On June 6th, 2020, Nepalese Association of Florida (NAF) organized a discussion program titled “Protection of Mind in the context of COVID19 in the perspective of Buddhism”. The program was led by Professor Naresh Man Bajaracharya, who highlighted how to protect the mind during a stressful situation like the current pandemic situation which the world is facing. He also discussed how Buddhism defines the mind and how it can be controlled by an individual during different situations. The program was part of our regular Mindfulness program which was run by mindfulness instructor Rosy Sharma. NAF General Secretary Niraj Shrestha moderated the program. In the end, NAF president Mrs Anila Neupane highlighted the significance of Mindfulness program and importance in a current pandemic and thanked the participants and the speaker. Around 80 community members participated in the program including few students of Prof Naresh Man Bajracharya.

About Professor Naresh Man Bajracharya:

Professor. Naresh Man Bajracharya (MA, MPhil & PhD in Buddhist Studies from Delhi University, India) was the founding chair of the Central Department of Buddhist Studies and is the first professor of Buddhist Studies at Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He was also a founding member of the department of Buddhist Philosophy in Nepal Sanskrit University and Lumbini Buddhist University in Nepal. He was a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence (SIR) in 2009-10 and served as the Vice-Chancellor of Lumbini Buddhist University. He coordinated and led two International Buddhist Conferences, organized by the Nepal Government. For the past eight years, he has been devoting his life to construction of a Newar Buddhist Monastery in Lumbini. He is also the lineage holder and the leading Vajrācārya of Newār Buddhism(Vajrayāna). He had played a pioneering role in introducing the Buddhist Studies discipline in Nepal and in revitalizing Newār Buddhism. He was once again awarded a Fulbright Scholar-In-Residence fellowship in 2019-2020 and has been teaching Buddhism at the College of the Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA.Recording of the program:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zXZwmCLH8EmVPLBFv1rJAjLRFcpV6Q65/view?usp=sharing

NAF Executive Team (2019-21)