Educating the Heart: The Dalai Lama's Message to the Students of Hawaii

To welcome the 14th Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism and Nobel Peace Prize winning activist, to Honolulu, the students involved in Pillars of Peace put on an opening act of break dancing girls and boys as well as ukelele playing Jake Shimabukuro, who talked about how the Dalai Lama has inspired him by his message of simplicity. He played his ukelele with only three strings showing that there was a lot he could do with just these three and that his music playing came from within him. As Pam Omidyar introduced the Dalai Lama, she reminded the high-school audience that when the Dalai Lama was their age, he had already been exiled from his own country as well as receiving a Ph.D. in Buddhism. As he came onto the stage, he bowed humbly. He had been draped with leis, but said that they were too heavy on his shoulders and took them off except for one. He explained to the students that there are two levels of compassion: the biological compassion that we feel for our family, our friends, and our loved ones; and then the more substantial compassion which you can extend it to strangers and then to even your enemies. He also talked about educating the heart, we must educate our heart as well as our mind.