Shyalpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist lama and meditation master, will speak and bring his message of peace, compassion, and understanding to Syracuse University at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Kilian Room of the Hall of Languages.

His lecture is titled ‘The Warrior’s Path to Peace.”

Rinpoche said he has recently returned to the United States following a pilgrimage with several students to Nepal and Tibet where he meditated and made offerings at several holy places. He is coming to SU at the request of his friends and students.

Paula Saunders, a Rinpoche student, said that Rinpohe has been trained since the age of four by masters of all the major lineages of Buddhism.

She said during this training Rinpoche received the pith instruction, transmissions, and blessings of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche’s lecture will focus on how everyone should face the problems in the world and make the world a better place by applying their intelligence to the problems.

Rinpoche used an analogy to explain one of his teachings about fear and compassion.

‘You can’t meet a tiger in the woods and close your eyes and hope that it will go away,’ Rinpoche said. ‘You must face the tiger, not harm him, but face him.’

Rinpoche not only teaches about fearlessness and compassion, but also about peace. He said that he feels connected to this teaching of peace partially because of the turmoil in Tibet but also because of the turmoil that everyone encounters in their daily lives. He added that the solutions to this turmoil can be found in ‘The Warrior’s Path to Peace.”

Rinpoche said that one source of turmoil in the world that has caused an increase in the number of people at his lectures, wanting to learn about compassion and fearlessness, is Sept. 11.

‘The way to solve this problem is through intelligence and understanding,’ Rinpoche said. ‘ We must protect against ignorance.’

Rinpoche said that he feels compassion is not only a teaching of Buddhism but is a fundamental truth that lies within every person.

He said that this truth of compassion could benefit everyone in today’s world with the military involvement by the United States in Afghanistan and possibly Iraq.

“If everyone opened their eyes and found this, they would find that this (compassion) is a birthright for all people,” Rinpoche said. “It would be beneficial not only for Americans, Afghanis, and Iraqis but also for the entire world.

“When we talk about compassion we are really talking about intelligence.”

Rinpoche has lectured at many universities throughout the country and said that young people appeal to him because of their fresh and curious minds as well as their less judgmental attitudes. He said that he hopes college students will not only hear his message but also consider it a true friend in their lives.

Rinpoche’s main goal in speaking at SU is “to mainly bring understanding between all of us.” He said that this understanding is not just between the people at the lecture but also with their friends, families, communities, and a greater self-understanding.

Rinpoche is also the founder of BLANK. Saunders said that it is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to teaching about the benefits of Buddhism.

“We are not a huge organization, we don’t have huge property, but we have a huge heart to share what we know,” Rinpoche said.

He feels that this sharing of what he knows is his greatest asset.

“I believe I only have one thing to offer, my teaching,” Rinpohe said.

Published on October 2, 2002 at 12:00 pm