BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Friends of the Dalai Lama's nephew and fellow Buddhists who never met him gathered Tuesday evening to mark his death amid rhythmic chanting of monks and pealing bells at the southern Indiana Tibetan center his father founded.
About 40 people sat on maroon cushions aligned in rows on the floor of the ornately decorated shrine room of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in a heavily wooded area on the outskirts of Bloomington. Center director Arjia Rinpoche led three other monks through a series of prayers before a framed photograph of Jigme K. Norbu lit by three burning candles.
Norbu was killed Monday when he struck by an SUV along a Florida highway during a 300-mile walk to promote Tibet's independence from China.
Rinpoche told the gathering that Norbu began leading a growing number of walks for Tibet after his father, Taktser Rinpoche, died in 2008. He called him a good person who had worked to promote Tibet's culture and its plight under communist rule.
"I feel very sorry about this loss," he said before leading prayers in a room filled with brightly colored murals and a polished brass sculpture of Buddha and smaller brass sculptures of Buddhist deities.
Those who attended the service bowed their heads and swayed slightly at times, as Rinpoche and the other monks chanted and prayed during much of the hour-long service.
Mary Pattison, a Bloomington resident who worked for Norbu's father as an assistant, helping with the center's mailings and other tasks over the years, said she was stunned by his death at the age of 45. She said Norbu and his two brothers were close to their father, a professor of Tibetan studies at Indiana University, but Norbu had shown a strong interest in furthering the Tibetan cause.
"He was so full of life, full of energy, and very, very dedicated to his father. And of course his father was very dedicated to the Tibetan cause. He grew up drinking that in. And then as he grew older he started to follow in his father's footsteps," she said. "He was carrying forth, carrying the torch for his father."
China claims Tibet as part of its territory, but many Tibetans say Chinese rule deprives them of religious freedom. Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, of pushing for Tibetan autonomy and fomenting anti-Chinese protests.
Turkey-born artist Filiz Cicek, who is preparing for exhibit at the center, said before the prayer service that while Norbu's death is a tragedy, it has meaning because it happened while he was spreading the word about the need for Tibetan independence.
"It's a noble death for a noble cause," she said.
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