There are only two phrases that Tara Wyant knows in Tibetan: “That person smells bad” and “Hello.”

If she gets the chance, she’ll use the latter to greet the 14th Dalai Lama during his visit to campus this week. And hopefully before, she’ll give him a gift: an embroidered, white silk scarf.

The scarf, called a khata, holds traditional significance in Tibetan culture.

“It’s a scarf you give for good luck, to welcome people,” said Wyant, a junior hospitality management major. “You give it in so many different occasions. When you meet someone for the first time, like during weddings or when a child is born.”

Ideally, the Dalai Lama would see the scarf either while getting on or leaving the stage at the One World Concert. He’d most likely bless it and hand it back to her. But with the expected security measures for such a high-profile visitor, Wyant feels the chances of this happening are slim.

Wyant’s father is Tibetan and was one of 20 children chosen by the Dalai Lama to live and study in France during the 1960s. During that time, conflict between Tibet and China persisted, indicative of the two nations’ complex relationship that exists to this day

Now Wyant’s father lives in Geneva, Switzerland, and works for the International Labor Organization. Wyant said he was instrumental in starting the Tibetan community in Geneva, which has grown to be the second largest after the community in Dharamshala, India, where the Dalai Lama resides.

He has met the Dalai Lama multiple times, and his daughter now has the chance to do the same.

It is a Buddhist belief that there are no coincidences in life. From that point of view, Wyant studying at Syracuse University with her background and the Dalai Lama’s visit to campus isn’t a matter of fate or destiny; it’s just circumstance.

“If he hadn’t chosen my father to leave Tibet, I wouldn’t be here,” Wyant said. “My parents would never have met. I would never exist without him. It’s kind of crazy.”

When Sandra Kistler-Connolly, assistant to the Buddhist chaplain at Hendricks Chapel, learned of Wyant’s intention to present the scarf, she found the story powerful and moving.

“This whole set of circumstances coming together is just a network of interrelationships and interactions,” Kistler-Connolly said. “Just an extraordinary set of circumstances, that he would be here, she would be here and her father has this connection with His Holiness.”

Wyant purchased a Gold Circle ticket for Tuesday’s One World Concert — $200, and the tickets fill the first few rows — where the Dalai Lama will speak, in hopes of increasing her chances of being closer to him. She also plans to attend the Monday morning panel discussion in Goldstein Auditorium, though she believes the scarf is more likely to catch his attention at the concert.

She attempted to contact the One World organization about three weeks ago with her story, but still hasn’t received an answer.

Even if she is unable to give the scarf to the Dalai Lama, being in his presence will be more than enough. She worked at the United Nations this summer and said a visit from Burmese nonviolent leader Aung San Suu Kyi evoked similar feelings of a strong presence with all they represent and fight for. This feeling is echoed by Kistler-Connolly.

“There is this energy of love, kindness and compassion that emanates from someone like His Holiness. Just being in the room, whether you feel it or not, just being in the room, what a difference,” Kistler-Connolly said.

Wyant considers herself a spiritual person and sees Buddhism not as a religion but as a way of being — remaining truthful, never wishing ill upon others and simply being a good person, to name a few virtues. She’s not part of a Buddhist community at SU, but that doesn’t bother her.

“I’ve seen a lot of things, I’ve done a lot of things. I’ve never really found a group of people that really understands me, if that makes sense,” Wyant said. “I have my friends and that’s enough for me.”

The Dalai Lama, the messages he conveys and his attempts to inspire world peace represent hope to Wyant. Since the 1950s, the Dalai Lama has worked to reestablish an autonomous Tibetan area in a peaceful way, while encouraging peace among countries and different cultures as well.

“Here is a time in our world when we really need this energy of love, kindness and compassion, and the wisdom to know how to live that in the world. And here are these events, happening right in Syracuse,” Kistler-Connolly said. “It’s just a really profound place to be at this moment.”

Come Tuesday, Wyant will be in the Carrier Dome for the One World Concert. She isn’t going for the musicians and doesn’t plan to be there with friends. Instead, she’ll be holding that white silk scarf in her hands, holding on to the hope that it just might catch the Dalai Lama’s eye.

Published on October 8, 2012 at 12:56 am

Contact Breanne: brvannos@syr.edu | @bre_vann