His Holiness the Dalai Lama to arrive in Long Beach on 2 May[Monday, 2 May 2011, 11:01 a.m.]
Long Beach,
CA: As the people in Long Beach, CA, await the postponed arrival of His
Holiness the Dalai Lama on 2 May 2011 the Abbot of Gaden Shartse
Monastery, Ven. Jangchup Choedhen, Dr. Thupten Jinpa, principal
interpreter to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Prof. Robert Thurman of
Columbia University stepped in to participate in programmes scheduled
for 1 May.In the morning of 1 May, Abbot Jangchup Choedhen, who
is also the spiritual director of Long Beach based Gaden Shartse
Thubten Dhargyeling, gave a discourse to the gathering on Tsongkhapa’s
Three Principal Aspects of the Path during the session when His
Holiness was to give the Solitary Yamantaka Initiation. The Abbot took
the opportunity to brief the audience about His Holiness’
indisposition. He also asked them to dedicate the merits of the
occasion to His Holiness and to all sentient beings.In the
afternoon, Dr. Thupten Jinpa and Prof. Bob Thurman jointly addressed
the session where His Holiness was to give a public talk on ‘Secular
Ethics and Meditation.’ Abbot Jangchup Chodhen made some opening
remarks during which he talked about His Holiness’ indisposition and
said those who wanted refund for their tickets were welcome to get
them. Then Mr Doren Harper of Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargyeling Center
talked about the financial report, as per the tradition established by
His Holiness for programmes involving him. Mr Harper talked about the
expenses and the special situation of His Holiness not being able to
come for these and said he was not able to give a final statement.
Thereafter, Dr Tsetan Sadutshang, physician to His Holiness the Dalai
Lama, explained the nature of His Holiness’ indisposition saying that
it was a sore throat and reassured the gathering that his general
health condition was good.Prof. Thurman gave a broad overview
of His Holiness’ three commitments to expand on why he was still
relevant. Basing his remarks on his book, Why the Dalai Lama is
Relevant” Prof. Thurman expanded the three commitments. He also said
that while it was indeed understandable to feel the absence of His
Holiness for the public talk, he said people need to think about the
feelings of the Tibetans in Tibet who have been missing his presence
amidst them for the past many years.Dr. Jinpa gave a background
to His Holiness prioritizing the promotion of secular ethics right from
his first international travel in the post-1959 period. He talked
about His Holiness using the vehicles of environmental preservation and
economy that made this world interdependent to convey his message about
the commonality of human values, which he called secular ethics.Dr.
Jinpa explained His Holiness’ concept of secularism, which did not mean
rejection of religion but one that included respect for all religions,
as the Indian Constitution did. He said that His Holiness was in fact
currently working on a follow up book to his Ethics for the New
Millennium, in which the concept of secularism is being addressed.The session ended with a Question & Answer session.His
Holiness the Dalai Lama is scheduled to arrive in Long Beach around
noon and will be resting for the day. Accordingly, his programmes at
the University of California at Los Angeles have been cancelled. Given
below is the University’s announcement of the same.IMPORTANT NOTICEWith great regret, we announce that His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s appearances on 2 May have been cancelled due to ill health.The
afternoon symposium in Royce Hall will go ahead without the Dalai
Lama’s participation. Geshe Thupten Jinpa, a principal English
translator for His Holiness and Ph.D. in Religious Studies (Cambridge
University), will join the discussion with UCLA neuroscientists.Refunds
for His Holiness’ Public Talk scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Monday, 2
May, will be available by request at the point of purchase. If you
purchased your tickets from the Central Ticket Office, return them to
the ticket office. For tickets purchased from Ticketmaster, please
contact Ticketmaster Fan Support at 1-800-653-8000. Proceeds from
unrefunded tickets, in excess of event-related expenses, will be
distributed in accordance with the wishes of His Holiness The Dalai
Lama.Please click here for the official statement from the
Office of Tibet regarding his change in schedule. We apologise for the
inconvenience and disappointment these changes will cause, but His
Holiness’ health is paramount and we wish him a speedy recovery.”
