By Pat Schneider
The Dalai Lama will visit Dane County next year to bless a new temple at Deer Park Buddhist Center, where ground will be broken for the project on April 22.
The Dalai Lama’s visit, his sixth to the Madison area, is set for Sept. 18, 2006, after completion of the $2.7 million temple.
“We are very excited,” Lhundup Sherab, a monk in residence at Deer Park, said today.
Deer Park, founded in 1979, is home to a community of monks, nuns and laypersons and is a center of spiritual life for area Buddhists. It is under the direction of Gesha Sopa, a Tibetan scholar and monk and professor emeritus at UW-Madison.
More than 400 Tibetans live in the Madison area, many of them drawn by the Deer Park Center.
The Dalai Lama is the head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. Known for his worldwide advocacy of peace and compassion, the exiled leader was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
The new temple at Deer Park will include traditional architectural details fashioned with the guidance of artisans from Tibet.
The groundbreaking, at 2 p.m. April 22, will feature prayers by Geshe Sopa, and guest speakers including town of Dunn Chairman Ed Minihan and Joe Elder of the Greater Madison Interreligious Association and Peace Council.
Traditional dance and refreshments will be featured.
