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Dalai Lama serves pasta in San Francisco

By L. Steven Sieden | examiner.com

The Dalai Lama helps serve lunch at a San Francisco soup kitchen on Sunday, 26 April 2009. Addressing visitors at the Martin de Porres House of Hospitality, the Dalai Lama spoke of his position as Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader saying “Me too, homeless person.”AP/Noah Berger/US

Last Spring was an auspicious time for Seattle. I have the poster framed over my fireplace, and it reads “Compassion Arrives 11 April,” and Seattle was blessed with a wave of compassion that still resonates here. That was 2008 when HH the Dalai Lama was in Seattle for five days. At that time, there were serious protests in Tibet prior to the Olympic Games being held in China, and state security around the Dalai Lama was tight.

Even though I was one of the lead volunteers for the entire visit, I never got closer than shouting distance from the Dalai Lama as he was constantly surrounded by heavy security and travelling in a long armoured motorcade. This weekend, however, he was feeding the homeless at Martin’s Soup Kitchen in San Francisco.

He put on an apron and served plates of pasta as he joked with the homeless that it was a relief it was to be among rich people who listen to his every word. And as head of Tibet’s government in exile and one of the most powerful leaders in the world he was not shy about telling clients of the soup kitchen, “You know, I’m homeless too.”

Nothing like this happened during his Seattle visit when he came as the featured presenter for the Seeds of Compassion event. His Holiness was essentially sequestered as far from the common folk as possible. He held many “private audiences,” but those were generally attended by groups of 300 invited guests who had to pass through massive security and wait patiently as he seemed constantly pressed for time.

During the Seattle visit, His Holiness was in the world spotlight as press were demanding that he speak on the issue of freedom for Tibet while he continued to champion compassion toward all sentient beings. When he stepped off the plane in Seattle last April, he was heard to remark, “This is a hard time for me,” and he seemed upbeat but worn at every appearance.

While the Dalai Lama was in Northern California this weekend, one of his colleague Buddhist leaders was in Seattle. Lama Tharchin Rinpoche was here to teach at Nalanda West to a crowd far smaller than the 55,000 the Dalai Lama attracted to Qwest Field last year. That is not to say that the message Lama Tharchin brought was any less valuable or potent than that of the Dalai Lama. It was just a matter of the media looking for “the one” leader when Buddhist teachings recognise that each of us is “the One.” May we all be blessed with that awareness and live from that truth.

Copyright © 2009 Clarity Digital Group

Published in examiner.com