Purpose of Life (according to the Dalai Lama)
My family lives in Washington, D.C. and the climate is of course very charged with all things political. When His Holiness came to speak one summer, I thought it would be important for my youngest to have the experience of hearing a spiritual teacher and the option of a different door than the political or religious into who we are. We sat outside with thousands of others. Capitol building behind us and a jumbled mood all around us. A strange combination of grand, symbolic architecture mixed with casual picnic. All together the energies mixed into a kind of nervousness. I had the impression we all weren’t sure how to behave. Here was a crowd that knew symphonies, marches for causes, major sporting events, cultural festivals - but the Dalai Lama? Being on picnic blankets didn’t seem fitting and while there was cheerful chatting and snacking, it’s not like there were frisbees being tossed. At that particular event and location, it was possible to distinguish all the energies, but they added up to a subdued anticipation.
There was an energetic shift that spread through the crowd collectively as the monks came from behind us - in a line, heads bowed. The shift really was palpable as it swept forward with the procession. And like a call and response hymn, we knew how to behave. We knew to stand. We knew how to be. So many heads bowed! (Of course, I was peeking) Incredible that the crowd all at once was doing the same thing but had no other experience doing that same thing. It wasn’t just reverence, but more a feeling of belonging. A kind of communion, because just think, HHDL didn’t enter from the stage. He didn’t appear at a podium in front of us as the focus. Instead, he was just there in the community and so he was with us. It was an easy yes to be part of the communal escort that wasn’t asking for reverence but signaling us to be in reverence - for and with each other.
The recall is not so much a memory now, but more of a physical feeling and I try to call up that kind of energetic feeling whenever I’m feeling stuck. That silent invite felt like a door and when I call it up the feeling is so deeply OK that whatever was making me stuck, just leaves! “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” Julian of Norwich’s wisdom comforts the mind, but feeling all is well in your body is next level.
To hear silence approaching is a strange thing. Of course the ‘approach’ was the crowd quieting row by row, but also something else. The effect was of building not of leaving, as when a room gets quiet when loud music is turned off. The monks and their walking and their silence, then our silence, built to this incredible reciprocated reverence. And so, in that way, each of us escorted His Holiness to the podium.
There was no unwrapping of candy and no rustling of paper programs. Guy who coughs during important pauses in dialogue at a play was quiet, too. The collective silence and connected presence was a gentle and powerful energy.
So there we thousands silently were – humbled, a little bit enthralled, and waiting. Waiting to hear the reason for life . . . for how to be better . . . to be more alive . . . to be more connected . . . to be more anything . . . to have this communal feeling forever. I wasn’t the only one yearning to understand the purpose, secret, and meaning of life from someone who believes in and prays for peace, even while in exile and even while his country is occupied. I wasn’t the only one hoping to receive all that from someone who isn’t ignorant or hateful in his response to reality.
He began his talk by reading our minds I suppose and acknowledging that we were there to learn a secret. "The purpose of your life . . . ."
When he told us the answer the crowd laughed. In unison! Such a big joke! Every different person instantly in the same chagrin. We got the joke! His punchline wasn't the punchline - the punchline was we already knew the answer! Soooo much effort and yearning and eagerness, so much leaning to another person to provide guidance, and then in the end - oh yeah - we knew that already!
"The purpose of your life . . . ." comedic beat anticipatory silence
“ . . . . is happiness."
He had that cute zen grin when he said that.
I forget and then remember this message, over and over in my life. Whenever I remember I've forgotten, and then allow myself to re-discover 'my secret purpose', I roll my eyes and laugh. I forgot. Again! I know the answer already! It’s freaking hilarious.
It’s all so EASY. Be happy; find happy; do happy. Could there be a higher purpose, really, than for each of us to plug-in to our happiness so that we can get busy doing anything we're supposed to be here for?
In the remembering/forgetting cycle - my hope is that we can all find reverence in and with one another.
