Reaching out to the world's youth

Sodargye has won a huge number of fans through his books and lectures about Tibetan Buddhism.[Photo provided to China Daily]

A former cowherd, Sodargye had little formal education until the age of 16, when he entered elementary school. He then studied in secondary school and a normal college, both locally.

Later, he was faced with a choice－to work as a teacher in his hometown or a vastly different life of studying Buddhism.

When he was 23, Sodargye went to study at the Larung Gar Buddhist Institute in Sichuan and became a student of its founder, Jigme Phuntsok, who is considered an influential Tibetan Buddhist master.

Through learning, debating and writing, Sodargye soon became a khenpo, the title given to senior Buddhist monks with high discipline.

Having traveled across the world, Sodargye says acceptance of Tibetan Buddhism has been growing rapidly in recent years, especially among younger generations and intellectuals. His lecture at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom in late 2015 was attended by dozens of faculty members, fellows and students.

He points out that many people in overseas universities and colleges are familiar with Tibetan Buddhism, including some of the religion's terminologies.

"Some even do very deep research on the theories of Tibetan Buddhism and have raised very thoughtful questions. I was amazed, feeling they are on the same level with monks in my temple (in Sichuan)."

Sodargye says many in the West find it meaningful to study Tibetan Buddhism, as it is a relatively logical religion that can help people train their spirit to reach inner peace.

Giving lectures is not the only way Sodargye popularizes his religion.

He has written several books on Buddhist philosophy in Chinese and is active on the Internet.

He has a website in English where he explains Buddhist philosophy in simple terms, while his blog on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, has more than 2 million followers.

Speaking about the future, Sodargye aims to spend the rest of his life teaching Buddhism to young people.

"I feel that human beings need spiritual training badly," he says, adding that he hopes more people born in the 1990s and 2000s become "truly intelligent people" through systematic training.