Tibetans unveil grand throne in Cambridge for Dalai Lama visit
Wicked Local Cambridge[Thursday, April 23, 2009 11:43]
By Jeremy White

Cambridge — It’s not often that an internationally recognized spiritual leader visits your town. Last Saturday at the Cambridge Marriott, the Tibetan Association of Boston unveiled a throne on which the Dalai Lama will sit during his highly anticipated teaching session at Gillette Stadium later this month. Local Tibetan artisans constructed the throne over the course of about a month. The wooden throne was draped with ornate tapestries and its headpiece was carved with images symbolizing aspects of the Buddha’s life and various Buddhist virtues. Lama Migma, a member of the association and the Buddhist chaplain at Harvard University, said the throne, which the Dalai Lama traditionally sits on while teaching the Four Noble Truths, carries a deep spiritual resonance.

The monks placed an image of the Dalai Lama on top of the throne, to which audience members paid homage. (Wicked Local photo by Jeremy White)

“Unlike the chair like we use in Ivy League universities, the seat of power where we enthrone kings, the throne here has transformative significance,” he said.

Migma added that the throne helps preserve a bygone culture of Tibet, saying, “when times were good, we were underdeveloped but our spiritual development was high. It’s not that Tibetans don’t want to have material wealth, but through the teachings of the Dharma they are invested in merit.”

Once people had settled in for the event a procession of monks dressed in the iconic red and gold robes entered the room, preceded by the smoky-sweet aroma of incense and followed by a man holding aloft a photo portrait of the Dalai Lama, which he placed atop the throne.

As three monks chanted an “auspicious prayer” audience members, many of them dressed in traditional Tibetan garb, lined up to pay homage by laying symbolic offerings of white cloths on the throne.

The event also showcased Tibetan culture with several dance and musical performances. First was a good luck dance that an introductory speaker said starts off any secular event in Tibetan society. Group and individual musical performances followed the dance. Although the musicians played traditional Tibetan music, there were some Americanized aspects to the performance. For example, some of the women wore high heels rather than the usual wooden shoes topped with embroidery. The day’s offerings closed with a “Yak Dance,” in which a man tried to extract milk from two resistant “yaks.” His slapstick antics drew laughter from the crowd, especially from the handful of Tibetan children in attendance.

A group of traditional dancers waits to begin their performance. (Wicked Local photo by Jeremy White)

Ngwang Jorden, a 31-year-old carpenter who helped paint the throne, attended the event dressed in a green sweatshirt featuring the slogan “Tibet Will be Free” and a pin of crossed Tibetan and American flags that “represents a good bond between Tibet and America,” he said.

“It’s important for [the Dalai Lama] to visit, because we lots of students around,” Jorden said. “We are targeting students talk about peace and compassion. I’m hoping the younger generation will get involved and come to the event.”

Tenzin Sonam, the general secretary for the association, estimated that there are 500 to 600 Tibetans living in the Boston area. He said that being in the presence of the Dalai Lama is profoundly important for Tibetans scattered across the globe.

“To regular people he’s a symbolic figure who is known worldwide,”
Sonam said. “But for us it means much, much more than that. Every time we see him it gives us renewed hope and a sense of promise.”

The throne unveiling also served to generate revenue and publicity for a planned Tibetan Heritage Center, in which the throne will occupy a central place. Sonam said the association has not yet selected a site for the $1.5 million center.

Representative explains why Dalai Lama will come to Albany
Albany Times Union[Monday, April 20, 2009 10:54]
By BRIAN ETTKIN, Staff writer

The Dalai Lama had been scheduled to appear today through Wednesday in Albany. He canceled those appearances because of negative publicity connected to the sponsoring organization, a Dalai Lama representative wrote in an e-mail Friday.

Yet days after scrubbing his April appearances in Albany, the Dalai Lama agreed to give a public talk May 6 at the Palace Theatre sponsored by the same organization, the Ethical Humanitarian Foundation (the World Ethical Foundations Consortium is an EHF initiative).

