October 21, 2007
The Indianapolis Star

The Dalai Lama, worldwide leader of Tibetan Buddhism, Nobel Peace
Prize laureate and exiled leader of Tibet, will be making his fifth
visit to Indiana since 1987 this week. So what is his draw to Central
Indiana?

The Dalai's Lama's elder brother, former Indiana University professor
Thubten J. Norbu, founded the Tibetan Cultural Center in Bloomington
in 1979 and still lives there today, although he is an invalid
following a series of strokes.

The center was intended to be a sort of lifeboat for Tibetan Buddhism
and culture, which have been under great stress since the Chinese
invasion of Tibet in 1950 that eventually forced the Dalai Lama into
exile. The Dalai Lama's visits have coincided with various stages in
the center's development, including the dedication of a new temple at
his last visit in 2003.

This visit is the Dalai Lama's first since he appointed Arjia Rinpoche
as the center's new director in 2005 following the center's near
financial ruin. Rinpoche issued the invitation to the Dalai Lama.