Chief Arvol Looking Horse, born on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota, is the 19th generation Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe, a tremendous responsibility bestowed upon him at age 12. He is the spiritual leader among the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota People. His life has revolved around his commitment to work towards religious freedom, cultural survival and revival. Following the birth of the White Buffalo in 1994, a prophetic event for the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota peoples, Chief Looking Horse was directed to honor the Four Directions with a series of ceremonies at sacred sites to join people together in prayers and to share the message of his Tradition with others who are also concerned about peace and the destruction of the Earth. These ceremonies took place on June 21st, the Summer Solstice, and thus began World Peace and Prayer Day. Chief Looking Horse holds an honorary doctorate from the University of South Dakota and he has been the recipient of several awards, including the Wolf Award of Canada for his dedicated work for peace. He travels and speaks extensively on peace, environmental and native rights issues. He has met with spiritual leaders such as Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama throughout his travels. Recently, he has re-committed his message of peace by taking the World Peace and Prayer Day ceremony around the world, beginning in 2001 in Ireland, followed by South Africa (2002), to Australia (2003), then to Japan (2004). His dedication to spread peace shows his commitment to “work for change and let the world know how beautiful our way of life is.”

The Life of Daniel Pearl

The Award will be accepted by his father, Dr. Judea Pearl

Daniel Pearl's life and work as a gifted writer and journalist was cut short by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. While millions mourned the death of the Wall Street Journal reporter, those who knew him grieved the loss of a truly exceptional man whose joy of life and love of humanity knew no boundaries and built lasting friendships. Music was an essential part of Danny's form of expression as a classical violinist in his early years and later mastering the electric violin, fiddle and mandolin. Danny graduated from Stanford University in 1985 with Phi Beta Kappa honors and joined the Wall Street Journal in 1990. He was covering the "War on Terrorism" as the Journal's South Asia bureau chief in Bombay, occasionally venturing into Pakistan when he was abducted. The search for Danny has been poignantly depicted by his wife, Marianne in her book, A Mighty Heart. The Award is being accepted by Danny's father Dr. Judea Pearl, Co-Founder of the Daniel Pearl Foundation dedicated to carry on his legacy. The work of the Foundation includes journalism programs to promote excellence while improving cross-cultural understanding; annual lecture series in Journalism and International Relations at UCLA and Stanford University; a unique Internet-based student news series to educate aspiring young reporters, and a cross-country Jewish-Muslim dialogue program. The Foundation has also created "Daniel Pearl World Music Days", an annual event they hope will contribute to a more humane and peaceful world through the universal language of music.br>

Venerable Dr. Yifa

Venerable Dr. ifa has been a nun at Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Taiwan since 1979. She received a law degree from the National Taiwan University, an M.A. in comparative philosophy from the University of Hawaii and her Ph.D. in religious studies from Yale University in 1996. She was awarded as one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons” in Taiwan in 1997. She has been a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard University, a lecturer at Boston University and a faculty member at the National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan. She has also been Dean at Fo Guang Shan Buddhist College and Provost at Hsi Lai University, Rosemead, California. In 2005 she taught at McGill University as the Numata visiting professor and she currently serves as the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of the West in Los Angeles. In 2003 in Bangkok she was awarded the United Nations “Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award”. Since 2002 Dr. Yifa has conducted the Humanistic Monastic Life Programs for teens and college students sponsored by Buddha’s Light International Society and more recently she is directing the Sutra Pagoda Project to research and translate Buddhist scriptures. For many years Dr. Yifa has been engaged in interfaith dialogues such as the “Gethsemane Encounter”, “International Buddhist-Christian Theology” and “Religious Ethics” supported by UNESCO. She co-chaired “Nuns in the West,” an interfaith monastic dialogue, and was a contributor to “Safe Motherhood Project” by UNICEF’s South Asia office. She is the author of The Origin of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China, Hawaii University Press (2002) and Safeguarding the Heart: a Buddhist Response to Suffering and September 11, Lantern Books (2002).