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I'm going to a talk by the Dalai Lama!
rivercane
Veteran
This Friday afternoon in New Orleans. I can't believe it! I'm so excited!
I never thought I would be able to see the Dalai Lama, and feel like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Both events have been sold out for months but I was able to get a ticket for cheap through someone I met at the dharma center I've been going to.
I was going to mention something earlier but wanted to make sure everything went through but I was able to get my ticket today. It still seems unreal! And I think it's great that he's coming to this area, a place so desperately in need of healing.
After the talk, a procession of monks will carry a sand mandala down Convention Center Boulevard to be released into the Mississippi River. How cool is that?
I never thought I would be able to see the Dalai Lama, and feel like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Both events have been sold out for months but I was able to get a ticket for cheap through someone I met at the dharma center I've been going to.
I was going to mention something earlier but wanted to make sure everything went through but I was able to get my ticket today. It still seems unreal! And I think it's great that he's coming to this area, a place so desperately in need of healing.
After the talk, a procession of monks will carry a sand mandala down Convention Center Boulevard to be released into the Mississippi River. How cool is that?
11
Comments
Have a great time.
The Dalia Lama is an emanation of Chenrezig
http://www.chenrezigpuja.org/
OM MANI PEME HUM HRIH
I had just heard of Chenrezig earlier today. According to NOLA.com, the Dalai Lama is a reincarnation of the "Buddhist God Chenrezig". To their credit, I'm surprised they didn't say reincarnation of Buddha, but I wanted to ask you: was Chenrezig a Buddha?
I always thought the Dalai Lama was a reincarnation (or emanation I guess one should say) of the Buddha of Compassion. Then someone else told me that he was the reincarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion!
Is Chenrezig considered a Buddha? I'm still very new to all this!
In Lamaism, Tantric, Shingon Buddhism etc, the Teacher is considered an emanation of enlightening being. A bit like the Catholic Priest during mass representing Christ at the last supper during mass. This will explain how some of the scandals you hear occur.
This is why we expect such high standards from our parents, teachers but most importantly our spiritual elders.
Fortunately the emanation of the Logos is pure and Absolute.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logos_(Christianity)
So too is Chenresig. You can pray to either the Dalai Lama or Chenresig and your purity is the key to benefit, connection and attunement.
This is not the way in Theravadin or Zen but an enlightened, attained, developed teacher is very important.
The idea of an incarnate Absolute principle is very strange to many of us. However the Chenrezig practice/sadhana is very powerful at purifying or attuning our mind stream to Buddhahood.
You are going to see a living Buddha. How cool is that?
I see Raven is already here . . .
My hour of chanting to Chenresig is dedicated to those unifying inner and outer teachers.
Go Rivercane. Go Raven. Go Frederica. Go Dalai. Go Tara.
http://yinyana.tumblr.com/post/32936018897/migtsema
Lobster Gone.
Is this considered the same emanation, just with a different name in some countries? I know that a deity may be male in one part of the world and considered female in another.
Would Chenrezig be considered a combination of the two?
However that does not mean the Dalai Lama is anything more than a 'humble monk' as he describes himself.
Bodhisattvas are beyond gender. They may appear in different forms. Like the Dalai Lama they are points of veneration, just like my Ipad.
:clap:
However that does not mean the Dalai Lama is anything more than a 'humble monk' as he describes himself.
Fair enough.
P.S. OP, could you post about the talk after it's over? That would be great. :thumbsup:
First, the talk began with Tibetan monks chanting. This was my first time experiencing this as well and it had a very positive and strange effect on me. This may sound bizarre, but I began to feel a kind of other worldly effect, as though I were under the influence of a drug. I don't know how to describe it except the vibrations of the chanting seemed to entrain my brain waves. I felt high and kind of lost in reverie. At one point, everything began to take on a wavy kind of appearance. I also experienced this later while the Dalai Lama was talking.
After the chanting, the mayor of the city gave a short, somewhat awkward speech where he tried his best to say something wise and spiritual. It was kind of amusing, but at least he tried. After awhile, he gave up and introduced the Dalai Lama.
Everyone rose to their feet and His Holiness bowed to us and with a nonchalant wave of his hand, motioned for us to sit back down, as though he wasn't that important. He then began to speak and the first thing I noticed is that it appears HH may be working too hard. It did seem that he was somewhat tired and I wonder if his schedule isn't too demanding. He seemed to falter somewhat at first when first speaking but was still relaxed and casual and quickly began to warm up. I also found that it is much easier to understand the Dalai Lama on video than in person and was unable to make out some of the things he said.
Having a bad PA system with feedback didn't help, and at one point HH made a joke about a ghost in the room repeating back his words but he took it all in stride and I don't think I've ever seen a more relaxed, confident speaker. His natural warmth also shined through the entire time.
He began speaking of Hurricane Katrina and the recent Mother's Day shootings in New Orleans. He explained that while no one can truly feel or take away another's pain, as a human being he expressed his sympathy and related how even dogs and cats can express empathy when their human owner is feeling down, how this is a human trait that animals also share.
HH then began a very powerful account of the violence he has witnessed since he was a young child, that Chinese aggression toward Tibet had begun right around the time he was born and he spoke of living through WWII, Vietnam, and the Korean War. He spoke of Kosovo and the war in the Middle-East. He then stated how war is completely outdated in a global society, something that I've heard him say before. He informed us of a historian who put the estimate of people killed by war in the 20th century at 400,000,000. When he said this, and at several other points, you could hear the emotion in his voice and it sounded almost as though he would cry. His compassion and concern came across as 100% genuine and I'm not used to hearing people speak in such a manner. Certainly not our politicians, most of whom support war anyway.
He then began to speak of global warming and of extreme weather that is unpredictable, that this is now a problem for the farmers in India as well as other countries. HH emphasised that this is a man-made problem and that humanity must work together to solve this problem. He made an amusing statement about praying to God and how that would only work if it was a problem God had started in the first place.
Next, he began to speak of social injustice and the growing gap between the rich and the poor. Here HH was at his most emotional - you could hear it in his voice as he spoke of "lying", "cheating," and "stealing." It was very powerful. He spoke of how we are all human beings trying to survive on a small planet and that one group of people should starve while others live a life of luxury is "completely wrong" and "totally unfair".
There may have been some in the audience he didn't agree with this, but I happen to agree with HH, who has also stated that he is for socialism as long as it is democratic and economically he considers himself a Marxist. Again, I am in complete agreement with him here and he spoke at length of how Mao and the first Communist Party in China at least had some principals despite the crimes they committed, that they were really trying to help the poor and how the modern Chinese government is socialist in name only and is only concerned with making profits.
HH went over a few other things, such as the importance of our mother's affection when we are children and urged everyone to spend more time doing wholesome activities with their children. He also touched briefly on the problem of overpopulation then HH sat down for about an hour and answered questions submitted by local children. These included questions such as "What makes you happy?" and "What is your favorite food?"
At many points, HH had the audience laughing as his own laughter is so contagious. That's another thing I'm not used to hearing in a speaker - genuine laughter. I also noticed that HH is very natural and spontaneous.
Afterwards, I went to the closing of the sand mandala and that was perhaps my favorite part. The crowd was huge and everyone wanted to see the mandala. A monk briefly went over the outer, inner, and secret meaning of the mandala, there was more chanting, then a very large crowd followed the monks to the river to disperse the sand. We followed behind almost as though we had no choice. I don't know why, but I would have followed those monks for 20 miles if that's what it took. I simply had to see it, and I think many people felt that way. We were also given small amounts of sand in a plastic bag to take home after it was over.
Their was a lot of media coverage for this talk and the two he gave the following day and many people were thrilled to see the Dalai Lama and have him visit. It really was a historical day for the city of New Orleans and there were a lot of Tibetan prayer flags around town before and after the event.
My experience, having attended the first lecture he gave in the US (he used to be prohibited by Congress from entering the US, back before the US recognized the PRC as the official China, and kicked Taiwan to the curb, so to speak), is that the DL is at his best when he speaks in Tibetan and uses an interpreter. Though his English has improved over the years, so at least he's more spontaneous in English than he used to be.
What a fascinating talk! Very different from most of his lectures. Thanks for sharing.
I am glad you have made this connection. It will inspire and protect your practice.
http://m.wikihow.com/Practice-Tibetan-Buddhism
You can inhale . . . fully . . . :clap: