Monday, April 17, 2006

Ooommmmm

Holy cow.
What a huge day.
The
Dalai Lama was here! Not some corrupt Dato', or crazy celebrity..
Here to our humble place. To give a special talk.
"Compassion in the face of Suffering"
The 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, spiritual and political leader of Tibet. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for, among other things, his exemplary commitment to peaceful resistance to Chinese occupation of the Tibetan homeland. In his Nobel Prize acceptance address, he called himself "a simple monk from Tibet," adding that, "I am no one special. But, I believe the prize is a recognition of the true values of altruism, love, compassion and nonviolence which I try to practice, in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha and the great sages of India and Tibet."
The city was a madhouse today. The crowds that came from out of town to see him. Me, I ran into some Secret Service people when I went into the clinic in the morning, and for a moment, thought the President was here. No kidding. 5 huge guys in suits, walkie-talkies, with the earpiece. Black limos with tinted windows were parked outside.
Though I couldn't get into the packed auditorium to see him in person, this was telecast to 20 other sites in the medical center, so I was able to catch most of the talk. Truly inspiring. He spoke from the heart. His own words of wisdom, not something written up by a PR speechwriter. Not something powdered up with poetic grammatical-correct phrases. In his own words. Almost like a father giving advise to his children. Or a grandfather sharing his ideas. What was the root of suffering. What what was important in life. Affection.
For some words of wisdom, you can find a
video of the hour-long talk here.
I'm inspired.

(I hate to say this, and I say this with the utmost respect, but watching reminded me so much of the grandpa I miss)