From: World Tibet Network News, Sunday - September 17, 1995

Tibetan Bon Religion

The Current Status

His Holiness the Abbot Menri Trizin Rinpoche visits Tibet for the first time since 1959

The Bon Children's Home in Dolanji, India

A Video Presentation and Discussion by Geshe Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche

Date: Tuesday, September 26, 1995, 7:30 PM

At: Open Secret/Rainbow Body temple tea house 923 "C" Street (between 3rd & 4th) San Rafael, CA

Cost: Free

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Event #2: Wednesday, September 27, 1995, 12:10 PM; Hensill Hall 716, SF, State Univ.

Tibetan Bon Religion

Topics: Tibetan Bon and Shamanism; The Current Status of Bon; His Holiness the Abbot Menri Trizin Rinpoche visit to Tibet; The Bon Children's Home in Dolanji, India, etc.

A Video Presentation and Discussion by Geshe Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche

Date: Wednesday, September 27, 1995, 12:10 pm

At: Hensill Hall, Room 716

San Francisco State University

San Francisco

Cost: Free

* * * * *

Bon, the pre-buddhist religion of Tibet, is little known in the United States, but it is still active in Tibet as well as in other communities in Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal and India. In the wholesale destruction of monasteries in Tibet the Chinese communists destroyed both Buddhist and Bon monasteries, including Menri, the primary Bon educational center, thereby crippling the Bon religious educational system. Many of the Bon religious leaders fled along with other Tibetans to India and Nepal in the aftermath of the 1959 uprising.

In the summer of 1994, His Holiness the Abbot Menri Trizin Rinpoche went back to Tibet for the first time since 1959. He visited over 50 monasteries on the trip. He returned to the original site of Menri, and His Holiness was officially installed as the head of the Bon religion.

Geshe Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche accompanied His Holiness on the trip to Tibet and videotaped their travels. He will present the videos and discuss his experiences on the trip as well as the future of Bon religion both in Tibet, India and Nepal.

Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche holds a Geshe degree (equivalent to a Ph. D.), is the Abbot of Latri Monastery in eastern Tibet and is the Founder of Bon's Children's Home in Dolanji, India. The Bon Children's Home was established in July 1988, "...to provide living and study facilities for the children of the Bon communities in Bhutan, Sikkim, Tibet, Nepal and India, whose parents wish their children to receive an education unavailable in their own communities which honors and preserves the traditions of the Bon Religion-Tibet's oldest pre-Buddhist religion and the indigenous source of Tibetan culture." The Children's home is highly overcrowded and faces problems at the basic needs level, such as obtaining water, food, and healthcare for the children. Part of Geshe Nyima's presentation will be an appeal for help.

George Araki

Institute for Holistic Healing Studies

San Francisco State University

garaki@sfsu.edu

(415) 338-1774

FAX (415) 338-0573