His Holiness the Dalai Lama opens the Buddha exhibition with a dialogue about Compassion and Technology

On Saturday 15 September 2018, His Holiness the Dalai Lama – the 83 year old winner of the Nobel Peace prize and the Spiritual leader of Tibet – will take part in a dialogue about Compassion and Technology in De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam. HH the Dalai Lama will discuss this theme with youngsters, technology innovators and scientists, including Faculty Members of SingularityU The Netherlands. The dialogue is the ceremonial opening of the exhibition The Life of the Buddha, Path to the Present, on display in De Nieuwe Kerk from 16 September 2018 to 3 February 2019. The dialogue is comprised of two parts, Robotics, Telepresence & Artificial Intelligence and Sickness, Ageing & Death. Organised by content partner SingularityU The Netherlands and De Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdam.

Compassion and Technology
Technology is rapidly affecting all aspects of our lives, our economy, democracy and society. It may even influence our views on what it means to be human. Our aim is to apply technology as a means to a positive end. This requires that we enter into a dialogue with each other about our intentions, values, principles and objectives, in order to get valuable insights into the desirable use of the powerful resources that are already, or will become, available to us.

Diederick Croese, CEO SingularityU The Netherlands: “more than ever, we are forced by progress to carefully examine with each other our habits, ethics, culture and politics. Only then, we can consciously work towards a better future, for ourselves and our children. I’m very humbled that His Holiness the Dalai Lama will join us for this dialogue to share some of his perspectives on the role of technology in our lives.”

The event, only for invitees, will be attended by members of religious communities, scholars, politicians, journalists, innovators, (high school) students and artists. The following people will participate in the dialogues with HH the Dalai Lama:

Dialogue 1: Robotics, Telepresence & Artificial Intelligence
Karen Dolva (Norway) – CEO No Isolation
Maarten Steinbuch (Netherlands) – Faculty Chair of Robotics, SingularityU the Netherlands, Professor Systems & Control TU Eindhoven
Tilly Lockey (Great Britain) – Pioneer of state of the art bionic limbs

Dialogue 2: Sickness, Ageing & Death
Liz Parrish (USA) – CEO of BioViva Sciences
Kris Verburgh (Belgium) – Faculty Chair of Health & Medicine, SingularityU the Netherlands
Jeantine Lunshof (the Netherlands) – Bio-ethicist MIT Media Lab, Harvard Medical School
Selma Boulmalf (the Netherlands) – Student Religious Studies, University of Amsterdam

Both sessions are moderated by Christa Meindersma (the Netherlands) – Founder & Chair Himalaya Initiative for Culture and Society.

Next to the opening ceremony on 15 September, public sessions will be held on 16 and 17 September at Ahoy Rotterdam, organized by Stichting Bezoek Dalai Lama.
16 September: Public Talk on Why Compassion is Essential in our Troubled World with the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere. And a Lecture by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, principal translator of the Dalai Lama.
17 September: Teaching on Geshe Langri Thangpa’s Eight Verses of Mind Training.

Tickets are now available at www.dalailama2018.nl
More information about SingularityU the Netherlands, please visit www.singularityunl.org

Press accreditations can be submitted via this link.

Contact De Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdam
Communication, Education & Marketing
Martijn van Schieveen & Madeline van Vliet
T 020 626 81 68
nieuwekerk.nl/pers/
pressoffice@nieuwekerk.nl