When I went to work last Tuesday I had no idea that I would be sitting down to eat salami sandwiches with the Dalai Lama. By happenstance, that is exactly what unfolded.
This is how I came to be sharing sandwiches with the Dalai Lama:
A few years back I bumped into the Dalai Lama in the Sydney Airport. It was a random meeting – he was with his entourage and I saw him, caught his eye and smiled. He smiled back. I like it when people smile back.
So I did some reading and I liked what I saw: a great man talking about happiness and compassion. How could you not like that? So when I discovered he was coming to the Dunedin Town Hall last week to speak, I was certain I'd be there with bells on. As it turned out I wasn't the only one. I missed out on tickets. So I decided to photograph him entering the Town Hall. I lined up next to the other well-wishers and managed to grab a few frames of him as he arrived. The hair stood on the back of my neck just watching him.
I pleaded with the security guard to let me in to the talk on grounds of compassion, but to no avail. I left the town hall and wandered back to my office, feeling like I was missing out. Then a friend alerted me to the fact there was a live webcast of his talk. So I sat down at my computer with the Dalai Lama taking up the whole screen (almost lifesize) and we chatted and laughed over lunch. I had salami sandwiches without the cheese. He just thrived on wisdom and belly laughs. What a lunch break!
This week we should have more snow – if my mate Jim Hickey is on the money – and a giant swell down in the Catlins. Oh, yeah, that's karma.
See you at the beach ...
Proudly supported by:
