I went to see the Dalai Lama yesterday. It was very moving. It’s hard to continue to be critical about movies after an event like that. Several UW students had questions for him. I had the opportunity, along with several thousand of my peers, to ask him a question. I couldn’t think of one. Only about 60 people did, and of these, only 14 or 15 were chosen (the UW wanted to stay away from political questions), and then only about 8 people were able to ask their questions before the time was up.
What I ask myself every day is how do I practice compassion? I was sitting with my son, Axel, the other day, helping him to identify goals for school. He is working on his organizational skills, so he can figure out what to do there, but I asked him to think about a spiritual goal, like practicing compassion. His response: “Mom, writing that makes me sound like I’m not a very nice person.”
I tried to explain, and maybe I didn’t do such a great job, because I hurt his feelings, but this practice governs much of my life. It’s like my own situational compass. On Saturday, I had a very rocky day. Axel was late to a rehearsal, the brake cable on my bike broke suddenly (not just the cable, the brake was messed up), I was supposed to work with someone, but our timing was off–he had to work an hour later than he thought, so I spent time picking him up twice. It was a much busier Saturday than I usually like to have. I was so lucky. I didn’t get mad when the whole day went in its own direction at its own pace. And at the end of the day, we went to the Quad on the UW campus, to see the mature cherry trees in bloom (before they cut them down).
The point is, I did occasionally ask myself, is this worth getting mad about? Will it change anything? It’s much easier to ask those questions, than to get angry and say something wrong and apologize.
So, if I know this, if I know to practice compassion, why did I spend all yesterday afternoon going to see the Dalai Lama? Because for two hours yesterday, I was in the presence of one of the great minds of our century. I never saw Obama or Clinton or McCain when they came through Seattle. I don’t think I move in the right circles for that and I’m fine with that. But seeing the Dalai Lama and hearing him speak changed my life.
Tags: compassion, Dalai Lama, Seattle
