sexual_chocolate Posted April 11, 2008 Posted April 11, 2008 Eye to eye with the Dalai Lama By Ward Serrill Special to The Times PREV 1 of 2 NEXT MARY ALTAFFER / AP The Dalai Lama eyes an audience. Ward Serrill Information Follow the Dalai Lama's visit online: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dalailama/ "The eyes are the windows to the soul," says an old English proverb. I am about to look into a pair of eyes that will change my life. The 14th Dalai Lama walks into the room and sweeps his gaze across the dozen or so people standing around, bowing slightly to each of us, his hands pressed together in blessing. I smile at him, which he returns as he sits for the interview. I expected a larger man. One always does with someone bigger than life. But here sits this humble leader, short though amply fleshed with round features. He looks healthy like a 71-year-old baby. His head is shaved, his eyebrows dark. He listens with open eyes, a ready smile under the surface, taking in, quietly, all. We have created a small set to do an interview for a television special on Buddhism in America. I marvel at my luck. Here I am where hundreds of thousands of devotees would clamber to be, a few feet from his Holiness, with nothing to do but observe and listen as I hold the boom pole and microphone. For 24 minutes I observe, ignored by all, invisible as a bird in the shadows. I see this: He never anticipates an answer. He listens as if for the first time and his answers defy expectation. Attempts to get him to comment on the West's obsession with materiality and its conflict with Buddhist principles fail, though he does say that we in the West try on religions as we do hairdos. I watch his hands. They are small and slightly chubby, bright pink on the palm side. He gestures with them, often guiding his words to their destination. He pulls his feet up beneath himself and sits cross-legged as if he will stay all day, though we all know in minutes he will be swept away to see some world leader, speak to 15,000 people or go have lunch with Richard Gere. When asked what America can possible give to Buddhism, he exclaims, "Ah, new question!" And then answers that perhaps it is the influence of women on the religion — that traditional Buddhism is having to learn and adapt, recognizing it might need to change. When asked about his religion of kindness, he replies, "... all these things: compassion, charity, patience, forgiveness, joy; these do not belong to religion. One does not need religion to understand or practice them. They are simply the expressions of what it is to be human." The interview is over. I no longer wish to be invisible. I don't know what I want to say, but I want to connect with him. The three of us on the film crew are at the side ready to tear down equipment once the room clears out. As if he heard my wish, the Dalai Lama walks over to give each of us a personal greeting before leaving. Anxiety rips through me like a torn piece of paper. I struggle to figure out something to say. We don't speak a word. As he moves in front of me, my hands involuntarily reach out to grasp his. As our hands meet he looks up into my eyes and my world stops spinning. His eyes reveal a deep gravity. I see the serious work behind his childlike humor and spontaneity. The man has suffered much and discipline has made him into a spiritual warrior. This is serious work, these eyes tell me, this inner work to discover peace and being. His attention is riveted. In this moment he is not a busy spiritual leader but simply a human looking gravely into the eyes of another. In this moment I see his greatness. It is this: Humility is not a discipline; it is not a practice with him. Humility is simply what he is. I see in this moment of eyes meeting that he is incapable of placing himself above or below me. I am stunned by the reality of our equality. And then he is gone, swept out of the room by his handlers. For the next three hours I am nearly incapable of speaking, stunned as I was with the presence of this understanding. We are, he told me in his silence, his brown eyes gravely looking into mine, our hands clasped, in absolute attentiveness ... we are ... he said, in those eyes, looking into mine ... the very same soul. Ward Serrill is a Seattle-based filmmaker whose most recent work, "The Heart of the Game," on Roosevelt High School, was released to national acclaim by Miramax Films, www.heartofthegame.org Quote
pope Posted April 11, 2008 Posted April 11, 2008 Welcome to the Camp, I guess you all know why we're here. My name is Tommy And I became aware this year If you want to follow me, You've got to play pinball. And put in your earplugs Put on your eyeshades You know where to put the caulk Hey you getting drunk, so sorry! I've got you sussed. Hey you smoking Mother Nature! This is a bust! Hey hung up old Mr. Normal, Don't try to gain my trust! 'Cause you ain't gonna follow me any of those ways Although you think you must Quote
TREETOAD Posted April 11, 2008 Posted April 11, 2008 "all these things: compassion, charity, patience, forgiveness, joy; these do not belong to religion. One does not need religion to understand or practice them. They are simply the expressions of what it is to be human." Cool. Eventually it all comes down to this. Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted April 11, 2008 Posted April 11, 2008 Gee, where are TTK and Ivan now to say "Fuck the Dalai Lama"? Quote
