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Heffy
BrauMeister


Registered: 08/30/04
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Trip to India. Private audience with Dalai Lama.
#5562500 - 04/27/06 11:35 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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In March I had the extreme fortune to be able to go on a trip to India for 2 and a half weeks. You see my father is a Unitarian minister, and my mother had a connection through a co-worker with the Dalai Lama's former secretary. This meant we were able to schedule a trip to India with a private audience with the Dalai Lama. The focus of the trip was Buddhist, Hindu, and Sufi philosophy.
In the end 35 people ended up being able to go on this trip. Most were old ladies from my Dad's church. I was actually the only person on the trip under the age of 20. This was a little strange, but I ended up drinking almost every night in the bars with a 21 year old girl and a 33 year old guy.
During the trip we traveled to 5 different parts of the country. Our plane arrived originally in Delhi, but the next morning we left first thing for Dharamsala. The bus ride up to the Himalayas took 18 hours, and was rather exhausting after the 24 hours in planes and airports.
We spent 2 days at the hotel near Macleod where the Dalai Lama was giving his public teachings. The view was amazing, we could hear the Tibetan monks chanting from across the mountains in the mornings.
The third day in Macleod was our audience with the Dalai Lama. We were ushered through security checkpoints and led past gates with armed guards until we reached a sunny pavilion with flowers. We waited in anxious anticipation for the Dalai Lama to arrive.
Eventually he pulled up in a car with two men carrying submachine guns. The guards found places to stand, and the Dalai Lama stood in front of us and greeted us each individually. After the greeting we were permitted to ask him one question. I was lucky enough to have been designated as the person who would ask the question. There had been a lot of deliberation about the question, but eventually we all agreed on one.
We asked what he felt the most important message for us to bring back to people who wanted to know about our meeting was. He answered that the most important thing was to have love and compassion that was unbiased. He said no matter what religion or philosophy you follow the most important thing is to be able to have compassion for all people equally, regardless of whether they are your close friend, or your enemy. He then used the Christian metaphor of "turning the other cheek" and said that "really we are all from the same soup". At this point we had to leave, but first he grabbed a lock of my hair(I have dreadlocks) and flipped it in the air. He started laughing and then we all left.
It was quite an experience. After Dharamsala we traveled around the country to Agra, Jaipur, Delhi, and Varanasi. We visited many mosques, temples, and places of worship. We also saw the burning Ghats on the Ganges where the dead are cremated and released into the Ganges.
We got to do so many extraordinary things I couldn't possibly put them all in this post, but needless to say it was a live changing trip for me.
-------------------- I am the king of Rome, and above grammar! - Emperor Sigismund
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JacquesCousteau
Being.


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Re: Trip to India. Private audience with Dalai Lama. [Re: Heffy]
#5562510 - 04/27/06 11:39 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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Very cool... sounds like an awesome experience. I love that he played with your dread before leaving... that single act is so perfectly representative of the playful care-free attitude he carries.
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MarkostheGnostic
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Re: Trip to India. Private audience with Dalai Lama. [Re: Heffy]
#5563374 - 04/27/06 03:51 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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Wow! Thanks for posting. What did the girl LOOK like? Only kidding. I once sat with the Dalai Lama at Drew University during my Methodist seminary stay. No personal dialogue of course, it was a small auditorium, and what haunts me is that I was being 'christianized' and I actually got up, turning my back on the man and walked out after a little while. My bad. That was 1977. Since then I have met Sakya Trizen and a number of monks including Lobsang Samtem, the Namgyal monk who creates sand mandalas (one at Miami-Dade College some years ago). It sounds like quite a trip you had - those connections really help. There must be a reason why you've had these opportunities. Think well on them.
Peace, -MtG
-------------------- γνῶθι σαὐτόν - Gnothi Seauton - Know Thyself
Edited by MarkostheGnostic (04/28/06 05:39 AM)
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kotik
fuckingsuperhero


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Re: Trip to India. Private audience with Dalai Lama. [Re: MarkostheGnostic]
#5563430 - 04/27/06 04:03 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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amazing... i'd think hed have some ninjas and shit too, not just a couple goons with guns.
-------------------- No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, or federal laws. All posts are works of fiction.
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TODAY
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Re: Trip to India. Private audience with Dalai Lama. [Re: Heffy]
#5563717 - 04/27/06 04:58 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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I'd ask him how he felt about being the Dalai Lama.
--------------------
ca'rouse (k-rouz) intr.v. To engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking.
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dorkus
don't look back
Registered: 04/12/04
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Re: Trip to India. Private audience with Dalai Lama. [Re: Heffy]
#5564079 - 04/27/06 06:51 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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Sounds amazing. 
What did you feel in his presence?
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Heffy
BrauMeister


Registered: 08/30/04
Posts: 3,262
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Re: Trip to India. Private audience with Dalai Lama. [Re: dorkus]
#5570019 - 04/29/06 12:22 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I felt very at peace with myself. My problems seemed unimportant. He has quite a presence.
-------------------- I am the king of Rome, and above grammar! - Emperor Sigismund
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AngeloWish
Sr. Mydriasis

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Re: Trip to India. Private audience with Dalai Lama. [Re: Heffy]
#5585884 - 05/03/06 01:36 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
"really we are all from the same soup"
They have elephant dung mushrooms there right?
-------------------- +'this' reality is the one i like the most+
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MOTH
Wild Woman


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Re: Trip to India. Private audience with Dalai Lama. [Re: Heffy]
#5586191 - 05/03/06 03:08 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I'm envious.
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