Willie Nelson, The Dali Lama, and Hotsprings!

While this weekend was a blast, no pictures were taken. Not because I didn’t want to take them, no… But both major events we attended had a strict “no camera” policy.

To be honest, I wasn’t even planning on having a big weekend. In fact, last weekend was supposed to be the one weekend that Amie and I stayed home and actually got something done at our house. If you know us, we are always SAYING we need to get stuff done at home, but when something, actually ANYTHING more fun is presented to us, we almost always go with it. So, yet again, our weekend of productiveness and accomplishment was replaced with a weekend of partying, being with friends, and chilling with the Dali Lama.

Yes, you heard it correct. The Dali Lama. Why would the Dali Lama come to Hailey Idaho? Good question. We are a small, somewhat remote area of the United States, and centrally located in probably one of the most republican concentrated states in the country. But, Sun Valley being an Island in a sea of republicans must make it attractive. Kind of like Hawaii or Fiji. Although both of those islands are surrounded by water.

Back to the point, we sat with the Dali Lama (and about 15,000 other people) on Sunday afternoon, September 11th, 2005. His message was that of bringing more compassion to the world. The person who brought him here, is supposedly world renowned for predicting when big shifts in society are going to happen. This same person believes the shift from hatred and fear is happen, and compassion and love is the only logical alternative. I sure hope he is right. If I hear any more negativity and fear, I think my head might explode.

His Holiness’s speech wasn’t exactly what I expected it was going to be. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad or anything like that. I guess I was just expecting some ground moving, consciousness changing address. Instead, he spoke like a normal human. Fancy that! He didn’t have any fancy speech prepared, no lights or gimmicks. Simply a discussion on his views, and an offer of hope and compassion. Nothing more. The way he spoke wasn’t like that of a politician; rehearsed and fake. It was more like sitting down with a wise old man. He simply wanted to share his wisdom, answer a few questions, and nothing more. It was perfect.

Of course the night before the Dali Lama was someone a bit more…. Let’s say… Moving. And not in the spiritual “moving” sense. I mean, he made you move. It was none other than Willie Nelson. He had a great show, and there were a ton of people there. Probably as much as the Dali Lama. However, the spiritual sense I got at the concert was probably more due to the copious amounts of beer as opposed the feeling of interconnectedness among all humans.

That night, all 14 or so of us went up to the Pace family cabin in Frenchman’s Bend, Idaho. A nice evening with friends is always nice. The private hotsprings sitting on the edge of the river put the finishing touch on the night.