Dalai Lama

Today I was blessed enough to see the Dalai Lama speak. He radiates with not only holiness, but happiness. Rather than starting his address with words of wisdom, he laughed and set a tone of joyfulness that was infectious. Even though I only slept a few hours last night, I still feel the happiness that radiated through me this morning that sent me home walking briskly and singing to myself.


There were a few things he said that I wanted to write here to tell others as well as help me  remember in the days to come.

Firstly, I must say that I consider the Dalai Lama to be a feminist. When he was asked what he attributes his enlightenment to, he said his mother and the affection that he was raised with. It made me so happy that I was ready to jump out of my seat.

He stressed to us that nothing is permanent. Not people, not places, or even the sun will last forever. It is at moments like these that I wish I was raised a Buddhist. Not because I think that it is cool, but because of their attitude towards death. Maybe if this was the faith that was instilled in me early on, I would be able to handle death in a healthy way and not fall apart the way I did when my dad passed away. Nothing is permanent, he said, but it is important for us to make a difference in the millisecond that we are here on this earth.

His Holiness went onto say something that I have always thought and that I was taught from the time I can remember. There are many truths, and not only one religion is right. All religions strive for the same thing: service to others, humility, morality. He summed it up in such a fantastic way. He said that whether people are reaching for enlightenment through meditation and karma (Buddhists and Hindus) or through God (Judeo-Christian-Islamic traditions), they are striving for the same goal. He put it so beautifully that it is hard for me to put into words and do it justice.

After the talk, I bought prayer beads from a Tibetan monk. I asked this monk to show me how to use them and he did. It was kind of full circle for me in a few ways (this requires a back story).

When I first got back to Atlanta, I was reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. At that time I saw that the Dalai Lama was coming here and I decided to go and see him. Like Gilbert, I was very depressed and was desperately searching for a healthy way to cope. In the intro to her book, she describes prayer beads that are used in meditation and describes how the layout of her book mirrors the design of these beads. I had never heard of them before, so when I saw them, I thought I should buy them to complete the circle. I really owe a lot to her, because I also became inspired to write again and started this blog after reading her amazing book. 

While I do agree with the Dalai Lama’s idea that nothing is permanent, I also think that he would not deny the existence of cycles and transformations. Thanks to him and Elizabeth Gilbert, I am feeling that transformation today.

Here are my beads. 

My memento. 

My treasure. 

And the beginning of a meditation practice that has been waiting to get rolling.