Honolulu’s Low-Key Dalai Lama Preparations
UPDATED 4/12 7:50 a.m.
The Dalai Lama touches down in Honolulu tomorrow, but there’s little indication around town that a major event is happening.
Unlike the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit of presidents and prime ministers in November that saw road closures, bus route cuts, trash pickup delays and security blockades, the leader of modern Buddhism is causing comparatively little fanfare or preparations.
The city hasn’t authorized any special cleanups, flower plantings, traffic adjustments or overtime shifts for its workers, according to spokeswomen for both the mayor and the Honolulu Police Department. The only Honolulu government agency with specific plans or preparations for the visit is the Parks Department, which was asked for a permit for one Dalai Lama-related event.
“The HPD doesn’t share information on security and protection plan information,” the department said in an email.聽“We can say that聽the HPD will be working with other agencies in providing transportation and site protection for the Dalai Lama during his visit.”
When the Dalai Lama visited Honolulu in 1994, the city declined to provide security. Then-Mayor Frank Fasi said protection was only afforded to visiting dignitaries from U.S. State Department-recognized countries, according to .
(For a detailed history of the Dalai Lama’s visits to Hawaii, read: 32 Years After First Visit, ‘A Simple Monk’ Returns)
Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle plans to greet the Dalai Lama during his visit, but his office said it couldn’t release specific locations or times for the meetings due to security restrictions. The University of Hawaii directed security-related questions to the State Department.
UH Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw will greet the Dalai Lama, welcome him to the campus and attend his talks at the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday and Sunday, the university said. UH President M.R.C. Greenwood and UH leadership will also be in attendance.
UH said ticket sales will help offset expenses, but no profit will be made.
“Any shortfall will be covered by the Omidyar ‘Ohana Fund as well as by in-kind and other support from community partners,” the university said in an email.1
While no roads will be closed, there will be traffic impacts. Both the city and the university said drivers should plan for traffic and parking delays before the public events.
UPDATED for the general public event Sunday, but they are still available for high school and college students Saturday.2 UH Religion Department Graduate Chair and Associate Professor Michel Mohr said he encouraged students in his “Understanding Japanese Religions” (REL 204) class to attend even though the event isn’t directly related to Japan because the event “provides an opportunity for a first-hand discovery of one of聽the major living Buddhist traditions.”
“Students and most of the people tend to be overloaded with information and don’t know how to find what really matters,” Mohr told Civil Beat in an email. “Rather than reading publications or hearing about a much hyped figure, getting a glimpse of the directness, the simplicity, and the humor of the Dalai Lama is worth every minute.”
Not all Buddhists necessarily feel the same way. Calls to a half-dozen temples and missions in the downtown area revealed that some have no specific plans for the Dalai Lama’s visit.
If any local religious organization was going to be particularly excited, it might be Koboji Shingon Mission on School Street. Assistant Minister George Finch said the Dalai Lama spoke recently at the mission’s headquarters in Japan, and that Koboji Shingon’s teachings “are closer to Tibetan Buddhist teachings than some of the other schools” here in Hawaii.
But while some members are going to hear the Dalai Lama speak, there wasn’t enough interest to create a mission-wide event, Finch said. The main activity this weekend? A meditation seminar.
