It has been three weeks since my home town of Manchester had a four day visit by the Dalai Lama.
For many years, I have read the basics of his teachings on love and compassion. It has been something that I am naturally drawn too. I don't require much to be happy, I'm not a person fueled by money or possessions but rather seek a calm and happiness which I can never quite reach in a very busy life of juggling too many things at once and not knowing how to slow down on it all.
I'm a regular Western mother trying to do my best with bringing up my son, with what he and I need to sustain a happy life, not exist but to live!
As well as having enough time and energy for myself of course! seemed a far out dream.
Like most, by the time you reach your early 30s, you have had ups and downs and have seen sad and bad times, but sometimes these times are the memories that tend to overtake and indulge my being
Not Healthy. Not Nice. Not a place I like to be in...
When I read the Dalai Lama was paying my town a visit due to the violence that we had seen through last years riots. It was an opportunity that I saw to pay a personal respect to a man whose wise words have got me through some lonely times.
It has taken me three weeks to get this blog together as I received so much information I wanted time to digest what I had heard and a read over the weekend.
It is hard to put down in a sensible way; so I have chosen to use a header and some basic suggestions around such topic.
I attended the public interaction, Buddhism in the Western World and Buddhism and Psychotherapy talk.
The public talk I shall cover in this blog, but will touch upon the other two in blogs of their own.
Sat was family day and many youngsters visited from schools around the borough who performed and awards were given to some inspirational young people for the work they have provided in the community.
The atmosphere here was electric! such a good feel to the place.
Sunday was the start of the big talks and lectures.
In my heart of being the ''eternal student'', I came equipped with notepad and pen to take notes, it is these notes that I will be working from in this blog.
The event started with an introduction by comedian Russel Brand, who introduced the Dalai Lama to the stage, it was clearly apparent that this man is as happy as he is wise.
I seriously think it would be hard to find someone with no political angst towards him fail to be charmed as I have never seen anyone smiling and laughing as much as he did...
He doesn't take himself seriously and was joking along all the way...
The local Tibetan community put on some traditional songs and dances.
It started with a song about the Himalayas and the land below which is used for farming and was sung to insight a good farming year.
The instruments were beautifully sounding, there was four Tibetan Loots, hammered dulcimer and bells. Percussion and beat was created by the dancing and stamping of the feet.
Children from the community came on to perform a song they had put together for his visit.
They were adorable, all dressed in traditional fineray, about a dozen four to six year olds, they did so well performing to 20,000 people and the Dalai Lama sat on stage with them.
Translations of the words were being streamed upon two huge screens at the side of the stage.
The Dalai Lama started his talks saying that whilst he was here; his thoughts were with the people of Greece and that of the international Environmental meetings that were taking place around the globe.
He then went on to address that it was indeed Fathers Day, but he prefers mothers day.
Mothers are the nurturers.... Sharing stories of his own childhood, where his father was grumpy and would lay down the rules, but his mother was loving and caring.
He would ride on her back pretending she was a yak, and pull on her ears as to what direction he wanted her to go in.
How important that bond is, and the bond a mother has with a child, where he has seen total sacrifice for her children.
Human and animals alike-
We are one.
We're all social animals,
We like positive atmospheres, honesty, truthfulness, trust and confidence.
Humans have a biological factor of compassion but we need attachments, but we should aim for attachment on an un-bias level.
Through education and science, NOT religion or prayer, one can build and achieve these things to better oneself and the environment we live in.
Talks were about our hectic lifestyles and ecology and how with a few small and simple changes we all could make a greater impact for the better.
We should look at our health and mental state, and try to create a balance.
FEAR, ANGER, ANXIETY, eating away at our immune system so our body and mind can not achieve that important balance to live and enjoy our lives to the full in a non-selfish way.
CRISIS- Is it our own creation? man-made?, can we fix it with patience and working hard? does worry fix the problem?... NO. = Self torture.
Keep calm on an environmental level, we will experience emotions, but the mind and body should be thought of like the sea.
On the top we can see the waves, the waves represent emotion and impulse, but deep down there is calm, it is this calm that we should try to channel before acting or saying something we may later regret.
Nine times failure = Nine times effort... I liked this saying as we fail each time, we learn a little more for next and so on, till we succeed.
He shared ideas on how we can become better parents: Patience and sacrifice of our time and possessions for our children.
Showing affection and not being TOO KIND....
Something with the increasing shops that sell everything can become a lot easier for the parent on the shopping trip to give in to the ''I want''.
Grief: How we feel helpless and it creates an instant worry and inner stress, however sad we are will not change the situation.
Mindfulness; would the person you are grieving for want you to be going through so much sadness?
There is no solution to grief, so there is no point in being overwhelmed by it.
Look from a distance; It's sad... It's bad... but you're okay.
AND... he pointed out he has no healing powers or anything special, if he gets a rash, he sees a doctor, so if you are overwhelmed then seek a psychological specialist.
Karma- Good karma is created by ACTION. Blessing is only a form of word which means zero.
Basic human qualities is best blessing of all, Education is important NOT religion.
Education must include moral ethics, imprint from the bad experiences then use our intelligence, there is no use in keeping inner bad feelings.
That only HURTS OURSELVES.
Happiness: Is a sensory experience hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, feeling.
What one action takes in so many of our senses??
SEX of course!!
we shouldn't have hang ups about our sensuality.
Fate: Reduce our self centred attitude and negative emotions as if we don't we can become week in mind and body.
We shouldn't seek to change what is natural about ourselves.
Man and Woman- Spiritually there are no differences.
But it's proven that Females are more sensitive to emotional pain as we take a more active roll in caring as naturally we hold more compassion.
These are just a few things which really jumped out at me at this talk but at the very end of the question and answer session someone asked about whether he remembers any past lives?
Something I'm sure many are/would be interested in.
So he talked of the fact that they knew he was to become the Dalai Lama at the age of two.
The things that he talked about and could cite were not the normal thoughts and conversations of a two year old child.
Some of these things were to believed as ''past lives''.
But these are not important.
He is he, and he should be meaningful in HIS life, not past ones!!
As experience and thought develop those thoughts he once had as a young child soon get replaced with the present, as it should be.
He has never experienced visions or anything like this.
So is probably the least interesting Dalai Lama in regards to Buddha.
But he is sure he's the NUMBER ONE in POPULARITY!!
That's one thing I certainly do not doubt.
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