No time like the present to do a little schedule planning and see if your boss will let you out of work early on Monday, October 22. The Dalai Lama will be giving a free public talk in Centennial Olympic Park beginning at 4:45.
Maybe it is just me, but sometimes I feel we get so wrapped up in insignificant busy-ness in this city that important events, or wordly events seem to pass us by. It is a big deal for the Dalai Lama to be here in Atlanta, not just because of his worldwide spiritual outreach, but because it is also is the only stop in the southern United States on His Holiness' 2007 tour.
As spiritual leaders of Tibet, the Dalai Lamas are said to be enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity. A friend of mine has said that just to be in the presence of the Dalai Lama is something to be felt. I've heard about saints roaming the streets of India, emitting feelings of love and peace, and image this event could be similar. If nothing else, I think it is good to take an afternoon to step back, think bigger and look beyond our immediate concerns and worries. Traffic will still be there. The social calendar can wait to be filled. It isn't often the city hosts such prominent world figures. I don't know how the event is being marketed...and part of me feels it isn't getting a great deal of attention, at least not yet. It makes me want to pose the questions, where should our marketing priorities be, and where are they now?
I will be there, nevertheless, with my cell phone off, hoping to be inspired. Keeping with the Zen approach, no cameras, recording devices, laptop computers, large purses, bags or backpacks, coolers or metal folding seat cushions will be allowed into the park. There is also a day long conference with the Dalai Lama on Oct 20, the Saturday prior to the public talk, on the relationship between meditation and possible treatments for depression. I believe tickets are still available through Emory University, where the event will be held in the Woodruff Physical Education Center.