"Dad! The Dalai Lama waved at me!"

Recently, His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited Indiana.  His brother lived here until his death a few years ago and the Dalai Lama visits the Tibetan Cultural Center in Bloomington frequently.  This time he also gave a talk at Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

I decided to "bust my kid out" of school for the day to hear His Holiness' teaching.  I'm not sure whether she was more excited about the spiritual opportunity or being out of school when the other kids spent the morning on math and art.  In order to help her prepare for the event and get a better idea of my new-found spiritual practice, I got a copy of "Buddha in Your Backpack: Everyday Buddhism for Teens" which does a decent job of explaining Buddhist history and practice in a way that a 13 year old girl can wrap her brain around.  After she finished the book we had some good discussions and were ready for the big day.

On the morning of the event, a fortunately twist of events (including a last-minute bathroom break, a kind security guard and a lesser-known entrance between Starbucks and Conseco Fieldhouse) put us in the very front row (although of to the side a bit) and within mere feet of the stage.  We waiting patiently and were pleasantly surprised when His Holiness, accompanied by Hoosier rocker, John Mellencamp and others walked almost directly in front of us and made his way to the stage.  As we surveyed the crowd, we stopped and waved in our direction.  My daughter exclaimed with glee "Dad!  He waved at me!  He loves kids and he stopped to wave at me!"  The look on her face was worth the price of admission and more.

The talk with very good and meaningful and although His Holiness' English is sometimes hard to understand, we enjoyed his words about commonalities among religion, the importance of kindness, and how we could use a little more simplicity in our lives.  On the way back out of the fieldhouse, he stopped and waved again.  My daughter was, again, delighted!

The next morning a pastor friend of mine sent me a note on facebook saying "Dude, you're in the paper!".  It was true that the Indianapolis Star had done a story on the Dalai Lama's visit and focused on a Chinese woman who had driven all the way from California to hear the talk and  had hoped and prayed that His Holiness would merely wave at her during her visit.  The story went on to talk about how her prayers had been answered and that he had stopped, both on his way in and out of the stadium, to wave just at her.
You'll see in this picture that my daughter and I (blue shirt) are standing right next to this lovely woman as her prayers were answered.  http://photos.indystar.com/galleries/slides/9546?page=6

When I showed the article to my daughter, she was thrilled to see her photograph in the paper. However, as she read the article about the Chinese woman and how the Dalai Lama had stopped to wave, just at her, my daughter was infuriated and threw the paper on the floor.  "Dad!  He waved at ME, not her!"  She went on to extol the Dalai Lama's love of children and the physical layout of the stadium vs. His Holiness' angles of glancing and waving.  In the end she decided to be content with her picture in the paper and left the verdict of who had been the recipient of "the waves" undecided.

We're still sorting out the lessons from this important morning, but I'm quite certain that I will cherish my morning spent with my daughter and the Dalai Lama for years to come.