(no subject)
So, I've been semi-away from the internets for the past four days. His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama was in town. He gave some teachings for the first three days and a public talk on Sunday.
Crowds of Tibetans in what were obviously their best clothes. Tiny Tibetan children and babies in bright flowing silks. Rows of monks and nuns. People bringing scarves up to the edge of the stage, hoping for a blessing. Assorted Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike (there was even a Sikh sitting in front of me on Sunday).
Our day started with standing in a long line, at the end of which were were searched for knives, guns, food and drinks. The latter not so much because they were afraid someone might slip the Dalai Lama some poisoned tsampa, but so they could charge you Radio City prices for a bottle of water. We would listen to the teachings for a couple of hours, then break for lunch, then stand in a long line etc., etc. We were entertained by a lone anti-Dalai Lama protestor, who wrapped himself in the Chinese flag (and no, he was not Chinese) and yelled random gibberish. By the end of the second day he even composed some poetry, rhyming 'go away' with 'CIA'.
I realize that people don't line up to listen to Dalai Lama because he is a brilliant orator. His English is not so good, he is sometimes hard to understand, he goes off on tangents. But he is sincere. He is honest. And he is very funny. He laughs at the drop of a hat, and everyone laughs with him, mostly because his laughter is so child-like and contagious. He lectured on emptiness (shunyata), meditation, self-discipline (mostly in how it relates to practice), importance of education, necessity for ethics not based on any religion, science (he is a big fan), and many other things. He emphasized daily practice and also being an 'active practitioner'. It's okay to sit on a pillow, but it's much better to be compassionate in daily life.
To be honest, I think a lot of Buddhist teachings on Thursday-Saturday went right over many people's heads. I don't think they realized he was going to go quite this deep into Buddhist philosophy. If I didn't know any Buddhist history and philosophy, I would have been massively lost. Well, can't say people were not warned, the very intimidating-looking root texts were posted on the website.
He also said something that my husband and I think might rub some feminists in this country the wrong way. He basically said that women should take a very active role in creating a compassionate world. What he meant to say was that women might actually be better at compassion (and, as he pointed out, science does confirm this) than men. That said, I think here some feminists might take offense when someone tells them they should behave in what they think of as a stereotypical female fashion (i.e. being compassionate and caring and kind).
In any case, the lectures were quite good. His translator was brilliant (the public talk was in English but Buddhist teachings were in Tibetan). There was some good chanting. Oh, Richard Gere was there.
The Dalai Lama also makes his security guys nervous, I can tell. He is always eager and ready to jump off the stage into the crowd, blessing and shaking hands. I am pretty sure cracking open the window of his bullet-proof car to wave at the crowd is also a no-no in security books. :D
Finally, since the lectures were in Midtown, it led to my discovery of a) the best udon place in the city, b) a pretty damn good sushi takeaway place, and c) pretty decent hole-in-a-wall ramen place full of Japanese businessmen (not as good as Ippudo in East Village, but nothing is as good as Ippudo). Well, actually, all those places were full of Japanese businessmen, mostly because Midtown is where a lot of Japanese work.
Crowds of Tibetans in what were obviously their best clothes. Tiny Tibetan children and babies in bright flowing silks. Rows of monks and nuns. People bringing scarves up to the edge of the stage, hoping for a blessing. Assorted Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike (there was even a Sikh sitting in front of me on Sunday).
Our day started with standing in a long line, at the end of which were were searched for knives, guns, food and drinks. The latter not so much because they were afraid someone might slip the Dalai Lama some poisoned tsampa, but so they could charge you Radio City prices for a bottle of water. We would listen to the teachings for a couple of hours, then break for lunch, then stand in a long line etc., etc. We were entertained by a lone anti-Dalai Lama protestor, who wrapped himself in the Chinese flag (and no, he was not Chinese) and yelled random gibberish. By the end of the second day he even composed some poetry, rhyming 'go away' with 'CIA'.
I realize that people don't line up to listen to Dalai Lama because he is a brilliant orator. His English is not so good, he is sometimes hard to understand, he goes off on tangents. But he is sincere. He is honest. And he is very funny. He laughs at the drop of a hat, and everyone laughs with him, mostly because his laughter is so child-like and contagious. He lectured on emptiness (shunyata), meditation, self-discipline (mostly in how it relates to practice), importance of education, necessity for ethics not based on any religion, science (he is a big fan), and many other things. He emphasized daily practice and also being an 'active practitioner'. It's okay to sit on a pillow, but it's much better to be compassionate in daily life.
To be honest, I think a lot of Buddhist teachings on Thursday-Saturday went right over many people's heads. I don't think they realized he was going to go quite this deep into Buddhist philosophy. If I didn't know any Buddhist history and philosophy, I would have been massively lost. Well, can't say people were not warned, the very intimidating-looking root texts were posted on the website.
He also said something that my husband and I think might rub some feminists in this country the wrong way. He basically said that women should take a very active role in creating a compassionate world. What he meant to say was that women might actually be better at compassion (and, as he pointed out, science does confirm this) than men. That said, I think here some feminists might take offense when someone tells them they should behave in what they think of as a stereotypical female fashion (i.e. being compassionate and caring and kind).
In any case, the lectures were quite good. His translator was brilliant (the public talk was in English but Buddhist teachings were in Tibetan). There was some good chanting. Oh, Richard Gere was there.
The Dalai Lama also makes his security guys nervous, I can tell. He is always eager and ready to jump off the stage into the crowd, blessing and shaking hands. I am pretty sure cracking open the window of his bullet-proof car to wave at the crowd is also a no-no in security books. :D
Finally, since the lectures were in Midtown, it led to my discovery of a) the best udon place in the city, b) a pretty damn good sushi takeaway place, and c) pretty decent hole-in-a-wall ramen place full of Japanese businessmen (not as good as Ippudo in East Village, but nothing is as good as Ippudo). Well, actually, all those places were full of Japanese businessmen, mostly because Midtown is where a lot of Japanese work.