Victor Chan

Victor Chan (born 1945) is a Hong-Kong-born Canadian writer and physicist. Founder of the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education, Chan has known the 14th Dalai Lama since 1972. Co-author with him of two essays, he also wrote a guide of pilgrimage to Tibet. He lives in Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada.

Biography

Victor Chan was born in 1945 in Hong Kong which he left at the age of 20 years. He continued his education in Canada and the United States. He performed his graduate studies at the Enrico Fermi Institute of the University of Chicago in the field of particle physics. Victor Chan became a close friend of the Dalai Lama. He returned in 1990 and traveled some of the main paths of sacred Tibetan pilgrimage, including Kailash, Tsari and Lapchi, the 3 most sacred mountains. Professor Michael Aris wrote that this is the most detailed and comprehensive guide to Tibet, a landmark work of a worthy successor of the great explorers of the nineteenth century.

For this book, The Wisdom of Forgiveness, originally published in English in 2004, and translated into 14 languages. Victor Chan has recorded hundreds of hours in the company of the Dalai Lama, following him in his travels around the world for conferences and Buddhist ceremonies, and realized dozens of daily interviews at his residence in Dharamsala, India, observing, discussing with him When the Dalai Lama was asked why he allowed Chan to follow his life so closely, he explained: "His parents are Chinese. He grew up in Western atmosphere, but he is Chinese. I always believe in understanding. The Chinese living in America, it is very, very important to have one single Chinese, to have close contact, and a better understanding of Tibetans. Whenever they find opportunities to meet Chinese brothers and sisters showing interest in me and Tibet, to tell them the truth. I'm very happy. Secondly, (Victor) came to Dharamsala several meetings, on a few occasions he showed very strong emotions, so that means he's very sincere, not artificial, not cheating. Heart sincerity, that's important". From the book, the two men are good friends. at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts Vancouver on the theme of peace and reconciliation. He invited the Dalai Lama to Canada where his last visit had 10 years previously. Two other Nobel laureates, Desmond Tutu, a longtime friend of the Dalai Lama, and Shirin Ebadi, gave each a conference. Václav Havel, another longtime friend of the Dalai Lama initially invited, canceled his visit at the last minute due to medical reason. Paul Ekman, who attended the event in the public reports that Dr. Jo-Ann Archibald, Indian North America, and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi also pronounced a speech. Canadian Anglican Bishop Michael Ingham was moderator of the discussion that closed the conference. Pico Iyer, who attended the conference as a journalist, wrote a detailed account of it in his book The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Victor Chan founded the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education in Vancouver in 2005. Victor Chan married East German landscape designer Suzanne Martin around 1994 with whom he had two daughters, Kira and Lina.,

Publications

Books

2013 : with the 14th Dalai Lama, The Wisdom of Compassion: Stories of Remarkable Encounters and Timeless Insights, Riverhead, The Wisdom of Forgiveness: Intimate Conversations and Journeys New York: Riverhead Books, 2004 Tibet Handbook: A Pilgrimage Guide, Moon Travel Handbooks, 1994,

Articles and book chapters

A Tale of Two Chinese Cities, in Exile as Challenge: The Tibetan Diaspora, Dagmar Bernstorff, Hubertus von Welck, Orient Blackswan, 2003, , pp. 101–106. Appendix (Buddhism in British Columbia) in Buddhism in Canada, Bruce Matthews, Psychology Press, 2006, , pp. 24–26. At Home With the Dalai Lama, Septembre 2013, Shambhala Sun.