so i have lots to write about, but i haven't had time. i've been busy rubbing elbows with the dalai lama, you see. i'll try to recap the last few days. (this is a long post - the best part is at the bottom though, so make sure you read that.)
MONDAY:
the dalai lama arrived at the institute at about 5:30pm. tibetans have perfected the art of standing around waiting for important people, and today was no exception. students and staff were supposed to line up to receive him when he drove through the gates. they painted a white line on the ground that we all had to stand behind, and, just to make sure that we all understood this important rule, we had to practice standing around waiting at 10:30 in the morning. then, at 2:00, we had to line up again to wait for him to show up. all in all, it was a total of about 4 hours spent standing around waiting to see a car drive by - an event that lasted a total of about 15 seconds.
TUESDAY:
it pays to have connections. there was a conference today between the dalai lama, some buddhist monks, and some indian pandits about buddhist and hindu philosophy. it was a pretty exclusive thing, but jay was able to sneak me in. we met in the library in the tibetan scripture room, which is a pretty small venue. out of 50 people in the room, i was one of:
- a dozen people who were not either tibetan monks or indian pandits
- 4 women
- 3 westerners
- the only student
and i was by far the youngest person in the room. needless to say, i felt incredibly out of place. it was pretty cool though. the whole thing was conducted in tibetan, hindi, english, and - for a very short time - sanskrit. they debated philosophy, and talked about everything from atman (soul) theory, to cloning and evolution, to the big bang. the dalai lama deferred to jay at one point when people were discussing the origin of the universe, and jay attempted to explain the big bang and its relation to concepts of space and time. i don't think people really understood, but now folks around campus refer to him as 'mr. big bang.'
the whole thing was videotaped and shown on closed-circuit television in atisha hall, the big venue on campus. apparently atisha hall was packed with students, because when i was wandering around later that evening, folks i didn't even know came up to me and said, "wow! i saw you on tv!"
WEDNESDAY:
another, even more exclusive conference. this one was a discussion between the different sects of tibetan buddhism. and, i felt even more out of place than yesterday. here's a breakdown of the demographics:
50 people
6 lay-people (everyone else was a tibetan monk)
2 westerners (me and jay)
1 woman
i wasn't the youngest person in the room this time, though, but that's only because the karmapa was there. (the karmapa is 21, and is the head of the kagyud sect of tibetan buddhism - pretty much as important as the dalai lama, just the head of a different school.)
it was amazing. the whole thing was done in tibetan, and the best part was, i could follow a lot of it. the dalai lama gave an excellent speech in the beginning about tibetan religious history, and then a bunch of folks read papers about the differences between the four main schools of tibetan buddhism. i looked and felt incredibly out of place there, and i think everybody knows that i wasn't really supposed to be there, but it was really, really amazing to get to go. i think it helped that my philosophy teacher was the organizer of the whole thing. again, everyone saw me on tv.
THURSDAY:
his holiness addressed the students and staff, and a lot of tibetans were allowed in. atisha hall was PACKED. they've kept the institute locked up pretty tightly while the dalai lama has been on campus - you need special passes to even get onto campus. of course, when westerners see me waltz in and out of the gate like it's no big deal, they come running up to me asking, "how did you get in? how can i get a pass? can you get me in to see the dalai lama?" i have to admit, i feel a little smug, being able to tell them that i'm a student here, and no, they're not allowed inside.
FRIDAY:
jojo and i had a private audience with the dalai lama. we went into the house where he lives on campus, and the director of the institute escorted us in. he introduced us, and mentioned that i had studied philosophy in the u.s. and was continuing to study tibetan philosophy here. his holiness proceeded to ask me all kinds of questions about western philosophy and whether i thought there were any similarities to buddhist thought. i told him about my thesis, and we talked for a bit about david hume and greek philosophers. when we left, i said "thug je che" which means 'thank you' in tibetan. the director pointed at us and said, "oh yes, they've been studying tibetan language for quite some time." his holiness smiled at me and said, "great! that's wonderful! if you want to be a truly authentic scholar, it's important to know the language." then he slapped me so hard on the back that i nearly fell over.
we have photos. i'll post those as soon as i get my hands on them.
