Torkelson: Chilly crowd warms to Dalai Lama

By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 18, 2006 at midnight

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Other people tend to use stiff, plummy tones when they introduce him - "Ladies and gentleman, His Holiness has arrived" - but as for himself, the 14th Dalai Lama greets crowds like a neighbor waving over the back fence.

That's what he looked like Sunday when he arrived at the Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center, a 600-acre Buddhist enclave tucked away in the severe, forest-and-cliffs beauty of Red Feather Lakes near the Wyoming border.

One arm bared to the brutal wind, the other raised in blessing, the Dalai Lama wore a mischievous, shy grin as he mounted the dais, as if he were saying, "Hi, howya doin'?" to 2,500 of his best friends.

The crowd cheered back from the depths of the winter gear they had been huddling in for hours, with temperatures in the fridge-range. But they didn't seem to mind. Many said they had waited a lifetime to see the 71-year-old Dalai Lama, believed by Buddhists to be the reincarnation of the spirit who teaches compassion.

He left this weekend's PeaceJam gathering of fellow Nobel Peace Prize winners in Denver to come here and bless the 108-foot-high stupa, or Buddhist shrine, the largest in North America, which has been under construction for nearly 15 years.

As his helicopter swooped in from a milk-blue sky, Shambhala staffers started a caterwauling conch blast in greeting. U.S. State Department personnel and security forces in combat gear stood by.

Once on the dais, the Dalai Lama was flanked by dignitaries, including Queen Noor of Jordan and Rabbi Irwin Kula, an author and lecturer on modern Judaism.

Despite the lofty setting - and the cold - the Dalai Lama remained a figure of boyish, disarming buoyancy who repeatedly made jokes at his own expense. One moment came as he sat cross-legged on a big armchair, speaking about compassion and noting that all the great religions have that virtue at their core.

Then, with a nod to Queen Noor, a Muslim, and the rabbi, the Dalai Lama said, "So I am extremely happy to be joining one Muslim lady and one Muslim rabbi . . ."

At that, there was a small diplomatic flurry on the dais, and the Dalai Lama paused, then corrected himself with mock horror in his voice, "Oh no, no, no - big mistake!" The crowd loved it. So did the Muslim lady and the Jewish rabbi.

Later, in the midst of a teaching on the Buddhist meaning of illusion and reality, he got another laugh when he made a crack to the effect that just because something's a mirage doesn't mean it isn't really cold.

In his thin-looking red-and-gold robes, the Dalai Lama appeared to feel the cold as he rubbed his hands together and donned a hood.

Though he often speaks in English, he requested a Tibetan translator and wove in and out of the two languages. Accompanied by Sakyong Rinpoche, son of the founder of the Shambhala Center and Naropa University, the Dalai Lama disappeared inside the stupa for ceremonies to bless the shrine, which contains the founder's skull and ashes.

Then he helicoptered out 30 minutes early.

Before he did, however, he left his core message: "In order to live a meaningful life, your actions should be meaningful, and compassion is the key factor. . . . Peace of mind comes from unbiased compassion."

The message was absorbed by an eclectic crowd, among whom was Shambhala staffer Leila Bruno, who knelt and joined her hands while the Dalai Lama prayed in Tibetan. The night before, as snow flew, Bruno and other organizers had wondered whether fierce winds - reported at between 40 and 50 mph - would make the Dalai Lama's helicopter ride dicey.

So in the middle of a pitch-black, backwoods night, staffers gathered with headlamps, built a fire and prayed for success.

"We had such a sleepless night," Bruno said.

Terry Godfrey, a retired public health officer, drove from Crestone, in southern Colorado, to see the man who "represents everything that's noble and good to me."

It was the future that Clark Erwin-Billones, an office manager, was thinking of as she guided her nearly 2-year-old son, Ace, who resembled a puffball peeking out of a blue parka. Tickets to the event were so scarce that Erwin-Billones' husband, Willard, couldn't get one, but they wanted Ace to be there.

"Today is for Ace," she said, "so someday he can say he saw the Dalai Lama."

torkelsonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5055

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