Dehradun: Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel of Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile speaks at the Grand Golden Jubilee Anniversary and the 9th Convocation Ceremony of Sakya College based in Rajpur, Dehradun on 28th October 2022.

The great golden jubilee celebration of the Sakya College was marked in presence of Sakya Gongma Trichen, Chief Guest Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi (the Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture of India), Shri Jamyang Tsering Namgyal (the Member of Indian Parliament from Ladakh), Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, Sikyong Penpa Tsering, Tibetan parliamentarians, and other distinguished guests.

Paying his deepest reverence to Sakya Gongma Trichen and greetings to all the distinguished guests present there, the Speaker started his address extending his gratitude to all the concerned including Sakya Gongma Rinpoche, Abbey Rinpoche, and others for the milestone achieved by the Sakya College towards the flourishment of Buddhism in general and of the Sakya tradition in particular in its 50 years of establishment. He added that with the blessing of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and support from the Indian government, Tibetans in exile have endured considerable hardships in preserving distinct Tibetan identity, heritage, and religion in the most impeccable way despite facing alarming threats of extinction inside Tibet under Chinese rule.

Explaining the significant role Tibetan language play in conceptualization of Kagyur and Tengyur of Buddhism, which is available only in Tibetan, the Speaker further spoke on the importance of preserving the language which teaches concepts like love, compassion, nonviolence, etc. to benefit the people of the world and reiterated on the need of putting extra emphasis on preserving Tibetan language by the Tibetan schools and religious institutions under the Central Tibetan Administration and by the Himalayan people.

”In order to bring some positive changes in the world”, the Speaker said “the first step towards the change should start at individual level” and added ”negative emotions like anger, hatred, etc. will cause only destruction to individuals and society whereas constructive emotions like kindness can bring positivity within oneself and to the society,”

The Speaker spoke on the categorisation of Buddhism by His Holiness the Dalai Lama into the Buddhism of religion, the Buddhism of philosophy, and the Buddhism of science which piqued interest of the world especially the intellectuals. And concluded by praying for a long life of Sakya Gonma Rinpoche and of the Sakya Trizins, La-chens, and Khenpos and swift resolution of Tibetan issue.

The Speaker also attended the book display at the college library after the lunch. The golden jubilee celebration of Sakya College was held for four days from the 27th and 30th of October in Dehradun.