Vision Cafe December 2007
The Tibet Gift House
On Adams Avenue in San Diego, there is an unpretentious, little blue house. A stream of colorful Tibetan prayer flags waves playfully in the breeze along the walkway leading up to the front door, inviting the curious to come see what is inside. This is the Tibet Gift House, opened three years ago as a way to educate the community in San Diego about Tibetan culture as well as support Tibetan refugees living in South India, Nepal and elsewhere. Everything sold at the Tibet Gift House, from embroidered jackets to jewelry, is hand-crafted by Tibetan refugees, who have been without a home country since Chinese occupation began in 1959. The majority of Tibetans (six million individuals) still live under Chinese rule in Tibet. Another one million refugees live in exile outside of the country—mostly in Southern India. Part of the profits from Gift House sales go to help and support these refugees.
The Tibet Gift House is the brainchild of Jhampa Kalsang, PhD. Dr. Kalsang lived for twenty-seven years in Dharamsala, India and graduated from the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute of H.H. the Dalai. He taught at the Institute for twelve years before venturing abroad. His travels took him to lecture in various parts of Europe including Italy, France, Germany and Spain. In 1998, he came to the United States to speak at the first Tibetan Medical Conference held in Washington, D.C. He then went on to teach at Columbia, Princeton and elsewhere in North America before making San Diego his home. He is one of the first traditional Tibetan professional Astro-Science practitioners in the West.
Dr. Kalsang’s goal for opening the Gift House is two-fold. The first is to help the Tibetan people by selling their unique, handmade artwork and crafts. The second is to educate others about Tibetan culture, not only through the items he sells in the store, but also through classes, guest speakers and Tibetan astrological readings, which are based not only on the alignment of the cosmos, but on the principles of karma as well. He also counsels individuals from all walks of life using Tibetan Buddhist concepts of non-violence and helping others.
“Recently, there was a young marine who was sent to Iraq,” says Kalsang. “He had an inspiration that he was doing something good for his country [but] when he got to Baghdad, what he saw didn’t match his ideal. Then his buddy was killed in front of him by a small kid. He could not shoot the kid. I said [to him], “Think in a positive way. The people who died at the time…you cannot bring [them] back. But you did not kill that kid. Even though he killed your brother, you did not kill. Karma-wise, you did a good thing.”
Dr. Kalsang’s vision is to someday open a Tibetan Cultural Center. Until then, the Tibet Gift House is a rich resource in Southern California for education on all things Tibetan—and also a great place to shop for the holidays! -NLP
On December 8th, join the Tibet Gift House in celebrating their third anniversary and the Peace Prize awarded to the Dalai Lama. Potluck party begins at 5pm.Also, join them the first week in January for workshops by Gelug Scholar Geshe Jinpa Sonam. The Tibet Gift House is located at 2889 Adams Avenue in San Diego. For more information, call 619.281.7888 or visit www.tibetgifthouse.com.