Dalai Lama cancels visit to UCLA, but afternoon symposium will go on as scheduled
By Daniel Schonhaut
May 2, 2011 12:53 a.m.
A planned visit to UCLA by His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been canceled.
The Dalai Lama was scheduled to participate in a lecture Monday morning and a symposium in the afternoon, but he is unable to travel because of illness, according to a university statement.
The 75-year-old Tibetan religious leader is said to have delayed his flight to Los Angeles from Tokyo at the advice of his doctors. He is currently recovering from a sore throat, according to a statement by a Dalai Lama spokesman.
Ticket holders for the morning lecture have been notified, and refunds have been offered.
The afternoon symposium, titled “Buddhism and Neuroscience: A Discussion on Attention, Mental Flexibility and Compassion,” will proceed without the Dalai Lama, according to the university statement.
The event, to be held in Royce Hall at 1:30 p.m., will feature three UCLA neuroscientists, a translator for the Dalai Lama and a Columbia University professor.
Chris Gurley, a second-year history student, bought tickets to the morning lecture with his girlfriend and a few friends.
Student tickets sold out fast, but Gurley showed up at the Central Ticket Office early ““ around 7:30 a.m.
“(The Dalai Lama) spoke at Berkeley about two years ago, and I had some friends who saw him and said it was incredible, so I was really looking forward to (the lecture),” Gurley said.
When he got back to his room Sunday afternoon after a day spent studying, Gurley’s roommates broke the bad news to him.
“At first I didn’t believe them,” he said.
It was disappointing news, although Gurley said he realizes there is little else that could have been done.
“He’s an old guy and he’s sick, so what can you do?” he said.
There are no plans to reschedule the Dalai Lama’s appearance in the near future, according to a UCLA spokeswoman.
