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'Educating the Heart'

Selected Images From the Dalai Lama's 2009 Visit to Harvard

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Harvard Yard was bright and buzzing on the crisp early morning of April 30, 2009. Just after 10 am, in front of hundreds of audience members inside the Memorial Church—not to mention over 6,000 people who viewed the event live online—His Holiness the Dalai Lama delivered the talk "Educating the Heart," in which he shared his thoughts on how religion and education, while capable of enlightening, can still leave people with uncompassionate hearts. The talk was hosted by Harvard Divinity School (HDS) and the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE).

Members of the Harvard community who were fortunate to have a ticket to hear the talk by the 73-year-old Dalai Lama began lining up before 7 am. Three lines of ticketholders formed just beyond the steps of the Memorial Church, where waist-high metal fencing had been temporarily installed to create an artificial barrier.

In line, a young woman was seated on the ground, clicking away at her laptop. One student ran back to her apartment to fetch her Harvard ID, which she needed to show with her ticket. HDS student Philip Montalbano waited next to his four-legged companion, Tina Belle, a small dog of charcoal, sand, and cream coloring. (They both made it into the church for the Dalai Lama's address.)

The University welcomed the Dalai Lama with expected pageantry. The morning's events, which also included a tree-planting ceremony in Harvard Yard and a private lunch at Loeb House, seemed to unfold with ease. Yet, behind the scenes, the event took many months (and, for some, over a year) of planning to bring together.

Dozens of volunteers from both the HGSE and HDS offered their time to ensure the Dalai Lama's visit to Harvard went as smoothly as possible. Before the doors to the Memorial Church opened, some event volunteers outside were talking among themselves—reviewing once more the procedure for taking tickets. An HGSE staff member, who also works as a part-time bouncer in a local bar, was calmly managing a group of excited guests.

Some ticketholders rocked back in forth as they waited patiently for the church to open at 9 am. Two Harvard Police officers stood at doors and stopped anyone who tried to enter the building while U.S. Department of State diplomatic security personnel and troopers from the Massachusetts State Police completed a security sweep of the building. Inside, once the doors opened to the audience, ushers directed people into pews, gesturing like traffic cops as they motioned to come here, or to go there.

The morning's talk at Harvard was the first event of a four-day tour of Boston and New England. After the lunch at Loeb House, the Dalai Lama was escorted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where a new ethics center was dedicated in his honor. The following day, he spoke at a conference sponsored by Harvard Medical School's Department of Continuing Education. He then closed his four-day visit with a public talk May 2 at Gillette Stadium, titled "The Path to Peace and Happiness."

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