Dalai Lama to Visit Vancouver, British Columbia, April 18-20 for Academic Conference, Public Talk, Spiritual Teaching, Roundtable Dialogue at UBC, Musical Tribute
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, January 21 – His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and religious and spiritual leader, will make a rare visit to Vancouver, British Columbia April 18 – 20, 2004. The Dalai Lama’s last visit to Vancouver was in 1993.
The Dalai Lama will deliver the keynote address at a two-day academic conference, Tibet in the Contemporary World, to be held at the University of British Columbia April 19 and 20, and will also receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from UBC. As part of the visit, he will join international visionary thinkers including fellow Nobel Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Dr. Shirin Ebadi as well as former president of the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Dr. Jo-ann Archibald of Canada’s First Nations community in a Roundtable Dialogue to be held at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC.
Other events include a Public Talk and Spiritual Teaching at UBC War Memorial Gym, a Musical Tribute dedicated to peace at the Orpheum Theatre, and the conferral of an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from SFU.
UBC and its Institute of Asian Research (IAR) are organizing the visit in collaboration with SFU, the Tibetan Cultural Society of BC, an Ad-hoc Coalition of Vancouver Tibetan-Buddhist Communities, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Westcoast Sacred Arts Society.
Conference: The Dalai Lama will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from UBC and then deliver the keynote address Monday, April 19 at 9 a.m. at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts to open a two-day IAR/Centre for Chinese Research academic conference entitled Tibet in the Contemporary World. The conference will gather foremost scholars from around the world to discuss the cultural, religious, social, economic and political changes of Tibet in transition, and will also launch the Institute of Asian Research’s new Contemporary Tibetan Studies Program. Panel discussions, to be held at UBC’s C.K. Choi Building and Asian Centre Auditorium, will be of interest primarily to academics, but will be open to the public.
Spiritual Teaching: Good Heart – Full Life, a spiritual teaching by the Dalai Lama, will be held on Sunday, April 18 at 10 a.m. at the UBC War Memorial Gym. His Holiness will speak on compassion, how to cultivate a good heart in order to help others, and how to live a fulfilled life. There will be a question and answer period following the teaching. This event will be simultaneously translated into Mandarin. Tickets priced at $25 will be available to the general public beginning Monday, Feb. 2, 2004, at Ticketmaster locations, at www.ticketmaster.ca or by calling 604-280-4444.
Public Talk: Universal Responsibility: A Public Talk for Vancouver will be held on Sunday, April 18 at 4 p.m. at UBC’s War Memorial Gym. The Dalai Lama will speak on various dimensions of universal responsibility, including human rights and environmental consciousness. Tickets priced at $25 and $40 will be available to the general public beginning Monday, Feb. 2, 2004, at Ticketmaster locations, at www.ticketmaster.ca or by calling 604-280-4444.
Musical Tribute: His Holiness will provide brief opening remarks at Celebration for Peace, a musical tribute dedicated to peace and reconciliation on Monday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre. Goldie Hawn will emcee the event, which features the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra and a 180-voice Peace Choir for children, youth and adults as well as Ann Mortifee and Raffi. The Dalai Lama will be honoured by a world premiere work for symphony and inter-cultural orchestra by Vancouver composer Rui Shi Zhuo. Please note this event is sold out.
Roundtable Dialogue: Balancing Educating the Mind With Educating the Heart will be held on Tuesday, April 20 at 12:30 p.m. at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC. His Holiness, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dr. Shirin Ebadi, former president of the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Dr. Jo-ann Archibald and other visionary thinkers will dedicate a full afternoon to discussing how compassion and reason can inform current policy challenges in such areas as community building and sustainable development. Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminster will chair the event. Details regarding public access will be available in February through the official web site for the visit.
General information: For more information on the full Vancouver schedule, please visit the web site: www.dalailamavancouver.org.
Media Advisory: Please note that journalists are welcome to cover the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Vancouver. Information about the visit, media opportunities and press credentials will be updated in upcoming weeks at the Press Centre at www.dalailamavancouver.org.
From Vancouver, His Holiness will proceed to Ottawa (www.tibet.ca/en/dalailamaottawa2004) and Toronto (www.kalachakra2004.com).
