and the Conservancy for Tibetan Art and Culture. Pistono and his wife, Monica, divide their time between Wyoming, Washington D.C., and Asia.

Mark Waller is the founder of BridgeWorks Capital, a Lake Oswego merchant bank that focuses on raising early stage and late stage capital, and providing corporate advisory services to client companies. Recent clients have included companies active in solar energy, green energy, medical technology, software, mining and natural resources. Mark was a founder of GE/PrimeStar Solar, a manufacturer of high performance thin film photovoltaic modules, which is now GE’s sole platform company in solar module manufacturing. In addition to service on the Board of Maitripa College, he has also played a guiding role in non-profits for underserved youth and the environment, including the Oregon Environmental Council.

Yangsi Rinpoche was recognized as the reincarnation of Geshe Ngawang Gendun, a renowned scholar and practitioner from Western Tibet, at the age of six. Rinpoche trained in the traditional monastic system for over twenty-five years, and in 1995 graduated with the highest degree of Geshe Lharampa from Sera Je Monastery in South India. He then completed his studies at Gyume Tantric College, and, in 1998, having the particular wish to benefit Western students of the Buddhadharma, Rinpoche came to the West to teach and travel extensively throughout America and Europe. Rinpoche was a resident teacher at Deer Park Buddhist Center in Madison, Wisconsin for five years, and then founded Maitripa College in 2005, where he serves currently as President and Professor of Buddhist Studies. Rinpoche is also the Spiritual Director of Ganden Shedrup Ling Buddhist Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Spiritual Director of Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle, Washington. Rinpoche is the author of Practicing the Path: A Commentary on the Lamrim Chenmo, published in 2003 by Wisdom Publications. Rinpoche teaches in English, and is admired wherever he travels for his unique presentation of the Dharma, his interest in and enthusiasm for Western culture, and his evident embodiment of the wisdom and compassion of the Buddhist path.

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