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Dalai Lama Oblivious To Goldie's Plunging Neckline

A P Kamath in New York City

Imagine a scantily-clad Goldie Hawn sitting in the front row in a low cut blouse without a bra -- and listening to every word coming out from the Dalai Lama.

And imagine the Dalai Lama carrying on as if he has not seen the spectacle.

One of the most publicized visits to New York city ended on Sunday evening with a crowd, now estimated to be 40,000, listening to the Dalai Lama preaching about non-competitive humanity and the power of forgiveness. There was indeed a lot to learn from the four-day New York sojourn of the exiled Tibetan leader. And there were a few things to chuckle about.

Take for instance, when Goldie Hawn walked into the Beacon Theatre on Thursday where the Buddhist leader was presenting chanting and a spiritual discourse. The 53-year-old actress, who was also the co-host of a fund-raising dinner for Tibet Fund, made at least the ushers uncomfortable.

"What can I say?" Hawn's publicist told The Daily News. "Goldie is a drop-dead gorgeous woman who turns heads."

On Friday at the $ 750 per person dinner prepared by some of New York's master chefs who offered several vegetarian delicacies and non-veg items such as the rack of lamb with goat cheese-potato gratin, followed by lime-fennel sorbet, the Dalai Lama nearly starved. The charity event was co-hosted by Richard Gere, Harrison Ford, Martin Scorsese and Goldie Hawn for 300 glitterati.

He ate some miso soup and nibbled on practically nothing because he said he had to get up about four next morning and meditate and pray for a long time before he began his public appearances.

The tabloid Newsday put the Dalai Lama on the cover of its Monday edition. Peace in the Park, the headline on the cover said. The Daily News, which gave some space for the smiling face of the Dalai Lama on its cover, devoted about two pages inside. The New York Times also carried a long story about Sunday's event in the park. The Times carried half a dozen stories on the Dalai Lama and eastern religions in the past five days.

Some of the stories noted how many people were expecting magic bullets for happiness from the Dalai Lama. Some complained that Sunday's discourse did not make much sense to those who were not familiar with Buddhist lore. Some said they could not follow parts of the discourse because of the accent.

Even the Dalai Lama was aware of the communication gap. A couple of times he sought the help of a translator, saying that as he grows older, so does his English.

Many people felt that had the event held in another part of the park, it would not have become congested, and perhaps a few more thousands attended the discourse. The Pope drew in about 100,000 people. The Dalai Lama drew the next largest crowd.

Despite the crowd, the atmosphere was peaceful; there were no arguments, no rowdy behavior and police said there were no arrests. Even the skeptics were respectful.

"Could he go to Kosovo and speak about turning the other cheek?" asked one person, referring to the Dalai Lama's reference to the need to forgive. "He has a captive audience [in New York] and he can say anything he wants."

The young man paused for a minute.

"And yet you cannot but respect him. He is a little naïve about war, peace and competition but I think he has his heart in the right place, and a sharp mind that is never tired."

Next: How Cracking India became Earth

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