Yes, His Holiness hies unto Salt Lake City October 18, 2015 at the University of Utah:

DALAI LAMA COMING TO U

Speaking about compassion and universal responsibility, the Dalai Lama of Tibet will visit the Huntsman Center, Sunday, Oct. 18

Will Mr. Lama make a courtesy visit to LDS Church HQ?

I went to the Honda Center yesterday to hear His Holiness speak and to celebrate his 80th birthday.

His mind is incredible, his heart is wide open and he said several times that we all have a responsibility to each other and that love and compassion open new paths in being global citizens and that self-serving lives are destructive.

Long live His Holiness

While at BYU I had the opportunity to go to India for a semester and do a field studies program in a Tibetan Buddhist village. We actually ended up not getting our permits for that city so we lived with host families in Mcleod Ganje which is the Tibetan Exiled Capital outside Dharamshala, India. Thats obviously what got me departing from the church. Beautiful people and culture. I got to see the Dalai Lama speak in person and it was incredible. I remember seeing everybody's reverence for him and it struck me as being very similar to how people revered the prophet. I became very universalist after that trip.\

Anyways, crazy story though. My host family had a brother who worked security detail with the Dalai Lama's office. The Dalai Lama really wanted to speak at BYU during one of his recent trips to Utah(one of the highest lama's reincarnations actually lived in Utah for some time and there is a small Tibetan community in SLC). BYU TURNED HIM DOWN!!! This was the same year dick cheney spoke at BYU. They didn't want to upset china. So I don't think the church will ever meet with the Dalai Lama becuse they want to go into china so badly and if they meet with the Dalai Lama that would be interpreted by the Chinese as an insult. W Bush was the 1st sitting president to meet with the Dalai Lama andthe Chinese saw that as a slap in the face. In their minds it legitimized the claims of Tibetan's independence from China.

The current Dalai Lama seems like a terrific guy.
Me, I have an issue when anyone gets called "his holiness" and given "absolute reverence." No matter how terrific a guy he is. It's a cult of personality, and it's the same mindset that leads TBMs to revere GAs.
As I said in another thread, we can learn from other people and their words/actions. We don't need to "revere" them.

+1 giving revered titles to people is a bit much, even if they are wise and good.

True. "His Holiness" is something that is ascribed to the Dalai Lama in all academic writings in Tibet. It made me uncomfortable in school but after all the lit review I did for my project, you just never see the "dalai lama" without the title. He probably would agree with you actully. He's always saying "I am just simply human being" "just a simple buddhist monk".

As long as they don't call him late for dinner. ;-)
He is so down to earth, it always annoys me when people call him "His Holiness" and such. He is no more Holy than you or I.

My partner is working the Dalai Lama's 4 Day 80th Birthday Celebration.

There is a very strict and specific protocol surrounding how one addresses the Dalai Lama.

Nothing casual about it.

Everyone was instructed to not only address him as "His Holiness", the same title was to be used whenever referring to him...

as in, "I'm driving His Holiness's chefs to Whole Foods to pick up ingredients for his dinner."

Related story:

I 1992, I began working for Lucasfilm. I started work in mid-December. Three days after I started was the annual company Christmas party, at a swanky hotel in San Francisco. I drove there Saturday night, parked in the parking lot, and another car parked right next to me as I was getting out. Out of that car stepped George Lucas and his daughter. I was very pleased, and so walked up to him, stuck out my hand, and introduced myself, explaining that I'd just started working for him. He shook my hand warmly, asked questions about what I'd be doing...and we walked into the event together. After going in, he turned to me, shook my hand again, and said he hoped I enjoyed working for him, and to let him know how things were going.

I only knew about 4 people in the company at that point, being so new. Two of these were my new office mates. They both were already at the party, saw me walk in with George, and after we split up, then came over to me...
"What were you doing?" they asked. "Were you talking to George? Nobody's supposed to talk to George!"
"Why?" I asked. "He was very nice."
"Because he's George Lucas!" they whined.

They had him up on a pedestal, as a kind of "superhuman." I just saw him as a guy who'd done cool stuff I wanted to me, and as my new boss. No big deal. They were incensed that I had dared to interact with their hero, something I never really understood.

George apparently appreciated it. Through the years I worked there, every time he'd come by our office and see me, he remembered my name and would say hello. This irritated my office mates to no end, because he didn't know who THEY were. But then, they had never treated him like a human being...:)

That's pretty cool that you treated George like a regular guy, even though he was the boss. I would have done pretty much the same if I'd had been in your shoes.

Oddly, I have a similar story with the Dalia Lama. I had a Tibetan roommate decades ago. When he came to SoCal the roomy, some friends, and I went to see him. As he was entering the building several seemed to be in awe of him, some even bowed. I offered him my hand and he shook it. No apparent pretense.

terrydactyl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oddly, I have a similar story with the Dalia Lama.
> I had a Tibetan roommate decades ago. When he came
> to SoCal the roomy, some friends, and I went to
> see him. As he was entering the building several
> seemed to be in awe of him, some even bowed. I
> offered him my hand and he shook it. No apparent
> pretense.

It's pleasing to see that some of the "revered" don't really want the reverence, and wish people would just treat them like regular people. I think that's admirable.

Then there are those who are "revered," and thrive on every bit of it, encouraging it as much as possible. Some examples that come to mind: Joseph Smith, Donald Trump. :)

That's so rad!

Some years ago, His Holiness came to Orem to speak at UVU. Our Governor Leavitt suddenly had to leave town, and nobody from the LDS church spoke with him or invited him to church headquarters.
I was truly ashamed of my state and church.

Our US government treats him as a head of state when he visits and he receives secret service protection.

His message is simply caring for our fellow man and having compassion.

I rather doubt it. If it's not morg related then no dice!!

I heard the Dalai Lama and others speak yesterday at UCI on the subject of climate change.

I was thoroughly unimpressed.

He self-admittedly didn't know that much about the subject. That didn't keep him from meandering through a stream of consciousness, off the cuff soliloquy.

He wasted an oppertunity to induce a large wealthy crowd into action.

I can't see how anyone who wasn't already enthrawled with him in the first place coming away impressed by him at all.

He has his Dalai Lama schtick.

Meh.

If I remember well (I wasn't there, but read it in a local newspaper at the time) the Dalai Lama visited Utah at the beginning of this century and during a speech on religion and spirituality said something along the lines of "Everybody needs a religion. If you have a friend who doesn't have one, introduce him or her to ours. But if someone already has a faith, never try to change it!"

According to the paper, fifty percent of his Salt Lake audience burst out in rapturous applause while the other half looked quite offended!

Accidentally pushed the post button. I have the impression that the DL is really a humble person. Of course, I am reminded when Paul and another were hailed as gods and they took off their clothes to show they were mere men and were not to be worshipped.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2015 07:20PM by rhgc.

Am I the only one who wants to see a faceoff like Elijah vs the Priests of Baal?

(Somehow I don't think either side will produce many fireworks during the showdown though).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2015 11:05PM by archytas.

I will say, he calls himself a simple monk, but he does live in a palace.