The recent visit by His Holiness to Stanford University and to San Francisco brought together thousands of individuals who attended one or more of a series of talks and dialogues.

The centerpiece of the visit was a day-long symposium with neuroscientists, psychologists, and Buddhist scholars organized by the Stanford University School of Medicine. In the photo at left, Dean Phillip A. Pizzo concludes the event.

Stanford’s Memorial Church was the setting for dialog on nonviolence with The Dalai Lama and Stanford Dean for Religious Life Scotty McLennan.

In a public talk on meditation attended by more than 7,000, His Holiness emphasized what he described as the two primary kinds of meditation: analytical and calm-abiding: “In analytical meditation, you focus on a problem, Like the African mother with child who hasn’t enough nourishment for herself alone, and how to help heal the problem, how to take an active part in the world to create change. In the other meditation, what we might call creating ‘inner air,’ you create a clear space within you to generate peace and a serenity in your mind.”

You can see the video webcasts of all of these Stanford events online at http://dalailama.stanford.edu/video/.

At a luncheon to mark the founding of an endowed Tibetan Studies program at Stanford, Dalai Lama Foundation President Tenzin Tethong introduced His Holiness, concluding with these words: “We believe that it is fitting for Stanford University to give recognition and importance to the literary and cultural heritage of Tibetan Buddhism. We also dream that, befitting Stanford’s stature, this Tibetan studies program might eventually become one of the finest anywhere.”

The day after the Stanford events, the Unsung Heroes of Compassion luncheon in San Francisco honored 48 individuals from around the world for service within their local communities.

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Following on October’s interview with DLF Study Circle Coordinator Emmanuel Ivorgba, we‘re delighted to report on Nigeria’s group training for Study Circle participants of Northwest Africa. The training was held October 27 at the Zainab Hotel in Jos, capital of Plateau State.

The theme of the program, Study Circle Dialogue for Promoting Global Peace and Social Ethics, attracted 28 individuals and dignitaries from the Plateau Traditional Council, the Leadership Development Center - Lagos, and a representative of the Plateau Peace Concert 2005.

Those in attendance were unanimous on calling for The Dalai Lama Foundation to continue moving forward to establish Study Circles in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. “These Circles will greatly facilitate the coming together, promotion, and cementing of bonds of friendship, love and harmony. Not only among the different peoples of these regions, but of the world,” Ivorgba said.

Participants at the training program made a special commitment to mobilize Nigerians to establish and participate in Study Circle dialogues in urban as well as rural communities in Nigeria. Finally, participants called on the Study Circle Coordinator to ensure that the training program is done annually.

Emmanuel can be reached at studycircles@dlfound.org.

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Here’s the latest from The Missing Peace project director Darlene Markovich...

Art is now starting to fill our warehouse space! Hearing about the art works and seeing the images have excited us but seeing the actual art works has blown us away. Each piece is stunningly beautiful, moving and unique.

Three works of art from The Missing Peace are on exhibit at the Cantor Arts Center on the Stanford campus. For those in the area, I hope you will be able to visit the Cantor between now and March 1 to see the Avedon photograph, the Binh Dahn photograph and the kimsooja video. John Listopad, curator of the Asian galleries, and his team have done a wonderful job of displaying these art works so that each can be uniquely enjoyed.

Also new is the intention of the Rubin Museum of Art to host the exhibition in New York City from March to September in 2007. We now can anticipate three opening dates—June 11 at UCLA’s Fowler Museum of Cultural History; October 28 at the new LUMA (Loyola University Museum of Art) in Chicago; and March 4 at the Rubin Museum of Art. We are in discussions with other venues in many cities of the world.
Now, I am excited to report briefly on the team’s trip to meet with The Dalai Lama in Dharamsala! Eleven of us were able to make the journey to India and on October 5 we had our audience with His Holiness. We spoke with His Holiness for 50 minutes. I showed him some of the images of the art works from my laptop and he seemed quite delighted with the diversity of the pieces. This commenced a discussion about the venues, and he suggested we consider Russia, Jordan and even Hong Kong! Of course, we are following up on these ideas.

His Holiness was especially interested in the educational components of the project, as DLF Executive Director Tony Hoeber described the curricula pieces and Study Guides of the Foundation.

The Dalai Lama has gifted us with his blessing and support to bring the exhibition and educational pieces to the world especially to isolated communities who can be brought into the larger community in this way. It is our belief that art amplifies and communicates and that education will extend our reach into many communities of the world through The Missing Peace. As DLF President Tenzin Tethong so eloquently says it, “in this way we can walk together in peace with one of the world’s leading Peacemakers”.

If you have any ideas or questions about the project, please feel free to contact me at darlene.markovich@dalailamaportrait.org Thank you!

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Jim Schuyler, CTO of the Foundation, spent a week in early October in Dharamsala, India, home of the Tibetan government in exile, working with The Dharamsala IT Group (DITG) a local group of Information Technology professionals that he helped form in March 2005. DITG is coordinated by the Tibetan Computer Resource Center and the Tibetan Children’s Villages (TCV). [More on the March visit...]

Dharamsala resident Yahel Ben-David has pioneered the creation of a wireless “mesh” that covers upper Dharamsala and the Mcleod Ganj area, where most of the local Tibetan refugees live. This mesh will be operated by the TCV Tech Center, directed by Phuntsok Dorjee, which offers low-cost Internet access to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who subscribe to its services.

The Dharamsala area has typically had only dial-up Internet access until about a month ago. With increased connectivity comes faster and easier communication with the rest of the world.

The picture at left shows children at the “Lower TCV” laughing near the new wireless mesh antenna that will bring Internet connections to their computers. [More on the mesh...]

Photo by Yahel Ben-David

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We are pleased to announce two new members of the Dalai Lama Foundation Board of Directors. Jim Schuyler has served as Chief Technical Officer of the Foundation for over two years. Tom Nazario is a professor of Law at the University of San Francisco, and is an expert on the rights of children.

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