Bearing gifts of wisdom and good humor, the Dalai Lama arrived Friday in Honolulu and wasted no time charming the Kamehameha Schools students and administrators on hand to welcome him.
The Tibetan spiritual leader is in Hawaii for this weekend’s "Pillars of Peace Hawaii: Building Peace on a Foundation of Aloha," a community peace-building event sponsored by the Hawaii Community Foundation with funding from the Omidyar Ohana Fund.
In addition to private meetings with Native Hawaiian community leaders and others, the Dalai Lama will appear at today’s "Educating the Heart," an event for students only, and Sunday’s "Advancing Peace Through the Power of Aloha," which is open to the general public.
Looking none the worse for wear following an encounter with rush-hour traffic on the H-1 Freeway, the Dalai Lama arrived at the Honolulu hotel at which he is staying (media have been asked not to disclose the name of the hotel as a security precaution) and was greeted by Kamehameha trustees Corbett Kalama and Douglas Ing, chief executive officer Dee Jay Mailer, principal Julian Ako and a contingent of seniors from Kamehameha’s concert glee club and hula halau.
Born Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama escaped Tibet in 1959 following the Chinese suppression of an uprising in Lhasa. He has spent the last 53 years in exile in Dharamsala, India, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile. In that time, he has come to be regarded as a international symbol of peace and compassion as well as a gently outspoken champion of human rights and cultural preservation. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his ongoing, nonviolent struggle to liberate Tibet.
The students, chastened by the heavy security presence outside and cautioned by school officials to be on their best behavior, said they found it difficult at first to reconcile the exalted reputation of the Dalai Lama with his disarmingly unaffected manner.
"I was intimidated at first because I didn’t know what to expect," said Jacob Hookano. "But when he came through the door and was making jokes and everything, I relaxed. He was like a normal person, very friendly."
Before taking a seat on the elevated platform reserved for him, the Dalai Lama made a detour to shake hands with the students, even grabbing Hookano’s plumeria lei and inhaling deeply.
"I didn’t know what to do," Hookano said, laughing. "I didn’t know if I was allowed to touch him or talk to him, so I just stood there."
And before sitting down to listen to a formal welcome by Ako, the Dalai Lama paused to put on two of the lei — one orchid and one maile — that earlier had been presented to him.
"I’m absolutely in awe," Ako said, afterward. "It’s wonderful to see that such a holy person is also just a human being like the rest of us. He has a little rascal streak in him."
The Dalai Lama watched attentively, palms pressed together and tapping to the beat, as the students sang and danced for him.
"I appreciate that," he said, afterward, "on a human level."
The Dalai Lama addressed the students afterward, likening the human connection between disparate cultures to orchids that take different shapes but are part of the same family.
Before departing, the holy one demonstrated his own knowledge of Pacific Rim customs, touching foreheads and rubbing noses Maori-style with Corbett and dancer Kealohi Foster.
"I didn’t know that much about him before we were told that we were going to perform for him," Foster said. "But it was an honor to be around him. He’s a very nice man."
Dancer Hula Kalua-Santiago said she’ll never forget her meeting with Dalai Lama.
"I was so happy to dance for him," she said. "And I felt like he was really happy to be here with us."
