Arts and Lectures Series

Last night I made the trek to Campbell Hall once again to listen to a lecture. The lecturer this time was Pico Iyer.

"Pico Iyer, a part time Santa Barbara resident, describes himself as a 'global village on two legs.'" Named one of the 100 'writers who could change your life' by Utne Reader, Iyer is an acclaimed and perceptive observer of Asia and Buddhism and the author of several books including Sun After Dark, Abandon, and The Global Soul. Iyer's most recent book The Open Road reflects on his revered friend, the Dalai Lama's ideas and work as religious leader, politician, scientist, and philosopher."

The lecture portion was pretty good. Mr. Iyer spoke rather fast and drifted from story to story with little connecting the two, so it was a little difficult to discern the focus of the lecture. The most interesting part of the evening was listening to the question and answer portion. Majority of the questions revolved around what the Dalai Lama would think about this or that. Mr Iyer has spent a lot of time visiting and traveling with the Dalai Lama, so he had some very interesting insight.

One statement that stuck in my mind was how the Dalai Lama assumes so many different roles within the Tibetan culture and yet manages to combine them in ways that give the people what they need. Along those lines Mr. Iyer presented that is also how the Dalai Lama interacts with the rest of the world. When arriving in a new location he asks what the predominant problems of the area are and what issues do the people care about. He then hones his message to try to help with those problems and issues.

Another point that struck me during Mr. Iyer's talk was that of how the Dalai Lama struggles with trying to keep Tibet on the global conscience. Mr. Iyer stated that the Dalai Lama knows that non-violence is the only way to keep the Tibetan issue on the global stage. He notes that if Tibet resorted to a violent demonstration that the world would care less about Tibet even though it would get global news coverage; it would be fleeting at best. By taking the moral high road he is able to keep the issue of his people in the global conscience.

Overall, the lecture was very interesting and insightful.