This is the fifth time I got a free ticket on the last day to hear Dalai Lama speak. During Dalai Lama's first visit to America, I heard his talk at Harvard on "Self and Selflessness" (10/17/1979) and at Boston's Trinity Church on "Altruism and the Six Perfections" (10/18/1979). I signed up on long waiting lists and luckily received free tickets to both events at the last minute. When the Dalai Lama came to Stanford (4/19/1994), I was fortunate to get a free ticket again on the day of his lecture. For the Dalai Lama's talk "The Heart of Nonviolence" at Stanford (11/4/2005), I received a free ticket from Mark Gonnerman five days earlier. Although tickets for the Dalai Lama's talks at Stanford "The Centrality of Compassion in Human Life and Society" (October 14) and Scientific Explorations of Compassion and Altruism (October 15) were quickly sold out in one day on August 30, I didn't purchase them. This is because of my belief that spiritual teachings should not be bought but are given free to sincere students on sadhana. The one free event was "Harry's Last Lecture on a Meaningful Life" (October 14, 2:00-3:30 pm) at Stanford Memorial Church, where Dalai Lama was speaking as the 2010 Rathbun Visiting Fellow. However, the free tickets were distributed by random drawing to Stanford Students.

Nevertheless, I tried my luck to see if I can get in free again since it was at Stanford Memorial Church where I saw him (1994 and 2005), even got to shake his hand and presented him my poems. I gave the Dalai Lama 14 poems in 1994 and 14 poems in 2005. So I spent several hours going through my poems from 2006-2010 to select some for His Holiness. Twenty poems are included in Selected Poems 2010 for the Dalai Lama. I printed them out at Los Altos Library (Oct. 13), and felt this gift was essential if I were to see him again. When I got to Stanford Memorial Church at 2 pm, the audience were already seated, and some late comers were allowed in. The guards would not let me in since I didn't have a ticket. When I told them about my gift of poems for the Dalai Lama, they told me to speak to an official at a table in front of Memorial Church. The gentleman listened to my story and gave me a free ticket. The ushers would not let me stand in the back of the church and told me to go the balcony. Since I wished to give the Dalai Lama my poems, it was necessary for me to stay on the ground floor. Finally the usher escorted me to the few empty seats on the right side of the church. I had a good view of the Dalai Lama, but the acoustics were terrible. It was difficult to hear his talk and several students left to stand near the center. When the Q&A session was nearly over near 3:30 pm, I moved to the center back row aisle seat. This is where the Dalai Lama shook my hand and accepted my poems in 2005. However, today he didn't come down the center aisle as he did in 1994 and 2005, and left from the back entrance. I went out of Memorial Church trying to get to the back, but the police had blocked off the path, refusing all students from going there. So I missed my chance to give my poems to the Dalai Lama this time, and will try again tomorrow.

                                                            Peter Y. Chou
                                                            Mountain View, October 14, 2010