In January 1998, I ran into an old friend, Alice Chen, at Richard Gere's photo exhibition on Tibet. I thought about the suggestion she had made four years before to visit the Dalai Lama in India. I wondered if I could still go. Maybe our Tzu Chi Great Love Channel could make a documentary film about the Dalai Lama?

In March, Alice introduced me to Khedroob Thondup, the president of the Tibetan Self-Help Center and the Dalai Lama's nephew. I was delighted to learn that Khedroob was half Chinese and could speak some Mandarin. He was very supportive about my idea and advised me on how to go about making arrangements. Suddenly, I realized my idea was not "Mission Impossible." Wouldn't it be great if I could not only visit the great leader personally, but also let our Great Love Channel audience in Taiwan share that experience? It would be a nice way to let people in Taiwan know more about the Tibetan refugees living in India. So I enthusiastically started to make plans.

However, it took longer than we expected for our proposal to get to India, and then we found out that the Dalai Lama was already travelling in the United States. Therefore the Dharamsala office could not confirm a date for us. Without a date, it was difficult to plan anything. So, we called Rinchen Dharlo, president of the Tibet Fund in New York, to request his assistance. Finally, we received the good news from Kelsang Gyaltsen, secretary to the Dalai Lama, that since His Holiness greatly admired Master Cheng Yen's compassionate work, and since he desired to promote and deepen the relationship with the people, particularly Buddhists, in Taiwan, they would manage to squeeze in a one-hour interview for us on May 26.

I excitedly recommended to the Tzu Chi camera team that we should go at once. There was no telling what might happen if we had to wait for another two or three months. We worked feverishly to get all the preparation work done. Since we would only have one hour, we could not afford to waste a single minute. Therefore, all the details needed to be well thought out and prepared. Also, we needed to plan other activities, such as reporting on the refugee community, culture and education.

On May 23, six of us started our adventure. When we left, I knew that the temperature in New Delhi was already over forty degrees Celsius [104 F], but I thought we would only have to stay overnight. Besides, Dharamsala and Darjeeling, our main destinations, are both over 1800 meters [almost 6000 feet] above sea level. However, when we personally experienced forty-six degrees Celsius [115 F], even for a short while, we could imagine why people die from the heat in India!

On the following day, we took a flight to Jammu, from where we were to be driven five hours to Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile. Even after more than one hour's flight north, it was still over forty degrees! The small airport was crowded with armed soldiers, as it was close to the border with Pakistan and tensions were high after the recent nuclear bomb tests in India. I looked around and could not find the two cars which had been promised us by the Information Department. It was Sunday and I could not call anyone. Khedroob, who had made the arrangements, was thousands of miles away in Darjeeling-simply too far away to help! I suddenly realized that as the group leader, I carried a heavy responsibility indeed.

Fortunately, we had three strong young men. That eased my anxiety and fear a bit. We waited and waited to see if anyone would show up. After one and a half hours, I decided to hire a couple of taxis to Dharamsala, since the heat was already making our cameramen worry about their equipment. We discovered that neither of the taxis was air-conditioned. We could only pray the sun would go down soon. The six-hour journey was truly unforgettable for all of us. Our car overheated three times, and we finally had to get another taxi. The other taxi got a flat tire, etc. At nine o'clock, our driver pointed at a hill in the dark and said, "That's Chonor House!" I could hardly believe we had finally arrived safely!

Next morning on our balcony, we discovered how beautiful the scenery was. Chonor House is an affiliate of the Norbulingka Institute, the Tibetan art school. The living rooms and bedrooms were artistically designed and simply beautiful. And they only cost us US$25 per night after a special discount!

It was such a different feeling after the trials of the day before. And we were so close to the Dalai Lama's residence-only a five-minute walk. The receiving officer, Tenzin, apologized that the person who was supposed to send a car to pick us up at the airport had gone off on vacation. However, the good news was that the Dalai Lama would have a public audience at ten o'clock and we could send our cameramen to film the event. That was really great, since we could add more pictures to our program! They only allowed three persons to go, so the rest of the team, especially myself, prepared for the next day's interview. I had to admit I was quite nervous. All I had was my hearty enthusiasm. I prayed to the Amitabha Buddha and practiced my meditation.

