An excerpt from ‘The Book of Compassion’, by the Dalai Lama, Kailash Satyarthi, and Pooja Pande.
–Dalai Lama, Kailash Satyarthi & Pooja Pande
“In spite of my old age, my face is quite handsome,” says the Dalai Lama in a video message published on his eighty-sixth birthday in 2021. Those deep-belly laughs that follow this statement, characteristic of the Dalai Lama and known to warm up the hearts of those in his presence in the moment, are meant to make light of what he says, but only seemingly. The unmistakable glow on his face that lights up every YouTube Live public address and, I imagine, closed-door meeting he does – the brilliant, youthful energy that propels his impassioned hand gestures as he speaks of matters close to his heart – which I have been fortunate enough to witness and experience in person too – are truly miracles to behold. Mick Brown, author of, among others, The Dance of 17 Lives: The Incredible True Story of Tibet’s 17th Karmapa, for which he interviewed His Holiness in a personal audience, shares this awe with me: “It’s very difficult to tell with the Dalai Lama, isn’t it, how old he is. He’s not wrinkled, he has such vitality.” Victor Chen, a close friend of His Holiness, relates an episode when doctors, upon close medical examination of His Holiness in 2004, came to the conclusion that he is “a sixty-seven-year-old man with the heart of a twenty-year-old”.
What His Holiness says about his “handsome face” then is in fact steeped in the truth, because here’s the most powerful argument in favour of compassion and the smartest answer to “Why”? – It keeps us young. This also remains true for Kailash Satyarthi, who, although much younger than His Holiness, belies his age completely in his energy in his energy, demeanour, and spirit. Click here to read more.