Sitting in front of McDonald’s on Freedom Square in Riga. I walked past him thinking, “Oh, wow, a Buddhist monk!” Wasn’t until later I found out he’s visiting Latvia and is scheduled to give a public address this afternoon.
That is pretty cool. Were there a lot of people trying to see him, or was he being left to himself pretty much?
No, he was chatting with his handler while people generally walked by without paying much attention. Hell, I wasn’t all that quick to recognize him myself; I’ve seen Hare Krishnas parading in Riga, so I didn’t think a whole lot about it until I heard he was in town.
He was lookin’ for the place called Lee Ho Fooks
Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein
How do you go from being a living symbol of Buddhism and spiritual leader of Tibet to speaking at the Grand Openings of McDonalds?
At least the Happy Meals don’t include “3 jewel” toys. 
Gunga Galunga.
It’s times like this that I wish I could lay down that hackneyed “You owe me a new keyboard/monitor/winnebago” line, but it always reeks of bullshit. Still, work of this caliber should never go unrecognized.
Claim your prize, sir, anything from the top shelf. 
I know the place well. Blows me away to picture what you are describing. Imagining running into him at Paddy Whelan’s or on a trolleybus or something.
I saw him there too. Asked me for some change so he could get his child some milk. I didn’t believe him, but I gave his a few bucks anyway. .
How do you go from sitting near a McDonalds to speaking at the Grand Openings of McDonalds?
Did he promise you instant enlightenment right before you die?
He tells everyone that.
Oh, also he walked to the counter and told them “Make me one with everything.”
So the guy at the counter made him one with everything and gave it to him. The Dalai Lama gave him a twenty and the guy at the counter put it in the til and closed it. “What about my change?”, the Dalai Lama said.
“Change must come from within”, said the guy at the counter.
I woulda said, “Hello, Dalai”. Cause I’m sure he’s never heard that one.
So you’ve got that going for you, which is nice.