Compassionate Leadership, September 25, 2008

Thank you for your interest in the Compassionate Leadership panel discussion on Sept. 25. Due to strong community interest, all available tickets have been distributed.

The world has never had greater need of compassionate leadership, and the opportunities for a new generation of leaders have never been more complex and challenging. The Office of the President is pleased to welcome to Tufts three world leaders who will help us look at the need for compassionate leadership on a global scale. Please join us for an inspiring panel discussion with Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; Rabbi Irwin Kula; and the Sakyong, Jamg?n Miphon Rinpoche.

When: Thursday, September 25, 2008, at 5:00 p.m.
Where: Cohen Auditorium, Tufts University, Medford/Somerville Campus (Directions)
Admission is free, but tickets are required.

• Tufts community: Pick up tickets at the Aidekman Arts Center box office with your Tufts ID.
• General public: Reserve tickets through Tufts' Office of Community Relations, telephone: 617-627-3780.

You are encouraged to submit questions for the panelists in advance of the program at http://www.vivapeace.org. Since panelists will reflect on questions prior to the program, the event will not include Q&A.

Please note: Metal detectors will be used at the entry doors. Handbags will be allowed but are subject to search. Please do not bring backpacks, briefcases, containers, or cameras.

About the Program

This conversation will address current world events and help us to see how they relate to and affect our own inner life and capacity for leadership. The Sakyong, world spiritual leader of Shambhala Buddhism, and Rabbi Irwin Kula, a provocative religious leader and well-respected rabbi, share wisdom from their traditions. Through her stories and experiences, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan gives us a first-hand look at what it is to be a leader.

The conversation will be moderated by Jerry Murdock, co-founder of Insight Venture Partners a member of the Board of Trustees of both The Santa Fe Institute and The Aspen Institute. The presenters will engage the audience through a lively panel discussion that will entertain, inform, and inspire. Probing their own traditions and experiences, they will examine how their different paths can contribute to a shared vision of interdependence and global connection.

About the Presenters

Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan
Queen Noor is an international humanitarian activist and an outspoken voice on issues of world peace and justice. Queen Noor plays a major role in promoting international exchange and understanding of Arab and Muslim culture and politics, Arab-Western relations, and conflict prevention and recovery issues such as refugees, missing persons, poverty and disarmament. Her conflict recovery and peacebuilding work over the past decade has focused on the Middle East, the Balkans, Central and Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. Queen Noor's work in Jordan since 1978 has focused on national development needs in the areas of education, sustainable development, human rights and cross-cultural understanding. She is also actively involved with international and UN organizations that address global challenges in these fields.
Full Biography>>

Rabbi Irwin Kula
Known as both a provocative religious leader and a respected spiritual iconoclast, Irwin Kula is the President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Leadership and Learning. A leader in religious pluralism, CLAL links Jewish wisdom with innovative scholarship to deepen civic and spiritual participation in American life. A renowned thinker and teacher, Rabbi Kula uses Jewish wisdom in ways that speak to modern life. He is the author of the award-winning book Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life and hosted the series "Simple Wisdom with Irwin Kula" on public television, where he appears regularly. "We describe leaders as strong, courageous, and persuasive, but think of compassion in softer, weaker terms," says Rabbi Kula. "However, the qualities ascribed to excellent leadership actually are similar to those required to be genuinely compassionate. In fact, our religious traditions teach us that compassion is a virtue that requires fierce insight, discipline, and courage."
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Sakyong, Jamg?n Miphon Rinpoche
The Sakyong, Jamg?n Mipham Rinpoche, is one of Tibet's highest and most respected incarnate lamas. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche bridges two worlds. The eldest son of the Vidyadhara Ch?gyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who was instrumental in bringing Buddhism to the West, he is the incarnation of Mipham the Great, who is revered in Tibet as an emanation of Manjushri, the buddha of wisdom. The Sakyong is the head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage and is spiritual director of Shambhala, a borderless kingdom of meditation practitioners committed to realizing enlightenment and social harmony through daily life. The Sakyong has written two books, the national bestseller Turning the Mind into an Ally, and the prize-winning Ruling Your World. A poet and an artist, he has also run marathons to raise money for Tibet through the Konchok Foundation. He travels extensively, teaching throughout the world.
Full Biography>>