The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, Tenzi Gyatso 73, was in Nigeria recently for the very first time. He went to Nigeria on a private visit to deliver the keynote address on the 10th Anyiam Osigwe Foundation celebration at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, Victoria Island, Lagos. The Dalai Lama, the 14th in the Tibetan dynasty, a 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner while answering questions said among other things, that he was very skeptical about claims of spiritual healing powers. The Dalai Lama also condemned human attachment to anything whether family, spouse, children, friend, person, wealth, money, or substances as an obstacle to peace of mind. According to the spiritual leader, attachment is a trap and human beings are advised to imitate the monks and be detached. It is the Dalai Lama's viewpoint that once we do not have too much attachment in life, we will be contented and contentment is the key to peace of mind. Contentment for him is some kind of personal check, but it doesn’t mean we should no longer have desire. Without desire, life is meaningless as desire for good, desire for more service to others, desire for more benefit to others is very healthy. Such makes life more meaningful as without desire, one becomes a robot with no further progress in life. A genuine desire, with reasons, with logic is a proper desire to have.
However it was not all honky dory while in Nigeria as the air-conditioner in his hotel room failed in a baking summer-like Nigerian heat with very high humidity. Whether it was as a result of power failure or mechanical fault, Icheoku is yet to conclusively determine that; but it sure does not look good for the image of Nigeria. It mattered most because it left the spiritual temporal of Tibet "roasting" in Africa's intense summer heat. In his own very words, "the hotel is very good, but the first night, the air conditioning in the bedroom failed, and it was very very hot".Icheoku asks how dare the air-conditioner fail on such a world citizen as the Dalai Lama, leaving such a lasting negative impression about Nigeria in his head. Admitted he will not voice it out, being the astute "politician" he is, but the indelible mark that it was "very very hot" will forever remain with him as well as his other accompanying aides. Probably the hotel which hosted the Dalai Lama did not have a hotel engineer on site to fix whatever was wrong with the air-conditioner or better still replace it with a new one? Or if it was power failure, what happened to their stand-by generator otherwise the power would have come back-on so soon after the failure that the Dalai lama would not have noticed the heat! Marketing is everything and first impression really do matter, please do not tell me otherwise! The problem with Nigerians is that they really do not care a hoot about people's impression of them, otherwise, the gear would have since been engaged in an over-drive to fix a lot that is wrong with both the country and her citizens. Imagine the PR disaster that air-conditioner failed in a hotel room hosting the spiritual leader of Tibet, a world citizen? Take or leave it, Icheoku says this is a major black-eye on Nigeria and if it was a result of power failure, it sure brings back to the front banner, the intractable power problem in Nigeria. Can Umaru Yar'Adua, now that the Supreme court has finally legitimized his presidency, declare immediately his long awaited and anticipated power-emergency in Nigeria so that such shameful disaster as power failure on a world-citizen does not happen again, ever in Nigeria. It is the right thing to do and if that is the only thing attributable to his term in office, so be it as he would have left a lasting legacy indeed. If it is the hotel's fault that they cannot quickly rectify a broken air-condtioner in a little turn-around operation, then they do not deserve to play host to anybody talk-less of a world-class citizen, like the Dalai Lama. What does it take to take out a broke unit and put another working one therein? If it is central, then his room would not have specifically broken down. Better still why did the hotel not relocate the Dalai Lama to another room with a working air-conditioner so soon after to avoid this "very very hot public relation disaster? To the Dalai Lama and crew, Icheoku deeply apologise, on behalf of the Anyiam Osigwe Foundation, the hotel management and Nigeria for this "very very hot" environment you found yourself in a Nigerian hotel room. It is regrettable as it is unfortunate indeed!
Just an addendum for your upkeep titled Dalai Lama’s 18 rules for living
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self; Respect for others ; Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules very well so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you have made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you have never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self; Respect for others ; Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules very well so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you have made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you have never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
Dalai Lama Begins Nigeria Visit
ReplyDeletePublished: Wednesday, 26 November, 2008
Lagos, Nigeria, 26 November 2008 (AFP) – The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived Wednesday in Nigeria on a private visit.
He flew to Lagos' Murtala Mohammed airport where he was greeted by an Indian diplomat and by representatives of the organisation that invited him, the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe foundation.
"He's just here from today to Friday. He's delivering the keynote address at the Anyiam-Osigwe lecture on Thursday. That's the main reason for his coming," said Charles Anyiam-Osigwe, a member of the foundation's board.
"It's a completely private visit to the foundation, primarily to discuss religion."
The foundation is keen to insist on the private nature of the visit as China frequently reacts angrily to foreign government officials meeting with the spiritual leader.
