Far-Flung Friends

For me, one of the more interesting storylines about the Dalai Lama is his relationship with Heinrich Harrer, one of four men who first scaled the formidable north wall of The Eiger (above) in the Swiss Alps.

As a youth, Harrer was an Olympic-caliber skier, but mountain climbing was his true passion. Having climbed the fearsome vertical cliffs of the North Face of The Eiger (documented in his book, “The White Spider”), Harrer won a spot on a Himalayan expedition to the Diamir Face of the Nanga Parbat in Kashmir in 1939.

While enroute, the four-man team led by Peter Aufschnailer was placed under the “protection” of British solders in Karachi, Pakistan. Two days later, England declared war on Germany. As Austrians, all were sent to British prisoner-of-war camps near Bombay, India.

However, Harrer and Aufschnailer eventually escaped after several attempts and found their way to Tibet, their only possible avenue of escape -- one that would have been impossible to all but trained mountaineers. Arriving in the capital of Lhasa, the pair became salaried employees of the Tibetan government.

Harrer later became tutor to the XIV Dalai Lama in English, geography and science. The two would remain lifelong friends. He documented his experiences in his book “Seven Years in Tibet," which became a bestseller in the U.S. and was the basis of the 1997 film of the same title (above) featuring Brad Pitt in the role of Harrer.

In a foreword in the book, His Holiness writes that “Harrer has always been a friend to Tibet. His most important contribution to our cause introduced hundreds of thousands of people to my country.” In 2002, the Dalai Lama recognized Harrer with the Light of Truth Award for his efforts to bring the situation in Tibet to international attention.

Bodhisattva, Take Me By The Hand

Tenzin Gyatso – the XIV Dalai Lama – was born to a peasant family in a small village called Takster in northeastern Tibet in 1935. Recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of his predecessor, His Holiness is the living manifestation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who chose to reincarnate to serve the people.

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is an enlightened being, one who is on the path to becoming a Buddha. According to tradition, a bodhisattva must journey through at least 10 “grounds” or “bhumis.” At the first ground, the bodhisattva must travel five paths toward accumulation, preparation, insight, meditation and practice.

After navigating the ten grounds, a bodhisattva is said to achieve great joy in seeing the benefit for all sentient beings. The bodhisattva is stainless, in the sense of being free from the stains of immorality, and luminous -- the light of Dharma is said to radiate for others from within. The emphasized perfection in this ground is patience.

A key ground: attainment of the ability to help sentient beings achieve maturity while not becoming emotionally involved when such beings respond negatively -- a difficult task. The emphasized perfection in this ground is meditative concentration.

After the 10 bhumis, according to Buddhist tradition, one attains complete enlightenment and becomes a Buddha. Yet it’s not enough for a bodhisattva to upholed the precepts of Buddhism; there are times when they must be broken. When that happens, it must be with the acknowledgement of whatever consequences will follow.

So what is a bodhisattva? You could define one as a true adult. That is, many people in the world act like children. Today, most people who are called adults are only pseudo-adults. Physically, they grow up and become adult but spiritually, too many people never mature to adulthood. They don’t behave like adults in their daily lives.

A bodhisattva is one who sees the world through adult eyes and whose actions are the actions of a true adult. Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand?

Hello, Dalai!

More than two full months before his arrival in the U.S., the denizens of Eugene-Springfield and vicinity were already fervently anticipating the arrival of the Dalai Lama -- Tenzin Gyatso -- in his first visit to Pacific Northwest since 2001.

Tickets to see His Holiness in Eugene and Portland during a three-day visit from May 9-11 sold out in mere minutes when made available online and by phone to the general public, making him more popular than Elton John, U2 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers combined.

Announcing that the Dalai Lama would visit Matthew Knight Arena on the University of Oregon campus early in 2013, the UO earmarked 2,500 free tickets for students and allocated another 2,200 to the event’s co-sponsor, the Eugene Sakya Center. Next, the university sold 3,000 tickets to UO faculty and staff for $20 each, when I -- most fortuitously -- secured two seats down front.

Finally, UO offered the 11,000 remaining seats by phone and online to the public. Incredibly, the entire remaining allotment sold out in less than five minutes, even with a two ticket per customer limitation. A friend of mine who had logged on exactly at 10 a.m. on March 11 -- right when the tickets went on sale -- struck out. Countless other perplexed pilgrims also came up empty-handed.

How does one account for the widespread popularity of XIV Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people?

Among other things, an underlying reason for the Tibetan leader’s popularity is his religion: Buddhism. In an age when faith is on the wane, Buddhism offers a spiritual path that is compatible with scientific inquiry and world politics in general.

The Chinese government -- which has invaded his country and tortured and killed tens of thousands Tibetans while leveling monasteries and shrines during the anti-religious fervor of the Cultural Revolution -- is also indirectly responsible for the Dalai Lama’s popularity.

So perhaps not unexpectedly, the Dalai Lama -- winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize -- is wildly popular in the Pacific Northwest, as witnessed by the quick sale of the ducats. Oh, tickets can be had -- for a price. Online ticket brokers are asking $250-$350, though I expect prices to come down as the date draws near.

Scalpers may make a few bucks selling tickets to the Dalai Lama’s speech, but I personally wouldn’t want that kind of Faustian exchange on my head. That would be -- as they say -- bad karma.