Dalai Lama Toulouse 2011, Part 1

There were 7,500 of us in attendance at His Holiness' teachings in Toulouse. The topic was Stages of Meditation, based on the second treatise of Kamalaśīla's text, the Bhāvanākrama. The Dalai Lama told us that this text is dear to his heart, since it was written by a Tibetan, in Tibet, and he'd chosen to teach it to us for that reason.

Beautiful Toulouse is a six-hour drive (not including any stops) from my home, and with my two small children I was able to attend only the first two days of talks during His Holiness' visit. The third and last day, he gave a public talk that was broadcast live on some very large screens outside the Zenith where all of the events took place, since many, many more than the Zenith's 7500 capacity had wanted tickets. All talks were broadcast live on the Internet for the benefit of those who couldn't be there.

I felt reconnected with the greater sangha as soon as I checked into my hotel, which was very close to the Zenith and temporarily housed many other attendees. I quite enjoyed being in the long lineup to get into the teachings themselves, which shouldn't be surprising; I generally do. But now especially, living in a rather non-Buddhist part of the country, just about scrambling to gather a small sangha together, this time I felt the little void fill in. At the lunch breaks over the two days, I had some particularly fulfilling - though too short - experiences of connection.

At 76 years old, His Holiness looks well, and much less fatigued than three years ago in Nantes, although he appears to find increasing difficulty standing up and sitting down. He taught in English for the most part, but when it came to more serious aspects of Buddhist philosophy, he used Tibetan, saying, "I think that now my English is not sufficient." The amazing Matthieu Ricard translated it all into French, and there were others translating into other languages via headphones for the multilingual audience. I myself benefited very much from both the English His Holiness used and the French translations Matthieu Ricard provided.

The first thing that struck me was the fact that the Dalai Lama's teachings always begin with an extensive introduction to Buddhism in general, and a broad history of Tibetan Buddhism in particular. I recognized that in my own meditations sessions, I should do more of that, so as to establish a firm basis and a way to contextualize the spiritual work we are now doing. I have tried to do the introductory thing, but since history is neither my passion nor my forte, I've left a lot of it out. When it comes down to it, though, recounting history is a lot like telling stories, and these particular stories are both fascinating and touching. The great masters in Buddhist history led inspiring lives. I have since learned about differentiated units of shedra teachings by correspondence, including one on Buddhist history, which I would like to take, if time permits.

His Holiness spoke of social and religious harmony as not just essential, but as a very real possibility, citing India as an example of a place where many traditions - all the traditions of the world - peacefully coexist. He insisted on openness, and on the importance of respecting, understanding, and learning from traditions other than our own. There were, incidentally, six or seven Catholic monks on the stage, along with the several dozen monks from various Buddhist schools. To the Dalai Lama, these are all, equally, spiritual brothers and sisters. It is also very important, he noted at the public talk on Monday, to respect those who do not believe.