Seeing the Dalai Lama in Atlanta Georgia....

It's not every day you get to see a Holy Man - or someone that speaks to the world and the world listens...
Emory University at Atlanta Georgia made the Dalai Lama a professor and started an interchange between Buddists and Emory students.
There have been festivities since the Dalai Lama came to Atlanta - tickets to events were snapped so quickly, you'd think they were winning lottery tickets...
Well I really wanted to see him, let me call him DL for simplicity's sake....
Years ago, Mother Theresa and DL came to Atlanta if my poor memory recalls correctly - I had been seriously ill in the hospital, and had just come home. I couldn't go anywhere.
I always regretted not seeing the 2 people I always wanted to see...
Well, unfortunately, Mother Theresa is gone, and well, I still think about what if I had seen her...
Now another opportunity...I got 4 tickets - and asked my niece and nephew to come with me and there was extra ticket if they wanted to include anyone...
It got kinda crazy for a time - are we going, aren't we...do we need to deal with the 3,000 others and their cars and parking to go? At first I said - don't worry...we don't need to go - but it worked out.
My nephew met me and my niece and we went into the auditorium. I was to see one of the people I'd always wanted to see!!! And I was seeing him with the people I loved the most!
We had pretty good seats - in the bleachers - but nice view of the stage - then - a gasp - there came a small man that was a giant - dressed as a Buddist priest, he charmed us with his smile - peace radiated from him and we were all laughing and smiling like we had a visit from Santa Claus!
DL motioned us to sit down, and the festivities began - It was a religious summit - representatives of Buddism, Christian, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam were to make statements from their religions' points of view. Even Ghandi's grandson was a participant -
DL started.
He was so cute - He had a tennis visor on his head that stopped the glare of the lights - But when he started talking we waited....It wasn't brain surgery...aerodynamics....it was a sweet eloquent talk about how people should treat others. Regardless of their educations, races, social positions...
You treat them as you want to be treated in return...
DL made an example - you pet a dog - talk nicely to it - what does it do?
Wags his tail and lick your face.
Same with a cat - spoken to nicely, pet it, and you hear contentment from the cat with its purrs...Why should others not be able to do this? Can peace be this simple?
So many conflicts in the world have no resolution because each side thinks they are the victims...you did that to me, so I'll do this to you....
Someone needs to take responsibility to say STOP. We are in this together.
Did DL stop all the ills of the world today?
No.
But those of us lucky enough to see a man who has touched so many by his simple words and big deeds felt they could start trying...