The Dalai Lama Sells Out

Somehow, Oregon State tracked me down and put me on their mailing list.  I don't pay too much attention to the sports, but the science is often interesting.  In today's "Beaver Clips" came this hysterical piece:

OSU professor says scalping Dalai Lama tickets is bad karma

Scalpers be warned: You may make good money selling tickets to the Dalai Lama's speech, but a follower says it's bad karma.

The $20 tickets to the Tibetan religious leader's speech May 10 at the University of Oregon are being resold by an online ticket broker for $225 to $282 a seat, the Eugene Register-Guard reports.

That risks spiritual harm, said Jim Blumenthal , an Oregon State University associate professor who also teaches at Maitripa College in Portland, sponsor of the Dalai Lama's appearances in Portland during a three-day visit to the state.

"If the motivation behind scalping, in this example, is really selfish and self-centered, then the effect that has on one's own mind, one's karmic predisposition, would be negative," Blumenthal said. "We suffer more ourselves, and we cause pain to others. It's kind of a lose-lose situation."

Um, no we don't suffer pain if we make a buck off the Dalai Lama, and neither does he.

"The intention of the Dalai Lama was very clear, and that his intention was superseded in this classic entrepreneurial, slimy kind of way makes me ill," said Eugene artist Cathy Coulson-Keegan.

She and her husband tried to buy online and by phone when tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. on March 11.

They failed. Coulson-Keegan's karma, though, must be good.

"A friend had an extra ticket, and, very compassionately, chose me for the ticket," she said. "I am quite humbled by that."

The comment thread is good, too....