Tibetan monk Lobzang Chetan gave religious studies associate professor a blessing during the monks’ presentation on campus this past Thursday.
Katrina Borges
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It’s not very often that you get to see a Tibetan monk use an iPad or bless your professor, so it’s no surprise that when two visitors from the Drepung Gomang Monastery came to campus Thursday, the classroom was so packed with students and other guests that many were sitting on the floor.
Lobzang Chetan and Gedun Gyatso gave a lecture and held a question-and-answer session, hosted by Cal Poly’s religious studies department. Chetan did all the talking, sometimes assisted by Zahida Banu, the event’s translator — the monks named her Dolma, which means “White Tara.” Gyatso stood off to the side with Banu, iPad held up, presumably capturing pictures or video.
The lecture was opened by Stephen Lloyd-Moffett, a religious studies associate professor, who welcomed the attendees and spoke briefly about religious diversity before directing attention to Rosh Wright, another event organizer.
Wright talked about the monks’ trip in the United States. They had been in San Luis Obispo for a week, making appearances at Cal Poly as well as the farmers market, Steynberg’s Gallery and homes and businesses for private blessings.
Chetan took the floor next and immediately stressed that Buddhism is an ancient science as well as a religion. Wright wrote some highlights on the chalkboard as he spoke.
“There is Buddhist philosophy, Buddhist religion and Buddhist science,” Chetan said. “We’re talking about sharing this philosophy and this science.”
One of the major takeaways of the lecture was the idea that a person has a positive mind, negative mind or neutral mind; all forms of anger, jealousy or any other unpleasant emotion are all the result of having a negative mind, he said. Chetan defined Buddhism as the study of telling the difference between that which is positive and that which is negative, as well as learning how to let go of those negative emotions through practice and meditation.
“A positive mind brings happiness, makes more friendships,” he said. “Nobody wants to try to find suffering.”
Chetan made sure to point out that these were not only traits of monks. He compared the teachings of Buddhism to the compassion of Mother Theresa and said she was not special — anyone could be that way with effort.
He said that the mind is like water, and having negative emotions is like the water getting dirty, but the water could still be filtered and become clear again.
“You can go to the Internet and ask how to do meditation,” he said, drawing a laugh from the crowd as he mimed a typing motion.
Chetan also emphasized the importance of achieving happiness and becoming a better person through knowledge. According to him, getting a college education should ultimately be about finding what makes you happy and positive towards others, not about earning money.
“Every suffering is produced by ignorance,” he said.
During the question-and-answer session, the audience was allowed to ask Chetan whatever they liked. Most questions pertained to the lecture he had just given, but one student asked him for his opinion on the government shutdown. He said he didn’t know anything about it, but cheekily added that the people who caused it were “also dependent on their attachment and their ignorance.”
Not all of the questions were serious. One student was simply curious whether it was true that monks drank yak butter tea — Chetan responded with an enthusiastic “Oh, yes!”
Chetan closed the event by blessing Lloyd-Moffett with a Buddhist ritual and thanking him for the opportunity to speak to the students.