Read RFA coverage of this story in Tibetan.
The Dalai Lama met with Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker at the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader’s residence in Dharamsala in north India on Wednesday.
Whitaker, 63, described the 89-year-old Dalai Lama as “a symbol of peace” and said he wished him good health and a long life.
Accompanied by his daughter Sonnet Noel Whitaker, 28, Whitaker told Radio Free Asia that both of them were deeply grateful and moved after meeting the Dalai Lama.
“It is a great opportunity to get a chance to see him again,” the actor said. “I have met him before but I was overcome with feelings when I saw him today. I just wished him better health and a long life and love. I think he is a symbol of peace.”
Previously, Whitaker met the Dalai Lama in July 2017 during an event hosted by Starkey Hearing Technologies in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. At the time, Whitaker moderated a panel discussion in which the Dalai Lama participated, titled “A Call for Compassion and Conscious Kindness,” along with Starkey owner Bill Austin and Starkey’s chief philanthropy officer, Tani Austin.
During his visit to Dharamsala, Whitaker also met with Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the democratically elected leader of the Central Tibetan Administration in exile, on Tuesday and visited the Tibet Museum and Library of Tibetan Works and Archives on Wednesday.
“I’ve been given a lot of blessings by the Tibetan people and, of course, by His Holiness today,” Whitaker said, using an honorific for the Dalai Lama.
Whitaker also highlighted his work with UNESCO in supporting vulnerable groups globally as UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation and as founder of the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative.
“As UNESCO Special Envoy, we work mostly with youth and women in order to bring stability in their lives and to be able to deal with conflict and also to start businesses with them,” he said. “Because, when people are in need, conflict occurs, so we try to [help out].”
Whitaker has long worked for human welfare, peace, and harmony. In 2011, he was appointed UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation, and in 2014, he was appointed UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation.
The actor’s Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative works jointly with UNESCO in Southern Sudan, Uganda and Mexico, and promotes peace-building and conflict resolution in crisis-affected countries.
His organization has also launched the Conflict Resolution Education program in the U.S., which contributes to the development of youth leadership and cohesion in schools.
Additional reporting by Dickey Kundol and Tenzin Dhonyoe for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Joshua Lipes.