Friday, July 7, 2017

HHDL Birthday

82 today...

"Beings such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama rarely come to our world. But they do most certainly come when we need them the most. How foolish it would be for us not to embrace this amazing gift and not do the work to free ourselves and all our brothers and sisters beings from this craziness. It’s up to us.
I once half-jokingly asked His Holiness if I could stop with all my commitments. I was tired. He smiled and said, “You can stop when I stop.” I laughed. Because of course that meant never."
- July '17, Richard Gere

Dalai Lama.

"Tibetans sprinkle chappa, cooked wheat powder, during the 82nd birthday of Dalai Lama at a monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, July 6, 2017. Small groups of Tibetans gathered at various monasteries to celebrate their spiritual leader's birthday despite heavy security present to prevent his birthday celebrations. The Nepalese government has banned all kinds of Tibetan activities, as it is considered to be against the Chinese rule in Tibet."


"Some people’s very presence in the world gives hope, solace, and courage to the rest of us. Their life and being is a gift to us all. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is such a person.

Though his country was invaded by the Chinese Liberation Army in 1950 and he has witnessed firsthand the attempted destruction of his people and their culture, he is not bitter. Rather, he forgives. This remarkable ability to forgive and to remain without bitterness is striking to all who meet him. His abiding compassion, peace, and joyfulness are hallmarks of the man.

One of His Holiness’s predecessors, the great sage Atisha, titled his famed work A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is assuredly such a lamp. He is a principal exemplar of his Buddhist faith—a nonviolent man in a violent world, a peacemaker in a world of war, a joyful heart in the midst of sorrow. He shows us that the end of suffering is possible.

In a world like ours where craving, strife, bitterness and greed seem constant and inevitable conditions, His Holiness’ embodiment of peace and compassion changes everything. His joyful fearlessness is a lighthouse’s strong beam cutting through the dense fog of ignorance. How fortunate we are to be able to glimpse his light in the world." ~ Jan Willis


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