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Jalue Dorjee is believed to be the reincarnation—a tuklu—of a Tibetan Buddhist lama who died in Switzerland six years ago, and the eighth incarnation of the original lama who was born in 1655. Born in 2006 and discovered, through divination by high lamas, as a tuklu in 2009, Dorjee will likely leave his Columbia Heights home in five years or so to study and live in an Indian monastery.

Dechen Wangmo, the child’s mother, tells Allie Shah, writing for the Star Tribune of dreams she had while carrying him:

“One night, an elephant appeared with several little ones around it, she said. They merged into the small prayer room in the family home. Once inside, they vanished.”

Shah also reports the boy’s father, Dorje Tsegyal, having “vivid, symbolic dreams” including that of “many lamas surrounded by tall sunflowers.” When a high lama visited the Tibetan community in the Twin Cities, Tsegyal told him of his dreams. The high lama had “magical dreams” that night including one of seeing “huge tigers, one in each room of the family home.” Tibetan Buddhists consider tigers to be a good omen and a sign of protection and strength. After a series of divinations by different high lamas, the Dalai Lama officially recognized Dorjee as the reincarnation of Taksham Nueden Dorjee and gave him the formal lama name of Tenzin Gyurme Trinley Dorjee on 6 January 2009.

For almost as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to travel down the Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans in a houseboat. The older I got the further up my bucket list it traveled.

The desire didn’t come from reading Mark Twain, although doing so added fuel to the fire. Rather, the idea came from always having a boat; and always having the freedom that boat represented.

A couple of weeks ago, my dream of puttering down the Mississippi River to New Orleans took a giant step forward when I was introduced to The Shine On of the Port of Winona.

The Shine On, docked, from the stern.

The Shine On, docked, from the bow.

The Shine On, docked, starboard side.

The Shine On, cabin interior (partial).

The Shine On is a 1960 Whitcraft steel hull houseboat built in Winona, MN. I spent more than five hours on her with Steve, my Chinese medicine doctor; Dick one of his oldest friends; Catherine, his companion; Will, her son; and Mark, the boat’s owner and Dick’s son in law puttering just south of Lock and Dam No. 5 to Fountain City, WI and back.

I grew up with boats, but they were both on a lake I knew intimately. Rivers—and especially working rivers like the Mississippi—are completely different.

River navigation is easy in the main channel; just stay between the markers. But back water river navigation is where things get fun. I learned about how to spot wing dams and that the Mississippi’s back channels change every year. Landing and docking is also more of a challenge: The boat’s much bigger, and there are river currents and usually wind with which to contend.

Then there are closing dams, bank protection devices, sandbars, driftwood, barge wakes, and weird waves produced when the wind blows up-current.

The part of the upper Mississippi around Winona is quite shallow—about nine feet deep, requiring dredging annually—and The Shine On is the perfect river boat, drawing only 12 inches of water. The Shine On’s original big Chrysler twin inboards have long ago been replaced, currently with a 90 horsepower Mariner. It’s enough to putter—even upstream—at about a third of full trottle.

The best part of The Shine On is that it’s pure river rat. To get to her slip you have to crawl on top of an old picnic table that holds up the end of the first section of dock, across two more shaky sections of dock to get to the stable dock that’s actually in the water. No shore power, water, or dumping station. It couldn’t be more perfect, and at a slip fee of US$400 per year just south of Lock and Dam 5, it really couldn’t be better. The Shine On even has a salvaged fiberglass flybridge salvaged from a 1970s or 1980s fiberglass monstrosity.

The Shine On, docked..

Steve Jobs was five months younger than me. More than a few of our generation were more interested in blowing up computers (they held the draft board records) than in demanding access to them. Until the Apple ][.

In June 2005, Jobs delivered “How to live before you die” as the 114th commencement address at Stanford.

Minnesota has the second largest Tibetan community in the US (New York is the largest) and it’s been 10 years since the Dalai Lama‘s last major visit to the state. This visit was especially important because he’s 75 years old and preparing for his passing. On 14 March 2011 he retired as head of the Tibetan government in exile.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was recognized as the current reincarnation of the Dalai Lama in 1937 when he was two years old. As the spiritual leader of the Gelug Tibetan Buddhists, he’s lived in exile in Dharamsala, India since 1959 when the Chinese occupied Tibet and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his work to end Chinese rule of his home country. He’ll likely be the first Dalai Lama to die in exile. It’s doubtful that the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama will be recognized by the Chinese as the Chinese government has claimed the power to approve all high monks and name all high reincarnations. Importantly, the Dalai Lama has stated publicly and repeatedly that if Tibet is not free he will reincarnate somewhere else, outside of Tibet. He’s also said that he may be the last Dalai Lama.

