With the Jazz & Heritage Festival soon to leave the scene, though Jazz never really leaves the scene in NOLA, there are other exciting, interesting and significant events coming up. One of them is the forthcoming visit of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, in New Orleans on May 16-18.Most people nowadays have probably heard about the Dalai Lama, though they might not really know much about him. The Dalai Lama is, in a nutshell, one of the highest priests of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is furthermore a Nobel Peace Prize winner and currently also the religious leader of about 8 million Tibetan Buddhists. He also used to be the political leader of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile but resigned from this role in March 2011.
As Tibetan prayer flags are hung around the city, different events will be taking place, leading up to the high lama’s visit in New Orleans. The visit, among other things, is meant to rally support for communities and people in NOLA that are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Dalai Lama himself will speak at three public events: one during the conference called “Resilience: Strength Through Compassion and Connection” on May 17 at 9:15 am, then at 1:30 pm, again on May 17, at the Morial Convention Center and, finally, on May 18 at 1 pm in at the University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena. He will also be awarded a honorary degree at the commencement of Tulane University.
Not to be missed are also all the other events that are connected to the lama’s visit. For example, in the week before Dalai Lama’s arrival, 12 monks will be making a sand mandala, a special ritual connected to creating a mandala made of sand and then offering it as a sign of goodwill, peace and compassion. They will work on the sand mandala for over four days and will finally whisk the sand away and afterwards spread it in the Mississippi River.Other notable events are the Tibetan Bazaar which begins on May 14 at the Morial Convention Center Hall, numerous film screenigs as part of the Dalai Lama NOLA Film Series, meditation and discussion classes, yoga and sacred dance classes. Make sure to have a look at the calendar of events to receive more detailed information.
If you happen to be visiting NOLA during the lama’s visit and need someone to show you around, you can always contact us and we will gladly assist you. Just give us a call at (877) 592-2226 and we will send one of our limos to pick you up and take you anywhere you want to go in NOLA.