Tibetan Portrait: The Power of Compassion

An award-winning Seattle-based photographer, Phil Borges divides his time between editorial and commercial assignments and documentary projects which focus on different cultures and subcultures. A recent chapter president of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), Borges received the Pacific Northwest Media Inc. Photographer of the Year award in 1992. His work has won numerous awards during his career and is used by editorial and corporate clients worldwide.

His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritual and temporal head of Tibet. Since 1959 he has lived in Dharamsala, India, where he leads the Tibetan government-in-exile. A spokesman for nonviolence, his efforts toward world peace were acknowledged with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. A scholar and writer, his many books include My Land and My People; Kindness, Clarity and Insight; A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night; Ocean of Wisdom; and The World of Tibetan Buddhism: An Overview of its Philosophy and Practice. His wisdom and compassion have served as an inspiration for people all over the world.

Jeffrey Hopkins is a well-known Buddhist scholar and writer. The author of twenty-one books, including Empty Yoga, The Tantra Distinction, and Meditation on Emptiness, he has also introduced, annotated, and edited translations of many Tibetan Buddhist texts. Hopkins has served as the official interpreter for His Holiness the Dalai Lama on many of his U.S. lecture tours. He is currently a professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia.

A well-known writer and scholar, Elie Wiesel was named the Nobel Peace Laureate in 1986. Since 1976 he has been the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities as well as University Professor of religious studies at Boston University.