News Article

 Venerated Geshe Thupten Phelgye will discuss “The Art of Happiness” from 10-11:30 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 24, in Room 110 of the Jundt Art Center and Museum at Gonzaga University. The discussion, sponsored by GU Programs for International Education and Relief (PIER) and the GU Unity House, is free and open to the public. Donations will be accepted.

Phelgye’s lecture will focus on his work and travel to peace talks and campuses throughout the United States and India. He also will discuss the current state of Tibetan refugees, negotiations with China, the Suhla Israeli Peace Summit, the state of monks in Myanmar, animal rights and Buddhism.

Phelgye is a Buddhist monk and member of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile. He received his Geshe degree, comparable to a doctorate, from Sera Je College of Sera Monastic University. After obtaining the degree, Phelgye studied Vajrayana Buddhism at Gyume Monastic College and spent five years on a meditation retreat in the mountains of Dharamsala under the guidance of the Dalai Lama. In 1997, he founded the Universal Compassion Movement (UCM), an organization that advocates for animal rights and vegetarianism.

 
Phelgye also is president of the International Gelung Society and recently passed a resolution on the vegetarian diet in Gelung monasteries and nunneries. He often participates in interfaith dialogues and works as the Tibetan Buddhist ambassador to the Sulha Peace Project in the Middle East.

 PIER is dedicated to global justice and peace issues. The GU student club advocates for global change and education, and aims to provide relief and education to people in developing countries and to bring cultivated insights back to Gonzaga.

 For more information, contact Tracy Morgan at (509) 389-5942 or via e-mail at morgant@gonzaga.edu or e-mail PIER president Amelia Ferrel at aferrel@gonzaga.edu. To learn more about UCM, visit its Web site at www.universalcompassion.org.