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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
Interior design
>> Blaisdell Arena
Nobody decorates like Tibetan Buddhists, for whom colorful silks, dazzling gems and golden ornaments emanate from the heavens. So the stage was aglitter as the SRO crowd awaited both His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and the first reincarnation of the beloved Tibetan Lama Jey Tsong Khapa, the Liliha-born 18-year-old once called Frankie Kharma. The stage, in fact, was more dazzling even than the last time Little Richard graced it.
On either side of the stage, from the risers up to the rafters, two sections of monks in orange mendicant robes chanted softly.
>> From stage left, a tall Caucasian man with a shining pate and a bright smile entered, wireless microphone in hand.
"Good evening, I'm Shep Gordon, and thank you for doing a good thing by coming out this evening. I'm here representing the board of directors of the Tibetan Solidarity Alliance. Soon you'll be meeting two very special, holy men, but it's important to put that in perspective. For those of you too young to remember or old enough to forget, when the Communist Chinese invaded Tibet in 1949, they began the systematic process of wiping out Tibetan culture, language and religion. More than 1.3 million Tibetans have died, many by execution. Of 6,219 universities and monasteries, only eight remain. We're trying to save a culture and a people.
"As you may know, the Dalai Lama was among those who fled over the Himalayas to India, where the Central Tibetan Administration has been headquartered since 1959. It's responsible for the government in exile, for health care and scholarships. And Tibetans are still fleeing Tibet, about 4,000 a year. But only one in 10 makes it over the Himalayas alive. And of those, 90 percent lose a limb. By purchasing a ticket tonight, you're contributing to the CTA's good work. Thank you for your compassion."
The monks began the "Calling Buddha From Afar" chant. Soon the Dalai Lama, the young lama and their retinue dressed in crimson and saffron robes entered to the ringing of bells and gongs. The Dalai Lama spoke first, saying that this young reincarnation of Lama Jey Tsong Khapa had shown in his studies, meditations and actions that he was indeed a Buddha of supreme compassion and understanding, and that he had already shown signs of fulfilling again the great works accomplished by the first Lama Jey Tsong Khapa, who before leaving this realm in 1419 began a renaissance of Tibetan Buddhism that lasted more than 500 years -- until China came along. Significantly, it was one of his disciples who became the first Dalai Lama.
In the audience was a young man, born in Beijing, there alone, but in fact working with two dozen others. Fon Du suddenly realized why he and his Te-Wu colleagues had their orders. This boy was a danger.
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Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek. His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin. He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com