Now almost twelve years have gone by, but in 2004 I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the lecture/teachings given by His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama at the University of Miami. I would be staying in Ft. Lauderdale with my partner, who was joining me from Japan, and had been able to get a ticket through a friend who publishes Buddhist books near Boston. The Osel Dorje Nyingpo, a non-profit organization dedicated to the teaching of Tantric Vajrayana Buddhism, sponsored His Holiness’s visit to Miami September 19–22, 2004, and I was going to attend Buddhist Teachings open to the public on September 20 and 21 from 9:30 am–4:00 pm at the University of Miami Convocation Center, on just the 21st.
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HH the XIVth Dalai Lama at U. of Miami, Sept. 2004
Ma namkha tang nyampé semchen tamché
Lama sangyé rinpo chéla chapsu chi’o
I and all the mother sentient beings, equal to space—
Take refuge in the Guru who is the precious Buddha. |
My first experience with meeting His Holiness was in the early 1970s, when I was traveling with friends in a Land Rover from Oxford to New Delhi. Having made it as far as the Kashmir region, we decided to come down through Rishikesh and Dharamsala. While there, I had the auspicious good fortune of hearing His Holiness gives some teachings and had the chance to greet him very fleetingly, but long enough to obtain a blessing. (After that, I attended two occasions where he had spoken in Tokyo, but they were talks at which he was not allowed to give teachings. And I was also blessed in being able to receive empowerments from him at Koyasan University in both the Vajra Realm [2011] and the Womb-Matrix Realm [2014] mandalas.) As far as I knew, there would be no empowerments given in Miami, but I was drawn to attend all the same. So early in the morning, I jumped into our rental car, and drove down to the UM Convocation Center, and got there with little hassle fairly quickly. I had taken back roads and driven through Miami along the coast, so the drive was not too complicated. I found the person who had my ticket easily, entered the hall, and took my seat.
It was like walking into another realm. The atmosphere in the hall was different from the world without. Most people were sitting quietly, some were meditating, and there was a peaceful calm that permeated the entire room. I was basking in that stillness, eyes closed, when suddenly I saw a great flash of white light, and when I opened my eyes, His Holiness was standing on the edge of the stage. We all stood as he entered and waited until he took his seat. Many, myself included, as well as possible, performed three full prostrations while he prepared to speak to us.
He sat on the Vajra seat and began speaking, sometimes in English, sometimes in Tibetan, followed in English by his long-term interpreter. I was transported in both space and time. I was sitting at the feet of a great teacher in the Himalayas. He was giving us instructions on a sadhana (practice) of the deity Chenrezig (Spyan ras gzigs: Skt. Avalokiteśvara; Chn. Guan-yin; Jpn. Kanzeon/Kannon), the deity of compassion, and there were tears falling from his face. He then gave us the ti (khrid: explication of the teaching) and the lung (rlung: reading empowerment), and then we received the wang (dbang: the full abhiṣeka initiation. He was just finishing the ceremony by having all recite the Heart Sutra:
|| rgya gar skad du | bha ga wa ti pra jnyā pā ra mi tā hri da ya |
bod skad du | bcom ldan 'das ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po |
"In the language of India: The Victorious Conqueror, the Heart of Transcendent Wisdom;
In the language of Tibet: The Buddha's Heart of Wisdom Gone Beyond . . ."
With the faint sound of a bell, suddenly, I found myself back in the UM hall, sitting somewhere near the middle of the room, looking at His Holiness on the stage. At first, I chided myself for coming all the way here and then sleeping during His Holiness's talk, but then I allowed myself to appreciate what had taken place as a blessing. I remembered all the details of the transmission of the practice of Chenrezig, and when I looked up at His Holiness, he seemed to be smiling at me. It was a very special moment, but also a very humbling one. If this is what was happening with me, I started to wonder what was happening for advanced practitioners. . . .
In any case, I came back to this ordinary 3-D consciousness, and listened attentively to the rest of the day's session. It was like I was half there in the room and half somewhere else. Lots of experiences took place, most (I assume) only within my mind, but they had a profound effect upon me. I felt as though a deep well had been dug within me and His Holiness was filling up the hole with pure water that was both cleansing and nourishing my soul.
When the session was over, we all waited for His Holiness to leave and then many of us sat again, giving us a chance to return to our daily selves before venturing out into the world once again. I eventually made my way back to the car, and began the drive home. As I had promised to be back by a certain time, and as I was pressed for time, I decided to drive home on I-95 N, which I soon got on. Heaven preserve me! There were more lanes than I am comfortable driving, and everyone was driving over 80 mph, and I was nervous as could be. I started chanting Om mani peme hung! out loud, just to soothe my nerves and calm me down. It worked a little. I was driving faster than I am used to, and felt as if boxed in by Nascar drivers. I should have taken I-595 E and got off at Exit 12-B to get on Rte. 1 and the shore road. But I could not get anywhere near the lane I needed to be in to get off the highway, so I just continued going north on I-95. It was harrowing, as I am used to small-town traffic, not this rush hour madness. I continued chanting, hoping to get back to our hotel safely. I was able, with heavenly assistance, to get into the right-hand lane, so I got off the highway was soon as I could, at Exit 29. I knew that if I went straight toward the ocean, I would come to the shore road, but did not know if I needed to turn left or right once I got there. After driving a bit, I saw a moving van parked in front of house, and two strapping youths were unloading furniture, so I stopped and told then I had overshot my exit, and wanted to know which way to turn to get to Ft. Lauderdale. They told me, and within minutes I had pulled up in front of my hotel. I made it back just as my partner was putting a meal on the patio table, getting ready for my return, I was extremely grateful, but made him promise that he would do the rest of the driving in Florida.
I was still shaking as I sat down, but when my partner asked me how it was, suddenly I was filled with light and joy, and, completely relaxed, simply said: "Today I have been blessed by the Dalai Lama. I am eternally grateful to him, the avatar of Chenrezig in these troubled times, and I want to thank him and pray for his long life." So I recited:
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| HH beneath the Bodhi Tree |
In this pure realm, surrounded by snowy mountains,
PEN DANG DE WA MA LU JUNG WAI NE
Is the source of complete happiness and benefit:
CHEN RE ZIG WA TEN DZIN GYAM TSO YI
Avalokiteśvara, Tenzin Gyatso.
ZHAB PE SI TAI BAR DU TEN GYUR CHIK
May you stand firm until the end of existence!
It is my sincere belief that not only was I blessed with teachings from His Holiness Dalai Lama XIV, but that he also protected me and saved my life during the drive home. I am grateful for his love and compassion for all human beings, and pray that we may all find happiness. Sarva mangalam!
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