Academic Conference, Public Talk and Spiritual Teaching,
Roundtable Dialogue at UBC, Musical Tribute at the Orpheum
His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
and religious and spiritual leader, will make a rare visit
to Vancouver April 18 – 20, 2004. The Dalai Lama’s
last visit to Vancouver was in 1993.
The Dalai Lama will deliver the keynote address at a two-day
academic conference, Tibet in the Contemporary World, to be
held at UBC April 19 and 20, and will also receive an honorary
Doctor of Laws degree from UBC. As part of the visit, he will
join international visionary thinkers including fellow Nobel
Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Dr. Shirin Ebadi as
well as former president of the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel,
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Dr. Jo-ann Archibald of
Canada’s First Nations community in a Roundtable Dialogue
to be held at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC.
Other events include a Public Talk and Spiritual Teaching
at UBC War Memorial Gym, a Musical Tribute dedicated to peace
at the Orpheum Theatre, and the conferral of an honorary Doctor
of Laws degree from SFU.
UBC and its Institute of Asian Research (IAR) are organizing
the visit in collaboration with SFU, the Tibetan Cultural
Society of BC, an Ad-hoc Coalition of Vancouver Tibetan-Buddhist
Communities, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Westcoast
Sacred Arts Society.
Conference
The Dalai Lama will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree
from UBC and then deliver the keynote address Monday, April
19 at 9 a.m. at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts to
open a two-day IAR / Centre for Chinese Research academic
conference entitled Tibet in the Contemporary World.
The conference will gather foremost scholars from around the
world to discuss the cultural, religious, social, economic
and political changes of Tibet in transition, and will also
launch the Institute of Asian Research’s new Contemporary
Tibetan Studies Program. Panel discussions, to be held at
UBC’s C.K. Choi Building and Asian Centre Auditorium, will
be of interest primarily to academics, but will be open to
the public.
Spiritual Teaching
Good Heart — Full Life, a spiritual teaching by
the
Dalai Lama, will be held on Sunday, April 18 at 10 a.m. at
the UBC War Memorial Gym. His Holiness will speak on compassion,
how to cultivate a good heart in order to help others, and
how to live a fulfilled life. There will be a question and
answer period following the teaching. This event will be simultaneously
translated into Mandarin. Tickets priced at $25 will be available
to the general public beginning Monday, February 2, 2004 at
Ticketmaster locations, at www.ticketmaster.ca
or by calling 604.280.4444.
Public Talk
Universal Responsibility: A Public Talk for Vancouver
will be held on Sunday, April 18 at 4 p.m. at UBC’s
War Memorial Gym. The Dalai Lama will speak on various dimensions
of universal responsibility, including human rights and environmental
consciousness. Tickets priced at $25 and $40 will be available
to the general public beginning Monday, February 2, 2004 at
Ticketmaster locations, at www.ticketmaster.ca
or by calling 604.280.4444.
Musical Tribute
His Holiness will provide brief opening remarks at Celebration
for Peace, a musical tribute dedicated to peace and reconciliation
on Monday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre. Goldie
Hawn will emcee the event, which features the Vancouver Symphony
Orchestra, the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra and a 180-voice
Peace Choir for children, youth and adults as well as Ann
Mortifee and Raffi. The Dalai Lama will be honoured by a world
premiere work for symphony and inter-cultural orchestra by
Vancouver composer Rui Shi Zhuo. Please note this event is
sold out.
Roundtable Dialogue
Balancing Educating the Mind With Educating the Heart
will be held on Tuesday, April 20 at 12:30 p.m. at the Chan
Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC. His Holiness, Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, Dr. Shirin Ebadi, former president of the Czech
Republic Vaclav Havel, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Dr.
Jo-ann Archibald and other visionary thinkers will dedicate
a full afternoon to discussing how compassion and reason can
inform current policy challenges in such areas as community
building and sustainable development. Bishop Michael Ingham
of the Diocese of New Westminster will chair the event. Details
regarding public access will be available in February through
the official web site for the visit.
General information
For more information on the full Vancouver schedule, please
visit the web site: www.dalailamavancouver.org.
Media Advisory
Please note that journalists are welcome to cover the visit
of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Vancouver. Information about
the visit, media opportunities and press credentials will
be updated in upcoming weeks at the Press Centre at www.dalailamavancouver.org.
From Vancouver, His Holiness will proceed to Ottawa (www.tibet.ca/en/dalailamaottawa2004)
and Toronto (www.kalachakra2004.com).
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