Scholarship winners meet the Dalai Lama

When UC Irvine student Rajiv Ramdeo learned he was going to meet the Dalai Lama, the kind of inner peace espoused by Tibet's exiled spiritual leader eluded him.

"I was anxious. I kept wondering what I was going to say to him," he said. Then Ramdeo, a daily practitioner of meditation, regained his center.

"I figured that just being there in his presence would be enough."

Ramdeo and another UCI senior, Aswathi Sreedharan, had a private audience with the Dalai Lama Sept. 12 in Pasadena as recipients of the university's inaugural XIV Dalai Lama Endowed Scholarship. At first, Ramdeo simply listened while UCI Chancellor Michael V. Drake and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Manuel N. Gómez, who accompanied the students, talked with the Dalai Lama about spiritual life on campus.

"Meeting the Dalai Lama had a profound effect on me. Afterward I had a clear, peaceful state of mind," Ramdeo says. "I was totally captivated."

Captivated, but not tongue-tied. He and Sreedharan told the Dalai Lama about their efforts to bring his holiness' ideals to campus. (Each student was awarded a $7,500 scholarship and $2,500 in funding to pursue projects related to ethics and leadership.)

Ramdeo, a biological sciences major, will use the money to expand the meditation club he started on campus last year. He plans to bring in a variety of leaders to discuss meditation, humanitarian work and ethical leadership.

"Everyone gets something different from meditation. It helps remind me of what's important and gives my life a spiritual foundation."

Sreedharan, a biomedical engineering and international studies major, plans to organize a camp where student leaders from colleges around the state will gather for activities that encourage unity among students and support world peace — an expanded version of a project she helped organize last year.

"When I entered the room to meet the Dalai Lama, I could feel the positive flow of energy in everyone," Sreedharan says. "Each one of us offered a scarf to the Dalai Lama, who then wrapped it around our necks like a shawl. Being with him meant experiencing pure love and warmth, and I couldn't stop smiling throughout the meeting."