A Play of the Universe

Snippet of David Letterman’s August 22, 2007 interview with Richard Gere, regarding Gere’s meeting the Dalai Lama for the first time. This is what Gere said:

“The Dalai Lama said, ