Dalai Lama’s nephew killed on Florida highway during peace walk

”De gay dak gi tu pa tu ...” rang from the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center as the Bloomington Buddhist community chanted the Heart Sutra in Jigme Norbu’s memorial service Tuesday.

Norbu, a Bloomingtion resident, activist for the liberation of Tibet, son of the founder of the TMBCC and the Dalai Lama’s nephew was hit and killed Monday by a vehicle in Florida. He was walking for Floridians’ awareness of the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

“Like his father, he worked to preserve the Tibetan culture,” said Arjia Rinpoche, the director of the TMBCC, as he lead the memorial service. “He was a very good person.”

After sacred chanting and prayers by the monks, attendees gathered in the foyer and shared their memories of Norbu.

“He dedicated his last years to his father’s work,” Nordu’s assistant Mary Pattison said. “He was so alive and animated ... I remember when he would drive me to work when it would snow. He was just so very energetic.”

Some of the mourners had helped Norbu with his walks in the Bloomington area and events at the TMBCC.

Sandy Belth, the Environmental Programs and Gardens staff member, said she helped Norbu with many of the events at the TMBCC and even participated in Norbu’s walk from the TMBCC in Bloomington to Monument Circle in Indianapolis.

Belth said whenever she was decorating Norbu insisted on bright colors.

“It was the first party that I decorated for here and Jigme insisted that I get balloons, bright ones,” she said. “He told me ‘bright colors, no purple.’”

Lisa Morrison, the director of Marketing and Media at the TMBCC, said she is thankful for having met Norbu and for what he did for her.

“I actually owe a lot of gratitude to Jigme for introducing me to the center,” Morrison said. “He was the one who asked me to help with the center, and I love it so much.”

Morrison also expressed her gratitude for Norbu’s work.

“He was tireless in promoting the Tibetan cause,” she said.