BELFAST – A local organization will be host later this month to the chief lama at a Buddhist monastery in rural Nepal who is visiting the United States this summer.

Dorge Lopon Rinpoche is the chief lama at the small Maratika monastery near the sacred Maratika cave system.

He is giving talks about Buddhist traditions as well as the history of the Maratika cave system.

He will speak twice at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 17 Miller St.

He will speak at 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17, on “Integrating Buddhism into Daily Life.” He will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19, on “Medicine, Buddha Practice and Transmission of the Healing Padmesambhava.”

Both talks will be followed by slide shows.

His visit is sponsored by Sustainable Peace Here, based in Belfast, a nonprofit that supports sustainable development projects in rural Nepal. One of SPHere’s programs benefits the Maratika monastery.

For information, contact SPHere at 338-6761 or by e-mail at peace@sphereme.org.