Color me disappointed. Very. I learned yesterday that His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will be kicking off a tour of the US in San Francisco on September 5, at which time he will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of San Francisco and give a public lecture in Buddhist philosophy and universal responsibility at Davies Symphony Hall.

I am not disappointed that His Holiness is visiting the city in which I work, of course, but by the fact that I didn't learn of his visit sooner. The lecture is completely sold out. Ugh. What really gets me is that I knew he was coming to the US as early as two weeks ago but, relying on information at His Holiness' own (woefully in need of an update) website, I thought that his trip would be limited to New York and therefore far beyond my budgets of time and money.

Ugh, I say again. Are there, I wonder, scalpers who hawk tickets to spiritual events and, if so, would it be against the principle of right action to patronize them?