University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: September 21, 2006

By LOIS BAKER
Contributing Editor

Many of the Dalai Lama's words were carried away by the wind that whipped through UB Stadium on Tuesday, flapping the flags and tossing to the stage the red visor His Holiness wore to shield his eyes from the sun. But judging from visitors' comments, his message came through loud and clear.

"I think his most important point was having compassion and loving one another and using a nonviolent way to handle problems," said Gloria Babba of Buffalo. "I just loved it. And he is so right when he says we should open a dialogue rather than using violence."

A retired teacher, Babba said if she were still in the classroom, she would take back to her students the Dalai Lama's teaching: "I would tell my students to have compassion and to love one another," she said.

His Holiness spoke of peace and hope and happiness, noted Emmanuel Akinyele, a Nigerian who is a residence hall director at UB. "Try to seek happiness for all, not for just some people, but for all people," Akinyele said, describing the Dalai Lama's message. "He also admonished people to seek knowledge because ultimately that will change the world.

"He told us it is important that we care for everyone and to learn from others, to be able to learn something from every situation."

The presence of the Dalai Lama drew people from many areas of the country. Toby Kasavana from Boston and Deb Carlamere from Cambridge, Mass., traveled to Buffalo just to hear him speak.

"It was an awe-inspiring experience for me," said Carlamere. "It was very moving, He's a very, very special man, the way he reaches out to people to give them his message of peace and hope for the future."

Kasavana, a student of Buddhism since he was in his '20s, said he was most affected by the Dali Lama's message of peace and compassion.

Victoria Hunter has studied Buddhism for 12 years, and has seen the Dalai Lama speak many times. "I've been very fortunate to be in the right place"—she currently lives south of Canandaigua—"at the right time so I can be in his presence," she said.

She took her first teaching from the Dalai Lama in Montreal many years ago, she said, before she knew much about Buddhism, "before I realized what a big commitment it was. Now that I've studied more, I wish to uphold the principles of His Holiness's words as much as I can in my life.

"As many times as I've heard His Holiness speak, it's really amazing how he always says the same things, but in a different way and always in a way that one can really understand and take into one's heart at a very deep level," Hunter said. "His message of peace and hope and charity for all people."

Hunter's 16-year-old daughter, who "met" the Dalai Lama when she was an infant, also has embraced Buddhism, her mother said. "I'm very proud of her for upholding in her daily life what His Holiness has talked about."

A 20-year-old with spiked blond hair, green ear studs, a tiny silver nose ring and heavy neck chain, Peter Clark of Wilson said he thought the Dalai Lama's message was very eloquent in a simple way.

"For someone as famous and powerful, it was moving," Clark said. "To turn the other cheek—that is the overall message, which is what we need, I think. There's too much violence.

"I don't do what he says, word for word, but I try to live my life altruistically," he explained. "I was taught the same thing by my mother. Treat everyone the same way you would like to be treated."

A Russian native hoping to enroll in the UB Law School, Galeria Mirolegich said she thought the Dalai Lama's most important message was to bring more compassion into one's life. "In order to be happy and successful in life, we should be more attending to each other; we should support and try to understand each other more.

"It doesn't matter what is our background, and it absolutely doesn't matter what is our status—if we are rich or poor. We are all human beings and we need to look at each other in the same way," she said.

Saeh Rad traveled to the lecture from Akron, Ohio, with friends. "I'm very pleased that we came," she said. "His biggest message was compassion and understanding of others...and not to be self-centered," she added.

Leaning on his cane on his way out of the stadium, Harry Murray, a professor of sociology at Nazareth College in Rochester, said that if he were lecturing about the Dalai Lama, he would emphasize his teaching—as a spiritual leader and as a deposed temporal leader—on the need for compassion and nonviolence.

A native of Cuba, Eunice Lewin, a member of the steering committee responsible for planning the Dalai Lama's visit to UB, said she was overwhelmed by His Holiness' presence.

"I felt his humanity. I felt that we are all stressed out. And he is telling us in very simple terms: Stop! Stop! Let's begin to look at ourselves inwardly. We are bombarded by external forces," she said.

"His presence was very humbling," Lewin continued. "He brought concentration and tranquility yesterday (at the interfaith service) at a time when we all needed it. I'll take away from this day the necessity of developing compassionate hearts and moving toward nonviolence, both individually and as a society," she said. "And that we have a very, very long way to go."