2-day visit will include 4 chances to see him
BY GEOFF LARCOM
The 14th Dalai Lama, a Tibetan Buddhist leader who is recognized worldwide for his message of peace and tolerance, will visit Ann Arbor over two days in April for a series of four talks at the University of Michigan.
The spiritual leader will present a two-day program, with two sessions at Crisler Arena on April 19 and one on April 20. The sessions are titled “Engaging Wisdom and Compassion.”
On April 20, the Dalai Lama will also present the University of Michigan’s Peter M. Wege Lecture on sustainability, in celebration of Earth Day.
The Dalai Lama is known around the world for promoting human rights, inter-religious understanding, nonviolence and advocacy for the environment. He won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize and recently received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award Congress gives to civilians.
Nancy Jeffries, an organizer for the event and a board member of Jewel Heart, a Tibetan Buddhist center and a local sponsor, said she and others are thrilled to be hosting the Dalai Lama.
“It’s not the best of times in America now and in the Detroit area,” Jeffries said. “This is an opportunity for people from all over to get a chance to see him and be inspired.”
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is both the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet He was born in 1935 to a farming family in a small hamlet located in northeastern Tibet. At the age of 2, the child, who was named Lhamo Dhondup at that time, was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, according to the Dalai Lama’s Web site.
The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron saint of Tibet.
Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity.
The Wege Lecture is sponsored by the Office of the President and the Center for Sustainable Systems at the School of Natural Resources and Environment.
The Dalai Lama last visited Ann Arbor in 1994, when about 9,000 people attended a lecture at Crisler Arena.
Reach Geoff Larcom at glarcom@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6838.
