Nothing More, Nothing Less

Something pretty spectacular has to happen in order to part me from my beloved bed at 5.45am on a dark, miserable, rainy Monday morning. Today, that spectacular occurrence was getting to see the Dalai Lama accept his honorary professorship from Emory University. Today's morning "installation", including the great man's inaugural lecture, formed the tail end of a long weekend of activities in and around the university to mark the occasion. Funnily enough, because of the initially complicated lottery system to allocate tickets to this event, demand proved to be underwhelming, probably because a lot of people were put off by how convoluted it sounded. It's only last week that we managed to secure tickets, when the powers-that-be decided it'd be easier to just give out tickets on a first come, first served basis. And I've gotta say that it's certainly the best freebie I've ever scored.


What I've always admired about the Dalai Lama is his pragmatism and common sense. Listening to such a wise and learned man speak was a privilege and honour, to say the very least. At one point during the opening procession, it was hard to tell whether he'd make it all the way around the gym, for all the stopping and starting he had to do to acknowledge the well wishes of people he was passing by. The adoration, respect and reverance for this diminutive, yet sharp and astute figure, hung in the auditorium like a blanket of fog - in a good way though!

Amongst all the formality of the pomp, regalia and ceremony, there were many funny and touching moments. Probably the most heartfelt speech came from one of the "greeters", a young Tibetan student, who as he welcomed the Dalai Lama to the university community, mentioned that it was him who had inspired this Tibetan refugee to come to the U.S. and aim to complete his education. This same student also started off his speech by apologising for not wearing a cap (everyone else had on either those funny mortar boards or bonnets, along with their traditional robes), stating that "either the cap was too small, or his head was too big". After having this translated for him, the Dalai Lama couldn't stop laughing - and nor could the crowd. Hats off to his wonderful translator who waited so patiently while the great man started off his address mostly in English, before turning to him and saying that he'd start talking Tibetan because he didn't want his translator to be out of a job, nor did he want the money spent on his translator's plane ticket to be wasted.

Jokes aside though, it was strange to hear the Dalai Lama refer to himself as "a simple monk - nothing more, nothing less", and chuckling over how someone like him with no formal education could somehow have scored a professorship. He and his unique brand of wisdom mean so much to so many - irrespective of faith - and his philosophy on things such as using knowledge and education wisely, and approaching everything with open- and warm-heartedness, are things you would think that everyone would want to aspire to. Along with the good grace, strength and courage he has shown when it comes to the plight of his home, Tibet, and its people.

Listening to such an influential figure, who also happens to make so much sense, really does make you feel a mixture of things - it calls into question how you live your own life, what you value, and how you approach what you perceive as massive hardships. It also makes you feel incredibly lucky to be in the presence of such greatness. If there were more people like him in the world, it'd be a much better place.