By Douglas Todd
The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, two Nobel Peace Prize winners, will be among four major spiritual leaders visiting Vancouver for a round of events beginning April 17, 2004.
Although details have yet to be officially announced, the Dalai Lama and Tutu will join former Czech Republic president Vaclav Havel, an acclaimed playwright and poet, and Jewish Renewal leader Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi in four days of discussions, retreats, ceremonies and an interfaith dialogue.
The visits should provide a spiritual lift, said United Church Reverend Barry Cooke and Dr. Hong Chien, directors of Vancouver’s Multi-Faith Action Society.
“It will bring together a convergence of positive spiritual energy,” Cooke said. “I don’t know what else you’d call it.”
The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and a champion of human rights for his homeland of Tibet, will also receive an honorary degree from the University of B.C.
In the same week, Tutu, the former Anglican archbishop of South Africa who for decades fought against apartheid, will receive an honorary degree from Simon Fraser University.
Rumours of the visits have swirled in Vancouver’s multi-faith and university communities for months.
Even though some events have not been arranged and nothing has been formally announced, organizers acknowledged that at least four of the big names are confirmed.
When Chien met the Dalai Lama last year at his headquarters in Dharamsala, India, the Vancouver physician said she pressed the exiled Tibetan leader to return to Vancouver.
“People around him said it would be difficult but it’s happening. Still, it’s very exhausting to try to jump through all the hoops of security and everything,” said Chien, a member of the Lions Gate Buddhist temple.
The Dalai Lama and Tutu are expected, either together or separately, to take part in a number of public and private Vancouver events, sponsored by a variety of organizations, including UBC’s Asian Studies department.
They include a discussion at UBC’s Longhouse; a retreat involving Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists; a ceremony at Christ Church (Anglican) Cathedral in downtown Vancouver; a benefit concert at the Chan Centre and a dialogue at SFU’s Wosk Centre for Dialogue, moderated by Vancouver’s Anglican Bishop, Michael Ingham.
The Dalai Lama — who is expected to visit Toronto after B.C. — was last in Vancouver in 1993, where he met Buddhist actor Richard Gere and gave several public lectures before thousands of admirers.
During the same B.C. visit, the Dalai Lama appeared together with Tutu, a long-time friend, in Victoria.
Cooke was there.
“I remember the Dalai Lama came up behind Desmond Tutu and flipped off his mitre [tall bishop’s hat],” he said. “Everybody loved it. It was a moment of fun.”
dtodd@png.canwest.com
