About Tibet

  • Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

  • Added: (2009-06-24 03:31:35)

  • The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (OHHDL), known in Tibetan as Kuger Yigtsang, is the personal office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It provides secretarial assistance to His Holiness and broadly speaking, is responsible for all matters related to His Holiness and acts on His behalf.

       1. OHHDL's major responsibilities
       2. His Holiness's Meeting Categories
              * Public Audiences
              * Private Audiences
              * Media Interviews
       3. Teachings
       4. Invitations
       5. Contact Address

    For teaching schedule of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, please visit the official site of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama: www.dalailama.com

    Among OHHDL's major responsibilities are:

       1. Organization of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's schedule, including appointments and His travels within India and to different parts of the world;
       2. Handling all diplomatic, governmental and personal correspondence, on behalf of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
       3. Acting as the liaison between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and officials of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.

    When His Holiness is in Dharamsala, His schedule includes His daily religious practice as well as handlings matters relating to the Tibetan Government-in-Exile that needs His attention. This includes meetings with members of the Kashag (Cabinet) as well as senior Tibetan governmental officials. In addition to these, His Holiness takes the time to meet with as many people as possible.

    Although in the initial years His Holiness had a flexible and relaxed schedule, with increased travel programs throughout the world since the mid-eighties the workload at OHHDL has also increased tremendously.

    Meetings with His Holiness are generally divided into three categories: a) public audiences; b) private audiences; and c) media interviews.)

    Public Audiences

    When His Holiness is in Dharamsala, OHHDL organizes opportunities for public audiences at regular intervals. The date and timing of these meetings are decided as the situation permits and are normally done at short notice, two or three days before the actual audience.

    During public audiences, individuals have the opportunity of greeting His Holiness in a receiving line. Given the nature of the meeting, individuals are not permitted to bring any articles, including bags, cameras or books, with them.

    The Tibetan Branch Security Office [Tel: (01892) 21560] located in McLeod Ganj (near Hotel Tibet) coordinates requests for the public audience. People attending these public audiences need to register in person at the Tibetan Branch Security Office. Foreign tourists need to bring their passports at the time of registration. The registration forms then need to be brought to the venue at the time of the audience for identification purposes.

    Private Audiences

    Requests for private audiences are carefully screened and studied. Applicants are asked to provide detailed information on themselves as well as the specific reasons why they want to see His Holiness. Private audiences are usually scheduled three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In general requests for individual meetings need to be made far in advance. We will be unable to entertain requests made at short notice.

    Media Interviews

    His Holiness also takes the opportunity to interact with members of the media. As there are many requests for private audiences we try to limit media interviews to one during an audience day. Members of the media need to submit their requests far in advance to provide time for their review by the Special Review Committee and if approved for scheduling.

    Teachings

    His Holiness gives several major Buddhist teachings throughout the year, both in India and abroad. For the latest schedule of His Holiness' public teachings, we recommend that you contact either www.tibet.com or www.tibet.net

    Invitations

    His Holiness the Dalai Lama tries to accommodate as many requests as possible for His participation in events throughout the world. These include invitations for various religious, social, cultural and political events. For those individuals or organizations outside of India who wish to invite His Holiness we encourage them to send their invitations through the office of the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (also known as the Office of Tibet) in their region. Since the representative offices are responsible for organizing the visits of His Holiness in their area, they would be in a position to provide more information about the feasibility of the requests. Upon acceptance of the invitations, OHHDL coordinates with the representative office the schedule of His Holiness the Dalai Lama during His trip.

    Contact Address

    Secretary
    Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
    Thekchen Choeling
    P.O. McLeod Ganj - 176219
    Dharamshala, H.P.
    India
    Tel: +91-1892-221343, 221879
    Fax: +91-1892-221813
    Email: ohhdl@dalailama.com