Death, Dying, and Resilience in Buddhist Art and Practice

Join us for a panel discussion with Dr. Tenzin Namdul and Drupa Rinpoche. Tickets available April 10.

Tibetan Buddhist practice places great emphasis on the inevitability of death and the importance of meditating on impermanence as a powerful corrective to our cravings for and attachment toward transitory pleasures like power, position, wealth, and material goods. In this way, mindfulness of death can impel us to greater diligence to lead a life with integrity and engage in spiritual practice. When death comes, we are at peace, as well as fully aware of the cyclic nature of existence and accepting of the inevitable journey of death and rebirth. In this regard, the multitude of Buddhas, divine beings, and teachers displayed in the museum’s Tibetan shrine in the form of statues and painted images serve as exemplars and remind us of our own potential for enlightenment.

The presentation will be followed by a reception and book signing by Tenzin Namdul and Miriam Cameron for their new publication, Tibetan Medicine and You: A Path to Wellbeing, Joy, and Happiness.

Tenzin Namdul is a medical anthropologist and a Tibetan medicine doctor. He’s an assistant professor and the director of the Tibetan Healing Initiative at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality & Healing. He’s also an affiliate faculty member at the University of Minnesota’s Asian American Studies program.

Drupa Rinpoche (Lobsang Yeshi) is a Tibetan Buddhist monk who holds a monastic Geshe degree in Buddhist philosophy, a B. Psych and M.Sc in positive psychology (HELP University, Kuala Lumpur, and Life University, Georgia, USA respectively). He’s the founder of Drupa Monastery Oasis of Dharma in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the resident teacher at Kachoeling Dharma Center in Minneapolis. Rinpoche worked as a researcher at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and is a volunteer Buddhist Chaplain at Hennepin County Medical Center.

Dr. Matthew Welch serves as the Mary Ingebrand-Pohlad Deputy Director & Chief Curator and curator of the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room: The Alice S. Kandell Collection. He administers five curatorial departments, registration, and the museum’s research library. A specialist in Japanese art, he joined the museum in 1990.