On September 26-30, 2006, Buryatia hosted a scientific and practical conference "Environmental problems and spiritual traditions of the peoples of the Baikal region", dedicated to the memory of Danzan-Khaibzun Samaev Lama-gelong (1954-2005), an outstanding public figure, scientist, major theorist and practitioner of modern Buddhism, holder of the Order of St. George first class of the Russian Chamber of Commerce personalities.

The conference was opened on September 26 in the Small Hall of the People's Hural (Parliament) of the Republic of Buryatia (RB). 16 reports were presented at breakout sessions. Then the conference participants continued their work in the village of Arshan, Tunkinsky district of the Republic of Belarus, where Lama Samaev conducted comprehensive activities on the revival of Buddhism, Buddhist monasteries, construction of religious and ritual structures, environmental and moral education in a globalizing world.

The conference was organized by the Geological Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Baikal Institute of Nature Management of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Okinsky and Tunka district administrations, the Buddhist organization "Maidar" and the D.-Kh public Foundation. Samaeva Street.

Lama-gelong Danzan-Khaibzun (in the world Fedor Sergeevich) Samaev was born in 1954 in Gornaya Oka, western region of Buryatia. After graduating from high school, he entered the Faculty of Oriental Studies (Department of Mongolian-Tibetan Philology) of Leningrad State University. He proved to be an exceptionally talented student, his teachers were the largest Russian Orientalists, under whose guidance he mastered Sanskrit, classical Tibetan, Old Mongolian and modern Mongolian, as well as English. After the fourth year, F. S. Samaev left the university and worked in the Ivolginsky datsan, near Ulan-Ude, where he performed the most difficult physical work. Then he entered the Tsannit (philosophical) faculty of the Buddhist Academy at the Gandan Monastery (Mongolia), where he received fundamental knowledge in the field of Buddhist philosophy and acquired practical skills in conducting various services of cult and religious practice. Samaev completed long-term internships at the Goman Datsan of the prestigious Drepung Monastic University in South India and the Institute of Dialectics in Dharamsala in North India, where His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV Tenzin Gyatso is located. In 1990, Samaev received the full ordination of gelong and the monastic name Danzan-Khaibzun from His Holiness. From 1990 to 1997, he was a Doctor. Samaev was the rector of the St. Petersburg datsan, from 1994 to 1998 - he is a deputy of the People's Khural of the Republic of Buryatia. Samaev combined scientific, educational, religious and social activities. He was a recipient of several RFBR grants. During his short but vibrant life, Lama-gelong D-H. Samaev made a great contribution to the preservation of national traditions, the development and revival of Buddhism in Russia, the protection and careful treatment of unique cultural monuments and mineral springs (arshans) in the Okinsky and Tunkinsky districts of Buryatia, the restoration of masterpieces of Buddhist culture, the construction of religious buildings taking into account the landscape and natural environment. Samaev paid close attention to environmental problems as an important component of the spirituality of the modern world. In 1993, at the request of the Buryat diaspora in Yakutia, he established a Buddhist community in Neryungri and provided it with spiritual support. He has made presentations at international conferences on religion, education, and ecology held in our country, as well as in Mongolia, India, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka-

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Europe, England, France, the United States, and Syria. He published his articles in specialized journals and collections. July 10, 2005 The life of Lama Gelong D.-H. Samaeva tragically ended.

The conference was attended by Buddhist figures, numerous students, followers, and admirers of the talent of D.-H. Samaeva, scientists of the Buryat Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, teachers of Buryat and Yakut State Universities, Buryat branch of the Novosibirsk University of Economics and Management, deputies and employees of the People's Hural of the Republic of Belarus, employees of the Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications of the Republic of Belarus, Consul of Mongolia in the Republic of Buryatia, teachers and postgraduates of Masaryk University (Brno, Czech Republic), University of North Carolina (USA), friends of D.-H. Samaeva from Mongolia. Teachers from Saint Petersburg, Irkutsk State Universities and Karlin University (Prague, Czech Republic), scientists from the Institute of Natural Resources Ecology and Cryology SB RAS (Chita), Kalmyk Institute of Socio-Economic and Legal Research (Elista) , Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (Prague), employees of the State Museum of the History of Religion (St. Petersburg) and the Museum of the History of Buryatia named after M. N. The Khangalovs were not able to attend the conference, but they confirmed their absentee participation and sent the texts of reports published in the collection "Environmental problems and Spiritual traditions of the peoples of the Baikal region".

