two rel paper each one need to be 1 page double space

Meeting ol’ DL

By Amanda Hayden, Sinclair Community College, 3210

Also known as His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, 14th reincarnation of the bodhisattva of

compassion, Avalokiteshvara, the Dalai Lama is the "Ocean of Wisdom" for Tibetan Buddhists.

Kind of like a Tibetan pope, but funnier, more open minded, and all you want to do is hug him.

I had seen him once before, four years ago, right after I got back from India. I had wanted

to see him in the Buddhist pilgrimage site of Bodh Gaya but he was in Canada at the time I was

in India. So I ended up seeing him a few months later under a tent in a big field in Bloomington,

Indiana. Go figure. At that time, I was still in the aftermath of processing everything that had

happened in India. I was hesitant about anyone elevated to such a high pedestal to represent

ultimate spirituality. But I went anyway. I walked clockwise around a giant sand mandala,

colorful and intricate, made by local monks at the Tibetan ashram to welcome Tenzin back (he’s

made this trip several times as his less-famous brother lives in Bloomington). The mandala was

beautiful and I’m afraid of a gust coming through the tent opening or that I’ll accidentally trip

and fall against the table and send the sand flying. Luckily, neither happens and the mandala

stays in tact and beautifully pristine.

Then I walked up under the giant tent and stood among a sea of hundreds who were

entranced with wide eyed looks of ecstasy on their upper middle class faces, in awe of the small

speck in a maroon robe a few hundred yards away under the big tent. Sitting next to the Dalai

Lama was Muhammed Ali, which I found sort of funny and comforting at the same time.

Since I was pretty far away and couldn’t see much, I looked around me and people

watched throughout his talk. I watched women bow and pray, men in khakis smile as if they

were on heavy doses of Prozac, a young hipster girl in a hot pink tank top with a giant Shiva

tattoo across her upper back. I tried to focus back on what the Dalai Lama was saying, but then I

got distracted again. This time by three little girls who were running around near me. They kept

running in circles, giggling, falling down, laughing and getting up and repeating their game over

and over again. I couldn't stop watching them, became transfixed by their repetitive giggles and

excitement. I watched them without wavering for the rest of the speech. At one point, they ran

up to a little blonde boy, took his hand and brought him into their game (much to his dismay, it

appeared). But soon, he learned the rules and ran in circles with them, fell down, laughed and got

up again to start the process over. I watched them and smiled. At first I felt frustrated that I

couldn’t concentrate as much on what the Dalai Lama was saying, but my focus in the present

moment may have been a lesson in Buddhism anyhow.

Fast forward four years later and my good friend got us tickets to see the Dalai Lama at

Purdue University. We ventured out in the monsoon rain in Lafayette and stood in line for over

an hour to get in to the packed theatre seating. A Tibetan woman led a Buddhist chant with the

audience and like well-intentioned fans at a rock concert, we all chanted off key, steadily

butchering the Tibetan mantra. I wondered if the Dalai Lama was amused by this. Soon, the

little 73-year-old monk came onto the stage and I instantly smiled. How can you not? His smile

is contagious. He took off his shoes and with his little maroon socks that matched his robe, sat

cross-legged in lotus position in his chair. He pulled out a maroon tennis style visor to wear to

shield his eyes from the harsh light.

His talk was pretty standard from what I've seen before and in documentaries. He spoke

about love, compassion, and suffering. Ultimately, his overall message was that as sentient

beings, we need to have compassion for every other sentient being because of our shared

suffering and our happiness will only come from having that kind of compassion, not from

anything external. He talked a lot about the mother/child relationship and how important

nurturing and compassion is. I find this interesting and a little sad because he himself was taken

away from his family at a very young age to become the Dalai Lama. Though his mother visited,

he did not have a traditional mother/son relationship as his primary duties were studying all the

live long day and night to become the political leader by the time he was 15 and earn a doctorate

in Buddhism by the time he was in his early twenties. He also is extremely interested in science

and brings it up a lot in his talks. He has been quoted as saying that Buddhism should always be

flexible to scientific discoveries and religion should not stand in the way of what science reveals.

I wondered how many other religious leaders would have this same view?

When asked about gender roles and women in power, he responded by saying he thinks

women should indeed have leadership positions and positions of power politically because they

are "more sensitive and emotionally connected" and would bring greater compassion in their

decisions and that is something we need in our political world today. Though after that he also

said that some women are stupid and shouldn't be in any leadership position. After a unanimous

gasp in the audience, he quickly clarified by saying that many men are stupid too.

When asked about what he thinks what should happen in Iraq, he humbly replied, "I don't

know..." and said it is a very complicated situation and that when violence is given, only more

violence will happen and that it's a vicious cycle. He said he doesn't know how to overcome this

cycle except with compassion and seeing your "enemies" as yourselves. After this heavy and

politically charged question, someone asked, “What’s your favorite color?” He smiled and said

without hesitation, “Green!” I loved this because green is also my favorite color.

And finally, the best thing about the Dalai Lama (besides his yoda-like voice) – his laugh.

The Dalai Lama has one of the GREATEST laughs in the world. After everything he and the

Tibetan people been through - all the suffering and oppression and genocide, this man is not

jaded. He is joyful, optimistic and compassionate. His laugh is a deep, hearty chuckle and his

little shoulders shake up and down like a Tibetan Santa. I wanted to put him in my pocket and

take him home, he was so freaking adorable.