Tibetan monk Geshe Tenzin Demchok, from Dharamsala, will give a an evening talk on Monday, Nov. 26 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Vineyard Haven, hosted by Natural Therapeutics Center. The suggested donation is $20 at the door.

Geshe Tenzin Demchok established the World Maitreya Karuna Foundation in 2002 under the guidance of His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Holiness Karmapa. A registered charity, the foundation has as its mission to promote world peace, preserve Tibetan culture, and provide educational possibilities to poor monks, nuns and children who are recent arrivals from Tibet.

He was born in Tibet and escaped to India at the age of 11. He joined the Drepung Loseling Monastery in 1980 in the south Indian state of Karnataka. In 1998 he received the highest Geshe degree, Lharampa. In 2002 he studied Tantra for a year at the Gyutoe Tantric College, and passed his studies exam in the presence of His Holiness The Dalai Lama at Dharamsala in 2004.

In May 2005 he was appointed as a member of the board of directors of the World Buddhist Federation in Tokyo. He joined the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies at Varanasi as a lecturer in 1998. He is now a professor teaching fundamental Buddhist text to the students from all four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. He travels extensively giving lectures, seminars and meditation courses during his three-month vacation period, to North America, Japan, Singapore and Europe. His main focus is on teachings relevant to world peace and harmony.

For more information, call Heather C. Rynd at 508-696-0030.