HADLEY — Arranged in a semicircle at the Most Holy Redeemer Church parking lot on Monday, Tibetans took a deep breath of juniper-scented air, raised the flour pinched between their fingers and let out their breath in a long, harmonious “om.”
As soon as the third sacred chant ended, they tossed the barley flour, known as tsampa, into the air to create small clouds of joy.
The ritual marked the beginning of western Massachusetts’ observance of the 14th Dalai Lama’s 91st birthday. More than 60 Tibetans gathered at the Regional Tibetan Association of Massachusetts event to enjoy Tibetan song and dance, connect over a meal and conclude the Year of Compassion — a call to action by Central Tibetan Administration encouraging acts of generosity and care around the world.
Year of Compassion Committee member Dhardon Sharling said the Dalai Lama “really transformed how the 21st century world would look at and approach compassion. Not as a philosophy or as something to preach, but something to practice.”
Monday’s gathering was a joyous occasion, but loss weighs heavily on many in the Tibetan community. Four days earlier, Tibetan Lobga Rangzen self-immolated in front of the United Nations building to protest a Chinese law declaring one official ethnicity. The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress states that China’s 56 officially recognized ethnic groups share a common national identity. Human rights groups, however, have criticized the law as a form of forced assimilation.
Many of the same faces at the birthday festival joined Tibetan people around the world in a candlelight vigil and prayer on Friday evening. Year of Compassion Committee member Thondup Tsering said the vigil honored Rangzen’s sacrifice and message to preserve Tibetan cultural identity. That call was put into action in Monday’s ceremony.
“What you see here is the Tibetan flag and the picture of the Dalai Lama,” Tsering said. “In Tibet, if somebody had a picture of the Dalai Lama or the flag, they would be imprisoned. So, for us, our act of protest is to preserve our culture, celebrate our tradition, celebrate our festivals and celebrate the birthday of His Holiness.”
Before speeches began, people gave mandala offerings, a ritual practice of mentally presenting the entire universe to an enlightened being. Each person bowed before the table, then laid a white cloth in front of a Dalai Lama photo.
Most of the ceremony was read in Tibetan and English. Students of the Regional Tibetan Association of Massachusetts Thunme Lekshey School, a Tibetan Sunday school, performed circle dances, sang songs and strummed a Dram-nyen, a lute, to the Tibet national anthem.
University of Massachusetts doctoral student Jade Tang found the festivities meaningful. Originally from Hong Kong, Tang came to the birthday celebration at the encouragement of Sharling, her communications professor at UMass, to witness the cultural tradition of a diasporic community.
Tang noticed that the Regional Tibetan Association of Massachusetts acted as “cultural brokers,” bringing their traditions to the community while inviting western ideas, like the United States’ national anthem, into the ceremony.
Looking around at all the decor, Tang said “the Dalai Lama is a symbol of freedom for Tibet and (Tibetan) people who are looking for a new place to live in outside of their homeland.”
Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra reflected on the Dalai Lama’s influence on the city, pointing to recent events that highlighted his teachings. The documentary “Mission: Joy — Finding Happiness in Troubled Times” was screened at the Academy of Music, while the photography exhibition “Oneness of Humanity” brought images of the Dalai Lama and his teachings to the hallways of Northampton City Hall.
“Northampton, like communities around the world, have been enriched by (these) cultural celebrations and exhibitions and the conversations,” Sciarra said.
The Regional Tibetan Association of Massachusetts highlighted these actions in a short documentary called “Year of Compassion: Massachusetts Tribute to the Dalai Lama at 90.” The documentary encompasses all the acts of kindness in Hampshire County since 2025, including a Walk For Tibet, the 43-mile March for the Food Bank and a sand mandala art piece exhibited at UMass.
“The message of compassion has reached thousands of people,” Regional Tibetan Association of Massachusetts President Yonten Gyatso said. “We are proud that [our] small community has been able to make up meaningful contributions towards the sharing and solidest missions of a kinder, more compassionate world.”
The root word of compassion originates from the French and Latin words for suffering, state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, said. It is a linguistic reminder that empathy requires an understanding of pain.
Sabadosa highlights Rangzen’s self-immolation as an act of compassion by physically barring the suffering of his people to the international community. But there are other ways to show compassion without such extreme measures, and its seen in the actions of Regional Tibetan Association of Massachusetts.
“I want to hope that no one else will have to make a sacrifice to suffer as he did,” Sabadosa said. “There are better ways, and you, with the beauty of your acts of service and your kindness, exemplify those.”
“It’s a reminder to keep fighting for the cause,” Regional Tibetan Association of Massachusetts Secretary Tenzin Nyima said. “We have so much freedom in exile, but we are still fighting for our brothers and sisters inside Tibet.”
