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meeting the Dalai Lama
Hey everyone. This sunday I have the pleasure of attending a talk with his holiness the Dalia Lama. Has anyone ever seen him? What can I expect? Also am I right in the fact that he is considered to be Buddha reincarnated?
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I believe the Tibetans feel that the Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of the last 13 Dalai Lamas, which is basically their highest teacher.
What can you expect? You will certainly laugh, because I don't think HHDL can talk to any audience without making them laugh - unless he is leading a ceremony or the occasion is sombre. He is also a very clear and direct teacher. Also, I have no doubt that he will speak about the current situation in Tibet: he uses every possible occasion to remind the world of the tyrannical occupation by the Chinese.
The question of who the Dalai Lama is remains a complex one and Palzang may get this straighter than I can but here goes from what I know:
In the Tibetan tradition, certain great teachers are reincarnated, for the benefit of all beings (as the saying goes). At the time of the present Dalai Lama's birth, there were some 3000 such reincarnations in Tibet. They are known as tulkus and,since the 12th Century, there has been a highly sophisticated procedure for recognising these reincarnated lamas.
Although the Ven. Geshe Tenzin Gyatso is the 13th reincarnation of Gyalwa Gendrun Drubpa, the First Dalai Lama (1391-1474/5), the Great First was not the start. Many of his previous incarnations have been identified. In order to understand this, we need to grasp the Mahayana concept of Gyalsey Nyey Gyey (the Eight Offspring of the Buddhas). These appear from time to time when there is need.
Each of these symbolises one of the eight principle qualities of enlightenment, thus we have Manjushri ("Bodhisattva of Wisdom"), Vajrapani ("Bodhisattva of Power"), etc. The one involved here is Avalokiteshvara, the "Bodhisattva of Compassion", who is called Chenrezig in Tibetan and Kwan Yin in Chinese. Over time, Tibetans developed a special affectiuon for Chenrezig.
At a spiritual level, the Eight Offspring represent the qualities, but they were also ordinary people, living in history, who set out on the Dharma path. At the wisdom level, they provide us with the seeds of those qualities so that we can also achieve our full potential and 'go beyond'.
Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama, reincarnated over and over again for our benefit. And before that, the line of reincarnation goes back far further. The key figures here are the great Indian mystic and reformer Atisha. In the 11th Century, invited to Tibet to reform Buddhism there, he spent many years in conversation with a Tibatan sage called Lama Drom. These conversations are recorded in a book called The Previous Incarnations of Lama Drom Tonpa in which Drom's disciple, Ngok Lekpai Sherab, describes the 36 lives of Drom in India. All these lives became 'attached' to the Dalai Lama.
As you can see, the subject is extremely complex and has a very long history. It also needs understanding of the three aspects of the bodhisattva. Most of the information that I have inadequately summarised here is drawn from a wonderful book: The Fourteen Dalai Lamas by Glenn H. Mullin (Clear Light Publications. 2001)
Abaruby.....how were you able to get this opportunity? How exciting!
Despite the size of the venue, it was very intimate and his presence was palpable.
Palzang
"Kundun" means "The Presence" and he is that for sure.
FYI HHDL is supposed to give a public talk at the U of Buffalo NY, in september 2006. I think the topic is world peace. How apropriate. I hope to attend, we're not getting any younger. I signed up with the University for early tickets. tibetoffice.org will get you there, and show his schedule for the year.
Simon thanks for the post about HHDL. I've been wondering about that.
One last thing, I figured out what I'd ask HHDL if I had the chance. What can I do for you, Holiness.
(Ahem.) Lovely posts, everyone. I can only imagine how it would feel to be in his presence. I was just looking at the photo of you, Simon, with HHDL holding your hand and your (grandson, is it?). Beautiful photo. Whenever I see a picture of HH the Dalai Lama it makes me laugh! Every time! I just love him. He's a grand, little imp of compassion! LOL!
Brigid
HHDL signed as KLundun because Jack talked to him about Scorsese's film. It is what the Dalai Lama is called by his intimates apparently.
You mention Mullin and I assume that you are referring to his book The Fourteen Dalai Lamas. He also quotes the myth of the origin of humans, all of whom (according to the myth) descend from Chenrezig and a migou who was an emanation of the goddess Tara! I can't, however, find a reference to the notion that there have been three "persons". He does write about the popular myth that the Dalai Lamas are incarnations of Lama Drom Tonpa, an early Kadampa lama and contemporary of Atisha, whom the present Dalai Lama deeply reveres. And Lama Drom is traditionally believed to have had thirty-six incarnations in India and ten as Tibetan kings.
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Brigid,
The lad is my son Jack who is now rising 16.
What a lucky boy to have you as his father, and bringing him to meet HH the Dalai Lama!
Brigid
Correction to my above poor memory post.
Found the issue of Quest Magazine, Autumn 1993, p. 29. Mullin quotes HHDL that the First through the Seventh were "one line, of which the Seventh was the last." So Gendun Drubpa, the 1st DL was that line. Then "it was decided that the reincarnation of Jamyang Chojey Tashi Palden, a contemporary of the First Dalai Lama and founder of Drepung Monastery, would be most appropriate. This lama was also renowned as an emanation of Bodhisattva Lokeshvara. Therefore from the Eighth to me is believed to be that line."
So only two persons make up the lineage.
I saw an ad in my Yoga Journal magazine showing that HHDL was going to be speaking in NY. Oh how I wish I could go!!!!
His Holiness, in 1984, had said to a group of children in Middlebury, Vermont, when asked if he were the same person reincarnated for fourteen lifetimes: "Actually, I often think that from the First to the Seventh incarnations was one line, and from the Eighth to myself is another."
Mullin asked him about this. This is what he writes:
Earlier in his chapter on the Eighth Dalai Lama, Mullin quotes two prophecies that there would only be seven Dalai Lamas. The present Dalai Lama points out that this was the point in time (1757 CE) when, until the Great Thirteenth, that Dalai Lamas ceased to receive the "shamanic traditions of the Nyingmapa School". For nearly a century and a half, the tradition of blending lineages lapsed. Jampel Gyatso, the Eighth, was considered, by some, as a 'stopgap'. His life was that of a simple monk. He studied and wrote extensively on Mahamaya, the only Dalai Lama so far to write about this aspect of Tantra.
Whatever we may like to believe about the reincarnations, it is clear that the Dalai Lamas have often been mirrors of compassion: reflecting back onto Tibet and, now, the world. As a result, they will 'incarnate' our deepest questions and worries. The story of the Eighth is, in itself, a microcosm of the historico-political events of his Tibet.
I have found real fruit in reflecting on the 'failure' of the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Dalai Lamas (1805-1875 CE). The world at large was in ferment: revolutions, empires, civil wars, the rise of capitalism and socialism. For me, these young monks, passing away in obscurity. This was a time when Tibet had to prepare for the storm that was coming, of which the Great Thirteenth wrote to his successor and which we are now witnessing.
Very thought provoking, and highly interesting.
take care
_/\_
metta
P.S.- I just noticed that Will raised this point on the previous page. Thank you as well.