Walking shoes

About thirty years ago, in a huge gymnasium at UCSB, I was afforded the opportunity to hear the Dalai Lama.

I confess, being in my unenlightened mid-twenties, I saw His Holiness as a celebrity rather than a spiritual leader and exiled leader of Tibet. I never claimed to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, you understand.

So I neglected to bring a pad of paper to take notes.

He spoke no English to us, so it was a slow and gentle evening of quiet words, translated methodically for us California-college types.

Having no record of the evening, one memorable wisdom story stood out I'd like to paraphrase for you. It's a great piece of advice from a startling source.

My perception of the Dalai Lama was that his was a life of learning compassion through suffering. Like Jesus, who I consider my teacher, but another who also taught things that didn't really sound anything like, “Heartily welcome martyrdom.”

Both preach joy and love and life. And there are certainly consequences to living a life devoted to peace and justice. Check out Mohandas Gandhi. Or Dr. King.

But here's the parable I've remembered that illustrates the wisdom often found in great spirituality:

“On the road of life there are many sticks, stones, and bits of glass. And we all have a choice. We can go through our lives, stopping to notice and remove every impediment to our journey. We can pick up every stick, stone, or piece of glass. Yes, we can do that. Or we can wear shoes.”

The gym burst into laughter and applause. I learned more about the Dalai Lama's spirit in that one simple story than all the good books I've read by Pema Chodron combined.

Three decades later, I'm still working on applying that one wonderful piece of advice.

So what's the best wisdom you ever heard? Have you passed it on?

Shalom!