This afternoon I got to hear the Dalai Lama teach to a group of Russian Buddhists on the concept of dependent origination, basically that everything depends on everything else in order to have meaning. I was vaguely familiar with this concept before, so I was able to follow most of the talk. His Holiness spoke in Tibetan and I listened to the English translation on an FM radio. I was able to snag a fantastic seat and he was in my line of sight. My friend who went to the morning session as well couldn’t believe it, as he was sitting outside the temple. About halfway through the talk, the monks came around and filled up our cups with Tibetan milk tea, more milk than tea really. Apparently they usually put salt in it as well, but this wasn’t salted. I’ve tried salted tea and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Another interesting moment was when the monks came around and distributed 150 rupees to all the monks in attendance. If I had the red robes on, maybe I could have passed.
At one point during the talk the Dalai Lama sneezed and shortly thereafter chuckled heartily as he noted the translator’s surprise when he did this. Then he joked that if anyone was falling asleep out there, he could wake us back up by sneezing. He’s very affable. I got to see him get into his car; tomorrow I think I will try to position myself in this area so maybe, just maybe, I could shake his hand or at least make eye contact. Talking to some of the other tourists in attendance I learned what a treat it really is to be here and see him talk basically for free. Apparently people pay hundreds of dollars to see him speak in other venues. This, of course, does not take into account how much I’ve spent on this trip, but nevertheless it feels pretty cool.
I wasn’t allowed to take my camera in, but I took this picture of a monk outside the temple the other day.
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