Compassion

I saw the Dalai Lama today! Turns out you don't have to go all the way to India to see him. His Holiness gave a talk as part of a charity event for an organization called Whole Child International that works on improving the care of children in orphanages around the world. He has one of the best laughs I have ever heard.

More on the Dalai Lama in a bit. Back up, there is more I want to say about this great day and I want to go in chronological order.

I met up with Risa in the morning in Venice Beach at the weekly Farmer's Market. We hadn't seen each other since I was in New York in Aug/Sept but it was like not a day had separated that time. Got myself an amazing turkey sandwich and ate it while walking around and enjoyed it with all my heart now that I am able to eat normally again. We drove out to Universal City and got there with enough time to hang out before the Dalai Lama event started at 1:30. It was really weird to be at the amphitheater during the day and not for a concert.

Sheryl Crow opened the event with a short 3 song set. We felt pretty indifferent about seeing her and before she went on Risa and I had this conversation:

"It's weird that we're gonna see Sheryl Crow."

"Yeah maybe she'll play a cool cover."

"Maybe she'll play a Beatles' song."

She opened with Here Comes the Sun! It was lovely and perfect for the setting.

The Dalai Lama was even more lovely. He resonated happiness and ease, and smiled and laughed often. He sat in a big armchair with his legs crossed and preceded his speech with a nice gesture of humility stating that all of us here are equal, he is no better than us, we are no better than each other. His 2 hour talk focused on the topics of compassion and nurturing children and ourselves. His speech was unplanned and spoke as if it were a casual conversation. The theme his words kept going back to seemed to be that inner peace and strength first needs to be found within ourselves individually, and this is found through acting with compassion. He talked about compassion on a biological level, where as humans we need this from birth to survive (as a opposed to a turtle who never knows its mother), and compassion on a universal level where future generations need to bring this in for a future of peace and happiness. It was all a beautiful thing to witness.

After leaving Universal City we drove out to Beverly Hills and had smoothies at the Urth Cafe and then met up with Amy at Jerry's Deli for some good soup. Being in the company of those two were just as good as seeing the Dalai Lama.

And that was my first full day of activity since I've been back in the country. It's been about a week now and I finally feel adapted with a normalized sleeping schedule and appetite. And most importantly my health is improved. I've finished my course of antibiotics and chinese herbal medicine, and though I still feel a bit weak I am better. Tomorrow start working again and I am ready to take on life. Everyday I've woken up and felt so glad to be here.

I am being asked a lot about my future travel plans. I don't have any set right now but this getting sick in India ordeal has not dampened my spirits on travel at all. In the past two years I have travelled enough miles in an airplane to circle the globe three times. All I've seen and all I've done has helped to confirm the possibility of all things. I now approach a 15 hour plane ride without hesitation and really all it takes to go to the other side of the world is a decision whether you are going away or going home. So now I look at it as something else that I do that I love. However instead of planning my life around the hunger of wanderlust so that I can take off for months at a time, I want to instead take shorter trips once or twice a year. There is a long list of places I want to go, but I know I don't have to rush off and see them all at once. For now I'll take it one at a time just so the restlessness doesn't come raging back and I can try having a life here. As a traveller one thing I love observing are people in different cultures in their home, as a part of their community, and in their element. I need that for myself too, a place to call home to travel from. Balance.