since, my last entry i have been pondering what to write about & then it fell into my lap the way it usually does. the dalai lama is in seattle for a 5day stay @ the grandHyatt extravagance & tickets being sold to the local public.  the first thing that has bothered me about his visit is that he is staying  @ thegrandHyatt for a spiritual leader to stay @ the local hotel made my stomach turn.

he is from what i gathered from his website a leader & former spiritual leader of tibet-a place that has become a bloodbath & china is blacking out what is happening. he is now here to teach us about compassion…? what? it took him over 2 weeks to comment on the turmoil in a country he lives in exile from. his former homeland. the last pictures out of the country where grim & disturbing.

from what the associated press is writing he is meeting/greeting 150,000 here in seattle who all paid for their tickets to the various events. this began me thinking about what a spiritual leader/leader is. we are heading face first into what will become modern depression for the first time since the 30’s. being leader during a time of turmoil is utmost important in order to give people something to believe in.

let me go back to the first point that he is a spiritual leader who has a tag of a dot com to his website & where ever he appears he charges people to see him. he gets law enforcement & local safe escorts from one destination to the next? what? the Price tag of his so-called trips probably average a million or more.

that is just a rough Guess? i am not good at math so i don’t claim to have all the costs of what he does. on top of all the security he stays @ the hyatt a global & expensive hotel chain. if i was a spiritual leader which i am not i would stay with the local community of my people or @ a temple. we have several here in seattle that are tibetan and would house him if the location was safe enough. so what does it mean to be a spiritual leader if you are taking from everyone else that makes you greedy even if you claim you’re Buddhist. one of the core values of being Buddhist is reforming away from Greed/money & material wealth.

i have been a part-time lutheran with buddhist believes for years-however, if i became homeless again i would only have one bag & the clothes on my back. i would forfeit my cellphone & my other expenses because that would truly be living buddhist & without material things. i have thought about what it would be like if i lost what i have-then i began thinking that although i would miss my things they are only objects as long as i am alive that is all that counts in the end. it makes me sad to write but i think that his how the our visiting spiritual leader should conduct himself. i attempted a long time ago to read one of his books & was never able to finish them. i would begin to wonder where the money from the book was going

& what had i actually paid for. i read however deepak chopra’s ThePathtoLove & loved it. he is a man that admits how much he charges to be seen & instills a greater meaning than the current visiting holy leader. i don’t have ticket to any of his appearances which is okay, i would rather meet him on the street & ask him how his day was because that is what a leader spiritual or not does. till next time, listen to the birds & feel the wind & breathe.