Dalai Lama 2013 Australian Visit: 'Beyond Religion' Public Lecture in Melbourne

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Posted 2013-04-15 by Peter Dewar ⇒ follow

Tue 18 Jun 2013 - Thu 20 Jun 2013

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is seventy-eight years old. In 2011, devotees thought it would be his last visit, but this June he arrives in Melbourne for the ninth time .

The title of the Dalai Lama's public lecture is Compassion: Foundation of Wellbeing . He'll probably talk about the same thing as last time, and the times before that - kindness and happiness.

It's to be expected; he's said to have given this advice, "kindness isn't a path, it is the path".

I try not to miss a tour. The Dalai Lama is unnervingly informal, and his lectures, sensibly described as talks, are remarkably straightforward. Yes, your grandmother may have said the same thing, but now it's official.

Surprisingly, in our hectic, secular society - or perhaps because of it - his message cuts through. It's not uncommon to walk away feeling unusually settled.

As he chuckles his way through a public talk, you may have to remind yourself that Tenzin Gyatso, the14th Dalai Lama, is a spiritual leader venerated world-wide by the Buddhist community. You may have to remind yourself that he was leader of Tibet as a young man and won the Nobel Peace Prize.

You may wonder how this slightly hunched man in robes, seated on stage, threatens the Chinese government, or why this man, who refers to himself as a simple monk and lives in-exile in India, is now afforded rock-star status.

The audience smiles a lot at his talks. You see the more devout sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed. In a meditative state ... perhaps more sinks in.

In any bookstore, there's books written by, or about, the Dalai Lama. Martin Scorcese made a film - Kundun - about his life. It's been banned in China, but it is a beautiful cinematic piece. The film is true to many recorded biographies, no matter what you make of the metaphysical narrative on reincarnation, or the politics.

For no reason, other than he is a controversial figure, it's worth going to his public lecture. Make up your own mind. They said it before, but this may be his last visit.

He will also be giving a one day teaching titled, Heart Sutra and Eight Verses of Mind Training in the western suburb's Braybrook at a Vietnamese Buddhist temple.