The Book of Joy

higher than the others. What do you call this?” the Dalai Lama asked,
tapping the base of his chair.
“The legs,” the Archbishop offered.
“Yes, the legs were not long enough, so the organizers had to bring
some extra bricks to make this spiritual leader’s chair higher. The whole
time I sat next to him, he remained immobile like a statue. Then I
thought, If one of the bricks were to move, and he fell over, then we
would see what would happen—”
“Did you move the brick?” the Archbishop asked.
“If I had . . .”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Maybe you will see some mysterious force move the brick because I
will pray to God, ‘Please, just topple that chair.’ Then that spiritual leader
will act like a real human being.”
The Dalai Lama and the Archbishop were cackling.
“As I mentioned earlier I used to get nervous,” the Dalai Lama
continued. “When I was young and had to give some formal teachings,
because I was not thinking that we are all same, I would experience
anxiety. I would forget that I’m just talking as a human being to fellow
humans beings. I would think of myself as something special, and that
kind of thinking would make me feel isolated. It is this sense of
separateness that isolates us from other people. In fact, this kind of
arrogant way of thinking creates a sense of loneliness, and then anxiety.
“In 1954, just after I reached Beijing on an official visit, the Indian
ambassador came to see me. Some Chinese officials were also there. The
Chinese Communist officials, again, were like statues, like this—very
serious and reserved. Then somehow a bowl of fruit on the table toppled
over. I don’t know what happened. So then those stern-looking Chinese
officials got down on their knees to chase and pick up the fruit. You see?
When things go smoothly, then we can pretend we are something very
special. But something happens, something unexpected, then we are
forced to act like normal human beings.”
I began asking another question, when the Dalai Lama glanced at a
clock that was displaying the wrong time and asked whether it was time