Private consultations with the Dalai Lama are comparable to private consultations with the Holy Father.
Similar blends of spirituality, informality, humanity, and humility coexist with awe, procedure, formality, and security. A similar combination of being ushered in by time-conscious officials trying to save their principal’s time is followed by the principle himself, who is timeless and otherworldly.
In private audiences, I have had the wonderful honor of seeing Pope Francis multiple times. Last month, I also had the pleasure of meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Both guys had striking similarities: they were kind-hearted, modest, and spoke mostly with their eyes rather than their words.
The Dalai Lama and I met on the 64th anniversary of his safe arrival in India after fleeing the invasion of Tibet by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dictatorship and its purported People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
One of the greatest blessings of my life was meeting this 87-year-old Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader at his modest home in McLeod Ganj, in the hills above Dharamshala in northern India.
I followed advice and put on my face mask as I was led inside before handing him a Tibetan prayer scarf. Once it was in his hands, it sprang out of nowhere on my shoulders as a private act of spiritual unity.
