By Tenzin Monlam
Members of the local Tibetan community offering His Holiness the Dalai Lama a traditional welcome on his arrival at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, USA on June 13, 2017. Photo -Jeremy Russell_OHHDL
The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in Rochester, Minnesota, US for his yearly medical check-up at the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday.
The soon to be 82 year-old Tibetan spiritual leader was greeted by his North America Representative Penpa Tsering, his personal physicians, members of the reception staff of Mayo Clinic.
Around 200 members of the local Tibetan community, from young to old, gathered outside the clinic to give His Holiness a traditional welcome.
According to the official statement, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader will spend two days at the clinic before travelling on to San Diego for the commencement at University of California San Diego (UCSD).
The Dalai Lama will be the key speaker at the commencement on June 17 and is also scheduled to give a public talk on ‘Embracing the Beauty of Diversity in our World’ on June 16 at the university.
The invitation to the Dalai Lama, whom China sees as a ‘separatist’, has sparked protests by Chinese Students and Scholars Association opposing the university’s decision. The protesting Chinese students, it was reported earlier, were acting under direct command of the Chinese Embassy.
However, the authorities dismissed the Chinese students’ call to disinvite the Nobel peace laureate but agreed not to describe him as ‘freedom fighter’ and ‘spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people’.
The Dalai Lama is also scheduled to take part in a panel discussion ‘A Call for Compassion and Conscious Kindness,’ in Eden Prairie on June 23.
Starkey Hearing Technologies, CEO and Owner Bill Austin, Tani Austin, Chief Philanthropy Officer and Forest Whitaker, UNESCO special envoy for peace and reconciliation will also be part of the event, which is not open for public.
“At Starkey Hearing Technologies, we share the Dalai Lama’s belief that the need for authentic, intentional human-to-human relationships is more vital than ever,” said Bill Austin in the official press release.
