San Jose, October 11: His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in San Francisco, California, late this morning, to begin his visit to the United States and Canada.
On his arrival at the airport, he was received by Kasur Lobsang Nyandak Zayul, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Americas, and a representative of the Indian Consulate.
His Holiness then drove to the town of San Jose, the venue of his programmes for the next two days. On his arrival at the hotel in San Jose, he was received by Venerable Thupten Donyo of the Gyuto Vajrayana Center, Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jamyang of the Geden Shoeling Tibetan Manjushri Buddhist Center, officials of Stanford University, who are all organisers of the events in San Jose and Palo Alto, President Kaydor Aukatsang, and General Secretary Tsedup of the Tibetan Association of Northern California. Kasur Tenzin Namgyal Tethong and Kasur Pema Chonjor and a host of Tibetans and other supporters from the San Francisco area were also at the hotel to welcome His Holiness.
His Holiness is accompanied by Secretary Tenzin Taklha and Secretary Tsegyam for this visit. He will be visiting California, Georgia, Ohio, Toronto (in Canada) and Florida during this trip. In addition to Buddhist teachings on 12 and 13 October, His Holiness will be spending two days at Stanford University where he will participate in a series of programs entitled: Compassion, Science, & Society.
His Holiness will begin his visit with an audience for Northern California Tibetans at the San Jose Convention Center on the morning of 12 October.
In the afternoon, His Holiness will deliver a lecture on ‘Eight Verses on Transforming the Mind: Awakening the Heart of Compassion’ at the San Jose Convention Center. The lecture will be translated into English; additional translations are available in: Chinese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, and Spanish.
On 13 October, His Holiness will give Amitabha Initiation at the San Jose Sate University Center. Translation will be available in Chinese and Vietnamese, in addition to English.
There will be a public talk by His Holiness on ‘The Centrality of Compassion in Human Life and Society’ in Stanford University, Palo Alto, on 14 October.
On 15 October, His Holiness will participate in a conference on ‘Scientific Explorations of Compassion and Altruism’ organised by Stanford University.
The organisers of the programmes in Stanford University have announced that as demand for tickets exceeded availability, the programmes will be broadcast live. Please visit http://dalailama.stanford.edu/ for details.
(Report filed by Bhuchung K Tsering of ICT)
