Would I Be Allowed To Take The Dalai Lama To A Titty Bar?

So we went to see this guy yesterday. Meh. Now, I like the guy well enough I guess, but I'm not getting the kind of enlightenment vibe I guess i would have expected from THE Dalai Lama. There were hippies everywhere and the scene was for sure interesting. There were protestors here and there, some blaming the Tibetan people for the suffering at the hands of the Chinese, and claiming that all of the news about the matter was being skewed by western media. Mmmm'okay. Yeah- you betcha. The voice of Beijing is as credible as the voice of W. Then there were protesters about Buddhism- a "false" religion that really pisses God off. There were one or two of these yahoos with some brilliant signs (I should have taken my camera, but the tickets said they weren't allowed). No one could give two shits- and their rants were lonely. One totally ineffective pat down by a security guard later, and we were all in. Schmoopie said she could have smuggled in all kinds of stuff between her boobies. That's a fun mental image.


After everyone thanked everyone else ever, the Dalai Lama finally spoke, and it wasn't great. For starters, it was really hard to hear him, as the P.A. system was for crap. On top of this, his accent is thick (although, props to him for speaking English) and often difficult to follow. Then primarily his subject matter was unremarkable. It doesn't take the enlightened one to know that violence begets violence, nor is he required to explain the many virtues of love. For my money, a whacked out English guy from Liverpool did a better job thirty something years ago in song (as in "All you need is..."). Still- no beef with the message this far. I got a bit distracted by a tattoo'd lady and when I came back around, he was talking about nuclear disarmament. What'd I miss? Seeds of Compassion what? The Lama may have studied for the wrong test.

Sooooo, a guy with no family is telling us all about raising kids, and the representative of a country occupied by foreign invaders is advocating disarmament? Riiight. I'm by no means a fan of nuclear arms, but did no one ever suggest to him that with some defensive abilities, he'd be at home in Tibet right now? Just wondering. It'd be nice to live in a world of peace where everyone was respectful of others, tolerant, and compassionate, but that's contrary to human nature. Take a world of such people and add one who is not, and that one will enslave the rest in due course. People are savage animals, but with a sliver of hope. I think the Lama has been fraternizing with too many kind people and not enough with the basal elements of humanity. Lucky guy.

One thing I was pleased to see was the representation of native american cultures there. They had a Duwamish tribal guy there to talk about this and that, and I thought that he was as engaging and apropos as anything the Lama said. In the history of known cultures on this spinning wet rock, I think the native americans may have been distinctive in terms of their balance with nature (both human and environmental). That's a blanket statement and sure, there were (are?) tribes that were jerks, but overall, I think they were the ones with the right model. Plus, as so many religions require costumes for their leaders- the Dalai Lama with his red and yellow toga deal, priests in black with white collars, televangelists in pimpwear, Mormons and their special underwear, the Pope and his hats/everything, etc.- tell me, if you were rating faiths solely on the outfittings, wouldn't you give "best of show" to these folks?


I would.

Oh yeah, on the bus ride home (where we were packed like friggin sardines- thanks a pantload King County Metro Transit- 50K people downtown to see the Dalai Lama AND a Mariners game- no extra busses/planning was evident) I comment on how touchy-feely the Lama seemed to be with our lady Governor, and Schmoopie reminded me of his praise of women, and some other lady on the bus said "I wonder if that's an endorsement for Hillary?" I piss-shivered.