Special Moments
with His Holiness Dalai Lama
~at SECC, Glasgow, 2004

 

Mon 31st May 2004

We happened to be leaving the car park just as HH Dalai Lama was getting in his car.
We just got out in time to catch a glimpse....HH Dalai Lama gave us a wave.
It was the icing on the cake, to finish a great day of teachings.
Not a great photo I admit, but you can just about make out HH Dalai Lama's hand.

That night was Deren Browns Seance on TV.

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Outside SECC with Geshe Tashi, from Jamyang Buddhist Centre

Everywhere I went I kept seeing Geshe-la, my Buddhist Teacher from the Jamyang Centre, Kennington. However I felt guilty because I haven't been to teachings in quite a while, so I semi-avoided him But this time i was walking right towards him, so there was no chance for evasive tactics. In 'awkward style' I took advantage of the auspicious moment for a photo opportunity!

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Tue 1st June 2004
5:00pm

Eager fans waiting Patiently for His Holiness.

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As His Holiness Dalai Lama left the building he didn't go straight to his car, but out came out towards us...

 

 

 

His Holiness, gave each and everyone of us a glance and a wave/ hand gesture.
You had to be there.... Very Very Special...

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"The strange thing is, that strange things kept happening. "
6:30 pm

Somehow we managed to go in the wrong direction as we got onto the motorway. (Maybe because other way was heavily congested). As soon as we realized, we took the next available turn off on the motorway to go the other way.
Strangely the turnoff happened to be for Braehead (a massive Shopping Centre).
Funnily enough my brother Peter (Pictured above) and his Girlfriend (below) wanted to but didn't have a chance! Strange coincidence. Talk about from one temple to another! :-)

 

As we left we laughed about all our addictions / attachments:

My addiction to buying Books & aquiring information
Iza's addiction to buying Handbags
Peter's addiction to music & DVD's

it was then I realised what His Holiness said about the Path to Enlightement being over countless lives and aeons....
I think I might need them!! :-)

And to be honest i'm quite enjoying the ride!
So I'm going to hang around a while until all beings are free from suffering and its causes!

 

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On the way back a Rainbow led the way! It was a breathtaking drive back.
I remember thinking that I could 'die and go to heaven right now"
At that point there was a loud splat on the window, bringing my attention to a messy sacrifice on the windscreen. Funnily enough I remember thinking on the drive up, 'what would His Holiness say about all the insects and flies that died on our Car windscreen'!?

the penny dropped

The Buzz continued as we caught the sunset at Morecambe Bay.
Before fish and chips and the rest of the drive back to London.

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Some Earth Angels I met on Tuesday .

We shared many coincidences together
Blessings to Heather, Lewis, Crystal & Day.

Heather wrote:

Hi Greg, thanks for the photos, I have my maniacal grin on as per usual! Yes what a strange and wonderful day, even the rainbows lasted until we got home, they were all around us all the way, even a double one which was complete in both arcs.... fantastic. I will never forget that day, if I live to be a hundred and one, there was such an energy and undercurrent of truly unusual coincidences, then the HHDL car moment was the culmination of a great weekend. You can't explain this stuff to people who weren't there because it is such a direct experience. Explaining it trivialises it, so it becomes just a moment in time rather than a moment-ous experience.  Anyway, in his writing he says you can verify spiritual experience by asking others if they felt it too, and if it was real they will accord. I had to ask if I had just hallucinated the car experience, but they all saw him acknowledge them one at a time, a little nod and a wave each.....It was Shakti for each of us.

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Personal Thoughts

Nearly everybody has heard of His Holiness Dalai lama, but not everybody knows much about the Spiritual & Political leader (including myself).

Friends had mixed feelings; was I searching for something? Was i not happy?

In my opinion it is like going to see one of the top celebrities, actors, musicians, singers, bands, artists, I.T. , in the world, except even better. Top celebrities go to see His Holiness! (as well as other way round). Not only that but at a very reasonable price. (only £5 for the public talk). In my opinion driving over 400 miles was nothing, and any effort I made would add to the benefit.

The Public Teachings on Saturday were sold out within a few weeks of the tickets going on sale. On Saturday over 9,000 people attended. Over 5,000 on the other days.

Facilities included:
Big Hall, were refreshments, coffee & sandwich stands, toilets, creche and a hall of Exhibitors.

During the teachings every time I glanced at His Holiness my body filled with good vibes and warmth.

After the teachings, you could see the smiles and glowing faces.

After each day of teachings I had many insights and realizations. It was weird how subjects His Holiness had talked about in the day came up in conversations with my brother later in the evening.

The amount of coincidences that many of us experienced over those days was truly remarkable. It was a fantastic trip!

Overall, Highly recommended.

Postives

His Holiness Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Political & Spiritual leader of Tibet in Exile....in person! That's enough in itself.

Teachings:
Clear, Concise, Compassionate
Excellent translation, even too good (slightly intellectual language)

Value:
Very reasonably priced teachings.

Organisation:

Well organised, credits to Dharma Network, Security Company's, SECC, Tibet.com,

Venue:

Coffee Mocha's, Expresso's and Latte's on Tap with a selection of sandwiches
Lots of Car Parking Space and cheap parking. Good connections
Creche facilities

Production

Crystal clear screens large on either side of stage. As well as one a creche /overflow area.
Crisp sound system. Didn't hear any feedback.

Bonus

High ranking Rinpoches and Geshes also attended including: Sogyal Rinpoche of Rigpa; Geshe Tashi of Jamyang Centre; Lama Khemsar Rinpoche of the Yungdrung Bon study centre; and Ringu Tulku as well as many others.

Negatives

The only negative I could find was with the venue.

Venue:

Queues, Queues, Queues - queue to get a coffee, to go toilet, cloakroom, ticket office, and a snail pace queue leaving the event. Even though there were several toilets and coffee stands, there was always a line of patient people (unless you ventured out a little to hidden toilets and coffee bars) But I suppose thats normal with 5,000-9,000 people under one roof.
Speaking of roof's, SECC needs to check theirs. On Tuesday morning it was raining, and dripping very close to one of the projection screens (as well as onto my head!) :-/ :-)

Congested traffic leaving the event. On Tuesday only one car could turn right per sequence of traffic lights (as it turned red) to get onto the motorway. (other routes not too bad). Even though very close to the motorway it took 30+mins to get there. They need to sort the traffic lights out around the venue (but that's my ignorant opinion, as I know very little about road infrastructure etc.)

But apart from that the venue was sound.

Town:

Funny one way system in Glasgow, got lost a few times (but that can be good too! :)

Summary

Value for Money: 10
Venue: 8.5
Organisation: 9.0
Website: 9.0
Production: 9.0

Overall: 9.1 / 10

Excellent! Editor's Choice. It's got greg's stamp of approval! (for all that's worth).

At the end of the event there was a presentation and the balance sheet accounts were read out. The event cost a small fortune to set up (approx. £350,000). Revenue received £343,000 - close, but no cigar. Fortunately some charitable people were generous enough to promise to make up the difference! :-)

As far as I know all those who worked tirelessly for months to make the events possible did so on a voluntary basis especially Dharma Network organizers.

Warm Wishes,

Greg

 

related links:

Recent Visit to Glasgow:

• For up to date info about His Holiness click here:
  and for related news here

 

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related pages:

• HH Dalai Lama - Teachings @ SECC, Glasgow - Intro, Info & Links
• Event Official Photos - Low / Medium Resolution
  
• Special Moments - Personal Photos / Moments from the event - low res!
• More pics - some of the venue, low res though

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