It’s been more than three years since the last time I got to see His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. That was when he was awarded the Templeton prize in London. For most Tibetans, he is not only a spiritual leader, but more. He is like our oxygen if that makes it easier to understand. If you haven’t seen him for a year, that’s a big deal and, for someone like me who hasn’t seen him for almost three years, it was a very big deal. On the morning of 4th of July, our crew drove down to Orange County for the big event. I simply couldn’t contain my excitement.
5th of July, the first day of Global Compassion summit, finally came. I was few hours away from seeing His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. We drove there early to avoid any traffic. Unfortunately, we were welcomed by this maddening-hysterical drumming and shouting that said: False Dalai Lama, Stop Lying. I have seen this group in pictures and videos before, but seeing them in real was completely different. All my life, I grew up learning to practice compassion and that your enemy is the best object to do exactly that. However, at that instant, compassion was way beyond my grasp. My cheek burnt with anger and hatred. My heart started racing faster than ever. My hands turned cold. All I could do was look at them and frown. Not only were their statements of baseless accusations, they were also soiling our sacred robes for real monks and nuns. As I entered the room in which the event was to take place, I tried to clear my mind of all these negative thoughts and emotions. My mood instantly lit up as I saw these performers of great talent. After several hours of varied performances, the face that I have been patiently waiting to see finally appeared on the stage. As he appeared, the audience of 18,000 people stood up at once and applauded in great excitement. He bore the same beautiful smile that infects many. He waved at us in acknowledgment. I just couldn’t believe that he is turning eighty. I should rejoice that such a great human being was born, but instead, I was filled with sadness at mere thought of losing him from this world. When asked what gift he’d like for his 80th birthday, he replied 'Compassion for All'. He wants us to make a small commitment that we could carry throughout our lives to make this world a better place for everybody, and not just for himself. Who would ask for such a gift? Materialistic possession is our first priority in this dark era. People are so focussed on accumulating only wealth that many of us end up not living our lives fully. I felt immense gratitude for being able to hear his message that day.
6th of July was his actual birthday even though he cut the most gigantic cake the day before. So as you would expect, they had another beautiful cake prepared for him. The highlight of that day wasn’t so much on his birthday celebration. It was more on his message of love and compassion that revolved around these two panel discussions on ‘Climate Change’ and ‘Vision, Experience and Wisdom’ as an integral part. Compassion as defined by His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the sense of well being for others. He asserted that global warming is real and it is going to have the biggest impact on the poorest three billion people who have nothing to do with what they will be suffering. However, he said the problem cannot be solved by scientists, or philosophers alone, but compassion, the sense of oneness, can. From how I understood, it means that if we care for humanity and if we are conscientious being, we will stop the reckless destruction of our planet. Another very important point made was that if this 21st century was developed into a century of peace and nonviolence, then all the resources and money we spend on building nuclear weapons could be spent on preserving our planet.
7th of July was the final day of the three-day summit. The panel was on Youth Leadership with emphasis on the significance of education in universal human values. One of the panelists felt that the focus of modern education is a wrong direction; it’s ‘on producing clever brains, but not on producing good heart’. Another panelist summed up by saying that ‘nonviolence, environmental care, relying on the power of individual and developing a good heart’ should be our four key focus as a responsible citizen in this world.
Words are simply not enough to express my heart-felt gratitude for being able to attend His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday. Seeing him was one thing, and hearing all those wonderful talks was another, but hearing all these talks in addition to seeing him was something else. Therefore, it wouldn’t be fair if I don’t share the message I took away from this incredible experience to people who haven’t been able to attend: compassion is the answer to a lot of problems our world is facing today, but compassion without action is of no use so we must ACT and we must act TODAY before it's too late.
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| Larry King and Ann Curry. Photo credit: myself |
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| Nobel laureates Ebadi Shirin and Jody Williams. Photo credit: myself |
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| His Holiness, oceanographer Walter Munk, Rep. Loretta Sanchez, and professor Veerabhadran Ramanathan: A new species named after His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, 'sirsoe dalailama'. Photo by AP |
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| World celebration of His Holiness's 80th birthday. Photo credit: myself |
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| Probably one of his 100th 80th birthday cakes. Photo by AP |
