I’m not ashamed to admit that when it comes to The Dalai Lama, I’m hooked. I first saw him in Washington DC in 1998 and had one of those life-changing experiences at the end of the lecture/teaching. Like one of those moments that you really can’t put into words but that changes your life forever. So after that day, I started reading and studying anything I could find about Tibetan Buddhism.
It took me years to finally admit that The Dalai Lama is my teacher – he’s an inspiration to me, as well as a role model - and I can only hope to be 1/1000 the amazing being he is. I try to see him several times a year, and this year I was particularly fortunate because I was invited to a private teaching (150 people) in India and then saw him again just now for five days in Bethlehem, PA.
I’ve never been to Bethlehem and have to start off by saying that I almost crashed my car driving into town! I drove past the old Bethelehem steel mill – what an amazing place! It has the most unbelievable energy around it – you can feel the souls of the 30,000 people that worked there – and it’s one of the most beautiful pieces of sculpture I’ve ever seen. I highly recommend you see if it you can – especially considering they’re currently turning it into a casino. It should seriously be considered a national landmark. It’s just breath taking. (I’ll post up some photos if they turned out – they’re still on the camera….)
The lectures by His Holiness were amazing but I was out of control – I couldn’t stay awake the entire six days! It got embarrassing after a while. I would be perfectly fine, but then he’d come out on stage and sit down and I would start to pass out. My head was rolling back and forth, I started grunting every so often – and I was off in this other universe in my head. I can’t say I was sleeping – I was out cold but could still hear what was going on and felt like I was somewhere else. I’ve never been in a trance before but I think this is probably close to that. Really weird. And bottom line is that I felt great after it all – so that’s all that really matters!
To make me really into a fan, I even ended up in His Holiness’ hotel – 2 doors down from him! Too weird! And I even “ran” into him while getting ice one day. Okay, you don’t “run” into His Holiness – he’s surrounded by so many secret service agents that I couldn’t even see him – but let me back up. The ice machine wasn’t on my floor, so I had to go down a flight to get it.
As I’m waiting for the elevator to come back up (which was taking forever), another woman came by and we started chatting. When the doors opened, there were about 50 people crammed into this small car – with a 7 foot secret service monster at the front. The woman next to me basically hit the ground and started prostrating. I’m standing there with a bucket of ice, acting all cool because I didn’t know what to do, and said – “oh, well, guess I’ll take the next car” and laughed.
Now you might be wondering how I knew HHDL was on the elevator – trust me, you don’t have to see him to know when he’s around you. I got shot with such an electric bolt of energy that it nearly blew my heart open and I knew exactly where he was standing on the car. It was truly one of those crazy surreal experiences.
I also love it when I’m around people who are seeing HH for the first time. Two women behind me had never seen him before and they were both literally blown away by his presence when he came out – tears in their eyes, shaking – and they didn’t really understand what was happening. I also met a woman in the hotel who said she didn’t even know why she had come, but she was compelled to be at the teachings so followed her instincts. I saw her later in the week, and she said she got to shake HH’s hand and was totally blown away by it all. And these people aren’t Buddhists.
On the last day, one of the women behind me was coming back from the front of the stage before HHDL came out. As she was going back to her seat, I was like – what are you doing? Don’t sit down now! I convinced her and her friend to go back up and stand at the front of the stage so they could be there when HHDL came out. Well, when he did and she came back to her seat, she was vibrating with energy. She touched me as she went by, and I felt HHDL’s energy shoot through my entire body – she was like a lightening rod. It was unbelievably cool!
I feel so fortunate to have been able to witness other people when they get zapped by His Holiness – and feel even more fortunate that I myself have been zapped by him. I wish everyone could feel what we’ve felt. I think everyone has a connection to the divine or inspired or collective consciousness – whatever you want to call it. We just have to find where our connection is. I’m so grateful to know that I’ve found mine, and I can only hope that by attending teachings and studying as much as I can, I will become a better person. For me, that’s what it’s all about – trying our best to help ourselves and others, as well as trying to leave this world a little better off. Here’s to everyone out there trying!
