The Dalai Lama's recent visit to the US caused quite a stink internationally. I'm pretty pleased to say I contributed my $$ toward that effort.

On Friday afternoon, my husband and I—along with 6,023 others—saw His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama speak about "Cultivating Happiness" at Purdue University. I don't know that I'm any closer to finding the secret of life for having gone, but what a great opportunity to be there.

Before he spoke, we saw cultural presentations of the Tibetan and Mongolian traditions. One woman led the theater in a chant. Six-thousand people chanting is a powerful sound, no matter if you believe in the message of tranquility that it conveyed.

I was surprised at how down-to-earth the Dalai Lama was. Not like I expected someone like Tom Cruise to march on stage, but I don't think I expected someone so normal. He was even funny. He was difficult to understand, but he's not exactly young, and he's not exactly a native English speaker. There were parts that were really hard to follow, but it certainly could have been worse.

His message for happiness: compassion. Simply, everything he talked about came back to that central idea. From wars to women in leadership roles, the answer we're looking for is compassion.