"Dalai Lama, Long Life!": A cousin's account

We are delighted to present this thoughtful essay and eyewitness reportage by cousin Tanya Cook (pictured below with her youngest child, Perrin), who trekked to Madison, Wis., last week to see the Dalai Lama. Madison, like Minneapolis, has a large Tibetan Buddhist population. The scrapblog editor notes that during her stint as Minneapolis Star Tribune religion reporter, she followed the Dalai Lama around for a couple of days and had a similarly fascinating experience.

By TANYA COOK

July 20, 2008

It had been an exciting and stressful week leading up to my trip to see the Dalai Lama’s public talk at the Colosseum in Madison, Wis. My close friend and her boyfriend had driven all the way from the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area to attend. We aren't Buddhists, but we couldn’t pass up the chance to hear this important and engaging spiritual leader. I’d always been fascinated with his self-deprecating humor, down-to-Earth manner of talking about issues as diverse as world politics and self-help, and his almost cult-like status in certain circles of popular culture. The Dalai Lama has a special connection with Wisconsin, having chosen to visit seven times. One of his senior students founded a Buddhist Temple near Oregon, Wis., to the south of Madison, and helped to found one of the nation's first Buddhist Studies Departments at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

I was worried about being late as we drove to the Colosseum. We had left the house later than planned because I was trying to give the girls maximum birthday party time before taking them home to stay with their dad while I attended the talk. Then there was the county fair. Traffic was congested and we hiked in from beyond the horse trailer parking section, the sweet scent of dry hay and warm animals filling the air. We passed one Toyota Prius after another; several cars sported “Free Tibet” bumper stickers. As we drew close we heard, over the drone of a helicopter circling above, a group of people chanting: "Dalai Lama, [something, something]." My friend said, “I think they’re saying, ‘Dalai Lama, long life.’” But could there be protesters? I wondered. Who would be protesting a man who had won the Nobel Peace Prize?

The round red and white spaceship looking building loomed in front of us. To the right we saw the group, loudly chanting and holding signs. Now we were close enough to make out what they were saying: “Dalai Lama, stop lying! Dalai Lama, stop lying!” Yes, a protest group. Insert ‘You know you’re in Madison, when ... ’ joke here.

We paid them little heed as we found the door for advance ticket-holders, passed security guards who reminded us to turn off cell phones. It was touch-and-go for me for a minute, but I quickly revealed the thing that made the wand beep as the guard swept it past my midsection was only my key chain. My purse passed inspection, too, and we ascended to our seats.

I needn’t have worried about being late. They waited for the crowd to be seated, and we sat through introductions by a local radio personality and the governor, Jim Doyle.

Although our seats were high, we knew when His Holiness appeared on stage as 30,000 people rose as one to stand in respect. His bald pate shining, he bowed to the crowd and other monks in attendance, joining his hands, palms together in front of his chest. We bowed back in unison and then began a thunderous standing ovation. Coming out of his bow, the Dalai Lama faced the crowd and then pumped his hands up from waist level twice, the universal gesture for “More applause, please!” He followed this quickly with the gesture for “Stop, please, sit!” And sit we did. He removed his sandals and sat cross-legged in an upholstered chair, adjusting his crimson and saffron robes. His translator hovered at attention to his left. His Holiness donned an earpiece microphone like the ones Madonna or Brittany use to sing and dance simultaneously and began his 90-minute talk, entitled “Educating the Heart.”

I was worried at first that I’d understand little of the talk. It was difficult to hear, and His Holiness’ English, while excellent, was strongly accented. I also worried that I knew too little about Buddhism to follow an esoteric discussion of dogmatic beliefs. But as he spoke of compassion and the purpose of life we listened quietly and tried to let the words enter our hearts. He said the purpose of life was to be happy and that once basic material needs were met, it was impossible to achieve lasting happiness through material means.

He was profoundly positive, even when discussing his difficult relationship as a political leader in exile. He stated strongly that the Tibetan people had great respect for the Chinese people, but not the Chinese government. Freedom, the Dalai Lama expressed, is a fundamental human desire, and totalitarianism is its opposite. Like any great public speaker, he put in jokes punctuated with his open and warm laughter.

Even having read about it, I was surprised at his humility and willingness to make himself the butt of a joke. In the opening moments he quickly dispelled any notions of what he was not. He did not have any special healing powers, he said. If anyone knew of someone who could heal through touch, he said, let him know, because recently a particularly enthusiastic fan had hurt his left pinky finger after a bout of hearty hand-shaking! When asked about how he maintained his strength living in exile he answered, “Good sleep, good food.”

My favorite part of the talk, though, was when he revealed his most important source for learning about compassion. Considered to be the emanation of the Buddha of compassion, this man has worked to teach others to find compassion, even for their enemies. But his most important lessons on compassion, he said, came not from the Buddhist teachings he’s studied his whole life (and in previous lifetimes), but from his mother. He described her patience, tolerance, and unconditional love as the basis of his spiritual understanding of compassion. His Holiness stressed the importance of individual happiness beginning with family relationships, with happiness spreading from families to communities to nations to the world.

We left the Colosseum hungry and looking forward to getting home to start dinner and work on the happiness of shared food and conversations. The protesters were still there. Later, I read in the newspaper they were part of a Buddhist sect that accuses the Dalai Lama of religious intolerance and hypocrisy. Their chanting followed us past the hybrid cars and horse trailers, but this time I smiled, imagining their words differently, preferring my friend’s interpretation: “Dalai Lama, long life! Dalai Lama, long life!”