what money really means and how to get rich_133

_{My friend and I stand in front of the ticket booth. There are $15 tickets,}

_{$25 tickets, $50 tickets, $100 tickets.We opt for the most expensive, but we}

_{still have to battle the heat like everybody else, stand in the long, long line.}

_{There are maybe a thousand people in the auditorium.We are in the twentieth}

_{row, directly in front of the stage setting where the Dalai Lama is to sit}

_{on a large, ornately embroidered cloth throne. To the left of the throne are}

_{about fifty monks garbed in their traditional red and orange robes, fastened}

_{toga style over one shoulder. Some are bald. Some aren't. Some are meditating,}

_{eyes closed. Some are chitchatting.To the right of the throne is another}

_{group of about fifty monks.These monks are dressed in diverse attire, from a}

_{simple yellow, crinkled robe to a fancy white robe. Above the throne hangs}

_{the Tibetan flag along with other tapestry. A large oriental rug flows out from}

_{the throne to the front of the stage. Urns, candles, flowers give the stage the}

_{look of a television set, where actors will at any moment take their places.}

_{The Dalai Lama is running late; he waits for most of the people who have}

_{braved the heat and the long line to take their seats. I know he is about to}

_{take the stage when the actor Richard Gere walks in from a side entrance. (He}

_{sits a few rows to my right.)}

_{When the Dalai Lama walks on stage from the black curtain lining the}

_{back of the stage, people embark on the Buddhist bow, which entails several}

_{prostrations. People stand and raise their hands, palms together, above their}

_{heads. They move their hands to their foreheads, their throats, their hearts.}

_{Then, they fall to their hands and knees, touching their foreheads to the floor.}

_{They do this three times as a sign of devotion to their spiritual teacher, his}

_{teachings, and the community around them.}

_{The Dalai Lama looks about. He connects with the crowd, his surroundings.}

_{I wonder to myself if I'll get the chance to ask him a question, my question}

_{about what money means. I have read his text on the subject. He, the}

_{Fourteenth Dalai Lama, the Lama of Compassion, has written extensively on}

_{Money is good. It is important.Without money, daily survival—not to mention}

_{further development—is impossible. So we are not even questioning its}

_{importance. At the same time, it is wrong to consider money a god or a substance}

_{endowed with some power of its own.To think that money is everything,}

_{and that just by having lots of it all our problems will be solved is a}

_{serious mistake.}