Tibet Himalaya Initiative at CU Boulder

An auspicious launch to the Translation of the Ḍākinīs’ Great Dharma Treasury this weekend! Thanks to our new editorial board and collaborators for joining us in person and online. And thanks to our sponsors for this gathering: Tsadra Research Center, Lenz Foundation, Northwestern University, and the Tibet Himalaya Initiative.

https://www.colorado.edu/tibethimalayainitiative/2026/05/17/launching-translation-dakinis-great-dharma-treasury

The Dalai Lama's Future Succession: a keynote lecture by Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang about the Dalai Lama's ongoing contributions, Chinese insecurities, and the future of Tibet and the Tibetan people. Free and open to the public. This event will be live-streamed and recorded; link is in the comments below.

Tomorrow: Friday, September 13 at 4 pm Mountain Time.

DUMRA/THE SECRET GARDEN: An Invitation

It is our pleasure to invite you to a very special event - “Dumra/The Secret Garden.” On Sunday, June 9 at 12 noon, we will hold a memorial gathering at Camp Hale National Monument in Colorado. This event is to commemorate the CIA-Tibet training camp which operated at Camp Hale from 1958-1964. The Tibetan men who trained there were members of the Chushi Gangdrug army, a citizens’ army formed to defend the Dalai Lama, Tibet, and Buddhism against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The CIA offered training and support to the Tibetan resistance, including this secret project at Camp Hale. The CIA officers called the training camp “The Ranch.” The Tibetan soldiers called it “Dumra,” meaning garden.

In 2010, a plaque was officially installed at Camp Hale that for the first time publicly acknowledged the CIA-Tibet training camp. At that installation ceremony, the actual location of the training camp was lost to time. Recently, we have located the exact footprint of the camp. Our June 9 ceremony will be held at this exact site.

The formal commemorative program will be followed by a Tibetan luncheon picnic. This event is open to the public. All are welcome to join. We welcome you to join us in learning more about this history, remembering those who served here together, and honoring all those who fought for freedom in Tibet.

Böd Gyalo!

Organizers:
Colorado Chushi Gangdrug
University of Colorado

Next week, join us for the CU Days of Compassion. Tuesday the 10th Thupten Jinpa will be leading a guided Compassion practice on the lawn of Norlin Quad. The Mission: Joy film and panel on Monday the 9th is almost sold out. Register here:

https://calendar.colorado.edu/event/cu_boulder_days_of_compassion_mission_joy_film_screening_and_panel_discussion?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=University+of+Colorado+Boulder

Also this Saturday THI faculty Holly Gayley will be in conversation with Andrew Quintman at JLF Colorado 2023 on the lives of Yeshe Tsogyal and Milarepa and their ongoing influence and presence in ritual, pilgrimage, visual arts and more.

NOT TO BE MISSED! This Saturday in Boulder writer Tsering Yangzom Lama discusses her remarkable debut novel, We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies, at JLF Colorado 2023 with CU’s own Dawa Lokyitsang and Natalie Avalos. Supported by the Tibet Himalaya Initiative.

Tonight at the University of Colorado in Boulder: former two-term Sikyong Lobsang Sangay. All are welcome to join us at 7 pm in the Old Main Chapel. This event is free and open to the public.

Political Leader of An Exile Government: An Evening with Lobsang Sangay In 2011, the Dalai Lama stepped down as political leader of the Tibetan exile government. For the first time ever, the Tibetan community democratically elected a new political leader: Mr. Lobsang Sangay. He served two terms as Sikyong (President) from 2011-2021. As Sikyong, Mr. Sangay traveled the w...

Join us for an extraordinary event: a book reading and dialogue with Tsering Yangzom Lama about her award-winning debut novel, We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies, the first novel in English by a Tibetan woman.

When: Thursday, March 2
5:30 Reception, Meet the Author | 6pm Book Reading and Dialogue

Where: Chancellor’s Auditorium
CASE Building 4th Floor 725 Euclid Ave, CU Boulder

Breathtaking in scope and powerfully intimate, We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies is a gorgeously written meditation on colonization, displacement, and the lengths we’ll go to remain connected to our families and ancestral lands. Told through the lives of a family across three generations, this beautifully lyrical debut novel provides a nuanced portrait of the world of Tibetan exiles. We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies, won the 2023 New Writers Award for Fiction from the Great Lakes Colleges Association. A New York Times Summer Reads pick, her novel was shortlisted for The Scotiabank Giller Prize and longlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and The Toronto Book Awards.

Tsering Yangzom Lama holds an MFA in Writing from Columbia University where she was a TOMS Fellow, Writing Fellow, and Teaching Fellow. She earned her BA in Creative Writing and International Relations from the University of British Columbia. A lifelong activist, she is a Storytelling Advisor at Greenpeace International, where she guides and trains people around the world in narrative strategy. A recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Tsering has been a resident at the Jan Michalski Foundation, Banff Center for Arts and Creativity, Hedgebrook, Willapa Bay AiR, Vermont Studio Center, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Lillian E. Smith Center, Art Omi, Catwalk Institute, WildAcres, and Playa Summerlake. She was selected as a 2018 Tin House Novel Scholar. Tsering’s writing has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The Malahat Review, Grain, Kenyon Review, Vela, LaLit, and Himal SouthAsian, as well as the anthologies Old Demons New Deities: 21 Short Stories from Tibet; House of Snow: An Anthology of the Greatest Writing About Nepal; and Brave New Play Rites. Tsering is also a co-founder of LhakarDiaries, a leading English-language blog among Tibetan youth in exile. Born and raised in Nepal, she currently splits her time between Vancouver, Canada and Sweden.

For more information:

We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies | Reading and Dialogue with Tsering Yangzom Lama on Thursday, March 2nd at 6pm Join us for an extraordinary event, a book reading

ལོ་སར་ལ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས་ཞུ།
Losar Tashi Delek!

Please join us for a Losar (Tibetan New year) celebration on February 24, 5:00 - 7:00 PM, in Hellems 159, CU

We will celebrate Tibetan Losar 2150 Year of the Water Hare with delicious food, drinks, and dance!

See you there!
THI

Save the date! Thursday March 9, 6pm. Join us for a film screening and Q&A with film-maker and anthropologist Donagh Coleman.

Tukdam: Between Worlds, is a brand new feature documentary that explores the phenomenon of tukdam, where deceased mediators show no signs of death for days and weeks.

"Save the date! Thursday March 9, 6pm. Join us for a film screening and Q&A with film-maker and anthropologist Donagh Coleman." Tukdam: Between Worlds, is a brand new feature doc