Note: Recordings of both sessions are now available on the CU-Boulder Dalai Lama website.
Thousands of people arrived at the Coors Events Center on Thursday, June 23, a lovely summer day, to embrace the wisdom of the 14th Dalai Lama.
During two events—one sponsored by CU-Boulder and the other by the Tibetan Association of Colorado—the Tibetan spiritual leader spoke of the importance of love and compassion, and the sometimes arduous journey toward enlightenment.
But there was a poignant moment that could have only happened at CU-Boulder. About 30 students and university guests had a private luncheon with the Dalai Lama in a meeting room at the Coors Events Center. CU Student Government leaders, Chancellor Phil DiStefano and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Tom Cech, were among the guests.
Cech, the director of the CU BioFrontiers Institute, shared a 1989 newspaper clipping with the Dalai Lama. Cech explained that both he and the Dalai Lama earned Nobel Prizes that year, but this was the first time that the two had met. Cech earned the Nobel Prize in chemistry along with Sidney Altman "for their discovery of catalytic properties of RNA.” The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Dalai Lama thanked Cech for the newspaper and said it was "nice to meet you" after all these years.
Importance of compassion
In the afternoon session, dubbed “Compassion in Action: Educating the Heart and Mind,” the Dalai Lama spoke directly to the crowd. He laced his remarks with bouts of contagious laughter. He also delivered serious lessons, such as his belief that “a more compassionate heart” is the No. 1 goal of the 21st century. With more compassion comes less violence and less corruption, he said.
Between the two sessions, about 18,000 people heard the Dalai Lama speak.
After more formal remarks, the Dalai Lama opened the floor for questions and answers, and people jumped from their seats to get in line for a microphone. People of all ages asked questions such as, “Where does fear and prejudice come from?” and, “How do we overcome fear and prejudice of those we believe are different from us?”
A couple people talked about the importance of communication through language, including American Sign Language. The Dalai Lama garnered applause when he held up both hands and said “I love you” in ASL to the cheering crowd.
Another attendee asked about the unprecedented use of technology in modern times and whether this inhibits compassion. The Dalai Lama said he was “neutral” on the matter; and that technology could be used for good – or bad.
His morning teaching, called “Eight Verses of Training the Mind,” covered deep spiritual territory touching on the nature of the present, the role of karma and even physics. While warm in the Coors Events Center, the crowd was rapt and recited a teaching about compassion aloud as the event wrapped up.
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He frequently states that his life is guided by three major commitments: the promotion of basic human values or secular ethics in the interest of human happiness, the fostering of inter-religious harmony and the preservation of Tibet's Buddhist culture, a culture of peace and non-violence.
Connection to Boulder
Formally recognized as the 14th incarnation in 1950 at the age of 15, the Dalai Lama was last in Boulder in 1997 when he spoke at both CU-Boulder and Naropa University. During his last visit, the he delivered the keynote address at a groundbreaking conference at Naropa on spirituality and education, which some say catalyzed the global mindfulness movement in education and the workplace in Boulder and beyond.
The spiritual leader first visited Boulder in 1981, when he spoke before about 4,000 people at the events center.
Leaders from the Tibetan Association of Colorado helped introduce the Dalai Lama for the morning teaching, as did U.S. Rep. Jared Polis and Boulder Mayor Suzanne Jones.
“His Holiness’s visit is a privilege to our community yet also a challenge to our community,” Polis said, noting that we must be men and women “at peace” so we can be more forceful advocates for peace.
Jones said said it has been a lifelong dream to meet the Dalai Lama and participate in one of his teachings.
“Here he is blessing us with his presence in Boulder,” she said, noting the city’s strong connection to Buddhism dating back to the 1970s and the founding of Naropa University and the Shambhala Center.
Colton Lyons, one of three CU Student Government presidents, expressed how meaningful it was to CU-Boulder students to have the Dalai Lama here. Lyons, a political science major from Aurora, said the event was three years in the making. He praised the Dalai Lama for his commitment to non-violence in the face of extreme aggression and seemed very impressed that the Dalai Lama had visited 67 countries on six continents, won 150 awards and written 110 books.
The bike helmet
During the morning spiritual teaching, the Dalai Lama sportingly donned a white bicycle helmet given to him as a gift from the city of Boulder and presented by Mayor Jones. Wearing red and gold robes and seated behind rows of ferns and other plants bursting with color and life, the Dalai Lama kept the helmet on for several minutes. And he managed to make a lesson out of it.
“These days I’m too old to bike,” he said through a translator. “It represents protection while you are going somewhere. It is symbolism of the spiritual journey toward enlightenment. While you are on that path, you need protection or armor against the afflictions.”
To see photos from the Dalai Lama's morning teaching and afternoon talk, visit the CU-Boulder Facebook page.