Message of aloha

The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet will make a four-day visit to Honolulu next week that organizers hope will give the Dalai Lama lessons about Hawaii to share with the world.

The visit will also mean heavy traffic and tight security reminiscent of last year’s APEC conference and President Barack Obama’s annual Christmas vacation here.

Two public events on April 14 and April 15 have been announced at the University of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center and there might be more, said Kelvin Taketa, president and CEO of the Hawaii Community Foundation, which is sponsoring the visit by Tenzin Gyatso, better known as the Dalai Lama.

The Hawaii Community Foundation on Wednesday would not disclose when the Dalai Lama will arrive on Oahu from his headquarters in India, where he will stay on Oahu or when he will depart for San Diego, citing security concerns.

He will be in Honolulu for four days, Taketa said.

“His visit here is to allow him an opportunity to learn more about Hawaii and our cultural traditions — specifically around the host culture — and to engage with community leaders,” Taketa said.

The Dalai Lama’s public appearances, Taketa said, will be “really more like a conversation and a dialogue than just speeches. … Our hope is that when he leaves Hawaii he will see Hawaii as a beacon of hope around these issues of tolerance and civility that are really lacking in our world right now.”

Helene McDowell has seen the Dalai Lama four times at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she works as a researcher, and thinks it’s likely he will use his Hawaii visit for future presentations.

McDowell, 51, said she is flying to Honolulu next week specifically to see the Dalai Lama for a fifth time.

“The teachings of the aloha spirit through peace and compassion — I think he would carry that forward,” McDowell said. “When His Holiness speaks elsewhere, he often talks about Madison and the things that have happened to him here.”

The Dalai Lama is visiting Oahu at the invitation of Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay and a Hawaii philanthropist.

Omidyar was traveling and unavailable for comment Wednesday, Taketa said. Omidyar and his wife, Pam, have become friends with the Dalai Lama after sitting on several panels together, Taketa said.

“It’s very unusual for him (the Dalai Lama) to come to a place and spend four days,” Taketa said. “In part, it’s because of his personal relationship with Pierre and Pam. They’ve struck up a great friendship. The Omidyars are recognized globally as leading philanthropists around peace and human conflicts. … It’s through their global peace work as philanthropists that they’ve forged this great relationship.”

Some of the funding for the Dalai Lama’s visit is coming from a grant from the Omidyar Ohana Fund, as well as from foundations and private donors, Taketa said.

More than half of the tickets for the April 14 event are free for high school and college students. The paid tickets are designed to help defray the costs of the free tickets, Taketa said.

The total cost of the Dalai Lama’s visit has yet to be calculated, Taketa said, “but there will be no profit.”

As a requirement of the Dalai Lama, organizers will make a public disclosure of the costs of his visit on April 15, Taketa said.

Sharon Suzuki of Salt Lake, a practicing Buddhist, will see the Dalai Lama for the first time on April 15 — a gift for her 52nd birthday.

Suzuki already knows she won’t be allowed to bring her cellphone and bag into the Stan Sheriff Center and she’s ready to arrive three hours early to get through traffic and security.

But after checking out library CDs and books on the Dalai Lama’s teachings, Suzuki believes the logistical hassles will be worth the opportunity “to see him in person. There’s nothing more exciting than that.”

“He teaches that you can actively bring peace to the world by what you do,” Suzuki said. “It’s very exciting to have this chance to see him in person and bring that to the forefront of people’s minds. Peace is something we hope for, but you don’t really believe you can do something about it. But you can. The Dalai Lama can make everybody else believe that each and every one of us can do the same.”

Joan Pan, 30, of Kaimuki hopes to see the Dalai Lama at a private event just before she also gets to hear him speak at the Stan Sheriff Center on April 15.

“I want to walk away with a warm feeling of hope,” Pan said.

For people who might complain about traffic and security delays, Pan said, “They don’t understand the importance of what he’s offering us: Caring for others and tolerance.”

After November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and December’s annual holiday vacation by the president and the first family, Taketa said Honolulu drivers should be prepared for similar delays, with the Dalai Lama traveling with his own private security force and protected by Honolulu police and U.S. federal agents.

“There’s going to be significant security,” Taketa said. “And there will be some short traffic delays. But I don’t think it’s going to be as significant as APEC.”