Tibetan Buddhists Celebrate 40 Years in Scotland

February 24, 2007

Source: news.scotsman.com

http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=296552007

TIBETAN Buddhists are set to stage a day of events in the Capital to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their first home in Europe.

Akong Tulku Rinpoche came to Scotland as a young refugee in 1967 and founded the West's first Centre for Tibetan Buddhism, the Samye Ling Centre in Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway.

The centre, with its spectacular temple, attracts thousands of visitors every year and caters for people of all faiths with a programme of health courses, weekend workshops and guided tours.

Edinburgh businessman Thom McCarthy, who has been going to the centre since the early 1970s, said: "It's gone from strength to strength. Annie Lennox goes and Lord David Steele is a patron." Rinpoche and an entourage of monks and nuns will commence a tour of Scottish centres in Edinburgh from March 15 to 17.

The visit to the city will begin with a special event at the Royal Museum of Scotland, where there will be a unique exhibition of Buddhist art treasures for the occasion.