Om Mani Padme Hung

Yesterday, Evilducky, Danger, MacGyver, and I drove to Bloomington, Indiana, to hear the Dalai Lama speak. It was a really incredible experience, and I'm so glad that we went.

It feels sort of weird to say this about a world-renowned and much-respected spiritual leader, but the Dalai Lama is ADORABLE. Instead of standing at a podium, he sat in a large cushy armchair draped with yellow cloth. The first thing he did when he sat down was say, "First, I will get comfortable." He took off his shoes, sat cross-legged in the chair, and pulled a little red visor out of his pocket to wear to shield his eyes from the lights. He said, "Ah, now I can see your faces! It's almost like you're looking down from heaven!" Then he looked at the people up in the balcony seats and said, "If you fell from heaven, that would be disastrous!"

His speech focused on the need for compassion in life. I've never studied Buddhist teachings or read much about them, so it was really encouraging and uplifting to hear the Dalai Lama advocate living the way I've been trying to live for years--treating others with compassion, even the ones that don't treat you that way; giving affection and love; embracing warm-heartedness; working to let go of negative emotions like anger and jealousy.

He spoke about how letting go of destructive emotions can take the form of an inner disarmament, which can then lead to outer disarmament and an end to violence and warfare. He expressed his view that the world is getting better, and that we shouldn't generalize that the world is a sad and violent place, because the majority of people are not committing acts of violence. He discussed the two levels of compassion--feeling compassion for people we care about, which is easy and comes naturally, and is based in part on a biological response; and feeling compassion for people that we don't know or even who have hurt us, and how we can feel compassion for someone as a fellow human being and yet take a stand against that person's unjust actions.

He expressed his belief that a religious upbringing is not a prerequisite for living a moral life, and pointed out that from infancy we learn affection and compassion by receiving it from our parents. He talked about how even pets can express love and affection, and said that in Tibet, people often say that when a cat is purring on your lap, it's saying its om mani padme hung mantra.

I'm sure I'm forgetting many, many things that he said which resonated with me. I'm so grateful that I got the chance to hear him speak, and I'm definitely going to try to remember to be compassionate and warm-hearted in my day-to-day life.