The conference was opened by the Chairman of the Organizing committee, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Deputy Director for Science of the Geological Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences A.M. Plyusnin. The conference participants were greeted by Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors. Chairman of the People's Hural of the Republic of Belarus F. P. Batoev, Deputy Chairman of the National Hural of the Republic of Belarus. Chief of Staff of the People's Hural of the Republic of Belarus V. E. Gulgonov, representative of the Okinsky district D. Ts. Sambuev and the sister of D.-Kh. Samaeva - Z. S. Samaeva. All of them spoke with deep respect about the personality of D.-H. Samaeva, about his spirituality, all-round activity.

The conference participants ' reports covered a wide range of topical issues related to the scientific, spiritual, and environmental interests of young Scientists. Samaeva Street.

The conference was divided into three sections.

The section "Features of the formation and problems of Buddhist organizations at the present stage" discussed six reports, their authors are religious figures and scientists from Russia and Ukraine. Danzan Norbu Ayusheev-Soyot Hambo Lama (Orlik village, Belarus) read out an unpublished article by a doctor. Samaev's "Traditions of the Uriankhai Soyots, Buryat Mongols and the territory of their settlement-the basis for the development of the Baikal-Sayan region", stored in the Lama's personal archive, in which he considered the traditional form of understanding the harmony of man with the environment, expressed in the concept of saba (vessel, receptacle) and shem (content). According to Samaev, Munko Saridak (the peak of the mountain - 3491 m above sea level) is the main shrine of the Baikal region, the unique nature around Lake Baikal and Khubsugul, as well as Shumak-a mountainous area, the pearl of the Sayan Mountains with a complex of mineral springs are the main dominants of the landscape system, where people enter as content (shem). Nature as a landscape is a vessel (saba), the basis of human existence. Correct understanding of the causal relationship between saba andsem allows you to use the principle of landscape approach in relation to the already historically developed area. Munko Saridak and Shumak are natural and socio-natural landscapes of the Okinsky, Tunka districts and other adjacent territories. This approach opens up opportunities for the development of the region of settlement of Uriankhai Soyots and Buryat Mongols within the framework of the implementation of the landscape policy of the Republic of Buryatia.

Samaev's student V. A. Shaglakhaev (Dashi Lama, Arshan village, Belarus) in his report "Mission of the Gelong Lama Danzan-Khaibzun Samaev in the context of globalization" drew the main attention to the fact that the Teacher, lama, spiritual personality Samaev, based on the main provisions of Buddhist philosophy and psychology, modernized and adapted Buryat Buddhism to modern conditions. The ideas of a constantly changing world in the context of increasing globalization were an essential component of the Teacher's views, and he created a new method of teaching lamas. The teacher emphasized that a modern lama should be an educated person and a jack of all trades: he should speak at scientific conferences, be able to solve problems of the flock and datsan, drive a car and build houses. A modern lama is a theorist with a deep knowledge of Buddhist philosophy, and a practitioner who organizes datsan activities in a completely new legal and social space.

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The report of I. V. Podgorny (Lama Shirap, Chernihiv, Ukraine) "Bodhisattva in the conditions of modern reality" was devoted to the realization of the Bodhisattva path on the example of the activities of Lama gelong D.-H. Samaeva Street. Socio-political aspects of the formation of Buddhism in Buryatia were considered in the report of Zh. A. Ayakova (Ulan-Ude). In her opinion, the spread and rooting of Buddhism in the cultural space of settlement of the Buryat ethnic group is closely related to the change in the state status of the Buryat clans, which separated from the vast Mongolian world and joined the Russian Empire. In the report of L. Fukas (Brno, Czech Republic) " Ritual structures erected by Lama D.-H. Samaev" presents a detailed description of small religious and ritual objects built by the Teacher in Tunkinsky and Okinsky districts of Buryatia. The speaker drew attention to the fact that these structures are either located on the territories of monasteries, or are inscribed in the natural landscape and built in places that were traditionally considered sacred for Buryats and Mongols. Chimitdorzhin (Ulan-Ude) in her report " From the history of the St. Petersburg Buddhist Temple "Gunzechoinei" noted that this temple, located in the center of Europe, according to Lama Samaev, served as "a symbol of the fusion of East and West." The report describes a large array of little-known archival materials on the history of Buddhism in the Russian Empire in the early XVIII-XX centuries, stored in the Russian State Historical Archive (formerly the Central State Historical Archive). In conclusion, Samaev's role in the restoration and revival of the Buddhist temple in St. Petersburg was noted.

