His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will make a historic fourth visit to the University of California, Santa Barbara, in April 2009 for two public lectures.
The Dalai Lama will speak on Friday, April 24, at the UCSB Events Center. From 9:30-11:30 a.m., he will lecture on "The Nature of Mind," and from 2-4 p.m. he will speak on "Ethics for Our Time." Both events are open to the public.
Tickets for the public are sold out, though tickets are still available for UCSB students. Student tickets for both lectures are $20 and are on sale at the Arts & Lectures box office on campus. Valid student identification is required. The deadline for students to purchase their tickets will be Friday, Feb. 13.
This will be the first visit the revered spiritual leader has made to UC Santa Barbara since an endowed professorship –– the XIVth Dalai Lama Chair in Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies –– was created in his honor with private donations in 2001. It will also be the Dalai Lama's only appearance in Southern California in 2009.
"The UC Santa Barbara community is deeply honored that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is visiting our campus for the fourth time," said UCSB Chancellor Henry T. Yang. "The visit by the Dalai Lama offers students and faculty across the University the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of Buddhist traditions and scholarship, one of the strengths of our renowned Department of Religious Studies."
José Cabezón, the first holder of the Dalai Lama Chair and a professor of religious studies at UCSB, extended the invitation. "I requested His Holiness the Dalai Lama to speak on these two topics, and am thrilled that he has accepted," Cabezon said. "This is an extraordinary opportunity for members of the university and of the broader Santa Barbara community to learn from the world's most renowned and revered Buddhist teacher."
To coincide with the visit of the Dalai Lama, the College of Letters and Science will organize a series of events, including an exhibit of Tibetan art, lectures on Buddhism and Tibetan culture and history, films, and concerts. Details will be announced at a later date.
The 14th Dalai Lama first visited UCSB in 1984. He returned in 1991, two years after receiving the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. In June 1991, the university announced the creation of the Tibetan Cultural Studies endowment. Various donors, many of them citizens of Santa Barbara and surrounding communities, contributed gifts in an effort to preserve, protect, and learn from the traditions of Tibetan culture. His Holiness again visited the campus in 1997 to inaugurate the endowment, and in 2001 the funds were used to establish the XIVth Dalai Lama Endowed Chair in Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies, in the Department of Religious Studies.
Issued: Nov. 13; updated: Dec. 10
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