By Sherab Lhatsang
The celebration of the Tibetan New Year (Losar), Fire Pig year (2134) in Wisconsin commenced on a cold February morning (February 18th, 2007) when over 400 Tibetans and followers of Ven. Geshe Sopa la gathered at Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, WI.
The Deer Park Buddhist temple, headed by Ven. Geshe Sopa La was initially built for His Holiness’ the Dalai Lama’s first Kalachakra Initiation in the west in 1981. With the growing Tibetan population and the limited size of the temple, attendees of the Losar prayer ceremony were either huddled tightly together inside the temple or else had to wait outside in the cold. Some members waited in the annex building and later came over to the temple after the prayer ceremony.
The prayer ceremony was led by Ven. Geshe Sopa la during which tea and daisi (Tibetan ceremonial sweet rice with raisins) were distributed to the attendees. After the prayers, members lined up and took turns for chemar and offering khataks (Tibetan scarf offerings) to His Holiness’ picture. The prayer ceremony was concluded with a sangsol outside near the stupa.
The Wisconsin Tibetan Association organized the Losar party to be held at the Doyle Administration building on Saturday February 24th followed by dinner and dancing at Eagle Heights Community Center. However, due to the snow storm on Friday evening and blizzard warnings for Saturday night, plans were changed at the last minute to gather at Eagle Heights at 2pm. The event was highlighted with the presence of Ven. Geshe Sopa la, Kasur Tashi Wangdi la (Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Northern Americas), State Representative Spencer Black and the North American Tibetan Association Tenshug working committee members.
Lobsang Tenzin, President of the Wisconsin Tibetan Association, and Namgyal Tsering Executive board member of WTA,hosted the evening’s show. Speeches were given by Kasur Tashi Wangdi La and State Representative Spencer Black. Kasur Tashi Wangdi la spoke on how important it was for us to keep our culture and that we were very lucky to have His Holiness visiting us in May of this year followed by another visit next year. Spencer Black stated how he has helped pass various Resolutions for Tibet and hopes we are able to have a free Tibet soon.
The evening performance started with five of the older students of the Tibetan Saturday school performing the Tashi Shoepa. Various dances were performed by the students of the Tibetan school ranging from ages 6 to 20. In spite of the bad weather conditions, about 200 Tibetans attended the Losar party. Dinner was served after the dance performances after which individuals volunteered to perform songs and dances.
The evening events ended before the big blizzard and so all in all the evening celebration was a success.
On the evening of February 25th, the day after the big blizzard, some brave Tibetans ventured to the Presbyterian Church to meet with Kasur Tashi Wangdi la. Topics that were discussed included His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s upcoming visit to Madison and future plans for how the Wisconsin Tibetan Association electoral members should be selected. Kasur Tashi Wangdi La once again emphasized the importance of preserving our culture and about teaching and speaking in Tibetan to the children at home. The meeting was preceded with a Potluck dinner.
