nwasianweekly.com
April 19, 2008

Photo by Kathy Sauber/The University of Washington

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama speaking at the convocation where he recieved the Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Washington on April 14, 2008.

The sound of one heart beating

By Ann-Marie Stillion
Northwest Asian Weekly

For the last few days, the Dalai Lama seems to be everywhere in Seattle. On the TV news, in the blogs, in the newspapers. People chat on the bus about when they last saw him. I get e-mails from friends — will you see him? There is the sense of something momentous surrounding the monk who represents both Buddhism and the Tibetan people.

He came this week to talk with scientists, caregivers, musicians, educators and anybody who cares to ... about compassion. Like those beautiful Buddhist paintings where one image splits into a thousand, his colorful robes and brilliant smile are everywhere. And everywhere we are learning, learning about nonviolence and how it is achieved. In each talk he gives, he listens as passionately as he speaks.

Tibet, the Olympics and China were off-limits in the compassion discussion, but one panelist couldn’t resist an oblique question: How have you personally nurtured compassion in your life situation?

The Dalai Lama pulled on a visor just then. He looks slightly comical but eminently comfortable tucked inside layers of crimson cloth. He leans and looks directly into the eyes of his questioner. He pauses, with a quick question to his translator, before speaking.

Slowly, his words rising into rafters of the coliseum, I hear him say that the practice of compassion was natural for him, but then he studied and learned. Again and again he returns to this theme throughout this talk. We are born, and then we must study and use our minds if we hope to achieve anything. Someone else anxiously asks, “Why is there so much violence and how do we change in the face of it?”

I loved his answer: In the past we could live separately, far from one another. But not now — now, we are connected. We must see each action and consider it in relation to the whole world.

Inside my own mind, I marvel as I notice that I can see quite clearly what he is saying. Yes, of course. Technology, global markets, shared existence on the earth itself. A lifetime of speaking to world leaders, and people around the globe congeal. His simple words reach my heart.

But wait, there is another side to this coin — in China, he is hated and feared. Reviled, even, and blamed for ordering others to kill. He is also condemned for not fighting back by some fellow Tibetans. Longtime allies are busy penning detailed histories which note that he is, after all, a poor politician. Some of my friends, Chinese Americans here in Seattle, I discover, are busy themselves planning protests.

For those who are thrilled by his presence, however, the outrage is puzzling to say the least or, we must sadly conclude, an obvious distortion for political purposes.

In Seattle today, he is clearly loved, admired and popular with the majority. His broad face beams at us and we beam back. This morning on the bus to work, a brownie troop plays and passes the time on the way to see the religious leader. It is children’s day and the news reports that 14,000 students were bussed in to learn about kindness from a man who was driven from his homeland decades ago, only to find himself revered throughout the world.

Yesterday as I walked home in the cold Seattle drizzle, a headline declared, “China can change.” The sign of hope gladdens me.

My visit with His Holiness was on April 11 at the Seattle Center Key Arena. When an unexpected ticket fell into my hands, I ran, anticipating the joy to follow. He was scheduled in the afternoon to talk more with experts on the scientific and measurable aspects of compassion. In the morning session, someone told me that he had talked about two kinds of compassion: limited and unlimited. We have more than one kind of intelligence and must learn to use our minds in the service of compassion as well as knowledge.

Most of us can pull off limited compassion. But the unbounded compassion towards enemies and against our own habits is harder. “Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you,” Jesus’ words come alive in the Dalai Lama, I notice.

Hero, human or God, encountering the Dalai Lama leaves me kinder, more thoughtful, feeling blessed, eager, growing in ways I seek. Conflicts remain in our hearts, between people and nations. But many others, maybe thousands, sense the same beckoning for more tenderness in our days.

Ann-Marie Stillion can be reached at annmarie@nwasianweekly.com.

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