From India to D.C.

I was actually fairly close considering the area, but the Dalai Lama looks
small here. He's the little guy in the scarlet robes up front on the left,
standing under the canopy/umbrella.

When I was in India, I visited Dharamsala, the location of the Tibetan government in exile and current home of the Dalai Lama. He didn't have any public appearances while we were in town, but we did visit his monastery and pass his living quarters.

So when I heard the Dalai Lama would be in D.C. and had a public appearance, I thought it would be neat to see him. He's in town for a ritual, Kalachakra 2011, which is at the Verizon Center this week.

So I woke up early Saturday morning to be at the West Lawn of the Capitol around 7 a.m. Then, I sat in the sun for a few hours as the space filled up. Finally, the event, a talk for world peace, began. It had chanting monks (the same type we woke up to the mornings we were in Dharamsala), Tibetan dancers, Whoopi Goldberg (as emcee) and, of course, the Dalai Lama.

He spoke about kindness, compassion, inner beauty, etc., and how all these simple things can bring about changes by making ripples.