(Leah and I recently returned from a three week trip to India and Nepal. This is the ninth of about 12 daily posts I will do, sharing photos and journal notes I made as we traveled.)
Leh, Ladakh
July 10, 2014
So, within just the past several days, I've gone from being a little depressed over not being able to get a photo pass to cover Kalachakra, to feeling like I'm living a charmed life.
Today Leah and I arrived at the Kalachakra grounds, bright and early, but there were already probably 150,000 people there. Monks were on stage, debating Buddhist philosophy, and the day's actual Kalachakra teaching by the Dalai Lama had not yet begun.
I was making my way thru the huge crowd (with the photo pass I got at the 11th hour!) heading toward the media tent, when one of the press "handlers" said to me: "If you want to go backstage, you better head that way now!" I assumed the handler meant that I could photograph monks making the sand mandala, which is a cool part of the Kalachakra tradition, and I was eager to make pictures of that.
Next thing I knew, I was in a small room, filled with praying monks, and -- I couldn't believe who was in front of my eyes -- His Holiness, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, also chanting prayers!
I was dumbstruck, because security is tight around His Holiness. Even with my media pass, this was "access" that was beyond anything I could have hoped for. I shot fast-fast-fast because I had no idea how long I'd be permitted to stay. After a few minutes, a security guard politely tapped me on the shoulder to let me know it was time for me to go.
As I left the room, I folded my hands in front of my face, bowing toward the Dalai Lama.
I looked at my watch and realized it was about 9 PM back in Seattle. I quickly made my way to the media tent, popped my camera memory card into my iPad, and used the media tent WiFi to email several of my just-shot Dalai Lama photos to my Tibetan friends in Seattle. I thought it was pretty cool that the Tibetan Association of Washington would have "exclusive" images for their web site or Facebook page.
I left the media tent (I was still on a big-time high from the good luck I'd had getting access to the Dalai Lama) and walked around in that huge crowd, looking for pictures to complete my coverage...and guess who I ran into? Why my dear wife, of course. The crowd may have been 150,000-strong, and running into Leah was like finding a (very welcome) needle in a haystack...but remember, I'm a fellow who appears to be leading a charmed life.
