Dalai Lama in Buffalo, Community Event Reviews
Last Update: 08/17/06
We welcome reviews from anyone attending any of the Buffalo Community Outreach Group events in celebration of the Dalai Lama's visit to Buffalo. So If you feel moved to write, send your review via email to: dhohman@dalailamabuffalo.com. Be sure to include your own name, address and phone number along with the title of the event you attended.
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"Are you awake?"
A talk by Zen teacher Ryushin Osho of Zen Mountain Monastery
A review by Dennis Hohman
Buffalo Community Outreach Group
Over seventy people assembled in the parish hall at Buffalo's Westminster Presbyterian Church on Friday, June 16th to find out if they were awake by the standards of a modern day Zen Buddhist teacher. If they weren't, Ryushin's penetrating talk with questions and answers woke them up to their own potential for a deeper and more satisfying life in the midst of everyday activities.
Ryushin emphasized that all Buddhist teachers including the Dalai Lama teach nothing but waking up to the reality that surrounds us and that moment-to-moment living is the gateway to a life of peace, harmony and happiness. When asked if a Christian can practice Zen Buddhism and still remain a Christian he replied that Zen is about being present with what-is and not a religion of beliefs. As a result, Zen does not conflict with anything including the practice of another religion. He sited the fact that there are practicing priests, rabbis and ministers in this country who are recognized and sanctioned Zen teachers. For many of these men and women, Zen has deepened the connection with the religion of their birth.
The morning sitting meditation on Saturday for the Zen Dharma Community members, the Saturday afternoon public talk and the Sunday presentation in the Case Library for church members were all very well attended. We hope that subsequent community events do as well.
To the left: Picture of participants in the parish hall at Westminster church and Ryushin talking with attendee Colleen Hohman, below . |
"Glimpses of Tibet"
A talk by Kunchok Youdon
A review by Timothy Hartigan, Program Coordinator
Millard Fillmore College
Kunchok Youdon’s Lifelong Learning presentation this morning at Canterbury Woods went very well. There were about 50 people in attendance for her “Glimpses of Tibet” lecture. The photo to the right was taken at the presentation.
She introduced herself and then explained about various Tibetan cultural artifacts, such as the prayer flags. We watched “Cry of the Snow Lion” and afterwards, Kunchok took questions about Tibetan politics and culture from the residents of Canterbury Woods (one of whom is the former Millard Fillmore College dean). The audience appreciated her talk very much and seemed quite interested in the upcoming visit of the Dalai Lama.
In short, she did an excellent job introducing and explaining about Tibet’s people and culture. The presentation was a success. |
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A Long Look Homeward
An exhibition appearing at the Buffalo Arts Studio
A review by Dennis Hohman
dalailamabuffalo.com
You need to circumambulate a large portion of the Buffalo Arts Studio gallery to take in this entire exhibition. The story of eleven Tibetans living in exile is told with photos and text in a series of wall hangings. The panels are arranged in a time sequence starting in the late 1950s. They illuminate conditions for the average Tibetan, those fighting the communist Chinese invasion and the suffering of people who cross the most rugged mountain range in the world in order to re taste freedom. The larger story is told in a personalized way that makes identification with those telling the story quite easy.
It takes at least an hour or more to do full justice to this exhibition but the time spent is well worth it. While the pictures alone speak thousands of words, the text that accompanies them gives the larger message greater depth. There is a video station midway that allows you to view the 28 minute film: Satya A Prayer for the Enemy. The whole exhibition speaks to the extreme resilience of the Tibetan people but the suffering of those in Tibet and Tibetan refugees cannot be missed. It may surprise some Westerners that Tibetans generally have a positive life attitude so a message of hope is also to be found. The perspective of the Dalai Lama casts a brighter light on the story of all Tibetans and the possibilities for change that can be created in this impermanent and ever-changing world.
A Long Look Homeward runs until the end of September. The Buffalo Arts Studio is open from 11 to 5 p.m., Tuesday though Friday and 11 to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
The Buffalo Arts Studio is located at the Tri-Main Center:
2495 Main Street, Suite 500
Buffalo, NY 14214
(716) 833-4450
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James Ogden's Photographs of
Tibet, 1905 - 1928
An exhibition appearing at the Buffalo Museum of Science
A review by Dennis Hohman
dalailamabuffalo.com
There are over 50 framed photos in this wonderful collection on display in the Atrium area of the Buffalo Museum of Science. The Ogden collection was installed in early July and was the first component of the Museum's TIBETcetera collection of events celebrating the Dalai Lama's visit. Our web page relates the unusual history behind the Ogden photos so I won't repeat it here. Suffice it to say that it is our good fortune that the negatives that allowed these prints to be made were rescued from destruction by Jacqueline Darakjy.
The Ogden collection will appeal to people who love history or photography as well as those interested in Tibet and Tibetan culture. As a photographer, I marvel at the quality of some of the larger prints. The signature print of this show (at left) is about two by four feet, and was obviously taken with a large format camera because the resolution is quite good. That James Ogden could port cameras, photographic plates and the chemicals needed to develop them through the rugged highlands of eastern Tibet is no small feat. This area of Tibet is comprised of foothills at an average altitude of 10,000 ft.
It is probably no coincidence that the appeal of photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries has grown for me in proportion to the graying of my hair. Crossing the half-century mark gives a different perspective and the setting for these images doesn't seem so distant in time or space. Many of the pictures are very reminiscent of the pictures in my mother-in-law's album from the same period. She grew up in Montana and pioneer life in the Rocky Mountains doesn't look all that different from life in Tibet during the same time period. One Ogden image shows two men working in a carpentry shop replete with rough-hewn lumber and piles of wood chips. Their steel blade bow saws and chisels echo the universal tools of carpenters everywhere in that period.
One missing component of 19th century Western technology in these pictures is the wagon wheel. We see boats and horses and people carrying wood and other objects on their backs, but wheeled carts seem absent. It may be a subtle coincidence but one gets the impression that Tibetans found wheels much more useful for sending prayers to the four winds than for the support of commerce.
Those who are interested in Tibetan history can feast to their heart's content and get a good taste for what life was like. It's clear that James Ogden loved the Tibetan people and culture; mountain vistas do not dominate his photos. We see many aspects of the lives of Tibetan and Chinese people in these pictures, including Tibetan justice in the image of a teary-eyed Tibetan youth restrained in a rather bulky wooden stock. The slight smiles on the faces of his unshackled companions say it all.
This exhibit will be on display until mid November, so spend an hour and get intimate with this view of Tibetan life given to us by James A. Ogden.
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