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Dalai Lama is present on the Web
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is the exiled leader of the former nation of Tibet, leader of a government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India, and the religious and spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
He has become a respected world leader, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a champion for peace and compassion. He has tirelessly advocated for a Tibet free to practice and preserve its unique cultural and religious heritage. When asked to describe himself, he says he is a simple Buddhist monk.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will visit UB Sept. 18-20. For a list and description of the many events associated with his visit, consult http://www.buffalo.edu/dalai_lama/. The efforts leading to this historic event are described in detail in the Spring/Summer 2006 issue of UBToday at http://www.buffalo.edu/UBT/.
The Dalai Lama's laughter, smile, wisdom and history are abundantly present on the Internet. Begin your preparation for His Holiness' visit by thoroughly exploring his official Web site at http://www.dalailama.com/. The texts of many of his teachings, messages and speeches on a wide range of topics; a photo gallery; and Web casts, as well as a detailed biography, are included. In light of the Distinguished Speakers Series lecture His Holiness will deliver at UB on Sept. 19, visit "A Human Approach to World Peace" http://www.dalailama.com/page.62.htm. The section of teachings by His Holiness includes the video presentation "A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life" and the text "Training the Mind." Next, visit the Web sites of the Office of Tibet in New York at http://www.tibetoffice.org/en/ and the Government of Tibet in Exile at http://www.tibet.com/. A special feature of the former is the thoughtful essay by Pico Iyer entitled "Making Kindness Stand to Reason."
In 1989, His Holiness was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Visit the Nobel site at http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1989/ for the text of His Holiness' acceptance speech and lecture, and for the text of the chairman of the Nobel committee's presentation speech. In its press release announcing the award, the Norwegian Nobel committee declared "that the Dalai Lama in his struggle for the liberation of Tibet consistently has opposed the use of violence" and "has come forward with constructive and forward-looking proposals for the solution of international conflicts, human rights issues and global environmental problems."
Interviews with His Holiness can be found on the Internet. They offer readers a sense of His Holiness' personality and concise answers to specific questions. Among these are conversations with Robert Thurman in Mother Jones in 1997 (http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/1997/11/thurman.html) and with Amitabh Pal in The Progressive earlier this year (http://www.progressive.org/mag_intv0106).
Many video presentations also are available on the Internet. The archived addresses of His Holiness delivered at other universities are especially interesting, among them speeches at Harvard University in 2003 (http://www.harvard.edu/news/dalai.html) University of Miami in 2004 (http://www6.miami.edu/dalailama/index.html) and at the University of California-Irvine in 2004 (http://www.vcsa.uci.edu/archives/DalaiLama/AfterVisit.html). Conduct your own search for video presentations by using Singingfish.com at http://search.singingfish.com/sfw/home.jsp and Google Video at http://video.google.com/.
On Sept. 20, His Holiness will take part in the two-day conference, "Law, Buddhism and Social Change" (http://www.buffalo.edu/dalai_lama/event_detail.html?
id=1812868f204866ea582b9c7fa0b8f8ef). UB law professor Rebecca French talks about the conference and His Holiness with Jim Milles, director of the Law Library, at http://cto.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=120965.
Information on contemporary Tibet, now the Tibet Autonomous Region within the People's Republic of China, is available from different perspectives on the Web site of the Central Tibetan Administration (which functions as a veritable government) in Dharamsala, India, at http://www.tibet.net/ and at http://www.tibet.net/hhdl/eng/, and at the People's Republic of China's China Tibet Information Center Web site at http://www.tibet.cn/english/.
—Charles D'Aniello, University Libraries