Source: Los Angeles Times

On October 9, 2002 the Los Angeles Times reported that "on their fifth annual tour for world peace and universal compassion, the monks from the Gaden Jangtse Tsawa Khangsten monastery in south-central India have visited dozens of schools, universities, churches, prisons and private homes across North America spreading a message of peace. The tour will end in New Hampshire in February... Students at Oak Grove School [CA]... spent [Tuesday] morning watching eight Tibetan monks perform folkloric dances, engage in spiritual debates and create a colorful sand mandala meant to further compassion, peace and harmony in the world."