Buddhist Lama Visiting Pittsburgh

The 33rd Menri Trizin, the highest lama of the Tibetan Bon Buddhist tradition will speak and offer blessings Saturday at Mellon Institute from 3 to 5 and then attend a benefit dinner at India Garden in Monroeville.

Tempa Lama, the spiritual director of the Olmo Ling Center in Greenfield, says the Bon tradition pre-dates the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet during the 7th century, making it the oldest of the 5 schools of Buddhism. He says Bon Buddhism holds that any human being can become a Buddha, an awakened being, through unconditional love and compassion for others. Tempa Lama studied in the 80s as a child under the 33rd Menri Trizin at the monastery he built in northern India when clashes with the Chinese forced many Buddhists to flee Tibet in 1959. It now houses nuns, monks and students, which will benefit from the fundraising.

Tempa Lama says the Menri Trizin will bless people with his great power to heal physical and emotional suffering, and even business troubles. He considers him a living Buddha, along with the Dalai Lama. As a world religion, he says Buddhism claims 10% but is the fastest-growing.