ULAN-UDE: As I walked around the Buddhist spiritual center Datsan outside Ulan-Ude, I saw a dozen or so students.
Ochar, 16, stuck out though. He was the only one with Slavic features. He said his father was Russian and his mother Buryat.
I asked how he chose to study at the Buddhist university. He said when he was 14, he helped out at a celebration at Datsan and really liked the atmosphere. I asked him how his parents reacted to his decision.
“At first, my parents were against the idea. They wanted me to study at another place. But I stood my ground.” Ochar said he is in his first year of an eight-year Buddhist philosophy program.
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- A close up of Ochar.
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- Ochar sitting in front of his living quarters at Datsan.
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- Ochar’s father is Russian and mother Buryat.
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- Ochar standing inside the Datsan Buddhist grounds outside Ulan-Ude.
