The Cancelation of the Dalai Lama Lecture in Long Beach

I first found out that the Dalai Lama would be lecturing at the Long Beach Convention Center about 2 months ago.  In fact, it was right around the time of my birthday in March.  My husband Tony decided to buy me a ticket for my birthday and I was very excited.  The date for the event was to be Sunday, May 1st.

My friend Donna and I had planned to go see His Holiness together, although she had already seen him lecture on two other occasions.  We made arrangements for me to spend the night at Donna and Dave's place in Laguna Niguel, so as to be closer to the venue.  That morning we had time to take a nice hike and enjoy some time outside together.  About 30 minutes before our departure, Dave was looking for directions on Google Maps and discovered the lecture had been canceled.  The Dalai Lama had fallen ill and he had been advised not to fly to America. 

My immediate response was to feel some disappointment because after all, this might be the only opportunity I might have to see His Holiness.  He is no longer a young man and he has already announced his wishes to retire as the political leader of Tibet.  However, I also had a feeling of concern for the man and found myself worrying about his health.  That was absolutely the correct response! 

I also learned from this situation that I was rather attached to seeing the icon that is the Dalai Lama.  How do I know this?  It is because as a ticket holder, I was given the option to still attend the lecture since His Holiness was sending one of his associates in his place.  But both Donna and I decided not to deal with traffic, parking fees and long lines because we had purchased our tickets to see THE Dalai Lama, not someone else.  As I was driving home to Joshua Tree in the early afternoon, I got to thinking that I had developed an attachment to the outcome.  If I were really practicing mindfulness, I would have gone to see the lecture anyway despite who would be delivering the message.  Instead, I went home and asked Ticketmaster to refund my money.  It dawned on me that I was way too attached to the outcome, so I plan to take away a lesson from this entire experience.