My friend Margaret Ann Lembo got to see the Dalai Lama when he was in south Florida last week, and she writes about it here and below:
On Wednesday, February 24, 2010, I had the great honor to be in the same room as H.H. the Dalai Lama. It was a big room and there were approximately 3000 people there with me, but at least I was in his presence. The last time I had the blessing to see and hear him was between Hurricanes Frances and Jean in the Fall of 2004. There were about 10,000 people in the stadium for those events. I was blessed to attend the General Address and the 3 days of teachings of Padmasambahva that followed.
In this address, the Dalai Lama expressed the following. He said that people want affection. As children we have the affection of our mothers. If that is missing at a young age it has an affect on us throughout our lives unless we receive the affection that we need. He said even cats have the capacity to know sincere affection. If you show them kindness and affection, they respond.
A mother’s attention is active care. This active care is used as a seed for world peace. World Peace requires inner peace. Without inner peace attaining world peace is impossible.
A genuine smile is a human gift. It’s better to utilize the gift. There are different varieties of smiles. There are sarcastic smiles which brings doubts and fears.
There are 2 levels of compassion. The 1st level of compassion is biased and limited. The 2nd level is unbiased which is compassion for everyone and requires using intelligence and reasoning. It is genuine sense of concern for human beings that is not mixed with attachment.
The 1st level is someone who already loves you. The second level is an enemy or someone who is not kind to you or causes you irritation. The hatred or irritation upsets your own inner peace. In order to practice forgiveness and tolerance we need to have people who create problems. By nature we want good things. We want to reduce suffering. When we are really able to procue genuine compassion for our enemy, then we have sincere inner strength.
We must pay more attention to our inner life. First start individually. Recognize that with jealousy we never get peace. We do not need to study complicated philosophy. We need to reduce stress, fear, anxiety and be in a calm mind that is fully alert. Look at any problem with a positive attitude. Reflect on how you can be of service to all beings.
True inner peace doesn’t rely on stimulants.Do not rely on external things for joy and happiness then you have inner strength and self-confidence.
I trust and pray that I have done justice with the words of H.H. the Dalai Lama. My intention is to pass forward what I was able to record so you might have a visit with His Holiness as well.