August 26 was the important date. The camera batteries could not be changed smoothly because of the heat, and our lights were useless due to the unsteady electric current. Fortunately the sun was shining brightly, so we requested that the Dalai Lama sit by the window so we could get enough sunlight.

At two o'clock, the Dalai Lama walked in with a smiling face. We presented two gifts: a glass Buddha statue which was a miniature of the statue in the shrine of the Abode of Still Thoughts, and a glass model of the Still Thoughts Hall. The Dalai Lama bowed to the Buddha statue with great respect. We also presented paper flowers made by cancer patients in Tzu Chi Hospital. Then, we started the formal interview. The Tibetan leader was so full of sincerity, warmth and wisdom. My initial anxiety was gradually released by his carefree laughter. I asked him what question people most frequently asked him. He said it was whether there would be a female Dalai Lama, and his answer was "Maybe." The Dalai Lama is tall and laughs loudly while Master Cheng Yen is tiny and speaks softly, yet these two great people have the same compassion and wisdom. No wonder I felt so at ease even though it was the first time we had ever met.

After the interview was over, I could relax. The other crew members continued to work hard filming other places, such as the children's villages, the refugee reception center, the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, etc. I was indeed surprised by the bad road conditions in Dharamsala. The roads were narrow and unpaved. When we were caught in a traffic jam, our cameramen decided to get out and shoot the scene. Compared with Dharamsala, Taipei is not so bad after all.

After we finished our four-day visit in Dharamsala, we had to go to Darjeeling, on the other side of the Himalayas. We were luckily able to borrow air-conditioned cars for the drive back to Jammu, but the roads coming down from the mountain were still long and winding. My poor stomach had no peace at all.

The next day, we flew from New Delhi to Bagdogra. Khedroob met us at the airport and drove us to Darjeeling. How nice to see a familiar face in a strange and faraway place! After all the intensive teamwork, he had already become an old friend. He received us at his home-nice and comfortable with homemade meals. What a treat! The visit to the Tibetan Self-Help Center was also impressive! We saw how a Chinese woman named Chutang, the wife of the Dalai Lama's older brother Gyalo Thondup, helped the Tibetan refugees to rebuild their homes and make a living in India. With her talent and devotion, she won great respect from all the Tibetan community and was remembered fondly, even though she passed away more than ten years ago.

At the end of the trip, due to the intensive filming and adverse environment, all of our young, strong team members got sick, one after another. However, we all felt it was so rewarding. After seeing the poverty and misfortune in India, we realized how lucky we are in Taiwan. How can we complain? When we observe how the Tibetan people endeavor to maintain their culture and education in a foreign country, we begin to wonder why we can't cherish our own cultural treasures as much. I do hope our TV program will lead the audience to ponder this question.

Wisdom from His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama

Happiness: The purpose of life is happiness. To me, the best source of happiness and satisfaction is serving others. Serving the Buddha-dharma means serving all living beings.

Helping others is also helping ourselves. In a city, if a rich district can help a poor area, that can also help to reduce the crime rate.

Anger: When anger comes, no one can be happy.

We often think it's human nature to be angry. If we understand that it is harmful to have negative emotions, we will learn to control them. If we constantly practice meditation and contemplation, deliberately increase love and compassion and reduce negative emotions, we will eventually succeed in transforming ourselves.

Death: Where there is birth, there is death. It is part of life.

Nobody wants death and most people avoid it. However, it is better to know more about death, to be familiar with the process, so that when the day comes, we can be more prepared and accept it in peace. Death is like a change of clothes: when our clothes are old and unusable, then we put on new ones. I constantly practice yoga to prepare myself, and I am sometimes eager to see how well I've prepared when the day comes. Whether you believe in rebirth or not, this should be a meaningful life. We should try to help others if possible, and if not, we should at least not harm other people.

Education: The long-term solution to many problems is to bring up the younger generation properly. Education not only gives children knowledge, but also good hearts. I'd like to promote the value of caring and compassion so that we will have happier individuals, then happier families, and then a happier society. This will also help to bridge the gap between rich and poor.