Dalai Lama to Visit Vancouver September 8-10, 2006 to Launch the Inaugural Vancouver Dialogues

The Dalai Lama will visit Vancouver from September 8–10, 2006 to host the Vancouver Dialogues 2006 -- the first in a regular series of dialogues sponsored by the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education. The dialogues will provide a unique opportunity to join with the Dalai Lama and leading global thinkers in considering issues of universal responsibility and compassion as a foundation for peace.

"It is a tremendous honour for Vancouver to be the home of the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education and host of the Vancouver Dialogues," said Victor Chan, founding Director of the Center. "The caliber of participants in these Dialogues is outstanding and showcases the vibrant interest throughout the academic, business and social communities in the Dalai Lama's message of kindness and compassion as the fundamental tools for building meaningful happiness and peace."

Educating the Heart - September 8, 2006

The Dalai Lama will share the Orpheum stage in the morning with a select group of high school students from the Lower Mainland. He will listen to the students' personal stories of acts of compassion and courage and engage in conversation with them about these topics.

In the afternoon, the Dalai Lama will engage in dialogue with leading educators, researchers and policy makers on the themes of cultivating compassion and educating the heart.

Moderated by Maria LeRose, the panelists include:

• Mary Gordon, OC, founder of the Roots of Empathy program which has shown tangible results in lowering levels of aggression and bullying in participating schools across Canada
• Dr. Tim Shriver, CEO and Chairman of the Special Olympics
• Dr. Bill Damon, Professor of Education, Director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, author of The Youth Charter and internationally recognized author in the areas of moral and character education
• Dr. Martin Brokenleg, whose work has been influential in reclaiming youth at risk in both Canada and the United States
• Dr. Mark Greenberg, Director of the Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development at Penn State which aims to promote the well-being of children and youth and to reduce the prevalence of high risk behaviors and poor outcomes for children, families and communities
• Dr. Clyde Hertzman, Director of the Human Early Learning Partnership and a member of the World Health Organization
• Dr. Kim Schonert-Reichl, UBC researcher and author in the areas of moral development and social education

Happiness and Stress as Determinants of Mental Health - September 9, 2006

The Dalai Lama will participate in discussions at the Orpheum throughout the day with leading researchers on the topic of enhancing authentic happiness and physical wellbeing.

The dialogue, moderated by Dr. Tony Phillips, Director of the Institute of Mental Health, UBC, will include presentations by:

• Dr. Edward Diener ("Dr.Happiness"), Alumni Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois, Chair of the Positive Experience Network of the Positive Psychology Institute, editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies and who has explored the field of happiness for close to 25 years
• Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, a Psychology Professor at the University of California, who has spent the majority of her research career studying human happiness and looking at issues such as why some people are happier than others, identifying the benefits of happiness and exploring the architecture of sustainable happiness
• Dr. Paul Ekman, Emeritus Professor at the University of San Francisco, who is internationally recognized as the leading authority on human expression and the identification of underlying emotion
• Dr. Michael Meaney, James McGill Profesor of Medicine and Director of the Program for the Study of Behaviour, Genes and Environment at McGill University, who was one of the first researchers to identify the importance of maternal care in modifying the expression of genes that regulate behavioural and neuron-endocrine responses to stress
• Dr. Allan Young, LEEF Chair in Depression Research and Associate Director, UBC Institute of Mental Health
• Dr. Dacher Keltner, Director of the Berkeley Social Interaction Laboratory and Co-Director of the Center for the Development of Peace and Well-Being, whose research has included the study of how humans negotiate moral concerns
• Dr. Deepak Chopra, best-selling author and lead in the field of mind / body medicine.

Public Talk: Cultivating Happiness - September 9, 2006

The Dalai Lama will present a public talk later in the afternoon at GM Place entitled "Cultivating Happiness". During the talk, he will discuss the causes and conditions for happiness, and provide guidance on developing an authentic sense of well-being that is not dependent on external circumstances.

Connecting for Change: Corporate and Social Leaders in Dialogue - September 9 & 10, 2006

The Leaders' Dialogues will start with a series of small group conversations on September 9 among prominent national and international business leaders and social innovators. On September 10, the Dalai Lama will engage in dialogue with the leaders.

Moderators of the sessions include:

• Dr. Peter Senge, Senior Lecturer at MIT, a "Strategist of the Century" as named by the Journal of Business Strategy, founding Chair of the Society for Organizational Learning, a global community of corporations, researchers and consultants committed "to increase our capacity to collectively realize our highest aspirations and productively resolve our differences" and author of several books, including The Fifth Discipline
• Peter Block, author and consultant on ways to create workplaces and communities that work for all and how to bring change into the world through consent and connectedness

The Leaders Dialogue is by invitation only, but the results of the Dialogue will be posted on-line at www.dalailamacenter.org and portions of this Dialogue will be webcast.

Tickets

Tickets will be available for purchase by the general public for all events, except for the Leaders' Dialogue, commencing Friday June 23, 2006 through Ticketmaster. Information on tickets and prices will be posted on-line at www.dalailamacenter.org and at www.ticketmaster.ca.

Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education

The Center, which is scheduled for completion in 2009, is a non-political, non-religious institution that acts as a beacon for promoting peace through education, research and dialogue. "My religion is kindness," the Dalai Lama famously stated. The Center is aligned with this ethos and to the Dalai Lama's belief that each person must "cultivate the heart, and work for peace within yourself and in the world."

The vision of the Vancouver-based Center reflects the Dalai Lama's life-long commitment to compassion and inner well-being. The Center will be a world-class institution, grounded in Vancouver yet global in nature. While its physical home will be in Vancouver, its reach will be world-wide.