Lobsang Nyandak, representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Americas, explained the Dalai Lama’s change of heart in an e-mail:

“A delegation from the World Ethical Foundation Consortium recently met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala to discuss His Holiness’s proposed visit to Albany, which adverse publicity had caused to be postponed,” Nyandak wrote. “The delegation expressed sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by their association with the Albany plans. They took the opportunity to clarify the background to the allegations that had been made against them and explained that their basic outlook is rooted in a proper sense of ethics based on truth, contentment and giving help to those in need.

“His Holiness expressed his appreciation of their views and suggested that if the allegations against them are unfounded, as they claim, they should exert themselves to clear their names. Otherwise, they should admit their mistakes and undertake not to repeat them in future.

“His Holiness emphasized the necessity of acting truthfully and transparently in whatever you do.

“Taking everything into consideration, His Holiness feels committed to supporting the expression of worthy ideals. Therefore, he has agreed to visit Albany on May 6th where he will give a public talk.”

The EHF’s and WEFC’s co-founders, Sara and Clare Bronfman, the Seagram liquor heiresses, are affiliated with NXIVM, a Colonie-based company that conducts personal-growth training courses. Keith Raniere, the EHF’s and WEFC’s “conceptual founder,” is the founder of NXIVM.

Critics say NXIVM (pronounced NEX-ee-um) is a cult-like organization that employs psychologically damaging mind-control techniques. Raniere’s supporters say those accusations are unfounded. Numerous media accounts in recent years have pointed to the controversy surrounding Raniere and NXIVM.

Asked if the EHF, the Bronfmans, NXIVM, or its subsidiaries was making a charitable contribution to the Dalai Lama or a cause of his choosing, Nyandak wrote no, “nor does his Holiness charge fees or receive offerings for any events that he takes part.”

Any proceeds from the Dalai Lama’s appearances are “used for charitable and other purposes as per His Holiness’ guidance,” Nyandak wrote in a second e-mail when asked for clarification.

Clare Bronfman, the WEFC’s event organizer, didn’t immediately return calls to her cellphone Friday.

Sean Allen, the marketing manager for the 2,800-seat Palace, said he expects ticket information to be available early next week.

Brian Ettkin can be reached at 454-5457 or by e-mail at bettkin@timesunion.com.

Tutu gets gift from Dalai Lama
SAPA[Sunday, April 19, 2009 16:51]

Pretoria - Archbishop Desmond Tutu received a spiritual leadership award - and a gift from the Dalai Lama - at Freedom Park in Pretoria on Saturday. After Tutu was granted the spiritual leadership award by an organisation called Humanity’s Team, it was announced that the Dalai Lama had also sent him a gift. A white scarf was then draped around his shoulders by a representative of the Dalai Lama. “Leaders such as Madiba (Nelson Mandela) spent 27 years in prison and humbly reconcile[d] with the enemy: One would expect them to be bitter. “[The] Dalai Lama has been in exile for 50 years and one will expect that by now he should have been corroded by bitterness - and he is not,” said Tutu when receiving his award. Tutu, together with former president FW De Klerk, pulled out of a peace conference last month after the South African government refused the Dalai Lama a visa.

In this file photo taken in Brussels, Belgium, on June 1, 2006, His Holiness the Dalai Lama presents Archbishop Desmond Tutu with ICT’s Light of Truth award “on behalf of the heroes and heroines who often do not get mentioned”.

The conference was cancelled after they pulled out.

On Saturday night, Tutu walked in to receive his award while an electric mix of African opera, pop and rock music was performed.

Side-by-side with him was singer Joseph Clark, while the Gaabo Motho Tenors, Yollandi Nortjie and traditional dance group Amakhono We Sintu performed on the stage.

Tutu then took off his hat, bowed his head and proceeded to his seat among dignitaries.

Stands up for the oppressed

The audience who braved the cold evening weather gave him a standing ovation.

