The Minnesota community is working on plans for a Tibetan Community Cultural Center which can be the locus of Tibetan cultural, educational, and social service activities. Three months before arriving, they needed proof of a sponsor and a full time, permanent job. Almost immediately, the Tibetan community in Minnesota established itself virtually without welfare. Many Tibetans worked two, even three jobs preparing for the arrival of their families. As that happened, the next tasks became acculturating families, becoming U.S. Citizens, and buying homes.
Many adults also attend school on a part-time basis to improve language skills and job prospects.
Religion Tibetans practice a rich and complex form of Buddhism, inherited from India more than 2500 years ago. It interweaves ritual, devotion, meditation, and philosophy in pursuit of the Buddhist ideal of compassionate enlightenment. Buddhist monasteries and hermitages were vital institutions in Tibetan society, and monks and spiritual masters were figures of political as well as religious significance. Since the seventeenth century, most Tibetans have recognized one such figure, the Dalai Lama, as their most important spiritual and temporal leader. The Dalai Lama is believed to be the incarnation of Chenrezig, the Buddha of compassion, and the patron deity of Tibet.