Photographer : crazygeorge @ flickr
It was 10:30 am on a rainy Friday morning, right after the last of my final exams had finished. I sat under the covers and listened to the inclement weather pour down around my tiny apartment and thought, “It’s way too cold and wet to leave this place today. I don’t care if he’s one of the holiest people in the world, or any other world for that matter. I’m not getting out of bed.”
That’s right. I was letting a little rain deter me from going to see the one, the only, the Dalai Lama.
I had decided a month ago (and on a far sunnier day) that I would make the trek to see the Dalai Lama on his world tour when he came to Sydney on June 15. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to gain from the experience. Maybe I was hoping for a little insight, maybe I was hoping to gain some lacking spirituality or sense of good will.
Mostly though, I think I was looking for some hope. The older I become, the more news I watch, the more books I read and the more I look around I see the world falling apart. People are angry, scared, hurt. There are wars going on, violent crimes being committed; people are feeling a sense of sadness and desperation that you can almost feel in the air. The older I become and the more news I watch, the more I start to lose hope.
So maybe, I thought, the Dalai Lama—one of the most holy, serene and iconic figures of peace in the world—could teach me a little something about hope. But on Friday morning, as the rain came pouring down harder and harder, I wasn’t feel very hopeful. Fortunately a friend called me at 10:35 and said, “Hey, aren’t you going to see the Dalai Lama today? Mind if I join?” And suddenly, with a simple twist of fate, I was back on board and pulling on the warmest clothes I could find to head out to the Domain. Come hell or high water (literally) I was seeing the Dalai Lama.
When we arrived at the Domain the venue was already filled with spectators; I was actually in awe of how many people still came out despite the weather. Many were dressed in their formal work attire and I could tell they had gone out of their way to take a long lunch break and see his Holiness. This gave me a feeling of solidarity, like we were all some lost souls braving the weather in hopes of hearing something truly inspiring.
When the Dalai took the stage the rain had really started coming down. People couldn’t clap as much as they liked because we were all clutching our umbrellas. It was hard to hear him over the rain and his thick Tibetan accent, and harder to see him even on the big screens that were set up because the umbrellas were blocking my view. But one thing struck me with the glimpses I caught of him: he was extremely happy. You could just tell by looking at him. I thought, “That’s what happiness looks like, right there with that little man.”
The Dalai Lama spoke for nearly an hour, and like I said, it was hard to hear it all. But there were three things he said that I might never forget for as long as I live.
The first was that true peace and happiness starts within each of us. We all walk down the street each day, and we may exchange pleasantries and smiles, but simply saying kind words does not mean that one is at peace with oneself, or even all that happy. We should each strive to find that inner happiness in ourselves as individuals because that’s where true peace starts—with just one person.
The second thing his Holiness said was that we should all strive to be more compassionate. Compassion, he said, would help us be free of what troubles us the most. “If you want to learn compassion,” he said, “start small. Try being nice to insects first. Even when you want to kill one that is bothering you, try to be compassionate instead.” I liked that idea because it made sense. If we want to change our behaviours or make a change in our lives the most logical step is to start small, because even those small changes can eventually lead to big differences in the way the world works or the way we interact with the world.
The last thing the Dalai Lama said that resonated with me was in response to an audience member question. Someone asked, “What should a person who wants to be peaceful and conscious do in the face of someone who is full of hate or anger?” What the Dalai Lama said was, perhaps, one of the wisest and most thoughtful things I had ever heard. I admit, however, I didn’t expect this response: “Do nothing,” he said. Part of dealing with people who are full of hate, rage, or fear is simply accepting that they exist, and they always will, he said. It made me realise that, yes, the world is filled with bad news and sadness, and part of dealing with that is accepting it. Even though the world can seem pretty awful at times it was no reason to lose hope. By acknowledging its problems and accepting the current reality, I could change the way I reacted to the world instead of letting the world change my reactions.
I didn’t need to lose hope, I needed to start doing what I could to lend a hand or make a difference. The difference might be as small as showing compassion to a housefly, and the headlines will probably still read gloom and doom at the end of the day, but that is ok. At least I would still be doing my part to contribute to the many aspects of this life that are wonderful (because, believe it or not, there are many of those). I could at least say that I did the best with the time I had, and that I was happy inside because of it. And, in the end, it’s the happiness that will eventually spread and that is what makes a real difference in the world; that is what cuts through all the sadness we feel in the air and gives us a little bit of hope.
At 4:00 pm that Friday afternoon the rain had finally subsided—for a little while, at least—and I sat back pondering what small step I could take next to contribute my sense of happiness to the world. Because Lord knows, the world could use a little more happiness. But then again, it all starts with just one person.
So, ask yourself, what will you contribute to the world’s happiness today?