Humanity’s Team award co-ordinator Steve Farrell said Tutu was being awarded for the spiritual leadership he had shown over the years.

“Spiritually he stands up for the oppressed,” said Farrell.

Receiving the award, Tutu kept the crowd laughing, telling them that times had changed since the apartheid era.

“Today you can see mixed couple walking side by side, even a razor blade could not pass between them,” he said demonstrating just how closely the coupled moved.

Freedom Park CEO Wally Serote said the presence of Tutu reminded him of some of the reasons why the Freedom Park was created.

Tutu was the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which recommended that there was a need for a symbol in South Africa to remember the past.

“The symbol to remember where we come from,” said Serote.

The Freedom Park is a memorial site which commemorates a number of international and national struggle leaders.

Dalai Lama meets scientists for Mind and Life Dialogues
Phayul[Monday, April 06, 2009 19:36]
By Phurbu Thinley

Dharamsala, April 6: Leading western scientists and noted academics are once again in the Northern Indian town of Dharamsala, home to the exiled 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, for five days of presentation and dialogues as part of a “Mind and Life” conference series.

The dialogue meeting with the Dalai Lama, including other Buddhist scholar-practitioners, which commenced at a hall in his residential complex this morning, will continue till April 10.

The conference themed: “Attention, Memory and Mind: A synergy of Psychological, Neuroscientific and Contemplative Perspectives” kick-started with an inaugural talk by the Dalai Lama.

This is the 18th Mind and Life Meet. The first meeting took place in 1987.

The Mind and Life Dialogues, more generally termed “Dialogues between Buddhism and the sciences”, were initially started to experiment whether a rigorous exchange could occur between leading modern scientists and the Dalai Lama. Series of regular successful experimental exchanges over the ensuing years lead to the formation of the Louisville based Mind and Life Institute (MLI).

Mind and Life XVIII aims to primarily focus on the subjective phenomenology, information-processing operations, and neural mechanisms of attention, memory and conscious awareness from both scientific and Buddhist perspectives.

“While the relation between attention, memory, and mind is a fascinating area of research in psychological science and neuroscience, it is also of particular interest and investigation in Buddhism, because it is through the contemplative refinement of attention and mindfulness that one explores the distinctive characteristics, origins, and potentials of human awareness, of suffering, and of genuine happiness,” the MLI noted in its overview note on the conference.

Calling the conference as a “reunion” of long time friends for over the last 20 years, the Dalai Lama said: “I think out of our serious discussion, I think at least make some contribution- firstly for our knowledge about reality, external matters, particles, and our inner world, particularly the more sensitive inner world that is emotions.”

“I think our discussion created some interest on people who normally are not much concerned about our inner world,” the Dalai Lama said, adding “Not necessarily as a religious matter, but simply because we are living being with mind, with consciousness, with experience, emotions. So naturally we cannot neglect these things.”

“We want happiness, (and) happiness is a kind of mind. So the very meaning of joyfulness is somehow related to emotions and mind. So we must have better awareness about that,” the Dalai Lama said.

In addition to fundamental scientific questions; the dialogue meeting will deal with the larger philosophical, ethical and spiritual issues prompted by each field of science that need to be effectively addressed.

The MLI now has a number of scientific research programmes collaborated with contemplatives to conduct scientific investigation. One of the primary pursuits of Mind and Life scientists is to study the effects of contemplative practices like meditation and mental training have on brain and behaviour, and the translation of this data into effective tools to benefit people in all walks of life.

Of these, the Mind and Life Dialogues with the Dalai Lama is the foremost programme of the institute.

His Eminence the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Hollywood Buddhist star, Richard Gere and, Robert Thurman, Buddhist scholar and author, and father of Hollywood actress Uma Thurman, are among others taking part in the ongoing conference in Dharamsala.

For more on the Mind and Life Dialogues and, range of topics MLI has explored, visit www.mindandlife.org.