A three day National Seminar on Buddhism in North East India was organised by the Buddhist Studies Centre, Department of History, Dibrugarh University from 19th to 21st February, 2018 under the aegis of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), an autonomous Trust set up by the Government of India under the Ministry of Culture, New Delhi.
The Key Note speaker of the seminar was Ven. Geshe Dorji Damdul, eminent Buddhist Scholar and the Director of Tibet House, New Delhi. The seminar was inaugurated by Professor Alak K Buragohain, Vice Chancellor, Dibrugarh University. While delivering the inaugural speech on the relevance of the teachings of Buddhism, Professor Buragohain said that the teachings of Buddhism on love, non-violence, respect, tolerance and other virtues can aptly penetrated into the classrooms by incorporating them in the education system. He also said that the people's happiness well being must be measured in terms of Gross National Hapiness, as adopted by Bhutan.
During the Key Note address, Ven. Geshe Dorji Damdul stressed upon nurturing the human heart. He also talked about love, true happiness, brotherhood, interdependence, compassion, responsibilities, ethics etc.
The other speakers in the inaugural ceremony included Dr. Ajay Kumar Mishra from IGNCA, New Delhi and Dr. Richa Negi, the Regional Director, IGNCA, Regional Centre, Guwahati.
Earlier, Mr. Chandan Kumar Sarmah, Associate Professor, Department of History and Coordinator of the Buddhist Studies Centre delivered the welcome address.
Several scholars, researchers, faculty members, students from various Universities and different parts of the North Eastern States participated in the National Seminar.
Professor Biswajit Baruah
Head, Department of History offered the Vote of Thanks at the end of the inaugural ceremony.