On Sunday, he will lead a short 20-minute ceremony to bless the new Tibetan community center in Richmond. He will also consecrate the statues flown in from Nepal and Buddhist texts from India.
There was much to do at the center Friday. Volunteers were getting ready for the Dalai Lama's visit.
"We just don't want to be exclusive, but embrace other communities to come and enjoy our culture of peace and non-violence and compassion," Tibetan Association of Northern California spokesperson Kunjo Tashi said.
This community has grown. In 1990 there were only 12 Tibetans living in the Bay Area. Today, there are about 2,000.
For a new generation, the Dalai Lama's visit will be forever remembered.
"In America you look up to Mr. Barak Obama as your President and we look up to him as our President," Tibetan Center member Pema Dolker said.
Before meeting with President Barack Obama earlier Friday, the Dalai Lama stopped to talk to ABC News about, among other things, his Twitter account and the key to happiness in 140 characters or less.
"More compassionate mind, more sense of concern for other's well-being, is source of happiness," he said.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein has entertained the Dalai Lama during previous visits. She will once again have a good dialog with him on Saturday.
"The lessons are good and people can, I think be better people after you've heard him speak," Feinstein said.
The Dalai Lama's first event is at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.
