KYW Newsradio Team Coverage


The Philadelphia area was saying goodbye to the Dalai Lama on Thursday morning when he was scheduled to leave for New York. For nearly a week, the exiled Tibetan leader was teaching at Lehigh University. 

Thousands packed Philadelphia's Verizon Hall on Wednesday to hear the Dalai Lama speak about Buddhism in the 21st century. Outside, a few dozen protesters shouted.

The Dalai Lama said he believes this century will be more peaceful and happier,  but we have to make an effort in order to achieve peace:

"From birth to death, the foundation of our happiness is very much based on affection and compassion. Fear brings violence, distrust.  Compassion equals trust."

The exiled spiritual leader was invited to Philadelphia by the area's Mongolian community of Kalmyks. 

KYW's Ian Bush reports that Wednesday's program in the Kimmel Center took place in front of a dramatic, richly colored floor-to-ceiling drapery representing Buddha.

The event began with Kalmyk chants and folk dances (above).  Amy Brenneman, the actress who starred in the TV series "Judging Amy," was the MC.

Still, thousands turned out inside to hear his themes, such as optimism for our time...

"I think desire for peace and also attraction towards the concept of non-violence is now everywhere."

...and that we can improve our own condition -- and that of the world -- through a holistic view:

"There is no shop for selling peace of mind.  So, logically, peace of mind must develop from within ourself through training, through awareness.

It was a message that left many changed:

(Woman:) "It reminds you on how to sort of live your life in a very practical sense."

(Man:) "You can feel his energy.  He's just such a positive figure."

The Dalai Lama made a clarion call for the human race -- all six billion of us -- to come together as one body:

"Hand, leg -- separate, different.  But part of your body.  So if something goes wrong here, our hand must extend help."

And, he says we should learn a lesson from what he calls the right goals but unrealistic method of the war in Iraq:

"We have to take care so our affection, our compassion can extend towards our enemy."

The day was not without protesters. 

A couple of dozen members of the Western Shugden Society were demonstrating outside the Kimmel Center (right), along Broad Street, claiming that the Dalai Lama himself is responsible for religious persecutions.

They were chanting, "Dalai Lama, stop lying," although for a time a group of Dalai Lama supporters tried to outshout them. 
  
Protest organizer Kelsang Pema said their beef is over a prayer that the Dalai Lama had outlawed 40 years ago -- saying it was causing him personal harm.  Since then, she says, those who practice Shugden have been thrown out of monasteries and even denied medical care in some cases.

KYW's John McDevitt reports that Bill Stauffer, a spokesman for Tibetan Buddhist Center in West Philadelphia, attended days of teachings and lectures by the Dalai Lama in the Lehigh Valley recently. He says Buddhism is forever changing, and he likes that the Dalai Lama was expected to talk about that here in Philadelphia:

"The essence of it, I think we would say, does not change, but the external form changes a lot. So the Dalai Lama has himself said that when Buddhism came to Tibet it was Indian Buddhism, and after a while has become Tibetan Buddhism. Now, Buddhism has come to the west."
    
    
KYW's Hadas Kuznits reports that Jim Hausman, owner of Swiss Haus Bakery on 19th Street in center city, says his bakers had a special order to fill for Wednesday -- a surprise birthday cake for the Dalai Lama:

"And it'll have chocolate shavings all around the outside and fresh strawberries and fresh whipped cream, as we make all of our cakes."

(Kuznits:) "What was your reaction when they called for the Dalai Lama?"

"Yeah, at first I thought it was a joke. You know, I was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out and say I'm being punked. But it in fact is true.  I'm very excited."

He says the name of his bakery's strawberry shortcake won't be changed, but it will get a special mention now:

"This'll be known as the cake of the holiness's choice."

(The Dalai Lama's actual birthday is July 6th.)

Photos #1 and #3 by KYW's Ian Bush