Dalai Lama planning visit to Sun Valley this fall

SUN VALLEY, Idaho – The Dalai Lama plans to visit Sun Valley for the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Organizers of next September’s trip by the Nobel Prize-winning spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists will address a general audience, conduct private meetings, speak at a press conference and talk to invited corporate leaders about ethics in business.

Kiril Sokoloff, a financial researcher from Ketchum who says he’s a personal friend of the Dalai Lama, said a formal invitation to Idaho was offered by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne.

Kempthorne said in his letter that he wanted Idaho’s children to meet with the man considered by his followers to be the 14th in a line of Dalai Lamas. He’s said to be the incarnation of Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion.

The Dalai Lama has agreed to hold a special session with kids during the visit to Sun Valley, said Sokoloff, president of 13D Research, which is based in Ketchum and Boca Raton, Fla.

During his stay, he’ll bless a prayer wheel that’s due to stay remain in Sun Valley. Tibetan prayer wheels, also called Mani wheels, are devices believed by Buddhists to spread spiritual blessings and well-being.

Born Lhamo Dhondup on July 6, 1935, to a peasant family, the Dalai Lama was recognized at the age of 2 as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.

He received the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global human rights and his efforts to free his country from Chinese rule.