He was a slight old man, sitting cross-legged and shoeless on an overstuffed brown leather chair in front of about 2,000 people at the Palace Theater in downtown Albany. Like many old people, he wasn't feeling particularly well that afternoon, but his good humor and philosophical outlook were infectious, and for most of the two hours he spent onstage last Wednesday you could have heard a pin drop inside the beautifully restored old hall.
He opened with a joke.
"People think I have the power to heal, but I do not," he said. "If I had the power to heal, I would not have my gall bladder operation, because if I was going to heal anyone, I would heal myself first."
The quip, which was the first of many, drew laughter and applause and put the audience at ease. Although he would touch on many issues of the utmost seriousness, his sunny disposition carried the day, and his deep belief in the brotherhood of man made no difficulty seem insurmountable.
"Any manmade problems, human beings have the ability to overcome these problems," he said. "I try to treat whoever I meet as an old friend. This gives me a genuine feeling of happiness. It is the practice of compassion."
He surprised many with his practical and down-to-earth beliefs. He dabbled with vegetarianism for a short time after seeing a cook kill a chicken, for example, but retreated from the stance after being sickened by a bout of jaundice.
By any standard, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyasto, has lived a remarkable life.
Born the fifth of 16 children to impoverished parents in the tiny Amdo village of Taktser, Tenzin Gyasto was proclaimed as the tulku, or rebirth, at the age of 2. Thirteen years later, he was enthroned as the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and political ruler of Tibet since the 17th century.
Red China, then under the iron rule of the infamous Mao Zedong, had long coveted the mountainous nation, launching an invasion of Tibet in 1951. Resistance formed, leading to a failed uprising in 1959, and the Dalai Lama and some 80,000 of his countrymen were forced to flee across the mountains to exile in northern India.
His Holiness formed a government in exile, and today spends much of his time traveling the world, speaking about Buddhist philosophy and meeting with world leaders to discuss the plight of Tibet under the repressive Chinese regime.
In Albany last week, agents of various American security services mingled with the young Tibetan monks who serve as the Dalai Lama's own bodyguards at both the theater and the Crown Plaza Hotel, where he met with journalists and later spent the night.
It is no secret that, given the opportunity, the Chinese government would do what it could to assassinate the celebrated Nobel Peace Prize recipient. His case on behalf of Tibetan self-determination has been consistently rejected out of hand by the Chinese, although leaders ranging from France's Nicholas Sarkozy to former American President George W. Bush have spoken approvingly of his cause.
Bush awarded His Holiness the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007, prompting howls of protest from the Chinese. Last week's event was not without controversies of its own. The appearance by the Dalai Lama was sponsored by sisters Sara and Clare Bronfman, heirs to the Seagram's fortune and members of NXIVM, a personal growth executive training company that an openly hostile Albany press has described as a cult.
The attacks caused the Dalai Lama to open his own investigation of the group, he said, but he was satisfied as to the sincerity of the Bronfman sisters and the work of NXIVM.
"Sometimes, you know, I think the press should have noses that grow longer and longer," he laughed.
Fellow Nobel Peace Prize recipient and South African Bishop Desmond Tutu and British peace activist Sir Richard Branson have also endorsed the group's efforts in the areas of human ethics and world peace.
When asked about the media hullabaloo that preceded the historic appearance, Sara Bronfman was philosophical as well.
"It hasn't been difficult, but it calls upon me to dig deeper and have more inner strength and resolve," she said. "I know what I am doing is good and the truth will come out in the end. And I believe that is His Holiness' message as well."
Niagara Falls attorney John Bartolomei represents the Bronfman sisters and NXIVM, and filed a $65 million lawsuit in March against Metroland, one of Albany's alternative weekly newspapers, over a series of disparaging articles the paper ran last year. The suit alleges 10 separate counts including product disparagement, prima facia tort (intending to and succeeding in causing harm), defamation, interference with prospective business advantage, and conspiracy.
While the teachings of the Dalai Lama do not preclude defending oneself against threats from the outside, his overall message last week was one of peace and harmony.
"I believe that at every level of society -- familial, tribal, national and international -- the key to a happier and more successful world is the growth of compassion," he said. "We do not need to become religious, nor do we need to believe in an ideology. All that is necessary is for each of us to develop our good human qualities."
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | May12 2009 |