The foundation put in a request several years ago to have the Nobel peace laureate address one of its annual lectures, the Dalai Lama's representative in Africa Sonam Tenzing told AFP.
According to the organisers of the visit, the Dalai Lama will address journalists and then religious leaders on Friday morning before leaving.
Past guest speakers at the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe foundation annual lecture have included Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, former US vice-president Al Gore and former German chancellor Helmut Kohl.
Dalai Lama to tour Nigeria, Europe
ReplyDeletePhayul[Tuesday, November 25, 2008 15:26]
By Phurbu Thinley
His Holiness the Dalai Lama talking to media on Sunday, a day after the six-day “Special General Meeting” in Dharamsala. The Tibetan leader left his northern Indian base early Tuesday morning for a visit to Nigeria and several European countries. (Phayul photo/Tenzin Dasel)
Dharamsala, November 25: Exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama left his north Indian base at Dharamshala, which also serves as the seat of the Tibet’s Government in exile, early this morning for a visit to Nigeria and three European nations.
The Dalai Lama will be on a two-day day trip to Nigeria, during which he is expected to deliver a keynote address for this year’s Anyiam-Osigwe Lecture Series in Lagos, the country's former capital city and one of the fastest growing cities in Africa.
The 1989 Nobel Peace laureate will deliver his keynote address on the topic ‘The Universality of the God Principle, the Sense of Unity in the Teachings of the Great Masters’.
The lecture series is held every year by the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation in its effort to deepen the Emmanuel Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe’s development philosophy and its universal principles.
To share the podium with the Tibetan leader will be the former President of Poland, Mr. Aleksander Kwasniewski.
The lecture that will be held at its traditional venue, Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos on November 27, 2008, will have as its theme “The Unity of The Absolute, the Oneness of All Religions: Value Guided Conduct as a Universal Tenet and Propriety as a Way of Life for Mankind.”
Speaking on this year’s lecture, Coordinator, Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation, Mr. Michael Anyiam-Osigwe said the two speakers have confirmed their attendance and that all preparations are being done to have a great event, according to a report by THISDAY Online.
“This year will be the tenth year of the foundation and the lecture series. We are ready to host another great event. The theme for this year was carefully chosen because of place of religion in engendering social harmony and human development,” he said.
He also noted that many countries and societies that would have advanced in every indices of human development have remained backward as a result of religious war adding that part of the objectives of the foundation is to promote inter-religion harmony.
The underlining principles of Anyiam-Osigwe's Holistic Approach to Human Existence revolve around spiritual upliftment, economic enhancement, social responsibility and political awareness.
Many world leaders, including former Israeli Prime Minister, Simon Peres, wife of former British Prime Minister, Mrs. Cherrie Blair, United States former Vice President Al Gore, Former President of South Africa P.W De Klerk, and former British Prime Minister John Major among others have been past keynote address speakers at the Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation lecture series.
The two-day visit to Nigeria is the first leg of a trip that will take him to Czech Republic, Belgium and Poland.
While in Poland French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to meet His Holiness on 6 December.
According to the official website of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, the 73-year old revered Tibetan leader will return to his exile hometown on 13 December.
Last week at a six-day conclave of the Tibetan people in Dharamsala, called by the Dalai Lama to discuss the course of their political movement, nearly 600 Tibetan delegates, representing Tibetans around the world, while reaffirming their absolute “faith and allegiance” to the Dalai Lama, once again urged him to continue to remain as the supreme spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. The meeting further urged him not to state "retirement or even semi-retirement" in leading Tibetan people in their struggle for freedom.
At a press conference on Sunday, a day after the six-day meeting, the Dalai Lama said his role in Tibetan political leadership was already a “semi-retired" one, but maintained that it was his moral responsibility to remain committed to the Tibetan cause. “There is no question of my retirement. I’m a Tibetan. I’ll stand for the cause till I die,” the Tibetan leader said
Responding to media queries about possible policy options on China and the fate of the talks with China over Tibet, the Dalai Lama told reporters to “wait for a month”, suggesting those matters would be considered after a meeting of Tibet’s international supporters to be held later this month.
From Dharamsala the Dalai Lama travels extensively around the world promoting human values, teaching Buddhism and, advocating for Tibetan rights and their struggle for greater freedom. He often meets with world leaders to present the case of Tibet.
Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of trying to split Tibet from China, which sent military troops to occupy the predominantly Buddhist Himalayan country in 1949, and has regularly protested against countries that agree to visits by him.
The Dalai Lama says he is only seeking a “real and meaningful” autonomy for Tibetan people within China and opposes the use of violence.