His Holiness The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama presented at the field house

this past Friday. This was not my first time attending his Holinesses lectures, but it will be one of my most memorable.  My wife strongly encouraged me to take our fifteen-year-old son.  She thought this might be one of the last times Carson may have to see him in Indiana.  I was a bit skeptical that he would be interested but he agreed.  We attended the lecture with a friend and her son who is almost the same age as Carson.  We arrived at the venue with a little over an hour before the lecture was to begin.  The main hall was littered with vendors and people purchasing their trinkets so they could feel just a little bit closer to being a Buddhist.  I confess I made some purchases to commemorate the event but it did not make me feel closer to the Dalai, that is a process you feel internally.  You can argue he is just a man and he will agree with you, but until you have felt him enter the room you are truly missing the gift of his presence.  The moment had arrived and a cellist opened the program, playing a mysterious and earthy piece only a cello could bring to life.  Midway through the performance a clear shift in the energy throughout in the arena quickly changed and the Dalai Lama appeared on stage.  It is hard to describe the sensation that crashes and permeates your body, somewhere between a vibration and a hum, felt as pure love.  The cellist concluded his melodic piece with the smooth tones reverberating deep inside in unison with his Holiness.  He was introduced by John Mellencamp, his wife, Elaine Mellencamp is on the board on the Tibetan Cultural Center.  The Dalai took his seat on a paisley sofa of muted dark tones, flanked by traditional Tibetan tables enhanced by large arrangements containing yellow roses.  He began his presentation on various topics ranging from compassion, nurturing, a melding of belief systems for the greater good of the world, his message is clear and actually a simple one.  He was difficult to understand, at times, through his thick accent and the poor acoustics of the field house.   His smile has a way of making all the muscles in your body relax like drinking tea with an old friend, on a warm breezy sunny day.  He has a wonderful sense of humor and when he laughs it quickly turns to a giggle, a giggle that touches deep inside and makes me laugh and somehow my troubles seem small compared to his message.  Almost an hour into the presentation Carson leans over and asks me “how long is he going to talk”?  I respond with “He is his Holiness the Dalai Lama, he an talk as long as he likes, Carson is quick to inform me “he has already said we are all equal”. Well there was a lesson learned. Carson is concerned because all the security people around us have fallen asleep in their chairs.  I suspect if there were a crisis this portion of the security would not be very useful.  The Dalai Lama has an interpreter with him.  He appeared to be the same man who was with him when I saw him before.  Only this time the Dalai spoke without the aid of the interpreter.  From time to time the interpreter would feed him words, a crowd pleaser was the word “nipple”, he was of course speaking about nurturing of another and was using a feline reference but no one expected the Dali to be talking about nipples.  As always he informed the room that if we came to see greatness he had nothing or as I have heard him say in the past he is just a simple monk.  He spoke of most religious traditions carry the same message of love and compassion.  He urged the United States to start the peace movement and others would follow.  He talked of the greed for more possessions, and gave the example of loving his watch “if I kiss my watch it has no ability to return affection”. 

The Dalai wanted us to know he does not have healing powers and tells a funny story of a surgery several years back, resting his hand on his right side when speaking of his scar, “see there is scientific proof I have no healing powers”, followed by that wonderful giggle. He went on to share more of his infinite wisdom and concluded with a questions and answer session.  Before starting the question and answer session he requested there be no silly questions, followed by giggles. 

At the conclusion of the presentation the field house was full of happy people with smiling faces. I wondered if someone was blowing happiness through the air vents. There was calmness as the masses slowly moved from the arena. 

I asked Carson what he thought of the lecture, “Well, he talked longer than I expected, but I thought it was interesting”.  He responded just as I expected, but some day he can tell his kids that his father took him to see the Dalai Lama.  If he walks away hearing, understanding and practicing just one message it seems to have been worth the effort. 

Namaste