His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
and the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, today begins
a rare visit to Vancouver. The Dalai Lama, who last visited
the city in 1993, will share his message of compassion and
cross-cultural understanding at a variety of events planned
through April 20.
UBC’s Institute of Asian Research extended the invitation
for His Holiness to visit Vancouver to support the launch
of its new Contemporary Tibetan Studies program.
“The themes of ideas, community, spirituality and music
that inform the visit of His Holiness are values held dear
throughout the community,” said Pitman Potter, director
of UBC’s Institute of Asian Research.
“The Dalai Lama’s message of the universal need
for kindness at every level, from person-to-person relations
to global action, transcends cultural and religious boundaries,
and provides a unique perspective on some of the problems
that plague our troubled world.”
UBC and its Institute of Asian Research and Centre for Chinese
Research organized the visit in collaboration with Simon Fraser
University, the Tibetan Cultural Society of B.C., a local
coalition of Buddhist dharma groups, the Vancouver Symphony
Orchestra and the Westcoast Sacred Arts Society.
The diverse three-day program includes a Spiritual Teaching;
Public Talk; Academic Conference; Musical Tribute; Roundtable
Dialogue with other international visionary thinkers including
fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu
and Shirin Ebadi as well as Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
and Jo-ann Archibald of Canada’s First Nations community;
and two special honorary degree ceremonies.
For more details on the Vancouver visit, please visit 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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