San Jose Monks Await Dalai Lama

April 24, 2007

Author: Mike Cassidy

Source: Contra Costa Times

http://www.contracostatimes.com/bayandstate/ci_5738610

Thupten Donyo's business is all about calm, but this, well, this is testing even the Tibetan monk's sense of serenity.

It's just days before Donyo and the four other monks from his tiny San Jose monastery will host a Bay Area visit by the Dalai Lama.

Yes. The Dalai Lama. Nobel Prize winner. Head of state in exile. Spiritual leader of millions. The man who carries the keys to enlightenment, peace and harmony.

"The teaching topic has changed," Donyo said, punching his left palm with his right fist.

An e-mail had just arrived at the monks' three-bedroom home from the Dalai Lama's people. His Holiness had a new subject for his San Francisco teach-in Friday and Saturday -- meaning the 5,500 glossy books that Donyo had printed would be useless.

"$35,000 in printing," Donyo noted.