Dalai Lama to return to Rochester for routine medical exam

By Matt Russell

The Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

Dalai Lama in Rochester
2006: Spoke on the topic of "Compassion in the Face of Suffering" to around 360 Mayo Clinic staff members while at Mayo for a routine physical examination.
2008: Spoke at a private, day-long event titled "Investigating the Mind-Body Connection: The Science and Clinical Applications of Meditation" sponsored by Mayo and the Colorado-based Mind and Life Institute. Also received a checkup at Mayo.
2009: Spoke to hundreds of Tibetans at the Saint Marys Hospital chapel while in Rochester for a checkup at Mayo.
2010: Expected to receive a routine physical examination in Rochester, according to two leaders in the Twin Cities Tibetan community.
Just weeks after marking his 50th year in exile from Tibet, the Dalai Lama is expected to arrive soon in Rochester for a short, medical-related visit, according to two leaders in Minnesota's Tibetan community.
"I think this is a routine physical check that he does, nothing beyond that," said Tsewang Ngodup, president of the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota.
The Dalai Lama has received routine checkups at Mayo Clinic since at least 2006. A Mayo spokesman said he had no information to share on the Tibetan leader, but Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota vice president Dawa K. Waleag said the Dalai Lama is expected to arrive in Rochester a day or two before his Sunday talk at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.



The Dalai Lama, 74, whose birth name is Tenzin Gyatso, is in Indiana until Friday as he starts a two-week U.S. visit. He has no events scheduled Saturday or Monday, according to his official website. On Tuesday he's scheduled to speak in Cedar Falls, Iowa, which is about 100 miles south of Rochester.
The Dalai Lama's visit to Rochester would be at least the fourth time he's come here since 2006. Three previous visits happened in April and included routine physical examinations.
The Buddhist leader spoke at private events attended primarily by Mayo Clinic employees in 2006 and in 2008, when Chinese protesters greeted him as tensions flared in Tibet. Last year he spoke for about 40 minutes to hundreds of Tibetans at the Saint Marys Hospital chapel.
The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate has no scheduled public appearances in Rochester. Neither Ngodup nor Waleag expect he will meet with large groups of Tibetans in Rochester. Hundreds of Tibetans plan to travel from Minnesota to Madison for the Dalai Lama's appearance there, however, Ngodup said.
A group of Cambodian Buddhist monks living in Rochester met briefly with the Dalai Lama during his 2008 visit, but no such meeting has been arranged for this visit to Rochester, said Tracy Sam, an active member of the local Cambodian Buddhist community.
Having the Dalai Lama in the area is a profound experience for Tibetans, Ngodup said.
"All the Tibetans consider him their leader, spiritual as well as temporal," he said. "That's at times hard to to describe."
The Dalai Lama is believed to be the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, who died in 1933. The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Bodhisattvas are believed to be enlightened beings who have chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity.