Dalai Lama to Visit New Orleans

Arriving this afternoon

Less than a week after a shooting on Mother's Day that wounded 19 people and rocked New Orleans, the city is playing host to a gentle Asian man bringing a message of peace, interdependence and reconciliation. That man, a figure clad in maroon and saffron robes, is the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of about 8 million Tibetan Buddhists, and he will be speaking Friday and Saturday to jam-packed arenas.

Among those in his audience will be 19 residents of the 7th Ward, where the Mother's Day shooting occurred. Even though the Dalai Lama's appearances were sold out for months, organizers found 19 tickets and delivered them Wednesday afternoon, said Ronald Marks, the dean of Tulane University's School of Social Work, which is the host organization for the Dalai Lama's first visit to New Orleans.