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The Tibetan Sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom in 100,000 Verses

Given the size and scope of the Library of Congress?s collections, it seems that just about any event that can be held in Washington, D.C., potentially could be supplemented by our vast holdings.

Such is the case with a very special visitor this week to the U.S. Capitol.? His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet will be in Washington to receive the Congressional Gold Medal?the nation?s highest civilian honor.? The medal will be presented to him on Oct. 17 in a private ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

The public is invited to attend to a day of Tibetan cultural activities on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol and a speech by the Dalai Lama.

To mark the occasion, the Library of Congress has organized ?Celebrating Tibet,? a display of 40 Tibetan items that will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 16-19, in the Asian Reading Room, located in Room 150 of the Thomas Jefferson Building. Drawn from the Library?s Asian collection of more than 2 million items, the display will include rare and highly decorative Tibetan books from the 17th through 19th centuries and other related materials.

For more information about the Asian collection, visit the Asian Reading Room online or peruse the ?Asian Division Illustrated Guide.? A search on ?Tibet? in the guide will bring up specific information about the Tibetan Collection and selected images. One of these, ?The Tibetan Sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom in 100,000 Verses,? will be included in the display (pictured in this post).

Although his schedule wouldn?t permit a visit to the Library this time around by His Holiness, we are told that he is interested in coming back in the future to see the Library and its collections.

Comments (9)

  1. Very nice touch by the library to honour the Dalai Lama on his visit to DC. I like many other have never meet the man but I’ve seen him interviewed on many occasions and I’m sure he’d appreciate the display. Very down to earth guy.

  2. Wish I were there to see this for real .

  3. Very glad to learn that the Dalai Lama is being honoured in this way :o)
    He is an inspiration to millions around the world.

  4. Its long over due

  5. The Dalai Lama is visiting Canada this week. I don’t think our national archives has put together anything like this. Nice touch to honor the Dalai Lama.

  6. Wish I were there to see this for real too. THX.

  7. I have always wanted to go to tibet I wished I could have made it to this.

  8. Hi! Its has to be a special occasion as 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet visited Washington to receive his Gold Medal. I wish I were there to witness the whole event. I can feel the exictement amongs the people who celebrated this event. But as he is interested in coming back in the future to see the Library and its collections. I will surely try and make it to the occasion next time.
    Thanks a lot.
    Abhishek

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