Um, excuse me, Mr. Lama?
Mood:
much better
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Yes, believe or not it's true: My second "meaningful" celeb sighting o' the week, after my meet-n-greet with Anne Garrels last Sunday.
I'm clearing security in the United terminal at O'Hare, you know, putting my belt back on and picking up my backpack from the x-ray. I look into the terminal in front of me (if anyone's familiar with O'Hare, it's right by that giant metal dinosaur skeleton) and - yes - I see the Dalai frickin' Lama.
Re-incarnation of Buddha (if you're a Buddhist, I guess). Right in front of me.
He's travelling on one of those slow-moving beeping carts they use to transport elderly & disabled, with a security detail and an "entourage" of maybe four other monks. Nobody else around me seems to recognize him at first, and I'm just staring in disbelief - I recognize the face perfectly, but that can't be the Dalai Lama, can it?? He even briefly makes eye contact with me.
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I made eye contact with the Buddha incarnate.
Woulda been the highlight of my day, had I not seen my girlfriend for the first time in a month about six hours later.
(Is that sacrilege?)
Well sure enough, then a few other people recognized him too (I was following the procession of carts, half because I needed to walk in that direction, half because I was stalking the Dalai Lama).
But think about it: How predominantly Christian is the United States when the spiritual world leader of Buddhism can take a fleet of go-carts, wide open, in a public airport terminal?
No Dalai-Lama-Mobile? Not here, I guess. Shit, 10 percent of Americans currently know what the Bill of Rights actually is. I'd say odds are his Lama-ness can safely travel around without creating too much of a raucous or security threat here.
If that was the pope? Fuggedabout it.
And really fast: Should I be worried about leaving voice mails saying "Holy shit, it's the fuckin' Dalai Lama!!" to several of my friends? Any Buddhists out there: Is referring to the Dalai Lama with interjective profanity a one-way ticket to Hell? Inquiring minds want to know.
I'm clearing security in the United terminal at O'Hare, you know, putting my belt back on and picking up my backpack from the x-ray. I look into the terminal in front of me (if anyone's familiar with O'Hare, it's right by that giant metal dinosaur skeleton) and - yes - I see the Dalai frickin' Lama.
Re-incarnation of Buddha (if you're a Buddhist, I guess). Right in front of me.
He's travelling on one of those slow-moving beeping carts they use to transport elderly & disabled, with a security detail and an "entourage" of maybe four other monks. Nobody else around me seems to recognize him at first, and I'm just staring in disbelief - I recognize the face perfectly, but that can't be the Dalai Lama, can it?? He even briefly makes eye contact with me.
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I made eye contact with the Buddha incarnate.
Woulda been the highlight of my day, had I not seen my girlfriend for the first time in a month about six hours later.
(Is that sacrilege?)
Well sure enough, then a few other people recognized him too (I was following the procession of carts, half because I needed to walk in that direction, half because I was stalking the Dalai Lama).
But think about it: How predominantly Christian is the United States when the spiritual world leader of Buddhism can take a fleet of go-carts, wide open, in a public airport terminal?
No Dalai-Lama-Mobile? Not here, I guess. Shit, 10 percent of Americans currently know what the Bill of Rights actually is. I'd say odds are his Lama-ness can safely travel around without creating too much of a raucous or security threat here.
If that was the pope? Fuggedabout it.
And really fast: Should I be worried about leaving voice mails saying "Holy shit, it's the fuckin' Dalai Lama!!" to several of my friends? Any Buddhists out there: Is referring to the Dalai Lama with interjective profanity a one-way ticket to Hell? Inquiring minds want to know.
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