Tenzin Priyadarshi
Tenzin Priyadarshi (The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi) is the Founding Director of the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
He also serves as the founding President of the Prajnopaya Foundation, a worldwide humanitarian organization.
Early years
Priyadarshi was born into a Hindu Brahmin family in [[Vaishali district|Vaishali], Bihar, India.
He comes from a family of bureaucrats, political leaders, and eminent scholars. He has two sisters, one is an attorney and the other, Shilpa Shukla, a famed actress in the Indian film industry.
He entered the monastery at the age of ten in Rajgir, India near the ancient Nalanda University at his own volition.
He is a Buddhist monk from India ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who is his preceptor and mentor.
He also studied under the guidance of H.H. Sakya Trizin, H.H. Drikung Chhetsang, H.E. Kushok Bakula Rinpoche and H.E. Samdhong Rinpoche, and received meditation training from H.E. Drubwang Rinpoche.
Priyadarshi trained in India, Nepal, and Japan in Indo-Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism, and is known for his love of Sanskrit Buddhist literature. He also spent several years studying Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism in Calcutta, and maintained close relations with the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram.
He studied at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies and the Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India.
He graduated from Le Moyne College, Summa Cum Laude, with a bachelor’s degree as an Integral Honors Scholar studying Philosophy, Physics, and Religious Studies with minors in International Relations and Japanese.
In 2003 he completed his graduate studies in Comparative Philosophy of Religion at Harvard University. In 2002 he was appointed as the first Buddhist Chaplain at MIT.
Teaching career
Priyadarshi lectures internationally on Buddhist philosophy and socio-political issues.
He is regarded as an influential teacher in the rimé (non-sectarian) movement within Tibetan Buddhism, like his predecessor.
He founded the Prajnopaya Institute to create an avenue for critical study and practice of Buddhist philosophy within Europe and North America.
To promote contemplative programs in North America, he founded Bodhimarga, a CyberDharma community with satellite locations in various parts of North America and Asia.
Conflict resolution and peace efforts
Having been exposed to the dangers of religious fanaticism and violence early on, Priyadarshi has been instrumental in conflict resolution processes in India and Sri Lanka.
He has been actively involved in inter-religious dialogue with religious leaders such as Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Pope Benedict XVI.
He has made his admiration for Saint Francis of Assisi quite public and travels to Italy frequently to engage in spiritual dialogue with Christian monastic communities.
He actively promotes contemplative learning beyond religious boundaries and talks frequently with Fr. Thomas Keating, founder of Contemplative Outreach.
He received a Felicitation for his work at the 2007 SAARC Interfaith Conclave in New Delhi, India.
Humanitarian projects
Following the catastrophic disaster caused by Tsunami in 2005, Priyadarshi founded the Prajnopaya Foundation to develop innovative and sustainable ways to alleviate suffering in developing countries.
He was Project Advisor to team of architects from MIT, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and Cambridge University to develop the Tsunami Safe(r) Houses, low cost high resistant homes, for families in Sri Lanka.
The foundation has been active in health care endeavors in India, including systematic methods to curtail tuberculosis and bring health care to rural areas.
In December 2009, Priyadarshi was felicitated as "Icon of Bihar" at the Bihar Conclave. He is the youngest person to receive this honor.
Other activities
Priyadarshi is the Founding Member and Director of The Vishwa Shanti Stupa (World Peace Pagoda Projects) in New Delhi and Sarnath (Varanasi), India.
He serves as Trustee for The National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi and an advisor to the Renaissance Project in San Francisco, CA.
He is also actively involved in ongoing dialogue between Buddhism, meditation and neuroscience.
Criticism
Priyadarshi has been criticized within his social class in India for leaving the family’s bureaucratic and political legacy and taking up the religious life too early.
Within the Buddhist groups, his emphasis on contemplative life and social responsibility has not always been welcomed.
His promotion of rimé (non-sectarian) methods of learning has met with oppositions among the orthodoxy within the Tibetan schools.
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