World Tibet Network News Thursday, June 25, 1998

Representatives of major spiritual organizations have joined prominent figures from the Tibetan community, academia, politics and the arts to create "World Tibet Day" - a new event to be held annually in the beginning of July when the Tibetan community honors the birthday of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. This year, it will take place on Sunday, July 5th in some areas, and July 6 in others.

The goal is to create an event with broad popular appeal that will increase general awareness of Tibetan issues and deepen support for Tibet among the public. It builds on the foundation of the birthday of His Holiness and create a larger event that will capture public imagination and bring wider support to the Tibet movement. His Holiness expressed his pleasure with the event and said that without doubt it will "help create greater awareness about Tibet and the Tibetan people."

The event has two parts: First, an interfaith religious service in the morning at houses of worship around the world, which is being called "An Interfaith Call For Freedom of Worship in Tibet and For Universal Religious Freedom;" Second, a festival in the afternoon which celebrates and supports the culture and religion of Tibet, while affirming the rights of the Tibetan people to religious, cultural and political freedoms. Tibetan communities traditionally have picnics in the afternoon, after having honored His Holiness's birthday in the morning; World Tibet Day is an expansion of those picnics into larger events, intended to attract many more people.

One overall goal of World Tibet Day is to support the Dalai Lama's campaign for peaceful negotiations with China on the future of Tibet. Organizers of World Tibet Day will provide a forum for discussion of political issues, but we have decided to avoid in-your-face political actions, since our goal is to

have the broadest possible appeal to the general public as well as to spiritual and religious leaders in the United States and abroad.

World Tibet Day 1998 will be celebrated at numerous sites in the U.S. and other countries, with the keynote observance on Sunday afternoon, July 5, in New York City on the Great Hill in Central Park (enter the Park at 106th St and Central Park West.).

Anyone wishing to attend or set up an observance elsewhere should first contact the local Tibetan community if there is one in your area, and also contact the ministers, priests, rabbis, of sympathetic religious organizations in your area to see if you can get them interested in observing the Interfaith Call.

(For a packet of interfaith prayers to help get this going, email matagiri@digital.net). Please visit the website at http://worldtibet.modcity.com for more information and updates.