His Holiness the Dalai Lama is in town

Today I went to hear the Dalai Lama speak at a sell-out gig at Edinburgh's Usher Hall. You could feel the excitement among the audience building up through the hour of warm up acts (some great music from local youth groups and choirs, a bit of Tibetan dancing, and, bizarrely, a perma-tanned Italian opera singer with his shirt open to his navel). HHDL, as he seems to be known in the trade, got a standing ovation as he came onto the stage, and set the tone immediately by refusing to sit down in the big comfy chair set up for him, but preferring to wander round smiling and waving at people he knew. His talk - titled 'Beyond Religion - Ethics for a Whole World - touched on the importance of recognising the interconnectedness of all people, of positive thinking, of not being too serious, of not using the words I and me too often or we probably run a higher risk of heart attack, and of bringing up children with love to become self confident, compassionate people who can change the world into a more peaceful place. He ended up in characteristic form by threatening the schoolchildren listening that he'd be watching them in future from whichever place (heaven or the other) he ended up, so they'd better be trying hard in the improving the world  stakes. 


He was sometimes hard to understand because of the language barrier, but he has a relaxed and totally direct and informal manner that kept people hanging on his words, and laughing along with him. Before I heard him I wondered how a nearly 80 year old has the energy to deliver all the speeches and lectures and Q&A sessions he does, but he seems so relaxed and to really enjoy speaking and answering questions and teaching, that maybe he actually draws energy from doing it. I can also see that at least one reason why he's such a huge international presence and commands such respect is his straightforward, approachable, no-nonsense, egalitarian style. He treats everyone as his friend, and isn't shy about being honest - in a good way! - and that is something of a novelty in the world, whether you're a prince, a president, or a taxi driver.


This wise, funny, outspoken and irreverent man has been one of the largest-looming figures of my age, and a small but positive part of much of my life, from meeting Tibetan refugees in Nepal as a teenager, and coming home and joining the Free Tibet organisation; to reading about his teenage years in Heinrich Harrer's Seven Years in Tibet; to hearing a Lama in a monastery in Inner Mongolia talk about his pilgrimage to meet the Dalai Lama in Lhasa in the 1950s. I am happy and touched to have been able to see and hear him talk in person. And to top it off it turns out he even has a Facebook page, but I guess these days you're nowhere in the international faith leader community without one - and he does get to post pretty cool photos of his mates.