I can’t even tell you what an awesome feeling it was to be in the same room as the Dalai Lama. It happened yesterday when he came into town to speak at SMU. I had to take the day off work and it was well worth a vacation day. I took my mom with me. I knew this would be an experience we would not forget. She’ll be celebrating her birthday on July 4th so she saw this as an awesome birthday present!

We arrived early. Security was tight. They told us to be there by 1:15pm and the doors would then be closed. His Holiness the Dalai Lama did not appear till almost 2pm after a few introductions from the President of SMU. They also introduced President George W Bush.  He was there with his wife Laura, it was already pretty cool to be there with a President!

When the Dalai Lama stepped out, you could just feel the atmosphere changed. It was moderated by Cokie Roberts. As soon as his stepped into the middle of the stage, he put on his SMU hat. The crowd cheered. He was there celebrating his 80th birthday, that’s on July the 6th. He also shares a birthday with President George W.

He urged us all to spread love. He reminded us we’re all the same. He said, “I am just one human being, one out of 7 billion human beings, no differences. All seven billion human beings, emotionally, mentally, physically, we are the same. We all have the same right to achieve happy life.” He kept repeating that we all, regardless of religion, spread love, compassion. Have tolerance, self discipline and forgiveness for others.

Something else that stood out and he focused on was that women should take on more leadership roles. He said he believed the world would be a more peaceful if women would take on those leadership roles because they are more compassionate than the male and talked about how important the woman was to a child as he/she developed. How scientifically, its been proven that its very important for a mother to nurture a child. How it makes that child a more compassionate adult.

In short, he insisted we all leave that room and spread the message of love, compassion, tolerance, forgiveness. He reminded us that we all want happiness, regardless of our religion we all have one God. And that each religion has the same message of love. You can check out the full conversation below.

At the end of his talk, Cokie Roberts asked us all to sing “Happy Birthday” to His Holiness. It was a beautiful experience I won’t forget anytime soon.