Saturday, May 14, 2011

The Dalai Lama at the University of Arkansas


I got to see the Dalai Lama at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville this past Wednesday thanks to my friend Pam who had an extra ticket. It was cool and I'm glad I went.  I didn't take this top photo, but it reminds me of his infectious laugh and the way he would make jokes and laugh at himself.    Can you believe the Dalai Lama is a jokester? Whodathunk......


I was amused to see him kick off his shoes and sit cross legged on the couch.  I do the same thing!  As a matter of fact, I kicked off my shoes and walked barefoot to and from the car to get to the arena.  I think people thought I was a little strange, but I don't care, that's just how I roll.  Me and the Dalai Lama are like this (crossing fingers).....


 Here he is with his little red visor and sunglasses, he's a charming little man.  The picture isn't that great, but we were up in the rafters so it's amazing I could get a picture at all.  I have about two dozen pics where he looks like he's moving at super human speed from the blur.

His talk was interesting, although I wish I could have understood more of it.  I had to really concentrate to understand his accent.  It was kind of like when you have a computer problem and you call the tech department and someone with a heavy accent answers the phone....I love how accents sound, but sometimes it's so hard to understand! You can relate to that, right?

 My friend Pam sent me  a link to the transcript of his talk, so check it out, he has some interesting things to say.  Dalai Lama  Transcript

He laughed at himself a lot and called himself childlike. He's all about non-violence in dealing with anyone and anything.  He said that having enemies or being around people that give you trouble is a good way to practice forgiveness and compassion.  Everyone is basically the same and how someone else acts is their problem, not  ours, so detachment from their behavior is important.  Easier said than done, I say, but it sure is a good thought.  I wish he would have expounded on how to forgive and make it stick, because I've found that forgiveness doesn't always happen just from saying the words.

Here's a little summary of who he is....

Question: How do you view yourself?

Answer: I always consider myself as a simple Buddhist monk. I feel that is the real me. I feel that the Dalai Lama as a temporal ruler is a man-made institution. As long as the people accept the Dalai Lama, they will accept me. But being a monk is something which belongs to me. No one can change that. Deep down inside, I always consider myself a monk, even in my dreams. So naturally I feel myself as more of a religious person. Even in my daily life, I can say that I spend 80% of my time on spiritual activities and 20% on Tibet as a whole. The spiritual or religious life is something I know and have great interest in. I have some kind of confidence in it, and thus I want to study it more. Regarding politics, I have no modern education except for a little experience. It is a big responsibility for someone not so well equipped. This is not voluntary work but something that I feel I must pursue because of the hope and trust that the Tibetan people place on me.




He's the spiritual leader of the Buddhists which I've always found to be a fascinating religion.  They believe in reincarnation, and so do I.  I find it hard to believe that we can learn all that we need to learn in one itsy bitsy human lifetime.  When you think about it, the span of a human lifetime is like a grain of sand when viewed through the lens of the universe......in other words, it's really short!


He said that when people see him or other monks and gurus as being magical, that it's a bunch of nonsense.  Then he laughed that funny little laugh of his that cracked everyone up even if we couldn't understand a word he was saying!


This is probably before everyone else's time except mine, but years ago there was a cartoon called "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop".  The villain was called Dick Dastardly and his dog was called Mutley.  Mutley had this whispery, raspy laugh "he hee heee heee heee"  that sounded just like the Dalai Lama laugh.  How funny is that?!


I can't say that I learned a lot, but it was super cool to see such a famous spiritual leader in person and to see how down to earth and childlike he is.  His energy is very kind and appealing, definitely a high vibe kinda guy.


I don't worry about my own childlike (or maybe mine are childish)  tendencies now, since me and the Dalai Lama are like this (crossing fingers)!




Again, here's the transcriptof his talk:  Dalai Lama Transcript


Below is an energy art print I created from a photo I took of the Dalai Lama (the one above).  It's called "The Vibe" and I feel it embodies his childlike nature, innocence, and compassion.










Have an awesome Saturday!


Laurie

13 comments:

  1. Hi Laurie,
    I'm bestowing upon you the Versatile Blogger Award! You can pick it up at OrangeBlossomCrafts.com

    Love,
    Del

    ReplyDelete
  2. I enjoyed this blog post so much. You were fortunate to hear the Dalai Lama speak ... must be good karma. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, we both got to see awesome people talk on Wednesday! <3 You the Dalai Lama, me the Holocaust survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan! I'd say coincidence... but I don't quite believe in coincidences... LOL.

    Anyway, it sounds like you had an interesting day. :) The Dalai Lama sounds like such fun to watch and listen to - I mean, kicking off his shoes and sitting cross-legged on the couch? How fun! :)

    Hugs!
    Taylor Lynn <3

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lol ~ I sit the same way... everywhere!! I hate shoes and only wear them when required. ;) Sounds like an awesome thing to attend, just being there with his energy would have been enough for me! I might have found myself getting frustrated at not being able to understand him and knowing he has much to share, which would kind of defeated the purpose of going... ;) Anyway, sounds like an outing I would remember forever. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow- this sounds pretty cool!!! That's awesome that you got to go! :)
    Isn't it so fun to find our that you have some things in comment with famous people??? Hehe!

    xoxo
    Jordan

    P.s.
    I just wanted to thank you for leaving an awesome comment on my last Blog post (that was like... what? I week ago!? Lol)!! After the whole Blogger world was down (& so many poor Bloggers suffered for about 24 hours... ;), some of the newer comments that people left on my post, never showed up :'( But I got them all in my email, & I've been making my rounds telling everyone why I've been neglecting them so ;D
    I'm sure you understand...? & possibly... forgive me...?? Hehe ((hugs!))

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wonderful opportunity! It's nice to have this kind of fortunate event in your life!...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey Della, thanks for the award and I'll see if I can fulfill the obligations, although I don't have a very good history of being able to do that! Thanks for thinking of me, though!


    Pretty Gonzo, thanks for commenting! If anyone can make a person feel like they have good karma, it's the Dalai Lama! He left us all feeling very light!

    Hey Tay! I know, we both got to go to college last week to see special people! Synchronicity at work in both of our ives, how cool is that! He was surprisingly down-to-earth for being such a big wig spiritual leader.

    Melinda, Lol, another thing we have in common... a distate for shoes! My friend Pam says that there's going to be written transcripted of the Dalae Lama's presentation on the U of A website, so that should be a good read. I loved the sound of his accent, but it was like listening to a song where you can only catch a few words and phrases. So I just kind of sunk into the mode of absorbing energy instead of words.

    Jordan, I'd forgive you just about anything! Blogger was down? Huh, I didn't even know, shows you how observant I am! Come to think of it, maybe I did have some computer issues on Friday....Friday the thirteenth...oooOOOOooooo, scarewee!!

    Thanks Sybilline, I thought it was a fantastic opportunity too, and I'm really grateful to my friend Pam. She's always been such an uplifting and generous person!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Geeze, could I have made any more typos in my response? lol It's these darn migraines and the medicine....not age!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I sit just like you and the Dalai Lama!! lol... I prefer to be barefoot, too :)
    I would have loved to see him, sounds like fun, even if you couldn't understand him most of the time... lol... I probably wouldn't have been able to either!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love this man! I have the very same image on a card sitting in front of me now! I saw him 2 years ago in Perth Australia, wearing the same visor :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. SO COOL! what a neato thing to get to be part of! yay!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Miss you! talk soon pretty lady!

    ReplyDelete