Dalai Lama
Today I saw the Dalai Lama. Not in a magazine, but in person - in real life!!! It was so cool! Here in Prague, the city was hosting Forum 2000 which was an open discussion that involved prominant political figures such as Vaclav Havel (former President of Czech Republic), Kim Campbell (former Prime Minister of Canada), His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Boutros Boutros-Ghali - former UN Secretary General; Bronislaw Geremek - former Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs; Ghassan Salamé - former Minister of Culture of Lebanon; Mary Robinson - former President of Ireland; Elie Wiesel - Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Vartan Gregorian - President of Carnegie Corporation of New York; and Vaira Vike-Freiberg - President of Latvia. The forum ran from October 8 - Tuesday, October 10 and they discussed Dilemmas of Global Co-Existance with multiple panels.
So unfortunately, I was not able to see any of the other panel discussions due to the minor detail that they did not put my name on the list of guests, although it was SUPPOSED to be. I had emailed the forum requesting to be able to be able to observe the discussions and was reassured that I was invited and that they would add me to the list. On Monday morning, when the forum opened to the public audience I went and lined up to watch the first day of discussions. Once I arrived I stood in line for 45 minutes, just to be told that the conference was full. Well, I stayed in line anyways because it still seemed as if they were letting people in despite the recent announcement. However, once I finally got inside to the checklist people I was told my name was not on the list and that they could not let me in. Sadly, I left disappointed, annoyed and slightly ticked off! Thankfully, I have good friends like Laura who encouraged me to return anyways on Tuesday with my email backup confirming that I was indeed promised a space in the discussion. Sure enough, when we returned on Tuesday, I showed them my papers and informed them of the complications and the situation. They let us both in with no troubles whatsoever! :)))) IT WAS AWESOME! The Dalai Lama is super cool. He spoke about how religion brings a peace of mind, where it otherwise would not be found through weath and posessions. He also addressed the current global conflicts between world religions and how we must learn to deal with our differences and live in a harmoneous environment. At the end of his lecture, he held a 10 minute meditation session where everyone in the church closed their eyes and meditated about something. He told a story about a man who lived in the mountains of Barcelona for 5 years and only meditated on one thing - love. He said, "If this man can meditate on one topic - love - for five years, than we can meditate on something for 10 minutes." It was a really neat experience. It was interesting to feel the energy in the church because during the five minutes I felt a calm that I haven't exprienced many times when gathered in such a large group of such different people from such various walks of life and religion. It was a neat experience. I have a lot of respect for the Dalai Lama!
If you'd like to see photos, email me or post a comment and i'll send you the kodakgallery.com link to see them.
So unfortunately, I was not able to see any of the other panel discussions due to the minor detail that they did not put my name on the list of guests, although it was SUPPOSED to be. I had emailed the forum requesting to be able to be able to observe the discussions and was reassured that I was invited and that they would add me to the list. On Monday morning, when the forum opened to the public audience I went and lined up to watch the first day of discussions. Once I arrived I stood in line for 45 minutes, just to be told that the conference was full. Well, I stayed in line anyways because it still seemed as if they were letting people in despite the recent announcement. However, once I finally got inside to the checklist people I was told my name was not on the list and that they could not let me in. Sadly, I left disappointed, annoyed and slightly ticked off! Thankfully, I have good friends like Laura who encouraged me to return anyways on Tuesday with my email backup confirming that I was indeed promised a space in the discussion. Sure enough, when we returned on Tuesday, I showed them my papers and informed them of the complications and the situation. They let us both in with no troubles whatsoever! :)))) IT WAS AWESOME! The Dalai Lama is super cool. He spoke about how religion brings a peace of mind, where it otherwise would not be found through weath and posessions. He also addressed the current global conflicts between world religions and how we must learn to deal with our differences and live in a harmoneous environment. At the end of his lecture, he held a 10 minute meditation session where everyone in the church closed their eyes and meditated about something. He told a story about a man who lived in the mountains of Barcelona for 5 years and only meditated on one thing - love. He said, "If this man can meditate on one topic - love - for five years, than we can meditate on something for 10 minutes." It was a really neat experience. It was interesting to feel the energy in the church because during the five minutes I felt a calm that I haven't exprienced many times when gathered in such a large group of such different people from such various walks of life and religion. It was a neat experience. I have a lot of respect for the Dalai Lama!
If you'd like to see photos, email me or post a comment and i'll send you the kodakgallery.com link to see them.
posted by Sophia at 1:58 PM
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