I’ve longed for a personal listen to the Dalai Lama (real name – Tenzin Gyatso). As I was growing up while being raised as Buddhist, I’ve always heard the words of – compassion, compassion, compassion. For the past several years, one missed opportunity after the next – Dalai Lama visits UC Irvine and next visits USC. But up until now, I needed to hear it for myself and come visit the Holiness, the Dalai Lama.
As a 2nd generation in my family, I am blessed with parents and I respect what hardships they faced in their country of Vietnam that lead up to this moment. I might not have been here if it wasn’t for them. Their past is history. There’s always something to learn from it. But always not to over-emphasize. As of now, we only worry about the present and forget about the past.
It’s hard for myself to sit down at a lecture let alone start sobbing at the same moment. Cameras everywhere inside Honda Center on Sunday afternoon. I recognized some members of the media from Orange County including photographers roaming around the main floor and trying to get the best picture of the Holiness on-stage. A soldout crowd of an estimate 18,000 inside the venue. And despite the crowds and media presence, it was time for me to ignore the environment and embrace the moment.
Some of the messages that the Dalai Lama emphasized during Sunday’s discussion included “Peace is the only way for the survival of humanity,” and the ability that one person must change one self for the better before he/she can change the world for the better. To sum it – “Happy individual, then happy family, then happy community, then we have happy humanity.”
A real pleasure to see some celebrities including – Wilmer Valderrama, Cody Simpson, George Lopez, Randy Jackson, among others giving their thoughts about the teachings of the Holiness and how it influences the current state of art and entertainment. They also had questions that revolved around making movies that envisions their passion and their beliefs of why they become who they are today. And the Dalai Lama responds, “It all starts with compassion.”