Preserving the tradition

The chal­lenge of teach­ing Buddhism to young Tibetans

Traditionally, Tibetans who didn’t join monas­ter­ies learned about Buddhism from fam­ily mem­bers who did, or from vil­lage lamas or cer­e­mo­nial prac­ti­tion­ers. In exile in India, though, Tibetan chil­dren study Buddhism in school like any other sub­ject. Holding their inter­est can some­times be a chal­lenge. D.N. Chodak, the new Secretary of Religion and Culture for the Tibetan Government-​​in-​​Exile, talks with The Tibet Connection’s Peter Aronson about how he’d like to broaden Buddhism’s appeal for Tibetan schoolkids.