Tibetan Lama Plans International Talks in S.F. to Seek Route to Peace

Surrounded by global discord at the beginning of the decade, a young Tibetan Buddhist tulku, or reincarnated lama, contemplated the elusive goal of world peace from his monastery high in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Part of the difficulty in achieving that goal, he mused, lay in the idea that peace was somehow separate from the rest of life--from education and economics, from health, religion, environment and other aspects of existence.

The tulku, T’ai Situ Rinpoche, envisioned a bridge between these disciplines but was perplexed over what could serve as its building blocks. At last, he decided he should try to arrange an international conference that would take a how-to approach toward “working for peace in all aspects of life.”

Thus inspired, Situ Rinpoche (pronounced RIN-po-chay), who at 32 is now the second-highest lama of one of the four major branches of Tibetan Buddhism, has begun planning a five-day conference, scheduled for September, 1988, in San Francisco, with simultaneous events worldwide.

Traveled Around Globe

Since 1982, he has traveled around the globe--almost full time since last year--and says he has met with political and religious leaders, experts in a variety of fields, and non-experts alike. Carrying a tasseled Buddhist rosary and a small black fan to relieve Washington’s oppressive heat, he was interviewed recently as he undertook a five-month tour that will include stops in Los Angeles, New York City, Boston and Chicago.

The opening event leading up to the peace conference was a children’s day for peace held June 14 in Williamsburg, Va., according to Helen Maxie of Richmond, Va., chairman of Virginians For Peace and the national coordinator for the conference.

Speakers included Situ Rinpoche and Carl G. Springer, who works for a U.N. project to honor the birthplace of Buddha, she said.

So far, groups from 41 countries have pledged to participate or indicated an interest, said Situ Rinpoche, considered by Tibetan Buddhists to be the 12th incarnation of the first Situ Rinpoche and enthroned at the age of 18 months.

Although unwilling to reveal who has made such commitments, Situ Rinpoche said in perfect, clipped English that he will announce this fall participants who will include leaders in a number of disciplines from countries such as the United States, China, France, Britain, West Germany, India, South Africa, Canada, Belgium, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Somalia--and perhaps the Soviet Union.

Big Turnout Expected

Representatives of Situ Rinpoche’s financial backer for his trip, The Vajradhatu International Buddhist Assn., headquartered in Boulder, Colo., expressed confidence that large numbers of people will participate.

Clad in an orange brocade jacket, a mustard-colored shirt and a maroon monk’s robe, Situ Rinpoche explained in the interview that “if you talk to 100 individuals about ‘What is peace?’, each has a different answer.”

To him, “Peace means cooperation, understanding, sort of a proper way to deal with reality.” Moreover, he declared: “That can be achieved. That is more than practical now.”

Karen Garrison, executive officer of the Maitreya Institute founded in San Francisco by Situ Rinpoche to offer adult education in music, art, science, philosophy and psychology, said the conference would deal with “the idea of ‘how can I go home tonight and do something specific (for peace)?’ It won’t be ‘that’s a nice idea.’ ”

In the past, Situ Rinpoche said, many individuals and organizations “have done magnificent things” for peace, including Mother Teresa, the Nobel Prize-winning nun who ministers to India’s poor; the Dalai Lama, leader of all Tibetan Buddhists; and those “ordinary citizens” who have made contributions to combat hunger in Africa and the United States.

Summit a ‘Good Sign’

A further “good sign,” he said, was last November’s superpower summit between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Now, Situ Rinpoche noted, his aim is to try to pull these sorts of efforts together. “None of us likes to suffer. None of us likes trouble,” he said, adding that mankind’s peaceful spirit “is there--it is just there. Nobody will say no.”

Early in his life, Situ Rinpoche was affected by the absence of peace: As a 5-year-old boy, he fled Tibet with other high lamas after the abortive Tibetan uprising against the Chinese. Trained at Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, he is now based at Sherab Ling in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

But action, not simply a peaceful spirit, is needed to achieve world peace, he said. “It’s an emergency situation, and it can’t wait for everyone to develop inner peace,” he said. “Even daily life is in chaos, so action is necessary.”