Here’s a brief 6-minute English video she made to explain her background, while running for that position:

And here’s a brief description about her . . . Read More.]]> She’s a Tibetan Canadian from Montréal, who is a new minister (Kalon) in the 15th Tibetan Government in Exile.

Here’s a brief 6-minute English video she made to explain her background, while running for that position:

And here’s a brief description about her from an article introducing all the new ministers, taken from an article in The Tibetan Review, about Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay’s new Cabinet:

Dicki Chhoyang (Minister for the Department of Information & International Relations (DIIR))

Chhoyang is a surprise choice, though not the biggest surprise.  Her choice as a Kalon may, perhaps, have had to do with Sangay’s election campaign to have at least two women Kalons, besides the fact that Chhoyang ancestrally hails from Amdo province, a case of one stone killing two birds. 

Her lack of experience, both as a politician and as an administrator, and also her lack of in-depth practical knowledge of Dharamsala politics, the Tibet Support Group movement, or the day-to-day lives of Tibetans living in India, Nepal and Bhutan are big drawbacks.  As the Kalon for DIIR, it remains an open question whether her Tibetan language skills are strong enough to serve her daily at the level required to manage a government organization. 

On the plus side, she is relatively young, energetic, and has a proven enthusiasm to work for the cause.  Chhoyang’s upbringing in the West may give her a different perspective and hence a new angle in diplomacy, information dissemination, and even possible restructuring of the existing media channels under DIIR. 

Her experience living in Tibet and briefly in Beijing could prove invaluable, as will her working knowledge of Chinese.  Her fluency in English and French are also big plusses for the lead diplomat of the Central Tibetan Administration.  If Chhoyang proves to be a quick learner in administration and in speaking professional Tibetan, she may prove to be a very successful DIIR Kalon.  She is someone to watch closely.
——
And here is a link to her campaign website, which explains her background, vision and issue focus, as well as a variety of other resources: http://www.dickichhoyang.org/bio

According to an article in the Edmonton Journal (originally appearing in the Montreal Gazette), His Holiness is “being duped . . . Read More.]]> There have been several news articles in the past few days about controversy surrounding the Second Global Conference on World’s Religions, happening tomorrow in Montréal.

According to an article in the Edmonton Journal (originally appearing in the Montreal Gazette), His Holiness is “being duped into promoting Islamic fundamentalism.” Here’s the link for you to make up your own mind: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Controversy+brews+ahead+Montreal+conference+world+religions/5355208/story.html

Here’s another article about it, from the Canadian webzine Tolerance: http://www.tolerance.ca/Article.aspx?ID=118005&L=en

My guess is that His Holiness, who has had years of experience dealing with difficult conversations, will do just fine, thank you very much.

UPDATE: Here’s the follow-up article from The Montreal Gazette after the conference… http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Dalai+Lama+addresses+conference+Montreal/5367020/story.html

It would appear that engagement and dialogue were key themes that kept coming up from all participants.

On the ITC website are offered a selection of texts translated . . . Read More.]]> Geshe Thubten Jinpa, PhD, is one of Canada’s treasures. He is the former translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and founder of the Institute of Tibetan Classics in Montréal where he lives.

On the ITC website are offered a selection of texts translated by Geshe Jinpa. Here is the link: http://www.tibetanclassics.org/Jinpa_Translation.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/tibetan-diaspora-flocks-to-polls/article1949175/

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Vancouver+theologian+advise+Dalai+Lama/5077711/story.html

Here is a re-cap of the event from The Varsity, U of . . . Read More.]]> While His Holiness the Dalai Lama was in Toronto recently, he participated in a small private symposium hosted by the University of Toronto Scarborough on the topic: “Cognitive Science, Mindfulness and Consciousness.”

Here is a re-cap of the event from The Varsity, U of T’s student newspaper:
http://thevarsity.ca/articles/36608

They also ran a few photos in a related article, “Dalai Lama makes secret appearance at U of T”:
http://thevarsity.ca/articles/36137