There is something about His Holiness The Dalai Lama that disarms you the moment you meet him. Thoughts fly out of your mind, you forget what you had to say and become as happy as a toddler who is given his favourite toy. Without lifting a finger, this man creates some powerful magic- his key ingredient is compassion.
How do I stop the thoughts in my mind?’
‘By compassion. Karuna. When you have karuna, you no longer have thoughts about others. The Chinese took away my land from me but I don’t have anything against them. Have compassion.’
These words were no ordinary words; the speaker was not an ordinary man. He was Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, also known as His Holiness, The Dalai Lama XIV . My daughter and I were meeting him at his residence in McLeod Ganj. The meeting itself was serendipitous.
My daughter and I had been to McLeod Ganj before too. Each time, we used to visit the Dalai Lama temple, we used to stare at his photograph and my daughter used to ask me, ‘Mom, does he live here?’
I used to nod.
‘Why can’t we meet him?’
‘Because he does not meet everybody?’
‘Why not. I want to meet him!’
When we had last visited McLeod Gunj in 2022, she had actually prayed to his photograph.
‘I really want to meet you. I feel as if you are my grandfather. Please.’
At that time, I didn’t pay much heed to her conversation with his photograph. After we came back to Jaipur, she never mentioned this incident and I too had forgotten about it. But this time when we were getting ready to visit Dharamshala again for her summer holidays, I saw a photograph of Dalai Lama on the internet. ‘What if I could meet him?’ I wondered. I visited his site and tried to look up his public program.
There wasn’t much there except the email address of his office. I emailed his office but wasn’t really expecting a reply especially because his official website had categorically mentioned that in view of his old age, his meetings and public appearances were quite limited.
I checked after a week, there was no reply. During this time, I also saw the pictures of the well known actress Preity Zinta and her husband meeting the Dalai Lama. Looking at those pictures, I decided to email them again on a Sunday. Worst case scenario? They won’t reply! At least I would know I tried. I was browsing the net on Tuesday, when I saw a notification on my email. It said ‘The Dalai Lama’s Office’. I clicked it and there it was- the reply that I had been hoping and waiting for – ‘We will be able to include you in our outdoor public blessing. You need to report at our office at 7 am. Please note masks are mandatory.’
They had also included a form in which I had to enter our Aadhar card numbers. I looked at the email again hardly daring to believe my eyes. Was it a hoax? Was it real? Will I really get to meet ‘The Dalai Lama’, the Nobel Laureate? The email looked genuine enough. I tried the numbers mentioned on the email but no one picked up. Finally, I wrote back confirming my availability on the schedule and requested an acknowledgement to the mail. The acknowledgement took 24 hours in coming; a day that was plagued with all kinds of doubts. What if it was some elaborate plan to trap me? But my worries were laid to rest when I received a very simple ‘Thanks, I have received it.’ I could hardly believe my luck! I was finally going to meet not just the man who had received the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize or the man who has given China sleepless nights by simply being him but someone who is considered a living God, the revered reincarnation of the Buddha of Compassion (Avalokiteśvara), by Tibetans and Buddhists all over the world, the former spiritual and temporal ruler of Tibet! When I told my daughter about it, she was ecstatic!
Though Dharamshala is said to be the headquarters of The Dalai Lama, he actually resides in McLeod Ganj, a little suburb of Dharamshala, which was about 5 kilometres from where we were staying. I was so excited that I could not sleep the night before. It had rained through out the night. Thankfully, the rains had stopped just before the dawn.
It was a beautiful morning. We reached the Dalai Lama temple, which serves as the residence of the Dalai Lama. It has a beautiful garden that surrounds the courtyard, which is decked by trees and lined by pathways on either side and ends at a large pagoda like structure which serves as a veradah. I could see a long line of people already waiting for His Holiness. These were mostly Tibetans who were settled in Dharamshala or McLeod Ganj.
The Tibetans were sitting in a line and chatting away happily. They were all dressed in their Sunday best. After all, they were going to meet their beloved God. There were also a lot of Indians like us and a couple of foreigners who had perhaps come for the first time to meet the Dalai Lama.
The guards told us to wait but I kept having doubts. What if the Dalai Lama doesn’t come? What if the event is cancelled? What if it rains? There were many like me who could not wait quietly. Every two minutes, there was some one or the other from the group who had to walk to the guards with a new query. But the guards had also probably imbibed some of the compassion and patience that the Dalai Lama is famous for. They answered all the questions patiently. After a while, some one from the office came with a sheet of paper and called out our names. Once that process was over, all the Indians were asked to sit in a well lit and ventilated sitting room which was adorned with photographs and posters of Dalai Lama.
Soon, all the Indians were called and requested to queue up for the security check. And boy! What a security check it was. Everything was checked. We had women security guards and they thoroughly frisked us. Our bags, wallets, belts, mobiles and everything else was marked and coded with yellow paper tokens and kept aside. We were given a corresponding token to help us to recognize our bags during collection. ‘But what about the photographs?’ my daughter protested. ‘The photographs will be taken and sent to you,’ said the security guard.
Once the security check was done, we were again asked to stand in a line in the veranda with our masks on our faces. We waited with baited breath. Soon, the Dalai Lama entered the veranda. He couldn’t walk much so he was supported by two monks who helped him to sit down on his chair. The guards requested us to come one by one. We had diligently worn our masks because the email and the guards had asked us to. But the Dalai Lama had perhaps not paid any attention to these instructions. In his audience was a little girl, about 10 years old. He asked her to pull down her mask so that he could see her properly. He held her hand and whispered a prayer for her. But it was not just for her. Each person that he met received the same treatment. The same warm smile, the holding of the hands, the whispering of the prayer. A lady who was waiting ahead of us remarked to her husband, ‘this is why they say that the climate in Dharamshala is always pleasant. It is his aura that makes every thing so beautiful here.’
Soon, it was our turn. We walked to him and he smiled. I bent down to touch his feet and he blessed me. As I rose up, he took both my daughter’s and my hand and murmured a small prayer. He inquired about what we did and I told him that I was a journalist. My daughter asked him, ‘How do I stop all these negative thoughts in my mind?’ He looked at the interpreter who translated her question into Tibetic language. He smiled, held our hands and replied in English, ‘You stop these thoughts through compassion, through ‘karuna’. When you have compassion towards yourself, your friends, family and even people who don’t like you, the negative thoughts stop. With compassion, you start understanding that the people who hurt you or trouble you are too are bound by their own destiny, circumstances and problems. Sometimes, things don’t happen the way we want them to. Then we start blaming ourselves, people around us or our country or the world. Compassion helps us. Even though the Chinese have taken away my motherland from me, I can only bless them with compassion. I have nothing against them. Have ‘karuna’ towards people and yourself and you will not think any negative thoughts.’ Tears of joy filled my eyes as he blessed us and we moved forward. We were given the customary red thread and the prasadam by some senior monks. As we walked out of the sprawling premises of the Dalai Lama temple, I couldn’t help marvel at the simplicity of this man who was a world leader and a God for millions. After walking in silence for some time, my daughter said, ‘He doesn’t seem like my grandfather; he is my fairy god father!’
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