98-10-02:  HOPKINS RECOUNTS LESSONS FROM THE DALAI LAMA ON COMPASSION AND PATIENCE




The first thing he noticed about the Dalai Lama was that he spoke
loudly, clearly and, unlike most Tibetans, very fast, religious studies
professor Jeffrey Hopkins told an audience of about 100 last week at a
talk on his 26-year relationship with the Dalai Lama, spiritual and
political leader-in-exile of Tibet.

"He has an extraordinary capacity of speech," said Hopkins, who served
as the Dalai Lama's translator from 1979 to 1989. "If you pay
attention, you're locked in, because your mind can'¹t wander."

Hopkins first encountered the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, in 1972.
He met with him frequently to discuss Buddhist teachings, before
becoming his chief translator, traveling with the Dalai Lama and
translating eight of his books.

Hopkins' talk was one of a number of lectures and panel discussions
leading up to the Nobel Peace Laureates Conference, to be held at U.Va.
Nov. 5 and 6. [See related articles.]

"I've been having a conflict lately [between] how individually oriented
I am and how the Buddhist beliefs I practice are so group oriented,"
Hopkins said. "Maybe putting together this conference is my way of
trying to be more group oriented."

Hopkins, who has been studying Buddhism since he was an undergraduate
at Harvard, was skeptical when he first went to hear the Dalai Lama
speak, he said, because he¹d taught English to three reincarnated lamas
at a Tibetan Buddhist learning center in New Jersey. He¹d suspected
that their identification as lamas had more to do with social class and
politics than their right by reincarnation to be religious teachers.

But when he heard the Dalai Lama, he was happily surprised.

Listening to him lecture four to six hours a day for 16 days on topics
such as kindness and compassion, "some things stuck in my mind that
really made a difference," Hopkins said. "One great quality of his
speech is that he sees the forest and the trees."

When he then had a private audience with the Dalai Lama, Hopkins told
him there'd been "a few interesting things" in his lectures, instantly
cringing because he thought he'd made a faux pas. "But the Dalai Lama
just beamed at me, and he asked me what they were," he said.

"We became close, and His Holiness called me back for audience after
audience." When it became known in Dharamsala that Hopkins was seeing
the Dalai Lama frequently, the equivalent of his prime minister said he
was concerned about him talking to "all these hippies."

"I told him these hippies were middle- and upper-class people from
around the world," Hopkins said. "The Dalai Lama was talking with
everyone who wanted to meet with him. He was wise enough to know ...
[his] word would spread."

Hopkins cited other instances of the Tibetan leader's long-term
perspective. Once when he heard that a Tibetan monk in New Delhi was
protesting loudly outside an embassy, the Dalai Lama said, "He doesn't
understand. It's going to take a long time," referring to Tibet
possibly gaining freedom from China, which invaded it in 1959.

Or, when a representative from the U.N. failed to attend a reception in
New York meant to bring attention to Tibetan issues, the Dalai Lama
told a Tibetan monk who was downcast, "It doesn't make any difference
long-term whether one person comes or not."

Hopkins expressed admiration for the Dalai Lama's perpetually calm
demeanor. He first visited U.Va. in 1979; walking in front of Alderman
Library, a guitar player jumped in front of him, wanting to play him a
song, and "he was unfazed," despite security concerns.

"He has a sense of humor and ease about his own message that comes both
from knowing how important it is and how hard it is for someone else to
internalize it," Hopkins said.