The Brown & White

After nearly a year's preparation on behalf of Lehigh University and the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in Washington, N.J., His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will arrive on campus Thursday July 10.

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, will visit Lehigh for six days. He will conduct a series of teachings from July 10-15 focusing on Tsong-kha-pa's "Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment: The Lamrim Chenmo," a classic Tibetan Buddhist text that was recently translated. The Dalai Lama will make a 90-minute public appearance at Stabler Arena on July 13, giving a lecture in English titled "Generating a Good Heart." The event sold out in 15 minutes in March.

The teachings mark the culmination of a school year's worth of events related to and in anticipation of the Dalai Lama coming to Lehigh. The 2007-08 school year saw countless lectures and programs build interest and excitement for the visit, including:

Lehigh professors Anne Meltzer and Peter Zeitler hosted "Visual Tibet: Its Natural History, Landscape and People" in September.The professors talked about the Free Tibet campaign, a program whose goal is to restore Tibetan sovereignty after being a part of China since the 1950s.

All freshmen read the Dalai Lama's autobiography, "Freedom In Exile," as part of the first-year orientation program in 2007. The office of the first-year experience assigned the text for its summer literature program.

Author and professor of Buddhist and Tibetan studies Donald Lopez spoke in October about the search for "Shangri-La", a peaceful land that he said does not exist on earth. Lopez said many people still associate Tibet with Shangri-La because of the 1933 novel "Lost Horizon."

A group of Tibetan Buddhist monks constructed a sand mandala - an intricate symbolic design comprised of millions of grains of colored sand - in Linderman Library in October. The sand was immediately dismantled and subsequently released into the Lehigh River, a ritual intended to disseminate the blessings of the mandala into the world.

Buddhist scholar Joshua Cutler, director of the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in Washington, N.J., discussed the path to enlightenment as explained "The Great Treatise on the Stages to the Path of Enlightenment" in November. Cutler's relationship with the Dalai Lama made the Dalai Lama's six-day visit possible.

Thomas Coburm, president of Naropa University, discussed in February the Buddhist approach to education and the idea that contemplative learning spurs great learning. Naropa University is a non-sectarian institution located in Bolder, Col., that has integrated Buddhist values into its formal education mission.

Lehigh professor Rajan Menon gave a lecture in February, where he said the ongoing conflict between Tibet and China will have a substantial impact on the selection of the next Dalai Lama. Menon said the Chinese government will want to choose the next Dalai Lama, because Tibet is under China's control and the Dalai Lama is viewed as more than just a religious figure.

In April it was announced that Zeke Zelker, a local independent filmmaker, is producing a documentary chronicling the events surrounding the Dalai Lama's visit to Lehigh. Steve Lichak, senior media production specialist for Library and Technology Services, is co-producing the film.

The Brown and White will have online coverage of many of this week's events, including a recap of Sunday's public lecture and interviews with organizers and attendants.

The Dalai Lama's full Lehigh schedule is as follows:

Thursday, July 10, 2008
"Introducing the Path to Enlightenment"
Morning Session:
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Speakers: Venerable Thubten Chodron,
Dr. Robert A. F. Thurman

Afternoon Session:
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Speakers: Dr. Jeffrey Hopkins,
Venerable Doboom Tulku Rimpoche

Friday, July 11, 2008
"His Holiness begins teachings"
Morning Session:
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Afternoon Session:
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Saturday, July 12, 2008
Morning Session:
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Afternoon Session:
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, July 13, 2008
Morning Session:
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Afternoon: Public Talk
[Tickets for afternoon talk sold separately]

Monday, July 14, 2008
Morning Session:
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Afternoon Session:
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Morning Session:
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Final Session:
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.