16 June 2011 (Photographs courtesy of Rusty Stewart/DLIAL)

Around 3500 people waved their hands up to the Dalai Lama as he took off in a helicopter under a clear, blue sky on the Sunshine Coast today. His Holiness kept looking down, smiling and waving his hands too.

As I write these lines, I remember the email from Aileen Moore this afternoon, asking me to pass on a message to the Dalai Lama and express her disappointment for not seeing him. She wrote, “I was supposed to come to the Chenresig Institute at Eudlo today with my school, Caloundra High School, but my teacher miscounted the numbers and just as we were about to board the bus I was told I could not go. I was the only one left behind and I was so upset that i missed my opportunity to see such a great inspirational man. I hope one day in the future he will return to Australia and that I will have another opportunity to hear him speak. Please, Please ask his Holiness to return.”[sic]

I can totally empathise with her - 400 high school students were at Chenrezig today and just before a talk by His Holiness, they held a workshop to discuss questions that they could ask him. Today’s topic for discussion was “Secular Ethics - Everyday Kindness” - a subject intimately known to His Holiness. What was the Dalai Lama’s greatest achievement in life was one of the interesting questions put to him. Much to everyone’s surprise, His Holiness said, “My refugee status is my greatest achievement.” He quickly reinforced his remark by drawing attention to his positive experiences and the contribution he could make to humanity as a result of his life in exile.

Time and again, during his current visit to Australia the Dalai Lama has showed his prowess as an unparalleled thought leader as he tackled questions from the public with great clarity and insight. And with a heavy dose of humour! Perhaps Channel 9’s Karl Stefanovic could take a lesson from His Holiness on how to make people laugh.

I was visiting Chenrezig Institute for the first time. What a pleasure to see a Tibetan Buddhist centre nestled in the foothills of the Queensland hinterland! His Holiness admired the serenity of the place while meeting the centre’s residents, and later inaugurated a garden of stupas.

A group of Aboriginal dancers from the Gubbi Gubbi tribe, the traditional custodians of the land, gave a Welcome to Country performance to His Holiness. Tibetan musician and Queensland music festival favourite Tenzin Choegyal’s unmistakable voice filled the garden during lunch break. Just a fine, beautiful day on the Sunshine Coast.