Wednesday 29 June 2011

Consume and Connect: Geshe Yonten and "Journey from Zanskar"


This post is part of the consume aim of my blog, but I’m also hoping that it will promote connecting not just for me, but for a good man and friend, Geshe Lobsang Yonten, in his mission to educate Zanksar.

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to watch a documentary put together by Geshe called “Journey from Zanskar.”  When India was divided up into Pakistan, there was also a portion of Tibet that was considered Indian, though the region, Zanksar, was religiously, culturally, and linguistically Tibetan.  Because of this the education system in some of these rural villages are missing out on a proper education and their culture is slowly being forgotten.

Geshe’s goal is to help combat that by educating the children in Zanskar.  His documentary was about a very moving experience he had getting 14 children to Manali and Dharamsala for their education and the trials and difficulties he encountered.  His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama told Geshe once that it was his responsibility as a monk to help reliving suffering.  Geshe comments that he took Bodhisattva vows, and even though he is not a Bodhisattva, he is determined to do his part to make the world a better place.

The documentary is fantastic, and Geshe Yonten is going to be touring the United States at various universities to show it.  I am hoping that we will be able to promote his mission enough so that we might also be able to get a viewing for him at Brigham Young University.

If you are interested in what Geshe Yonten is doing you can watch a youtube video, check out his website, be his facebook friend, like his facebook page, or contact his secretary putting together his schedule for when he comes to the United States.

3 comments:

  1. Rachel,
    Thanks for the post. I wish we could have seen it. Hopefully Geshe Tonten will play it again while we're here. It sounds very interesting and I'd like to see a Tibetan documentary on something other than the Tibetan issue (not because that's not important. Just that that's all I've seen so far.)
    - Matt

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  2. I loved this documentary, and I really hope he decides to come show it at BYU!

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  3. I hope so too, Elizabeth! Sorry you missed it Matt. I'm sure that Geshe Tonten will play it again while we are here. You just have to request it. Are you his friend on facebook? He accepted me pretty quickly.

    I too appreciated that the documentary was on something more than the Tibetan issue. I guess I have not seen too many of those though... Have you watched a lot of documentaries before coming here? I'm sure you have been looking at a few models for your project. Any in particular that you are more drawn to? Looking to imitate in some sense?

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