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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 15 2011 : 01:36:28 AM
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| This post is at the request of Tibetan Ice, with whom I share a connection with the Dalai Lama. Well, back in 1989 when I was 26 years old and had been doing yoga/meditation for 13 years, I was living in the San Francisco Bay area and one of my best friends, Usha, was attending San Jose State University. Usha was raised in a traditional Hindu family and she was also a serious yogini. She called me one day nearly in hysterics and said, "OMG, Jamie, the Dalai Lama is coming to San Jose State! He is doing a weekend workshop! OMG, we HAVE to go!!!" I said, "OMG, no way, REALLY?!" "YES!!!" she said, "I will get us tix!" Usha lived on campus so she was in a great position to do that; I lived across the bay in Oakland. As you can imagine, it was very hard to get tix to this big event; people were camped out to get in line, and Usha waited by the ticket booth on campus very early in the a.m. and had to wait many hours in line. When she got to the booth and gave them her credit card, the clerk said, "I'm sorry, your card was declined." Usha's heart sank and then a monk standing behind the clerk said, "They are supposed to be here. Give her 2 tickets."! She called and told me this and we were both f*king amazed and VERY excited. When I got to the campus that Friday and she showed me the ticket it said "The Empowerment of Padmasambhava" and we had no idea what that was, but we were jumping up and down with excitement. I wish I could tell you more about what happened that weekend but interestingly, it's largely a blank. Had I been a drinker at that time, which I was not, I would call it a "blackout." I do remember lots and lots of chanting and meditation, and the Dalai Lama giving his usual speech about compassion. I also recall feeling a bit uneasy at first because I had recently converted to Christianity and had been told to be wary of "other religions," which I now realize (as I'm sure you do, too, T.I.) was ridiculous, especially given that the Dalai Lama's message is essentially the Golden Rule, but at the time it was an issue. I remember an elderly Tibetan woman smiling and telling me, "don't worry" although I had not said anything about it. We were walking around with our feet barely touching the ground, in total silence (inner and outer) and perfect peace. The next thing I recall is, Usha and I were sitting in the packed auditorium and His Holiness had concluded his lecture and the announcer said, "The workshop is now finished. Thank you very much for coming. Everyone please exit through the back, except for those who are here to receive the initiation of Padmasambhava." Usha and I looked at each other and stayed put. Monks were walking up and down the aisles ushering people out. One stopped and gestured to us, and we bowed our heads, our hands folded in namaste. The announcer said again, "Everyone is to leave now except those who are supposed to be here for the initiation." Usha and I looked at each other and said silently, "We are supposed to be here!" and closed our eyes and continued sitting silently. Then there was lots of chanting and incense burned and at some point the Dalai Lama pronounced that we had received the Empowerment of Padmasambhava Riding the Tiger. We were on Cloud 9 until returning to our normal daily lives and could not really determine what had happened or what it was supposed to accomplish. I think it really only sank in many years later. But I have always felt a connection with His Holiness and the Tibetan people since that weekend. |
Edited by - Radharani on Sep 15 2011 01:37:19 AM |
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stevenbhow
Japan
352 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2011 : 08:02:42 AM
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Great story!!! Thanks so much for sharing. The Dalia Lama is my hero as well as a great spiritual teacher for me.
I have a Dalia Lama story myself. 4 years ago, about a month after I had my Kundalini Awakening I was at my wife's parent's house here in Japan. There was a newspaper sitting on the kitchen table, which for some reason I picked up and started flipping through. I can't read Japanese, so normally I don't even look at the newspapers. A few pages in there was a small advert in Japanese with the Dalia Lama's picture in it. It was written in Japanese, so I asked my wife about and she said the Dalia Lama was giving a lecture in a small city about an hour from where we live and that it was an ad for tickets. There was a phone number, so I immediately asked my wife to call and see if there were any left. As luck would have it, there were two left. My wife couldn't make it, but me and a friend went. On the train ride to the university my friend and I were joking about going out and singing Karaoke with the Dalia Lama after his lecture. But, weird as it may seem, after his lecture a famous Japanese pop star came up on stage. Everyone on stage and in the audience stood up and held hands. And we all proceeded to sing a famous Japanese song about peace. Up on the stage they had a huge screen with the lyrics written in English letters and in Japanese Kanji. So, in a way we did end up singing Karaoke with the Dalia Lama. Like you, I felt incredibly lucky and blessed to see His Holiness give a lecture. He doesn't visit Japan very often because China always complains to the Japanese government every time he does. The thing I remember most is when he first walked out on stage, Namasted, and then just smiled. So much joy radiated out of him. It was fantastic!
btw, I was also living in the Bay Area in '89, east of San Fran though in Antioch. I still remember the earthquake. |
Edited by - stevenbhow on Sep 17 2011 08:33:13 AM |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Sep 20 2011 : 12:31:27 AM
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| Steven, that is awesome! thanks for sharing. I am a big karaoke fan myself and that is so cool that you all got to sing with His Holiness. I was living in Oakland hills during that quake. When it struck I was at work in Berkeley, in a 2-storey cement block building. I watched the cement walls ripple but didn't realize how bad it was until I got home and learned that the Bay Bridge as well as the Embarcadero had collapsed. They said the death toll would have been much worse, had so many people not been at the big game (can't remember which one) and not on the roads. |
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lmaher22
USA
217 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2011 : 9:54:38 PM
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They said the death toll would have been much worse, had so many [i]people not been at the big game (can't remember which one) and not on the roads..............
World Series: Oakland Vs San Francisco; my brother was stuck on a escalator for five hours at the game (old joke). |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2011 : 01:16:15 AM
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| wow! small world. (I just got the joke; how does one get "stuck" on an escalator? LOL!) |
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a weekend with the Dalai Lama, 1989
