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Dear Söpa, I'd like to share with you the following message from David Rand, Executive Director of the Tenzin Gyatso Institute, about the newly launched Tenzin Gyatso Scholars Program. To find out more about this unique effort and to perhaps support their work, I encourage you to visit them at www.tenzingyatsoinstitute.org. Thank you for all you do for Tibet and the Tibetan people. Sincerely, Mary Beth Markey ICT President Dear Friend of Tibet, Tibet's culture of wisdom and compassion is a vital part of the heritage of the whole of humanity. Its extraordinary value has extended far beyond the Tibetan community and captured the attention and imagination of people in a great many countries and from all walks of life. The profound educational system and the investigation of the 'inner sciences' from which the entire Tibetan culture developed, are proving to be of immense relevance to modern society. Please help preserve and expand this culture by making a donation here. Buddhism, as practiced in Tibet over the last 2,600 years, achieved highly sophisticated planes of study in the disciplines of logic, epistemology, psychology and ethics. Its understanding of the nature of reality is being compared to discoveries in physics, and offers insights about the nature of reality that align with modern science. Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, has expressed the importance of incorporating science into the Tibetan educational system. This innovation will maintain the vitality and dynamism of the Tibetan education system, and ensure that its unique insights are not lost. The Tenzin Gyatso Scholars Program The Tenzin Gyatso Institute has launched a groundbreaking initiative called the Tenzin Gyatso Scholars Program. The initiative has the blessing of the Dalai Lama, Professor Samdhong Rinpoche and many leading educators in the Tibetan and western academic communities. The Program offers scholars from the Tibetan monastic universities in India and Nepal a unique opportunity to study in American universities. They will be taking classes in neuroscience, biology, physics, psychology, subjects that are the foundation of much of the development of modern living. The Dalai Lama has said that uncovering the connection between the "inner sciences" of Tibetan Buddhism and the applied sciences that are responsible for modern development can lead to a "new form of knowledge" with the power to transform the world. Seven of the best and brightest scholars from the Tibetan monastic and educational systems are now studying at Emory University and Hampshire College. This September, for the first time, three nuns will join the Tenzin Gyatso Scholars Program and enroll at Smith College, launching an historic opportunity for Tibetan women. Invest in "New Forms of Knowledge" and in Leadership in the Tibetan Community When their education is complete, the Scholars will use their experience to fulfill the Dalai Lama's wish: that the two traditions of western science and Tibet's culture of wisdom and compassion begin to learn from each other in order to advance the welfare of humanity.   In addition, the Scholars will be better able to take on leadership roles in monasteries, in society and in government. The cost of running this groundbreaking program is $295,000 annually. We can only continue bringing Tibetan monastic scholars, monks and nuns, to American universities if you give us your generous and wholehearted support. Our goal is to have a total of twelve Scholars enrolled this September. Please support the Tenzin Gyatso Scholars Program. Thank you for supporting the work of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan community and the development of a 'new form of knowledge' in this way. With my thanks, David Rand Executive Director of The Tenzin Gyatso Institute P.S. The Tenzin Gyatso Institute, named after His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, has been founded in homage to his vision and achievements. Its aim is to advance, explore, and put into action the values and principles that the Dalai Lama holds closest to his heart.