His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, will be visiting Seattle for a weeklong "Seeds of Compassion" event.
On Monday, April 14, the "Children and Youth" day, the state of Washington will bus 14,500 children from all over the state to meet with the Dalai Lama. They will learn from the Dalai Lama what compassion is all about.
According to the Seattle Times:
Melissa Jones is a Christian. Patricia Gorham isn't affiliated with any particular religion. But both women have the same concern about Seattle Public Schools arranging for their children to hear the Dalai Lama speak Monday.
"It's a public school, and we're having a religious leader come and speak to our kids," Gorham said. "While I think he has great ideas about compassion — don't get me wrong — it's a bit of the principle of the thing, I guess."
Their kids, both John Hay Elementary School fifth-graders, could be among 14,500 schoolchildren from around the state to hear the Dalai Lama's
message of compassion at KeyArena.
......
Gorham and Jones say they'll probably allow their kids to attend the event, but as they mulled over their permission slips this week, they questioned whether a religious leader can deliver a completely secular message, as school districts and Seeds of Compassion leaders say he will.
Would the pope, they wondered, be received as warmly and without question?
The Dalai Lama is "not here as a religious leader, nor is he here as a political leader in terms of the Seeds of Compassion event," said Patti Spencer, a district spokeswoman.
Well, kids can learn a lot from His Holiness about compassion. Let's start with how to treat animals compassionately.
Calves raised for veal are taken from their mothers immediately after birth and raised so as to deliberately induce borderline anemia. Calves are then denied basic needs, including access to their mother's milk, access to pasture and exercise and often prohibited from any movement at all in order to produce the pale-colored flesh for which veal is coveted.
http://www.noveal.org/
This is where His Holiness comes into the picture to show his compassion. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
It's a question most chefs never get the privilege of pondering:
What to serve the Dalai Lama?
In Milwaukee chef Sandy D'Amato's case, the answer was veal.
Veal?
Despite expectations that a vegetarian feast would be in order, the team of chefs assembled to cook for His Holiness on his recent visit to Madison was given no such instruction, said Catherine McKiernan, executive chef at the Madison Club, where the elaborate luncheon was held.
Holy Cow! That was delicious!
Then there are a lot to learn from His Holiness about compassion to people with different sexual orientations. According to the Telegraph:
"A Western friend asked me what harm could there be between consenting adults having oral sex, if they enjoyed it," the Dalai Lama continues, warming to his theme. "But the purpose of sex is reproduction, according to Buddhism. The other holes don't create life. I don't mind - but I can't condone this way of life."
Holy Holes! Kids, here is your homework assignment: What are "the other holes" His Holiness was referring to? (Hint: Not the nostrils.)
Of course, there is always this question about how to introduce His Holiness in a public school event. Going back to the Seattle Time:
"The controversy in my mind is who's delivering the message," she said.
Becky Tilev, another Hay parent, thinks it's unfair for the district to tiptoe around her Christian faith, yet bus kids in to hear the leader of another religion. She also feels uncomfortable knowing the Dalai Lama will likely be introduced to schoolkids as "his holiness."
"He's not my holiness," she said.