an Amma mama friend of mine and I made the pilgrimage up to see HH the dalai lama in seattle at qwest field on saturday. 50,000 of us came out to see and hear the man and, apparently, to eat garlic fries en mass. i came away comepletely impressed and satisified and won't ever be able to smell garlic fries again without thinking of the DL.

as a devotee of the divine mother and Amma, i was hoping to get a little upliftment from the spiritual leader and, actually, to see what all the fuss was about. i've always had a good impression of the man and felt a high energy from his image. when he walked out in his humble way, there was a parade of people from different cultures playing drum music. he walked to the front of the stage and bowed very deeply and continued to stand until the end of the opening prayer. when i saw him, a feeling of real calm and joyfulness came over me, i felt really happy and peaceful. i had the familiar rush of energy to my heart and the warmth and glowing buzz to my whole body that i get around Amma. i was aware that i was in the presence of someone very very very good if not...saintly? they say he is the embodiment of compassion and i really got that. you can see it in the way he speaks, he can say things about difficult and problematic situations and he always has a compassionate laugh that kind of loves through all the imperfection. in essence, non-judgemental, just honest and loving.

interesting that he is a political and spiritual leader at the same time... he said compassion needs to become a part of politics and that the world leaders should have a summit every year for a week, but they bring their families and have the kids play together. then, next time they have a problem, they think of the families and their relationship they created first. imagine if we had a politcal leader that we could really respect! a mind blowing concept.

i am glad i went to see him and would encourage anyone to go out of their way to see him. he is getting older and i realized that i would be very sad to have missed the chance to meet such a remarkable and uplifting person. plus, it was pretty radical to be with so many people holding the energy of making the world a better place. sitting there in that big commercial stadium praying and listening to a monk talk on compassion and non-violence, all the while looking out on puget sound, the olympics and the shipyards, it really made me feel hopeful for the future and that it's possible to create a POSITIVE "mob mentality". it started feeling very normal to all be sitting there in a root chakra situation and applauding compassion and love and goodness. yea! namaste, friends.