Syracuse -- Ann Curry says she sometimes forgets she’s talking to one of the world’s most respected religious leaders when she spends time with the Dalai Lama.
The comfortable rapport between the two was obvious Monday at Syracuse University during two panel discussions on peace and democracy. The panels were part ofCommon Ground for Peace, a two-day event at SU featuring the spiritual head of Tibet and international leader of Buddhism. Events continue today with a recently added panel on campus and a concert at the Carrier Dome featuring 26 artists including Dave Matthews, Counting Crows and Nas.
Monday’s discussions covered society’s biggest challenges: war, violence, poverty, hunger, human rights and religious freedom. At the center of each conversation was the Dalai Lama, who maintained a message of peace, love, compassion and understanding with a self-effacing dose of humor.
Curry, a correspondent for NBC, moderated both panels . She’s interviewed the Dalai Lama several times and says he is always humble and even a little goofy — especially if it helps get his point across.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner felt right at home on the stage in Goldstein Auditorium inside the Schine Student Center, removing his shoes and tucking his legs up under his red and yellow robes to begin the morning session.
He made frequent references to his age — 77 — and laughed heartily at his own jokes and Curry’s prodding to keep his answers focused, which does not come naturally to the man known around the world for his thoughtful wisdom.
Despite being jet-lagged from a 16-hour flight the night before, the Dalai Lama smiled and nodded throughout while consulting with an aide seated nearby. He spoke to the audience in English that was sometimes broken and often difficult to hear. His tone was soft and low — a range that said when the Dalai Lama speaks, people listen.
The audience seemed to most enjoy the times he laid both hands on his torso and belly laughed; or slapped his knee and threw his head back in a wide-mouthed, frozen-in-time chuckle.
The Dalai Lama said repeatedly that greater peace can be achieved by finding inner peace. A peaceful mind and body promote health and happiness, he said. It’s our duty as human beings to help one another, he said.
“Your bone is my bone,” he said. “Your blood is my blood. Your happiness is my happiness. Your unhappiness is my unhappiness.”
A collective understanding of one another will give rise to peace, freedom and positive change, he said. He pointed out that those characteristics are often inherent in children and can be fostered in youth.
“Young people who belong to the 21st century can make this century peaceful and prosperous,” he said.
The speakers sharing the stage Monday could easily be headliners themselves. During a news conference between panels, former CIA head R. James Woolsey shared a personal story of being a state department intern on the Mall in Washington, D.C. before Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I have a dream” speech.
It was a hot August day in 1963, Woolsey said. People were relaxing with shirt sleeves and pants rolled up around the reflecting pool. In the moments before King spoke, people stood and straightened their shirts and ties out of respect, he said.
Flanked Monday by King’s eldest son, Martin Luther King III and one of King’s best friends, former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, Woolsey said the moment was electrifying.
“You want a definition of a leader, that’s a leader,” Woolsey said, becoming emotional by the story and his historic company at the table.
Monday was full of larger-than-life moments like Woolsey’s story.
Panelists shared bold, philosophical statements about world politics: America needs to cut ties to oil and the dictatorships that control the supplies; a true Arab Spring will occur when Muslim women are afforded the same rights as men; and people should respect and understand other religions as much as they do their own.
Security was tight: Officers, cars and motorcycles from Syracuse police, Onondaga County sheriff’s and state police were parked in the blocks around the Schine Student Center and the University Sheraton hotel. The Dalai Lama and his aides moved in a series of black SUVs and Cadillacs. Two blocks of Waverly Avenue behind the student center and the library were closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic for most of the day. And members of the audience complied with metal detectors and bag searches.
SU and Common Ground for Peace officials and organizers would not say where the Dalai Lama was spending Monday night or how he was spending his time before Tuesday’s concert.
SU trustee and local businessman Samuel Nappi, who is responsible for bringing the Dalai Lama to campus, said the Dalai Lama would likely spend much of Tuesday resting. Nappi’s company, Wold Harmony Productions, is producing the One World Concert.
SU announced that an additional panel was added for Tuesday. “The Past is Not the Past: The Continuing Quest for Racial Justice and Peace,” will be 1 to 3 p.m. today in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse III. Tickets are not required. Panelists include Young, King and SU professors Linda Carty, Janis McDonald and Paula Johnson. The Dalai Lama is not scheduled to attend.
source credit: Syracuse.com
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