I've Never Met a Pope......

....But I Have Met the Fourteenth Dalai Lama!

Tenzin Gyatso - born July 6, 1945

In Vajrayana Buddhism there are ritual implements and instruments. Many of the Buddha images hold one or two, or many of these, depending on how many arms the particular Buddha is displaying. All of these implements have meaning. Each is there to engage our busy minds in a way that will lead us toward the Truth. Those held in the left hand relate to wisdom, the realization of the emptiness of all phenomena, and those held in the right hand relate to skillful means, or compassion.

The bell and dorje are two of these implements. The dorje, held in the right hand, represents skillful means, and the bell, held in the left, represents wisdom. Together these ritual implements represent the inseparability of wisdom and compassion in the enlightened mindstream. Looked at separately, each is a great treasure of spiritual meaning. This is a photo of the ones I own. They were given to me after they were used by the Dalai Lama after he spoke at the Kentucky Center for the Arts during his first trip to Louisville.

Offering a scarf may seem to be a very simple gesture but in Tibetan traditions it has its own significance and protocol and is governed by tradition. To present a Khata, you first fold it in half length-wise. This represents the interdependence of each other. Then when you offer the scarf to a person, you offer the open edges facing the person you are giving; the folded section will be towards you, which represents your open pure heart, with no negative thoughts or motives in the offering.

There are two general purposes for offering Khatas, with greetings and well wishes being common to both: RESPECT/GRATITUDE. For holy sites, honored monks, teachers, dignitaries and elders, the scarf is given with folded hands near your forehead, with a humble bow before them, with head bent over and palms joined in respect.

 OTHER ECUMENICAL AND INTERFAITH OPPORTUNITIES

I was the first Catholic seminarian to join the United Church of Christ's A Christian Ministry in the National Parks program in 1968. I was proceed there by the famous American theologian, Harvey Cox, when he was a student.

When working at St. Mildred Church in Somerset, Kentucky, from 1975-1980, I started a campus ministry program at Somerset Community College called IF (Inter Faith). Several other ministers became involved with me: especially Lutheran, Presbyterian, Disciples of Christ and Episcopal.

Because of my involvement in Somerset Community College, I had the opportunity to take five back packing trips to Taize (France) where we met up with 3,500 students each week from 70 countries. Taize is an ecumenical monastery in central France (Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox members). It It is the only monastery of its kind in the world.

Between 1975-1980, I was pastor of Saint Peter Catholic Church (Monticello) and Good Shepherd Mission Church (Whitley City). Young myself, and knowing little about the Bible Belt culture, evangelization and starting a parish from scratch almost, I asked the Archdiocese of Louisville if I could go back to school. When the answer was "no," I applied to the Presbyterain Church USA for a scholarship to attend their Doctor of Ministry program out of their McCormick Seminary in Chicago and got it. Three years later, I got that D.Min degree. My thesis was "How One Roman Catholic Mission Church Dealt Assertively With Its Environments" (outside pressure and inside weakness).

When pastor of the Cathedral of the Assumption from 1983-1997, I helped found the Cathedral Heritage Foundation (now Center for Interfaith Relations) and served as its first president. It has grown into a major interfaith organization that has become world known especially under the leadership of Christina Lee Brown.

Along the way, I have attended a Bar Mitzvah in Louisville, a Quaker Service in Berea and preached in a Presbyterian Church and a Lutheran Church in Somerset.

A DREAM  

No, I have never met a Pope, but I hope to meet Pope Francis someday in a  private, one-on-one audience, of course! If you are going to dream, why not dream big!