Midwest Dharma

HH Dalai Lama's Speech Broadcast Live to Tibet by VOA

As Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama received the Congressional Gold Medal today, Voice of America (VOA) broadcast the award ceremony and the Dalai Lama's acceptance speech live to Tibet via radio, television, and the Internet. The same broadcast included videotaped testimonials of the heads of all six sects of Tibetan Buddhism.

The Congressional Medal ceremony will be rebroadcast in several formats to Tibet and elsewhere in China and will be available for viewing at www.voanews.com/tibetan/.

At the risk of sounding like a real geek, the US Mint has produced a bronze replication of the gold medal given to His Holiness...http://www.usmint.gov/ to details and ordering. 

I should have mine in 1-2 weeks.  :o)

Video higlights from HH Dalai Lama's visit to SMC

September marks the one year anniversary of the visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Great Stupa  of Dharmakaya at Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado.  Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, holder of the Shambhala Buddhist Lineage, presented His Holiness with the first Living Peace Award.

2500+ guests joined Sakyong Mipham, His Holiness, Queen Noor and Rabbi Irwin Kula as they gathered in the cold Colorado Rockies to honor His Holiness and celebrate the pursuit of compassion.

Click here for a video of the occasion.

HH Dalai Lama in the US

HH Dalai Lama is currently touring North America, culminating in the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, DC on October 18th.

October 9 Public Talk in Ithaca, NY (His North American seat is at Namgyal monastery in Ithaca)
October 10 Teaching at Namgyal Monastery
October 12-14 Teaching/Public Talk in NYC - Beacon Theatre
October 20-22 Teaching/Public Talk in Atlanta, GA
October 24-26 Teaching in Bloomington, IN at Tibetan Cultural Center*
October 26  Public Talk in Lafayette, IN - Purdue
October 27 Public Talk in Bloomington, IN
October 28 Public Talk in Ottawa, ON
October 31 Public Talk in Toronto, ON

After a jaunt to Italy in December, he will return to India until May 2008 when he pops up  in the UK.

Midwesterners who would like to see His Holiness closer to home should save the date for the teachings that he will give in Madison, WI from July 20-23.  His Holiness will give a 4 day teaching on Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (chodjug) & Kamalashila's Middle Stages of Meditation (gonrim barpa).

Details on His Holiness and his schedule can be found at www.dalailama.com.   The Madison teachings are  sponsored/requested by Deer Park Center.

Dalai Lama tickets go on sale May 23rd

From the Cornell Daily Sun-

Ticket’s for the Dalai Lama’s public speaking events in Ithaca go on sale to the public online May 23, according to the Namgyal Monastery’s website. A limited number of tickets for the event at Cornell will go on sale Aug. 15 to members of the Cornell community only.

In April, the Namyal Monestary announced that the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso, will visit Ithaca Oct. 9 and 10.

He will host three public events: a lecture on world peace at Barton Hall in the afternoon on Oct. 9; a talk on praying and world peace in the morning on Oct. 10 at the State Theatre in downtown Ithaca; a teaching on Buddhist texts in the afternoon on Oct. 10 at Ben Light Gymnasium at Ithaca Collee.

All proceeds benefit the Namgyal Monestary, a not-for-profit organization, and fund the Dalai Lama’s trip to Ithaca.

Tickets will be available for purchase at namgyal.org.

For more on the Dalai Lama's trip to Ithaca and the Namgyal Monestary, keep reading....

Tibetan Chanting before and during the visit of Dalai Lama's sister to Minneapolis

Jetsun Pema, sister of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, will be in Minneapolis at the end of May.  The following details appeared in an article on www.edgelife.net:

Year of Tibet in Minnesota
In celebration and honor of the Tibetan community in the Twin Cities, the second largest such group in the United States, a festival entitled "2007: A Year of Tibet in Minnesota" will take place in May, featuring the Gyoto Monks of Tibet, the personal assistant to the Dalai Lama, a Tibetan Film Festival and a visit from Mrs. Jetsun Pema, sister of the Dalai Lama.

The Gyoto Monks of Tibet will be in the Cities May 11-21 to demonstrate their worship rituals, performing with flutes, horns, drums and unique multiphonic singing and chanting. The monks also are known for their intricate sand mandalas and butter sculptures, which will be created in front of live audiences at the Minnesota Institute of Art.

