Maui Hosts the Dalai Lama, Shows It Is a Special Spiritual Place

 

The 14th Dalai Lama ’Simple model for your own life’
By RICK CHATENEVER, Features Editor

WAILUKU

He has described himself as “a simple monk” of the Tibetan Buddhist faith, yet the message of the 14th Dalai Lama resonates deeply in the Western world, which seems to share few of the same values. Why?

“I think his message of compassion, human understanding, basic human values is universal, and very relevant,” said Tashi Wangdi, the representative accompanying the spiritual and exiled political leader of Tibet who will present public teachings at 2 p.m. today and Wednesday at War Memorial Stadium.

“I think His Holiness’ quality is that he not only tells others about this, but he implements it, he shows it to others in his daily life. Over a period of time, people have accepted him as one of the important spiritual leaders.”

Read the entire article at the Maui News. 

Wedding webcasts engage more interest

Posted 7/17/2006 9:51 PM ET
By Olivia Barker, USA TODAY

Forget stiff folding chairs and church pews: The preferred perch for increasing numbers of wedding guests is their own comfy couch or La-Z-Boy.

Faraway friends and family are plopping down at home to watch couples walk down aisles — and across bandwidth. Like the wedding Web page before it, the wedding webcast has become the latest tech tool for brides and grooms looking to share their big day with as many people as possible.

“Everybody doing weddings now has a videographer, and most (venues) have Internet access, so we thought it was a great marriage, if you will,” says Ariel Andres, whose Dallas-based webcastmywedding.net started offering virtual vow-swaps last year.

“It’s like creating a whole community for your wedding,” says Kathleen Murray, deputy editor of online wedding resource The Knot. She has seen the webcast’s popularity rise the past couple of years and predicts continued growth, along with tech trends like enclosing a highlights DVD with thank-you notes.

The boom in destination weddings (26% of couples wed in towns where neither they nor their parents live, says Bridal Guide magazine) means that even if the list of invitees is long, the list of attendees may not be. Webcasts bridge the gap on the relative cheap, about $400-$750 for a live webcast and up to a month of archived access.

Honeymoon in Vegas: Tying the knot on the Net

Canadian couples discover the benefits
of exchanging vows in Webcast wedding

Monday, February 4, 2002
MELANIE SEAL

When Lori Dickinson and Tyson Reiser walk down the aisle on Wednesday evening, most of their guests will be in pyjamas.

The couple, from Waterloo, Ont., will say their vows in a Las Vegas chapel with 10 of their closest friends and family on hand.

But another 40 or 50 people will be at home, watching the wedding live on the Internet after Ms. Dickinson, 28, and Mr. Reiser, 30, sent out e-mail invitations for the Webcast wedding to family and friends in British Columbia, Calgary and Manitoba. Even great-uncle Bill down East — who probably wouldn’t have made the guest list to a traditional wedding in Waterloo — will be watching.

“We weren’t into spending $20,000 to get married in front of acquaintances,” Ms. Dickinson said.

The couple have latched onto a trend that has married the instant world of the Internet to the world of instant wedding vows in Las Vegas.

Is Your Wedding All About You?

by Stephan Boeker

On the one hand, yes. Your wedding is a symbol of your commitment to a new journey with your sweetheart.

 

This journey started way back, when you threw your first communicative glances and uttered your first tentative words. And it was this chance encounter (or fateful encounter depending on how you see it) that led you through your special moments: your first date; your first movie together; the first time you saw the inside of each other’s homes; the first time you travelled anywhere together.

 

There is a world all your own that only you and your sweetheart share: the little idiosyncrasies you get to know over time; the does, the don’ts; the hopes and dreams.  All of these things create a world of communication all your own and in the end your wedding is an intimate and symbolic gesture to your partner that you are indeed committed to that world.

 

So yes, it is about you.

 

But somewhere along the line other people became intertwined and introduced to the new player in your life (probably right after your first encounter when you told your best friend about the beautiful girl/ handsome guy you met). And from that moment on, there would be an exponential intertwining of lives as word spread throughout the vast network of friends and family on both sides.

 

In some sense, your insolated intimate relationship with one another ended and opened up to a vast new world of connections, people, places, ideas, experiences, etc…

 

Because of your partner, suddenly networks of friends and family intertwine, memories are created and history is made – together!

 

And so, your wedding is really about everyone you love!

 

And statistics show (according to Bridal Association of America) the average number of guests at any of the 2.272 million weddings in the US is: 169 (that’s invited).

 

That’s right, the average wedding has 169 guests in attendance (not including the wedding crashers!), proving that weddings are a celebration not only of your journey with your sweetheart, but also of your love and gratitude for all your loved-ones.

 

All of them play a role in your lives and your wedding is a time to acknowledge and celebrate them along with your sweetheart!

 ************************************************************************

Stephan Boeker is owner and executive producer of Live Maui Webcasts, a company that broadcasts weddings live over the internet to wedding couples’ friends and families all over the world. The average couple who has their wedding in Hawaii will bring only 3 guests, making internet wedding broadcasts the best gift a wedding couple can give their loved-ones back home.