Something the Dalai Lama says sticks in my mind. It can act as a compass and offer a course correction. To do so at several points during the day would be ideal.
And in it lies the first takeaway of our interaction: to stop and take stock of your day, year or life, for five to 10 minutes a day. It is a feeling that lasts weeks and months past our meeting. It forces me to ask the question: of what purpose lists? Of what purpose this busyness that we force upon ourselves? Is that the best way to realise human potential?Īfter an hour with him, I am touched by grace. His stillness is both soothing and shocking. His schedule is packed but he is unhurried. This, I suppose, is mindfulness: to savour small moments. Instead, he asks me to garland him and smells the fragrance of the flowers. What to give a man who seeks nothing? To my shock, His Holiness doesn’t simply hand over the garland to his handlers, like Southern politicians do with all the rose garlands they collect. Awkwardly, I offer the tuberose garland I have purchased from Ulsoor market. Veer Singh, the founder of Vana, who has orchestrated this audience, bends down to touch the Dalai Lama’s feet. Finally, I see him: this orange-robed man, whose smile and pithy quotes have captured the hearts of celebrities and commoners from Tibet to Tanzania. A muscled Tibetan man ushers me to the top floor, past policemen, barricades and a dozen advisors. The lobby of the Conrad Bengaluru, is buzzing with hangers-on, all of whom want to see, touch and feel His Holiness.
But can someone who is venerated as God by countless Tibetans guide us mere mortals with our petty jealousies and Facebook narcissism towards nirvana? His Holiness is in Bengaluru under the auspices of the Vana Foundation’s Vidyaloke initiative, which aims to bring Buddha’s wisdom to contemporary India. For a man who has cast away worldly life, his worldly accomplishments are mind-boggling: Nobel Laureate and global statesman to name two from a long list.
The monk in question is His Holiness The Dalai Lama, arguably one of the most beloved leaders of our time. Can a monk teach me, a social media junkie, about happiness? Our two worlds after all, are poles apart.
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