The Dalai Lama during his address to a crowd at the Sheraton Boston. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
People of all ages, many clothed in traditional Tibetan dress, some with babies in strollers and others accompanying elders, came to a Boston hotel early Sunday morning with a collective mission: to see the Dalai Lama in person.
Tseyang Lama, 14, drove eight hours with her family from Baltimore to see the spiritual leader, and said the opportunity to hear him speak in person was well worth the trip.
“I really want to get a chance to see him and hear what he has to say,” she said.
The Dalai Lama’s speech, which started shortly after 9 a.m. at the Sheraton Boston Hotel and was open to the public, was delivered entirely in Tibetan. Many Tibetan speakers who had come to see the Dalai Lama said his message was geared toward Tibetans’ continuing to practice Buddhism regardless of where they are in the world.
“He gave some introduction on Tibetan culture, and how it is one essential element that unites all Tibetans, inside and outside of Tibet,” said Tenzin Tselha, 26, from India.
Tselha, who is studying for a master’s degree in Buddhist studies and ministry at Harvard Divinity School, said the Dalai Lama also spoke about how he has laid foundations for connections between Buddhism and science, psychology, and physics.
“He. . . stressed a huge importance on studying Buddhism, being a 21st-century Buddhist — not just relying on sheer belief but also practicing investigation of what you believe in, and how you consider yourself as Buddhist,” she said.
Throughout the year, the Dalai Lama has been giving talks across India, and spent much of June in San Diego and Minneapolis before heading to Boston.
The wait to see the Dalai Lama began around 7 a.m., with a line descending down an outdoor staircase and wrapping around the building.
“It’s amazing,” said Seth Monk, 34, from Andover, before the event. “He’s very wise, very caring and compassionate.”
Monk, who said he was a monk for eight years, has seen the Dalai Lama before and was excited to feel the energy of the crowd.
“Even when there’s 10,000 people, he makes it feel like the whole room is being embraced by his care,” Monk said.
As people began to file into the hotel around 8 a.m., the crowd chattered in a mix of English and Tibetan. As children squealed with excitement and others cried, adults rubbed prayer beads between their palms, and Buddhist music coursed through the room.
Shortly after 9 a.m., the music began to swell and the crowd quieted. As the Dalai Lama entered the stage, his audience stood.
Some lifted cameras and phones to capture the moment. Others lifted their hands in prayer. Babies’ heads bobbed above the crowd as parents held them up, hoping their children could catch a glimpse of the man they had waited all morning to see.
As Dalai Lama took his seat, his first remarks invoked laughter from the audience and from himself, and he continued to chuckle with the audience throughout his speech.
“He basically preached the core values of Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism specifically, which is to always treat others compassionately, and never to give up,” said Tenzin Nanglo, 19.
“He was talking about his experience as a young monk when he was brought up,” said Nanglo, from Arlington. “He wishes everyone in the room can learn from his experience and try to become a better person.”
Though he saw the Dalai Lama when the spiritual leader visited TD Garden in 2014, Nanglo said it was great seeing him again.
“He has such profound wisdom and life experience, and I’m a young kid, so I can learn something from this.”
People gathered at the Sheraton Boston to hear the Dalai Lama speak.
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