Dalai Lama Comes to Chicago
The Dalai Lama: The Buddhist Monk Who Touches Lives
By Angelique Boyd
The 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, also known as His Holiness, spoke at the UIC Pavilion on Sunday July 17, 2011. The next day, he appeared at the Harris Theatre with a panel of religious leaders.
"Bridging the Faith Divide: Compassion in Action," the Theosophical Society in America (TSA) organized the events to bring the Dalai Lama and his message of religious tolerance to Chicago and the United States. The TSA actually inspired the Dalai Lama's belief in religious tolerance. In 1956, he visited the Theosophical Society International Headquarters in Adyar, Chennai, India, and was exposed to the idea of uniting the world's religions and science.
The Dalai Lama was born on July 6th, 1935 as Lhamo Dhondup in Takster, a northeastern providence in Tibet. At the age of two, he was recognized to be a reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. Dali Lamas are manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings that postpone their nirvana and decide to have a rebirth in order to help humanity. In the Buddhist religion, it is believed that after a person dies he/she reincarnates or is reborn in a different body based on the life they lived. Nirvana is the freedom from reincarnation because one lived a true enlightened life.
Since my father, Tim Boyd, is president of the TSA, I was able to meet the Dalai Lama. Having a "backstage pass" of sorts, I was very lucky and moved to get to be up close and personal with him. My father invited Ms. Deborah Sawyer, President & CEO of EDI, to sit in the front row with us at the UIC Pavilion. I was blessed by this extraordinary man with an extraordinary story.
At both the UIC and Harris Theatre events, the Dalai Lama emphasized that moral principles do not come from religion; they come from being a happy person, wanting to live a happy life, and living honestly. There is not one religion that is the best; all world religions contribute something positive for humanity. Even "non-believers" have moral principles because they to can live honestly and happily, he said.
At a reception for donors, I met a girl named Tenzin, a Tibetan refugee who is about to begin studying at Loyola University in Chicago. Waiting to meet the Dalai Lama, Tenzin was in her traditional Tibetan clothing and holding the katah, a cloth the Dalai Lama will bless once she holds it out for him and bows down. The woman that took Tenzin in told my mom and me that she was separated for a time from her mother when she was younger when China invaded Tibet, and was taught that the Dalai Lama was a threat. Once she left Tibet for Nepal, she learned differently and wanted to meet him.
My dad introduced the Dalai Lama to her. He stopped going on to the next person to talk to Tenzin and they began to converse in Tibetan. Later, my dad learned that the Dalai Lama told a very emotional Tenzin not to forget where she came from and to complete and do well in school. He said Tenzin should be proud to be a Tibetan.
Although I probably will never understand the way Tenzin lived in Tibet and how she was separated from her mother, I still understand how moving it was to meet the Dalai Lama. I met him at the airport and the way he looked into my eyes made me feel loved, blessed, and happy. When he walked away, I could feel the tears well up. All it took was one person to ask me how I felt to cause the tears to fall.
Chicago was lucky to host such a visitor, since the Dalai Lama is known as an important figure for Tibetans and for people all over the world. His message his simple:
"Create inner peace, tolerance, forgiveness and patience," the Dalai Lama said during the UIC Pavilion event.