World Tibet Network News Wednesday, May 06, 1998

From: Tsering Yangdon

On Sunday, May 2, the Princeton Area Friends of Tibet (PAFT) held a prayer ceremony for Thupten Ngodup, the 60 year old ex-Buddhist monk who died recently for Tibet. The ceremony was held near the Peace Pole and an orange colored azalea bush which was planted 2 years ago in commemoration of the Independence for Tibet March when it passed through Princeton.

Members of the public, the Coalition for Peace Action and faculty from the religion department of Princeton University also attended the ceremony to pray for Thupten Ngodup, for the success of the six hunger strikers in New Delhi and for an end to the suffering of the Tibetan people under Chinese rule.

Earlier on April 25 the Drepung Loeseling monks who were on tour in Princeton, said prayers for Thupten Ngodup and the hunger strikers during a community fair attended by over 10,000 people. The monks also created a sand mandala while PAFT members circulated petitions to UN Secretary General on behalf of the hunger strikers and to Chinese President Jiang Ze-Min asking

for the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama. "Missing Person" posters of the Panchen Lama were also posted all over town and distributed to people at the community fair.