The Dalai Lama will today conclude the three-day Global Compassion Summit in California marking his 80th birthday, which fell on 6 July. The summit is the official world celebration of the landmark occasion, and is being held at the Honda Center in Anaheim and then on the UC Irvine campus. The schedule as given by the summit’s official website consisted of a public talk on awakening compassion on 5 July and a talk about climate change and a dialogue with fellow Nobel laureates and other moral leaders on 6 July; today, His Holiness will join a panel addressing youth, leadership, education, and universal rights.
The Dalai Lama celebrating his 80th birthday at the Honda Center. From abc.net.au
According to the LA Times, on 5 July 18,000 people gathered at the Honda Center, where an assembly of minor American celebrities paid tribute to His Holiness (the celebration was held one day early to coincide with his birthday in Tibet) before his talk. Among them were former Today co-anchor Ann Curry, rapper MC Hammer, talk show host Larry King, online entrepreneur Arianna Huffington, comedian George Lopez, and actress Julia Ormond. When the Dalai Lama took the floor, he reiterated common themes that have consistently resonated with his followers and the public: “As a human being, as a social animal, every individual has a moral responsibility to think of the well-being of humanity,” he declared, and advocated “unbiased compassion,” stating that he hoped religions could move beyond the narrowness of their ideologues.
Addressing religious extremism, he appealed to the image of a mother’s love, a common motif in Buddhism. “We all come from our mother. We all have the deep experience, we all appreciate the mother's reaction. Some, also including the so-called terrorists . . . they also have the potential to develop compassion,” he said.
Lama Tenzin Dhonden. From seattletimes.com
As quoted by Agence France-Presse, in an emotional tribute Lama Tenzin Dhonden, who is personal emissary for peace to His Holiness and the founder and chair of the organization Friends of the Dalai Lama, which co-hosted the summit with UC Irvine and the Center for Living Peace, said: “The Dalai Lama does not want any physical gifts. For him, this birthday is just like any other day. However, if we can help to create a more compassionate, kind planet, that would be the most beautiful gift of all.” His Holiness was also presented with an eight-foot-tall birthday cake with a single candle.
In the afternoon of 5 July, His Holiness also attended a reception at City National Grove of Anaheim with city and school district officials. According to ocregister.com, His Holiness praised mayor Tom Tait’s campaign to have Anaheim’s elementary schoolchildren perform 1 million acts of kindness during the 2013–14 school year. “When one city starts to do it, it will eventually catch on and soon, you can become a nation of kindness. Through our effort, it is possible,” he said. “Everyone has a role to play—politicians, the media, artists. Even toy makers can make a contribution toward promotion of love and kindness.”
Tom Tait with the Dalai Lama. From wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com
The Global Compassion Summit continued in the morning of 6 July, when the Dalai Lama discussed climate change with oceanographer Walter Munk and Democratic congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. According to ocregister.com, the panel addressed active compassion as the answer to problems caused by climate change. In the afternoon, he shared his views on wisdom, vision, and experience with a panel of fellow Nobel laureates.
The Dalai Lama with Walter Munk and Loretta Sanchez. From in.finance.yahoo.com
Devotees around the world, particularly in Dharamsala and Nepal, also marked the Dalai Lama’s birthday with festivities. In Nepal on 3 July, the chief district officer of Kathmandu granted the Tibetan representative’s office permission to organize the birthday celebrations, and on 6 July, Tibetans and Nepalese (including people from the Sherpa, Tamang, Walung, Dholpo, and Mustang communities) gathered at the football field of Namgyal Higher Secondary School in Kathmandu to hold a procession and festivities on His Holiness’s behalf.
Tibetan monks at a procession for the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday at Namgyal Higher Secondary School in Kathmandu, 6 July. From time.com
In Dharamsala, thousands of Tibetans celebrated the spiritual leader’s birthday a second time (the first had been on 21 June in accordance with the Tibetan lunar calendar) on 6 July. NPR reported that: “All morning, Tibetan schoolchildren in costumes of silk brocade and big fur hats sang and danced as they strummed traditional lutes. When they stamped their wool felt boots, the crowd went wild. Wizened elderly people, toddlers, monks and nuns, students in school uniforms, teens with spiked hair, couples and families alike sat in the courtyard under a misty sky. They cheered the performers and munched samosas and ladoos, Indian sweets, handed out to the crowd.”
Procession to celebrate the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday in Kathmandu. From dnaindia.com
NPR was able to ask several birthday celebrators what they thought of His Holiness. The responses ranged from the whimsical to the emotional, but every tribute expressed love and reverence for the religious leader. Seventy-one-year-old Thuten Jyantso, a former nomad of eastern Tibet who settled in Dharamsala in 2003, said that it was thanks to the Dalai Lama that Tibetan culture and education were flourishing among the Tibetan community in exile. Lhakpa Kyziom, a 32-year-old journalist who was educated at the Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala, agreed. “He would meet each and every child, holding our hands, seeing if we were well-fed and clean,” she said.
Tibetan schoolchildren throwing flowers in the air to celebrate the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday in New Delhi, 6 July. From time.com
On 19 July, His Holiness will celebrate his birthday again with senior US officials, members of Congress, and prominent religious and civic representatives in New York, according to nepaliheadlines.com. The public reception will be part of a two-day celebration organized by the small Tibetan-American community, which will feature a Tenshug—a ceremony “comprised of prayers and a procession of symbolic offerings” to ask for a long and healthy life for the Dalai Lama and the preservation of his teachings. Tashi Namgyal, who is North American representative to the Tibetan Parliament and co-chair of the Gratitude Events Organizing Committee, commented that “This birthday celebration honors the Tibetan leader for the wisdom and spiritual guidance he has provided to both Buddhists and non-Buddhist; and for his unwavering efforts to alleviate the sufferings of all sentient beings.”
Tibetans throwing wheat flour into the air as part of a prayer for the Dalai Lama's longevity in Dharamsala, 6 July. From time.com