It was an especially important visit for me because I’ve had end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and been a dialysis patient for more than 11 years and more recently suffered heart failure related to a damaged atrial valve. So, I was really looking forward to both public sessions with the Dalai Lama, especially the first, “Medicine Buddha Empowerment.” It was a teaching, cultural, and spiritual ceremony tied into the launch of the University of Minnesota’s Tibetan Healing initiative.

The Dalai Lama’s visit was co-sponsored by the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota (TAFM) and the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality & Healing.

As a former employee of the University for more than four years, I know first-hand how the institution tends to steamroll its “partners” in events like this and the Dalai Lama’s visit, “One Heart, One Mind, One Universe,” was no exception. Staged in a University athletic facility—in this case, Mariucci Arena, the hockey rink and the closest thing to sacred space on the campus—the institution and its Center for Spirituality and Healing couldn’t be bothered to install an adequate public address system.

Apparently the sole microphone used for the Dalai Lama “flipped” and they opted not to interrupt to adjust it. Or at least that’s the story I got when I inquired why anyone in our section (Section 8, Row 23, Seats 3-4) were unable to hear a word uttered by His Holiness. Except they did indeed interrupt and it didn’t help, as evidenced by our being unable to hear his interpreter/translator either.

And the open concession stands—gracefully limited to the facilities owned and operated by the University, of course—was an especially nice touch. It was disconcerting to concentrate on absorbing the Dalai Lama’s teaching while folks milled around munching on hot dogs and popcorn.

As my friend and one-time employer, Nina Utne, mentioned afterward, maybe it was a lesson in non-attachment; just not the lesson I was expecting.

The incompetence and disregard from the University and its Center for Spirituality & Healing was a disgrace to His Holiness and an embarrassment for the state of Minnesota. Because of this, I’m publicly calling for the University of Minnesota and its Center for Spirituality & Healing to disgorge an appropriate level of the revenue obtained from ticket sales to the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota for whatever use it and its community sees fit.

Update: Tuesday, 10 May 2011 12:09PM CDT: To be absolutely clear, the revenue realized by University of Minnesota and its Center for Spirituality & Healing from the Dalai Lama’s visit is not inconsiderable. Karen and I paid US$245 to the Northrop Ticket Office on 18 October 2010 for the tickets. Predictably, the University sold advertising on the back of each ticket—to our health insurer.

Sue McLean announced the lineup for her most excellent Music in the Zoo series this morning and I’m pretty excited in that both Los Lobos and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones are included. Season packages get revealed on Monday 11 April and go on sale Friday 22 April. Individual shows go on sale for FlexPerks members three days earlier, on Tuesday 19 April through Ticketmaster.

Liking all kinds of music, there’s nothing on the entire season’s bill that I wouldn’t be interested in seeing except for the two Monkees shows. So, from top to botton, here are my notes for winnowing the shows I’m considering down to those you can expect to find Karen and me at this year.

The first show on the lineup that catches my eye is James Cotton and Charlie Musselwhite. I’d really like to see this one, and if it’s in a package, I’ll bite, but probably can’t afford it on its own.

Next up is Nanci Griffith on Saturday, 25 June (US$38). I’m wishing this was an “Evening with…” show (multiple sets), but I’ll take what I can get. Griffith is a wonderful songwriter with an, um, unmistakable voice.

I’d like to see Dark Star Orchestra—but I’d like to know which Grateful Dead show they’d be recreating beforehand. While every Dead show was better than no Dead show, some (and some eras) were distinctly better than others. It’s on Monday, 27 June (US$29), and I wouldn’t be able to make it on time for the opener because of dialysis, but if it’s in a package, I’m in.

Next up is Taj Mahal on Wednesday, 29 June (US$47). The last couple of Taj Mahal shows I’ve seen were phoned in, but he’s pushing 70, still up there, and still has it. Add Mavis Staples to the mix and this one could be a standout.

Thursday, 30 June brings Matisyahu and the Dickinson brothers of the North Mississippi Allstars (US$40). I’ve never seen Matisyahu, and not sure what to think. This one’s on the bubble; add it to an attractive package and it’s a go. If the Dickinson brothers were on the bill alone, it’d be a must-see.