LAMA SURYA DAS, A LEADING WESTERN BUDDHIST AUTHOR,
TO SPEAK AT MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE ON SEPTEMBER 26

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Lama Surya Das, whose books and teachings have helped propel Buddhism's surge in popularity in the United States, will speak on “Awakening the Wisdom Mind: Opening the Heart of Love and Compassion” on Thursday, September 26, at 7:30 PM in Chapin Auditorium. The talk, sponsored by the College’s Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, is free and open to the public. Chapin Auditorium is wheelchair accessible.

Surya Das is one of the foremost Western Buddhist meditation teachers and scholars. He leads lectures and retreats worldwide and regularly organizes the annual Western Buddhist Teachers Conference with the Dalai Lama. “Life is about relationship—the relationship we have with ourselves, with each other, with the world, as well as the connection to that which is beyond any of us yet imminent in each of us,” Surya Das writes in his latest book, Awakening the Buddhist Heart: Integrating Love, Meaning, and Connection into Every Part of Your Life (Broadway Books, 2000). “When our relationships are good, we feel good; when they are bad, we feel awful. Let's accept it: We need each other. We need to feel connected; we need to feel each other's presence and love.”

Surya Das is the author of the Awakening the Buddha Within: Eight Steps to Enlightenment (Broadway Books, 1997), which appeared on Publishers Weekly Religion Bestseller list, and on lists at the Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, and Christian Science Monitor. He is a regular contributor to Tricycle magazine, New Age, and Yoga Journal, and writes the online Ask the Lama column for Beliefnet.com.