U.S. Senators were treated to a bit of dharma Thursday morning, as the Dalai Lama offered the opening prayer for the day’s session.
It’s the first time he has been invited to do so, the Washington Post reports. Though the Dalai Lama abdicated his political role in the Tibetan government-in-exile in 2011, he still meets regularly with political leaders worldwide in his capacity as an international religious leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. As part of his current U.S. tour, he held such a meeting with President Obama on February 21.
Among the words he shared are his favorite prayer, from Shantideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva: “As long as space remains, and as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and help dispel the misery of the world.”
Video here:
He made quite an impression.
The only thing better would be NO prayer at all!