For as long as space endures...

"For as long as space endures
And for as long as living beings remain
Until then may I too abide
To dispel the misery of the world"

-H.H The XIV Dalai Lama's favorite prayer

He is exactly like you'd expect him to be. Very humble and unassuming. He walked onto the stage to a standing ovation, took off his shoes and sat cross-legged in a chair. It was right about that time when I realized that I was actually seeing the Dalai Lama. The same Dalai Lama that I have been reading about, talking about, learning about since I was fourteen. Not many people get to meet their heroes, I feel pretty lucky to have been in the same room as mine.

He was in Vancouver for the inauguration of the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education. He came to engage in a dialogue with scholars, teachers and students about encouraging compassion in children. I wasn't sure if he would be everything that I've come to think of him as being, but I wasn't disappointed. He bowed with his hands folded to the people on stage. He held their hands thanked each one individually.

I was surprised to see that he also was a bit of a goofball. One of the high school students said that she knew that he liked hats, so she brought a Canada hat for him in honor of his new Canadian Citizenship. He put it on right away and wore it for the whole day. He cracked jokes and poked fun at the scholars. You could see that he doesn't take himself too seriously.

Its going to take a few days before that fact that I saw the Dalai Lama in person sinks in, but for right now i'm just thinking up something new to take its place on my Things To Do life list.