By ALAN MacDERMID
IT would have been churlish to refuse the invitation. Even for a millionaire businessman with an impressive network of contacts, it represented quite a coup.
When Sir Tom Farmer met the Dalai Lama in Edinburgh last year, the exiled Tibetan leader suggested a reciprocal visit by the devout Catholic.
So yesterday Sir Tom, two friends, and his son-in-law were on their way to India to take the Dalai Lama up on his invitation. Their visit will also take in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, home to the Sikh religion, the Hindu headquarters, and the home in Calcutta of Mother Theresa’s nuns. She too, made Sir Tom’s acquaintance on a visit to Edinburgh.
“It is not going to be a pilgrimage, but an opportunity to see one of the few countries I have never been in, I’m not going as a normal tourist but to see all these different cultures,” said Sir Tom. “But I don’t think there is any chance we will come back without having had a tremendous experience.”
Three weeks ago, he met the Pope, only two days before the pontiff went down with flu, and he suffered from it himself when he came back.
“The Holy Father came over as very strong at that time. He was in good form, but getting flu at that age is a different matter from the rest of us getting it,” said Sir Tom, 64.
Fortunately, Sir Tom had 10 days visiting his daughter Sally and her family in California to recover from his own bout before boarding his flight for Delhi yesterday.
Explaining how the visit to Tibet arose, Sir Tom said: “The Dalai Lama was in Scotland last year and I had played a small part in organising his visit to Edinburgh.
“I had the opportunity to meet him with Charlie Miller, a pal of mine who has a relationship with the Buddhist religion. During the course of the conversation, the Dalai Lama said: ‘Why don’t you come and visit us?’ I said I would love to.”
“The other friend who is coming, Victor Spence, has devoted his time to bringing different faiths together. He just seems to have this belief that sitting around the table together and talking is a great way of understanding other people’s religion, and you realise everyone is the same and that they all have the same approach. They just have different cultural approaches. When I told Nigel what I was doing he said: ‘That’s great. I’ll come too.’
“Some might call it a spiritual experience, but it will reinforce my belief that there is not much difference among people of different faiths who have the same principle, which is to treat your fellow man properly.
“I think religion comes from a common spring. They all believe there is a god, whether he is called God, or Allah, or Buddha, or whatever. We will learn that there is another being.”
When he was in California, Sir Tom watched, with the aid of the internet, coverage of Jack McConnell’s anti-sectarianism summit in Glasgow on Monday. It confirmed his belief that the more people get to know each other and understand each other, the more they can all benefit.
“I saw Cardinal O’Brien being interviewed, and heard what he said about having the opportunity to meet Ian Wilson, grand master of the Orange lodge for the first time. Just to sit round the table and talk, that is what it is all about.”
During his talk with Sir Tom in Edinburgh, the Dalai Lama did not not talk politics, like his aspiration to be able to go home to Tibet. But Sir Tom said: “He struck a chord with me when he described religion as a supermarket with something for all cultures.
“What also came across is that we should take time to enjoy everything we do, whether it is in religion or the most simple thing like having a meal or having time with our families, or even when we are at work.
“We should live for the moment – which is not to say that we shouldn’t plan for the future – but not to be so busy as to ignore what is happening round about us,” said Sir Tom.