ivan Posted April 11, 2008 Posted April 11, 2008 actually i was at the gym, but i'm back now... dude, the dalai's got that look you can't put down! that "i might look like i'm here for business but really it's time to party" thing. it's pretty easy to denigrate fantasy characters from a moldering 2 millenia plus fairy-tale. at least the big DL can be sampled in the flesh (in a totally not-gay way, mind you). still...fuck the dalai! there, i said it. i have far greater faith in him and his followers not coming to cut my balls off than the islamojudaechristofascists. don't recall any of them coining a groovy, groovy phrase like "if you meet muhammed on the road - kill him!" Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted April 12, 2008 Posted April 12, 2008 it's pretty easy to denigrate fantasy characters from a moldering 2 millenia plus fairy-tale. at least the big DL can be sampled in the flesh (in a totally not-gay way, mind you). Really? So you buy that the Dali Lama is the 14th incarnation of an "enlightened being"? THAT is NOT a "fantasy character"? Interesting. Quote
ivan Posted April 12, 2008 Posted April 12, 2008 it's pretty easy to denigrate fantasy characters from a moldering 2 millenia plus fairy-tale. at least the big DL can be sampled in the flesh (in a totally not-gay way, mind you). Really? So you buy that the Dali Lama is the 14th incarnation of an "enlightened being"? THAT is NOT a "fantasy character"? Interesting. no - to be certain i don't believe in reincarnation - i'm not even certain to what extent HE thinks he is the reincarantion of siddartha guatama. Quote
sexual_chocolate Posted April 12, 2008 Author Posted April 12, 2008 Really? So you buy that the Dali Lama is the 14th incarnation of an "enlightened being"? THAT is NOT a "fantasy character"? Interesting. what's wrong? you seem a bit bitter today. check it out: it's sunny outside and the birds are chirping! Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted April 12, 2008 Posted April 12, 2008 it's pretty easy to denigrate fantasy characters from a moldering 2 millenia plus fairy-tale. at least the big DL can be sampled in the flesh (in a totally not-gay way, mind you). Really? So you buy that the Dali Lama is the 14th incarnation of an "enlightened being"? THAT is NOT a "fantasy character"? Interesting. no - to be certain i don't believe in reincarnation - i'm not even certain to what extent HE thinks he is the reincarantion of siddartha guatama. if he DOES believe he is the 14th incarnation then he is a ???? if he does NOT actually believe that, but let's his followers believe it then he is a ??? It's interesting what gets you riled up and spewing ... and what doesn't. Quote
ivan Posted April 12, 2008 Posted April 12, 2008 i was inspired to go and see what the man thinks of himself - he does appear to waffle a bit, so he probably wouldn't make a good liberal (like jesus in that respect - not probably as true for moses and mohammed) the llama dog has been quoted as saying: "If someone asks me whether I am the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama," he said, "then I answer, without hesitation, yes. This does not mean that I am the same being as the previous Dalai Lama. Some Dalai Lamas are a manifestation of Manjusri. Some are a manifestation of Chenrizi. Chenrizi is the manifestation of compassion. Manjusri is the manifestation of wisdom. I have a special connection with the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and the Fifth Dalai Lama. I have felt some kind of karmic relations or connections even with the Buddha. I feel I can say I have some kind of connection with the previous Dalai Lamas, some of the previous masters, with Chenrizi, even with the Buddha." at any rate, yes, i think him and his followers are full of shit if they actually believe we have souls and those souls find new bodies after death. i note as well that, given buddhism's (similiar to christianity's) pacific message, the religion tends to be honored more in the breach than in the observance. if nothing else, i dig on the dalai far more than the founders of the other faiths i was harshing on in that he is incredibly accepting of alternative faiths, and not consigning the vast majority of humankind then to hell for merely differing on the proper form of worship. Quote
ivan Posted April 12, 2008 Posted April 12, 2008 It's interesting what gets you riled up and spewing ... and what doesn't. i find it interesting and irritating too...probably more the latter than the former in the opinion of my wife and kids i aim in life to embody the philosophy of the drill instructor from "full metal jacket" - "here you are all equally worthless." Quote
tvashtarkatena Posted April 12, 2008 Posted April 12, 2008 I heard my first thrush of 2008 this morning. Awesome day. Quote
tvashtarkatena Posted April 12, 2008 Posted April 12, 2008 it's pretty easy to denigrate fantasy characters from a moldering 2 millenia plus fairy-tale. at least the big DL can be sampled in the flesh (in a totally not-gay way, mind you). Really? So you buy that the Dali Lama is the 14th incarnation of an "enlightened being"? THAT is NOT a "fantasy character"? Interesting. Why not? You believe that there's a great, big, fuzzy kitty way up in the sky. Kitty loves you. Quote
Off_White Posted April 13, 2008 Posted April 13, 2008 You play with the cat, sometimes you bleed. Quote
tvashtarkatena Posted April 14, 2008 Posted April 14, 2008 (edited) Why must I feel like that? Why must I chase the cat? Nothin' but the God in me.... Edited April 14, 2008 by tvashtarkatena Quote
lI1|1! Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 the dali lama is a molester now? ok i only read the title. Quote
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