Me And That Dalai Dude
I grew up with a deeply personal relationship to Jesus but was never a church goer, nor was I interested in Christianity or any other religion. Jesus was the only religious figure I had ever really thought about, so I never knew anything about the guy known as the Dalai Lama or the guy he represents, Buddha. But as I reveal in my book, four years ago I discovered I have an unusual and very rare connection to Buddha and his great ambassador, the Dalai Dude, and my life seems to keep validating this over and over again.
April 2014
This April, as happened last year, I was in a crowd of people who came to see the Dalai Lama speak at his temple in India and happened to be standing EXACTLY where His Holiness came to stand and take photos, so I got to hold his hand – twice. As my friend Nicole witnessed with the same shock I experienced, this year he actually looked straight at me among the crowd, reached out his hand to me and then came to stand beside me for the photo.
April 2015
Last week some friends and I went to hear the Dalai Lama give his final talk of a three-day teaching to Tibetan students. We thought the talk began at 8:30am like the previous days, but it turns out it was scheduled to start earlier. When we arrived at 7:15am the venue was already full and we were directed to a hillside out of sight of the main teaching area. As we were walking up the hill I noticed a row of men at the entrance to the teaching hall dressed in traditional Tibetan costume. I asked one of the guards if I could just duck under the security rope and take some photos and he said yes.
I had been standing in one spot taking photos for less than 60 seconds when another guard told me I had to step behind the white line, which when I looked down I could see meant I had to step backwards about six inches. When I looked up again I saw a car coming right in front of me, and to my surprise, it was the Dalai Lama. (Photo is without any zoom.)
And then because I was already near the main teaching area when he arrived, I was able to stay there with no problem.
I left the talk a few minutes before it was over because someone else was speaking and I wasn’t interested in what they had to say. As my friend Tanja and I headed out to the main road to wait for our other friends, we realized we might actually see the Dalai Lama coming out the same way. Sure enough, less than five minutes after we started walking, here he came, right in front of us. (Video is also without zoom.) Dalai Lama leaving teachings.
I feel incredibly blessed to have these strong connections to such powerful teachers of kindness, compassion, joy and peace. In my metaphysical experiences I get exquisite time with Jesus and Buddha, and in my physical experiences I get extraordinary time with the Dalai Lama. I am always aware of feeling deeply grounded and real in their presence, because I am reminded then of who I Am, sharing in profound collective energies of Divine Love.
As we all are, though most do not know this. But I tell you, it is true. It is true.
May every moment of our time together in Love – with whomever we are around – be of benefit to all beings.