A Meeting with the Dalai Lama (from my blog http://terataii.blogspot.com)

In March 2001, when I was at the lowest point in my life, I went with my cousin to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, up in the Indian Himalayas, where he has lived in exile since 1959.

The meeting lasted perhaps 20 minutes – I can’t be sure because I lost track of time as soon as I met His Holiness. I can’t remember very much of what he said, or what I said either for that matter. Nevertheless, it was a turning point in my life and, in particular, in my spiritual growth.

At the time, he was teaching monks in all-day sessions and had agreed to meet us during the lunch break. I wondered with a twinge of guilt if I was keeping the Dalai Lama from his lunch. I figured he knew better than me if he could spare the time, but I was certainly grateful for his kindness and generosity of spirit.

My cousin and I were waiting for him when he came back from the morning session. As we greeted him, he put his arms around us and propelled us into the hall where we were to chat. I was struck by his high level of energy and his rather infectious good humour.

Everything I had read and imagined about him was true. He looks at you and you feel yourself becoming calm and peaceful. He exudes compassion. When he talks to you, all of his attention is focused on you.

What I hadn’t quite expected was the strength mixed with gentleness, the compassion that goes hand-in-hand with the cheerful smile and the deep laugh. I cried a little as I spoke to him of my troubles, he held my hands and comforted me not with platitudes but with spiritual truths. I was strangely at peace – even when I cried.

There was an indescribable quality to the meeting. When I came out of the meeting I felt I was walking a few inches above the ground. For several months after that, every time I struggled with a difficult spiritual issue, I would have a conversation with the Dalai Lama – in my head. And, always, it pointed me in the direction I needed to go.

Although I have only met him once more after that, I have in my heart accepted him as one of my gurus.
In the two meetings, he talked a bit about dharma (in its connotation of a commitment to spiritual growth) and about the spiritual principle of non-attachment. He talked not in a didactic way at all, but casually as if he were just chatting with a friend. He is, of course, a living example of these spiritual principles.

A link to the official website of the Dalai Lama: http://www.dalailama.com/