Light of Kailash 34 | Buddhist Chaplaincy and Ethical Spiritual Care | With Dr Amelia Hall

Buddhist Chaplaincy and Ethical Spiritual Care

Our next guest in the Light of Kailash Lecture Series will be Dr Amelia Hall, a scholar of Tibetan Buddhism and the Dean of the Graduate Collective at Naropa University, in conversation exploring a compelling contemporary question: how can Buddhist traditions be translated into an ethically responsible, professionally accountable, and religiously plural practice of care? Drawing on her background in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies and her work at Naropa, the conversation will consider the emergence of Buddhist chaplaincy as a significant intersection of Buddhist philosophy, contemplative practice, and contemporary roles in spiritual care.

At the heart of the discussion will be the philosophical foundations of Buddhism. We will examine how concepts such as bodhicitta, compassion, loving-kindness, equanimity, impermanence, and non-attachment — including the Mahāyāna ethical vision articulated in Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra — can transition from philosophical and contemplative categories into practical applications for supporting others through suffering. What does it mean to cultivate "presence" as a form of care? How can contemplative practices develop skills of attention, compassion, equanimity, and non-reactivity that serve as resources during moments of crisis? And to what extent can Buddhist ideas be translated into the secular and professional language of contemporary institutions without losing the essence of the traditions from which they originated?

The conversation will also turn to themes of death, bereavement, and grief, considering what Buddhist teachings can offer as we remain present with another person's suffering without trying to explain it or impose religious meaning — questions especially relevant within the contemporary university context, where students increasingly face grief, isolation, psychological distress, and crises of meaning.

About the Speaker:

Dr Amelia Hall is a scholar of Tibetan Buddhism and the Dean of the Graduate Collective at Naropa University, where her background in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies informs her work as a scholar, teacher, and academic leader. Naropa University offers a particularly interesting case study for this conversation: founded by Chögyam Trungpa in 1974, it represents a distinctive experiment in integrating Buddhist contemplative traditions into the framework of a modern Western university. Through her experience there, Dr Hall brings a unique perspective on what "contemplative education" ultimately suggests about knowledge itself — whether education can encompass not only what we know but also the transformation of the person who knows, and whether attention, compassion, and self-awareness can legitimately coexist with critical and analytical skills as goals of higher education.

Sunday, 20th September 2026 | 3:30 PM London Time | Online via Zoom

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