The keynote speaker will be the personal assistant to the Dalai Lama, Mrs. Jetsun Pema, sister of the Dalai Lama. She will be speaking at St. Catherine's on two occasions, and a local Tibetan dance group will perform a series of traditional folk dances in costume. Like her famous brother, the 14th Dalai Lama, Mrs. Pema is known for her personal warmth and wisdom. She has taken on the task of caring for the welfare of the thousands of orphaned and destitute children who continue to flee from oppression still imposed by the Chinese government.

THE CHOIR'S PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Next Saturday: 8 p.m., Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis; tickets $15 ($10 for seniors and students); 612-333-1381 or www.mary.org.

May 13: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Minneapolis Institute of Art's Family Day; free.

May 20: 6:30 p.m., Center for Religious Inquiry at St. Mark's Cathedral, Minneapolis; tickets $15 ($10 for seniors and students); 612-870-7800 or www.religiousinquiry.com.

May 24: 7:30 p.m., Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis; tickets $15 in advance, $20 at door ($10 for students); 612-338-2674 or www.thecedar.com.

May 27: 7 p.m., St. Joan of Arc Church, Minneapolis; tickets $15 ($10 for seniors and students); 612-823-8205 or www.stjoan.com.

Pema will be keynote speaker at the following venues, which will also feature the choir:

May 29: 7 p.m., Children's Theatre, Minneapolis; tickets $22-$28 ($15 for children, seniors and students); 612-874-0400 or www.childrenstheatre.org.

May 31 and June 1: 7 p.m., Jeanne D'Arc Auditorium, College of St. Catherine, St. Paul; tickets $20; 651-690-6000 or www.ticketworks.org.

Schedule provided by an article in the Star Tribune.

 

Dalai Lama followers turn veggie

From an on-line posting-

DHARAMSALA, APR 9 :  Tibetans here on Monday pledged to shun non-vegetarian food for a year in a bid to enhance their “collective merit” and dedicating it for the long life of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

A notice has been pasted to this effect at Tibetans staff mess declaring that it would refrain from engaging in the business of buying and selling of non-vegetarian supplies for one year from April 11, 2007 to February 2, 2008. The initiative was based on a directive from the Tibetan secretariat. A statement from the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile had earlier said the year 2007 is both “auspicious and ominous,” particularly for the Dalai Lama. When asked about turning vegetarian, head of the staff mess Machen Gendun said, “this is indeed a noble initiative to enhance the collective merit and dedicating it to the longevity of the Dalai Lama”.

HHDL to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington this October

In 1989, His Holiness the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize for opposing violence during Tibet's struggle for freedom from Communist Chinese occupation.  This fall, His Holiness will receive one of our highest civilian honers - the Congressional Gold Medal.  The Voice of America website notes: "The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest award bestowed by the legislative branch of the U.S. government.  Originally awarded for outstanding bravery on the battlefield, the Congressional Gold Medal is now awarded, from time to time, to people who have performed exceptional services to humanity.  Medals have gone to the late Pope John Paul the Second, Mother Teresa and the slain American civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr...The U.S. Mint is now striking the Dalai Lama's gold medal, as well as bronze duplicates that will be available to the public.  The Dalai Lama plans to travel to Washington this October to receive the award."

His Holiness joins a varied group of recipients including Minneapolis born Charles Schulz and Hubert Humphrey as well as Harry Chapin and Frank Sinatra.

Click here for a complete list of past recipients.

Tibetan Ledaer Calls on Speaker Pelosi

Click here for the ICT article on the meeting between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, Chairman of the Tibetan Cabinet.  Speaker Pelosi has been a long time friend of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and supporter of Tibetan issues in the Congress.

HHDL headed to the Midwest

His Holiness Dalai Lama is headed to the Midwest this spring for a series of talk and teachings.

Tickets went on sale yesterday for the 4 part series taking place in Madison, WI.  Please click on this link for more details. 

The Chicago Sun-tImes reported yesterday that His Holiness will stop in Chicago after Madison for a morning teaching on Geshe Langri Thangpa's "Eight Verses on Training the Mind" (one of his favorites) at Harris theater.  In the afternoon, he will deliver a public address titled "Finding Inner Peace in a World of Turmoil" in Millennium Park.  Both events will be ticketed.  Ticketmaster wil handle sales and information will be available soon through the Web site www.dalailamachicago.com. 

Please click here for the full text of the Sun Times areticle. 

HHDL in Chicago - tickets go on sale March 9th!

The website for the Dalai Lama's visit to Chicago has been launched and tickets will go on sale March 9th.  Click here for details.

If you are flying from the Minneapolis area, flights are on sale as low as $88-99 roundtrip.  Check with Airtan Airways or Northwest Airlines or, better yet, contact me!