It's been a funny week, getting back to the mundane business of home and work. Spending nearly two weeks with His Holiness the Dalai Lama was wonderful! I think it's still sinking in, really. The adventure began for me with a drive to Ottawa for a luncheon hosted by the Canadian Club at which His Holiness was the keynote speaker.

Luncheon in Ottawa

Following Canadian Club tradition, the Dalai Lama and other honoured guests were piped in. Among the dignitaries at the head table was the Ambassador from Mongolia, who obviously held the Dalai Lama in high esteem.

The Dalai Lama joked about Canadian Club traditions such as the order for entering the room being strictly according to protocol. He joked that they might even have tried to give each person an allotment of air to breathe. He said that the 'Scottish-type music is quite nice'. His speech was about the need for a secular system of ethics to match the core values shared by all the world's major religions. The Dalai Lama spoke for about half an hour, after which he left for another engagement.

Kalachakra Begins

Kalachakra began at 7.00am on Sunday morning. The first half was prayers and preparatory rituals, which were optional for the public to attend.

On the first morning, security seemed quite informal (it got stricter as the week progressed) and the Dalai Lama actually walked right past us with his entourage as we waited in line to get in.

Without much ado, He and his monks from Namgyal Monastery got right to business. They prayed almost non-stop for about five hours! For our part, we simply sat and listened, soaking up the atmosphere as much as we could. There were all sorts of people there from all over the world.

Teachings

When the teachings began, the room filled up noticeably. The teachings were based on some texts by the Indian sage Nagarjuna about the Buddhist concept of emptiness and all phenomena being devoid of inherent existence. It was pretty heavy going at times. Fortunately, the Dalai Lama, perhaps sensing that we were close to saturation point, would often interrupt Himself to tell funny stories.

His image was projected to the back of the room on two big screens; but, unfortunately for the people at the back, the cameras often missed Him leaning over the sides of the big, elaborately carved throne to joke with and tease the old monks arrayed on either side.

At the end of one afternoon's teachings, He admonished us to take Buddhist practice seriously and not just to do it to pass spare time or when we don't feel like doing anything else. He said that in ancient India the greatest thinkers of their time had devoted themselves to serious study; but in Tibet there had been an unfortunate tendency to send the dullest children off to the monastery when they seemed to lack the potential for more worldly pursuits. Then He laughed and wagged His finger at one of the old monks beside him. All the other monks nearly rolled off their cushions with laughter!

Kalachakra Market

There was a market in the adjacent hall with all sorts of beautiful things for sale at quite reasonable prices - the Dalai Lama warned the vendors about charging too much! The vendors were mainly Tibetans from India and Nepal and from the exile communities in America and Canada. It was often very busy; but the atmosphere was always very friendly and it was always possible to have a nice conversation with someone.

The biggest hit at the market was obviously the beautiful pashmina shawls which were soon to be seen everywhere. Other popular choices were traditional Tibetan jewellery and Buddhist art.

The market was also the place to go to find cheap and delicious Tibetan food, such as the ever-popular momos, Tibetan steamed dumplings, stuffed with meat or vegetables and served with chili paste.

Empowerment

When the time came for the actual empowerment part of the ceremony, His Holiness began by saying that, because we were running a little behind schedule, He would give us the 'sprint version... no, the rocket empowerment'!

One quite interesting part at the beginning of the proceedings involved taking home some kusha grass and placing it under our pillows and mattresses. Then, on the following morning, the Dalai Lama gave a generic interpretation of the meanings of the dreams and what they signified in terms of spiritual preparedness for the Kalachakra. We were told that dreams involving women in new dresses, gardens, or temples had particular significance. If the gardens or temples were new and shiny, it could be taken as a good sign; but, if they were dull or in need of repair, then more work was called for. Then, the Dalai Lama laughed and said that, after all, they were only dreams and not to take them too seriously.

As the empowerment neared its conclusion, the Dalai Lama said that it would coincide almost precisely with the beginning of a lunar eclipse, which is considered very auspicious. So He decided to follow up with some rapid recitations and cram in as much as He could to take advantage of the opportunity.

He announced that He would do a special prayer service - a Tsog - involving a feast, which, He said with a wink, is the best sort of prayer service! So the volunteers had to frantically pass out mints and candies of all sorts to more than 7,000 people for an impromptu 'feast'.

The Tsog Continues

The following morning, the feast continued with cups of Tibetan tea, fruit, cookies, and more self-anointing with milk and saffron water. The procedure was to pour a little of the milk or water into your neighbours' palms for them to sip three times and anoint themselves with whatever remained; then, they would do the same for the next person, and so on. This became quite funny, as it was almost impossible to pour the milk neatly into the palm without slopping it all over the place and giving your neighbour a bonus blessing!

A Meeting with the Dalai Lama

I was invited to a meeting with the Dalai Lama in Toronto for about 75 people, mostly members of various Tibet groups and committees. The Dalai Lama came in and flopped down into a chair, nearly exhausted after spending all day - and half the night - in prayers, and so on. He said that He travels around so much and is often so tired that it is often difficult to tell 'what is real and what is a dream'. He said that He often feels that He is just a mouthpiece, and that the real work is left to ordinary people to do.

He did seem very tired and worn out at that time; and it's easy to imagine Him falling into bed exhausted at the end of each day. But He seemed to get stronger and more full of life as the 11 days of the Kalachakra passed. An elderly Tibetan man said how happy he was to see His Holiness looking so healthy and full of life.

Kalachakra and Beyond

Sadly, Kalachakra finally did come to an end. It was like living in a special world for nearly two weeks. There were said to have been 7,200 people in attendance from more than 50 different countries. All told, the Dalai Lama spoke to more than 80,000 people from coast to coast, including 30,000 at the Toronto Skydome. I'm sure the ripple effect of his visit to Canada will last for a long time.

Our Prime minister, Paul Martin, who, right up to the last minute, was careful to avoid offending China by acknowledging the Dalai Lama, did meet Him in a context that was declared to be spiritual rather than political (as if we elected him for his spiritual leadership!), but afterwards announced that the talk had been, in part, about conditions in Tibet. Later on, a special parliamentary committee was convened to investigate China's human rights abuses. That's quite a big step for our government to have taken.

One of the special Tibetan cultural events which took place in the evenings was a lecture by the Dalai Lama's special envoy to China, Lodi Gyari Rinpoche. He said that although conditions are very grim and time seems to be running out for Tibetans, the prospect for reaching a settlement with the new Chinese leadership is more promising now than in the past. He said that the old ideologues were impossible to talk to because they were so blinkered in their thinking and were basically afraid for their lives. On the other hand, the new elite in China are professionals and businessmen who are far more confident and pragmatic. He said that negotiating with people who are more confident may not seem like a good thing, but, because a mutually satisfactory solution is possible, he is more optimistic now than he has been before.

He concluded by saying that although the Chinese Premiere is received with red carpets and 21 gun salutes wherever he goes, he knows that people may not really like him. Whereas the Dalai Lama knows that, although he is often given the cold shoulder by government representatives, He is genuinely loved by the ordinary people who greet Him. That, Rinpoche said, means more to Him than any amount of pomp and ceremony.