Five reports were presented at the section "Spiritual traditions of Buddhism and environmental problems".

S. M. Nikolaev (Ulan-Ude) in his report "Buddhism and medical science" considered complex issues of interrelation and interaction of modern medical science and Buddhist philosophy. The speaker emphasized that they are two complementary aspects of human cognition: rational and intuitive. These approaches differ from each other, but in fact they are complementary, each of them has a unique value for medicine and practical health care. N. D. Bolsokhoeva's report (Ulan-Ude) was devoted to the activities of Agvan Dorzhiev (1854-1938) in the field of Tibetan medicine. His achievements in this field have not been fully reflected in the Tibetan literature to date. The speaker, analyzing little-known materials and oral information received from experts of the Tibetan medical system, determined the significant contribution of the Buddhist scientist to the development, rooting and transformation of Tibetan medicine in the vast cultural space from Transbaikalia to St. Petersburg. The report also noted that the copying of the "Atlas of Tibetan Medicine", kept in the Museum of the History of Buryatia named after M. N. Khangalov, was initiated by A. Dorzhiev, lama D.-H. Samaev had a mission to preserve this unique monument.

The joint report of E. O. Khundayeva (Ulan-Ude) and D. B. Dorzhieva (Aginskoe) "Nature-like motifs in religious cults in the Buryat epic" traces the close connection and harmony of such concepts as the Sky (cosmosphere), Man (bionosphere), Earth (geosphere) and Ocean (aquasphere) in Buryat cults, religion and folklore. The authors noted that the Buryat epic provides a general picture of the natural and social world, which performs a very important psychoregulatory educational function. The bifurcation process in the world can be slowed down if we realize and recognize the fact of interaction between Man and the Universe, the nature of the fact that human actions and intentions have a direct response, a reaction from nature. In the report of L. A. Rossikhina (Ulan-Ude) "Formation of ecological value orientations in the process of education", topical issues of human-nature relations were raised. On the example of the combination of spirituality and ecological worldview of Lama-gelong D.-H. Samaeva speaker showed how secular and spiritual education contribute to the revival and development of Buddhism in Russia, the preservation of spiritual values. A. M. Plyusnin (Ulan-Ude) in his report "Self - organization of the water - rock system - the basis for the diversity of its chemical composition and stability under man-made impacts (on the example of Transbaikalia)", noted that this system is one of the most widespread on Earth and determines the course of many geological phenomena on our planet.

Six reports were presented at the section "Problems of preserving natural and cultural heritage in the Baikal region".

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President of the Khan-Altai Foundation, artistic director of the Temujin Mongolian folk ensemble, Honored Artist of Mongolia Yavgan Gendenpilin presented a report "On the activities of Lama Gelong D.-H. Samaeva" in Mongolian. The speaker reported unknown facts from the life of D.-H. Samaev, during his training at the Buddhist Academy in Ulaanbaatar, spoke about the participation of Lama gelong in the international Buddhist environmental conference (Ulaanbaatar, 2005). In his report at this conference, Samaev expressed the opinion that the problems of soyots, the indigenous inhabitants of the mountain Oka, can only be solved by joint efforts of various organizations, in particular, UNESCO.

K. Metzo (University of North Carolina, USA) made a report in Russian "Sacred landscapes and heritage in Buryatia". In 2000, 2001, and 2005, the author collected materials and conducted field ethnographic research in the Tunka district of Buryatia, the results of which formed the basis of the report. In her opinion, Buryats do not recognize the nature-culture dichotomy, but they correctly understand the history and sacred significance of the grandiose natural landscape in which they live. This is reflected, in particular, in the Buryats ' use of places of worship, such as numerous healing mineral springs located in the Tunka district. K. Mettso also noted that the Russian population in Tunka assimilates many of the Buryat ideas associated with sacred landscapes. According to the American researcher, the Tunkinsky National Nature Park combines Buddhist traditions and modern innovations.

L. Belka (Brno, Czech Republic) - "Zandan Juu and the Buryat Sangha: Past and Present" - considered complex problems and poorly studied issues related to the origin of the Sandalwood Buddha Shakyamuni statue (Zandan Juu). He analyzed a large number of written sources, literature and oral information. The speaker presented all available versions about the presence of a standing statue of Sandalwood Buddha Shakyamuni in different geographical locations of the world. However, he focused on the two-meter-high statue of Zandan Zhuu, a famous shrine of the Buddhist world made of wood and transferred in 1991 to the revived Egitui datsan of the Republic of Buryatia, where it was located from January 1901 to 1935. According to the conclusion of experts from the State Hermitage Museum, who restored the standing Zandan Zhuu from 1995 to 1997, this statue is the statue is of Chinese origin and is approximately 200 years old. The Buryat Buddhist Sangha has declared the statue of Zandan Zhu one of the three Buryat national relics. It is still unclear whether this statue is actually the Sandalwood Buddha Shakyamuni.

S. I. Garmayeva (Ulan-Ude), who for many years had a creative friendship with Samaev, presented a substantial report "On the problem of spiritual values in Buddhism". The report noted that Buddhist religious and philosophical culture has played an invaluable role in the development of the spiritual and material culture of the region. I. V. Pokatilova's report (Yakutsk)aroused great interest due to its originality and innovative approaches "The concept of the art exhibition "The World of Sakha" as a synergetic principle for studying the culture of Yakutia". This exhibition caused a wide response in the republic and was exhibited in the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography of the Yakut State University from December 16, 2005 to March 24, 2006. The purpose of the exhibition is an attempt to combine the incongruous: artifacts, shamanic attributes, paintings by contemporary artists and works of masters of Yakutia. At the same time, it was taken into account that art creates a single field of merging and crossing traditional and modern, crossing the borders of reality and fiction, real and unreal. Now is the time for a philosophical and systematic understanding of the moral ideas of the Sakha people.

The first day of breakout sessions concluded with a report by B. S. Dugarov (Ulan-Ude), in which the author appreciated the contribution of Lama D.-H. Samaeva's contribution to the study and research of the epic of Geser. The speaker noted that Samaev, being an encyclopedic educated person, in his multifaceted activities paid great attention to the education of the younger generation, repeatedly emphasizing that knowledge of native literature and folklore contributes to the preservation and development of traditional Buryat culture.

Within the framework of the conference, a round table was held on the topic:: "Problems of Buddhist organizations at the present stage". The key report "Historical Buddhist datsans of the Sayan Highlands as a factor of national development in the Tunka and Okinsky districts of Buryatia" was presented by V. A. Shaglakhaev (Dashi Lama, Arshan village, Republic of Belarus). Datsans "Bodhidharma", " Tu-

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shita " and "Puntsognamdollin", he noted, have a spiritual wealth created by ancestors. Samaev's merit lies in the fact that he was able to develop and transform traditions in accordance with the spirit of the times. L. Belka, K. Mettso, Lama Oshor Zandanov (Zhemchuzhnoye village, Belarus), I. V. Pokatilova, E. O. Khundaeva, N. D. Bolsokhoeva, Zh. A.Ayakova, Danzan Norbu Ayusheev, Yavgan Gendenpilin made speeches at the round table meeting. Speakers spoke about the role of Buddhist datsans, their revival, and public Buddhist organizations that make a significant contribution to the spiritual and environmental education of the younger generation.

The conference participants expressed their wish to organize lecture cycles in Ulan-Ude and villages of the Republic of Belarus with the involvement of specialists of various profiles. The lamas of the datsans of the Sayan Highlands held a service for the welfare of all living beings on Earth, after which Yavgan Gendenpilin performed a eulogy composed by him in honor of Agvan Dorzhiev and Danzan-Khaibzun Samaev.

An interesting cultural program was organized within the framework of the conference. In Ulan-Ude, the conference participants got acquainted with unique exhibits of Buddhist art at the M. N. Khangalov Museum of the History of Buryatia. In Tunka, we visited religious buildings, including the stupa of Enlightenment, which cleanses the space from contamination and fills it with positive energy, erected by Lama Samaev (some of them are made according to his own designs). We watched the documentary film "Buddhism in Siberia", made jointly by filmmakers from Belgium and St. Petersburg.

The conference made it possible to highlight the problems that D. H. had worked on with great perseverance all his life. Samaev, in the context of topics developed by our colleagues from foreign countries, to identify the range of issues that are most relevant to us. The conference participants decided to hold "Samaev Readings" every three years.

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