Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies (SUBIS) formally opened in April 2014 and will be starting the academic year with six courses from October onwards. It was established at Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh) on 21 September 2012. Samdhong Rinpoche, the former director of the Central Institute of Tibetan Studies (now the Central University of Tibetan Studies) as well as the first directly elected Kalon Tripa of the Central Tibetan Administration, has been appointed SUBIS’s chancellor. Professor Shashiprabha Kumar is the first vice-chancellor.

The Buddhist site of Mes Aynak in Afghanistan is doomed in its current state. It is one of the most important heritage sites of Central Asia, consisting of four immense monasteries with a rich inventory of relics including stupas, statues, reliquaries, and wall paintings. However, the Afghan government confirmed the impending destruction of the 4.8 million-square-foot site in April 2008 by leasing a copper mine directly beneath it to a Chinese company, forcing realistic conservators to factor the 30-year lease as a cold hard fact into the rescue of its artifacts. There is no stopping the mining: the Afghan government stands to gain considerable investment from the deal, which is worth US$3 billion.

Religious prayers are usually considered to involve spirituality and to be ritualistic. However, in a bid to inspire the younger generation by using a different and less traditional approach, on 17 July an innovative prayer competition was held by South Korea’s largest Buddhist organization, the Jogye Order, at a temple in Seoul. More than 300 nuns and monks of the Mahayana tradition participated in the event, using traditional musical instruments such as drums, wooden fish and bells. Much to the surprise of the audience, however, they chanted the numerous Buddhist discourses in a rap and hip-hop style. Many in the audience also followed along with a traditional style of chanting.

Dharamsala, HP, India, 21 July 2014 (Hindustan Times) - Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama returned to Dharamsala from Delhi after concluding the 33rd Kalachakra teachings at Ladakh. Around 200,000 devotees from 73 countries attended the Kalachakra held from July 3 to 14.

Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India, 16 July 2014 - One of the final events associated with the giving of the Kalachakra Empowerment is the dismantling of the sand mandala. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived at the teaching pavilion this morning, the monks of Namgyal Monastery were already reciting the necessary rituals.

Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India, 14 July 2014 - Last night’s full moon was still setting over the mountains around the Leh Valley this morning as tens of thousands of people converged on the Teaching Ground at Shiwatsel one last time. At about 7am His Holiness the Dalai Lama stepped out of his residence to walk to the Teaching Pavilion, stopping here and there to greet an old acquaintance or comfort an old or infirm person on the way.

Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India, 11 July 2014 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama has two seats in the Kalachakra Pavilion. One is the grand throne in the middle facing the audience from which he has been teaching for the last several days. The other is a lower seat from which he looks in the opposite direction facing the Kalachakra sand mandala. It was in this latter seat that he sat for four and a half hours this morning going through the various rituals and self-empowerments preparatory to the empowerment he was to give in the afternoon. After a brief lunch he was ready. Once again he came out to the front of the pavilion, walking from one side to the other smiling and waving to the eager crowd in greeting.

Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India, 10 July 2014 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama went to the teaching pavilion early in the morning today and spent four hours performing the self-generation rituals. When he returned from lunch, in the heat of the day, an estimated 144,000 people had gathered to take part in the preparatory procedures for the Kalachakra Empowerment. He came out to the front of the platform of the pavilion to gaze out into the crowd smiling and waving in greeting and the audience returned his salute. Inside the pavilion he greeted the Lamas and dignitaries, among them Ganden Tri Rinpoche, Sakya Dungsey Rinpoche, Drikung Chetsang Rinpoche and Sikyong Lobsang Sangay.

Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India, 8 July 2014 - Following the verses of homage from the ‘Ornament of Clear Realization’ and ‘Fundamental Wisdom’, at the start of the third day of teachings preliminary to the Kalachakra Empowerment, came a wish for the perpetuation of the Dharma.

Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India, 7 July 2014 - Before leaving his residence to resume teachings preliminary to the 33rd Kalachakra Empowerment this morning, His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with almost 200 Chinese. He began by congratulating them simply for being there, because of the difficulty of making the journey. He said that relations between Tibet and China were more than 1000 years old. In the 7th century, the powerful Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo married Princess Wencheng, who brought to Tibet the Jowo statue, which is now the main object of worship in Lhasa.