Renowned monk to lecture, explore what we can do about human rights

The Venerable Tenzin Priyardarshi, a monk, philosopher, philanthropist and educator, will be on the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus Tuesday, Feb. 17, to collaborate with university leaders, deliver a free public lecture and meet with students.

Sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, UAB’s Institute for Human Rights, and the Office of the Provost, the event will be an opportunity for the Venerable Tenzin to examine the role of human rights in society with his lecture, “Human Rights, Ethics and Values: On Personal and Social Transformation.” It will begin in the Hess Lecture Hall at the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts at 3:30 p.m.

The Venerable Tenzin is the founder and director of the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a nonpartisan collaborative think tank focused on interdisciplinary research and programs related to the development of human and global ethics. He also serves as the Buddhist chaplain to the institute.

The Venerable Tenzin has explored numerous ecumenical partnerships and projects, working with Mother Theresa in Calcutta and meeting with Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Pope Benedict XVI, HH Gyalwang Karmapa and other religious leaders.

“We are honored to host the Venerable Tenzin Priyardarshi at UAB,” said Robert E. Palazzo, Ph.D., dean of UAB’s College of Arts and Sciences. “His message of personal responsibility in the advancement of human rights, as well as his worldwide efforts to champion equality and morality, is very much in keeping with our own mission for the UAB Institute for Human Rights. “The Venerable Tenzin’s visit, following His Holiness The Dalai Lama’s appearance last fall, is an important continuation of the conversation we are having in our community about the liberties and freedoms that every individual deserves,” Palazzo said.

Prior to the lecture, the Venerable Tenzin will meet with Palazzo and members of the leadership team for the Institute for Human Rights to discuss potential collaboration on human rights issues and efforts. After the lecture, he will meet with select students to discuss ideas and questions inspired by the talk. A reception for the public will take place following the lecture as well.

“At the public talk given by the Dalai Lama last fall, there was a very potent moment when he called out the young people in the audience and, partly in jest, announced that he would come back 20 years after he died to see whether their generation had lived up to his challenge to make the planet a more peaceful place,” said Gitendra Uswatte, Ph.D., professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology. “The Venerable Tenzin’s visit to campus later this month is part of responding to that challenge. He is going to talk about what we, and especially young people, can do as individuals to increase respect for human rights.”

The Venerable Tenzin was born in Vaishali, India, and entered a Buddhist monastery at age 10. He studied traditional Indo-Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism and was ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who is his spiritual mentor. 

As an undergraduate, he was Integral Honors Scholar majoring in philosophy, physics and religious studies with minors in international relations and Japanese. He completed his graduate studies in comparative philosophy of religion at Harvard University in 2003.

The Venerable Tenzin is also the founding director and president of the Prajnopaya Institute and Foundation and a founding member of the Vishwa Shanti Stupa (World Peace Pagoda) in New Delhi, India, and also serves on the board of several academic, humanitarian and religious organizations.