Jess Ainscough - The Wellness Warrior

As far as map status goes, the Sunshine Coast is pretty small. And it's not often we have big-name people swinging by our region (unless you count Jimmy Barnes who seems to hold residency at the Nambour RSL). So you can imagine how excited folks of the Sunny Coast were when it was announced that the Dalai Lama was coming to town for a day. They were so excited that his event sold out in a jiffy and I missed out on tickets. But then, by some wonderful stroke of luck (or persistent manifesting), a friend of a friend came to me with two spare tickets. We were on!

Last Thursday my boyfriend and I packed up some juices and my food and drove to the tiny town of Eudlo. From there we caught a bus up to Chenrezig, the Buddhist temple in Eudlo, waited in super long toilet lines and braved the 4000-strong crowd just to get a glimpse of His Holiness. It was totally worth it though. Even if the wafts of body odor did overpower the smell of the Tibetan food, and even if I did end up sitting next to a dude who felt the need to brag about how much Buddhist knowledge he had (he was following the Dalai around on his tour of Australia). It was all worth it, just to see the holiest of holy men in person.

Once the Dalai Lama took to the stage to greet his thousands of fans, you could literally feel his enlightened presence. After forgoing the comfy lounge that was waiting for him on stage, so that he could stand in a spot where he was visible to everyone, the Dalai did his thing. He gave a speech about happiness, health, compassion, kindness and peace. Stand out words of wisdom included insights into why a healthy body cannot be achieved without a healthy mind, that companionship is vital to optimal health, how humans weren't designed to be perfect, and how external changes cannot bring you internal peace - happiness can only come from within. All of this was punctuated with cheeky commentary and joyous chuckles from the holy 14th Dalai Lama. He seems like the kind of guy who could make any dinner party a blast.

Something I found really interesting was how he explained that over the years, technology is always changing and evolving, but our minds essentially remain the same. Just look at how fast Apple brings out iPods. We are more advanced with our thinking, but the make-up of our minds is essentially the same as it was when we were created. This unbalance creates stress, and chronic stress creates unhappiness and illness. So in order to stay well and be happy, we need to tend to our minds. We need to help calm them with practices like meditation. You are what you think. I read somewhere the other day that the Dalai Lama meditates for an hour a day, but if he has got a really busy day ahead of him, he will meditate for two.

When asked what his views are on the current state of the environment and the destruction caused by modern wars, his answers were clear, realistic and, most importantly, optimistic. He isn't just some Buddhist monk who sits in solitude high up in the mountains. He is totally in touch with real-life, modern issues, and he has solutions that make you nod your head, smile and say, "Wow, it really is so simple". Modern man just loves to complicate things. According to the Dalai, it all comes down to compassion. If we all were to cultivate true compassion for one another and for the planet we live on, the future would look very promising in deed. His Holiness firmly believes this is the way things are moving. I sure hope he is right.

Check out this post I wrote last year on what the Dalai has to say about these times of contradiction.

Have you seen the Dalai Lama in person before? Do you have a favourite quote of his you can share?

Positive quote for the day: "Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck." – The 14th Dalai Lama