I met Dalai Lama finally!

Dalai Lama XIV was here in Japan and his speech was held at the Kokugikan in Ryogoku the other day.

I missed his speech in Tokyo twice in the past, so in this time I bought the ticket as soon as it went on sale. Then I went to listen to his speech!

Let me tell about complaint first.
Although I bought ticket of the most expensive arena seat, the stage was very far from my seat and I couldn't see Dalai Lama well. The cheaper seat on the second floor might be better.
The running of the event by the organizer was terrible. They were inefficient.

Finally, Dalai Lama appeared on the stage. When he appeared, I got a feeling I couldn't explain. Being thrilled, atingle or excited? I don't know. And it was unexpected because I'm not a believer.

Surprisingly, he made his speech in English. I know he can speak English but I thought he made the speech in Tibetan, because whichever language he speaks, those are translated into Japanese. He sometimes couldn't find English words and he asked a monk sitting next to him about those words he wanted to use. But of course his English is MUCH better than mine.

He was very charming and mischievous. While an interpreter was speaking, he sometimes clowned, waved someone with smile, checked a microphone equipment and so on.

The last part was the question and answer time. People who wanted to ask Dalai Lama something gathered in front of the stage and they asked one by one.
When the second person stood in front of the stage, I thought he was very similar to Satoshi Ishii who is a Beijing Olympic gold medalist in judo 100 Kg-over category. Yes, He was him!
After the Olympics, his distinctive words have caused controversy. And he just decided to quit judo and try to mixed martial arts. He is a kind of a person in the spotlight.

Many kinds of Tibet-related goods were sold. Although many people bought them, I wasn't interested them. But after the speech, I bought a cell phone strap because I found the profits would be used for Tibetan refugees.

When I participated in the event about to Tibetan Buddhist culture, a monk said that he was very excited and nervous on the eve of meeting with Dalai Lama for the first time. Even a lot of monks and believers can't meet him, so I should be thankful for being able to have the opportunity to meet him in spite of being a non-believer.
His speech was not difficult to understand, but it could be difficult to practice. But I'll try to bear in mind what he said.