Obama Had The Dalai Lama's Scarf In His Pocket During His Swearing In

1. Obama Had The Dalai Lama's Scarf In His Pocket During His Swearing In

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Beliefnet.com - New York

Friday January 23, 2009

Lama Surya Das passed on this fascinating bit. Richard Blum, who is the
husband of California Senator Diane Feinstein, also happens to be a major
supporter of Buddhism. He was up on the platform during the swearing in.

Beforehand, he told Barack Obama that he had with him a white khata -- a
silk Tibetan scarf -- given him by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Blum
described what happened next in a letter to an associate of the Dalai Lama:

"I offered it to President Obama before the ceremony. I said that I
could get it delivered to him later. He said, no, that he was going to take
it and have it with him; in fact, it was in his pocket when he was
sworn-in."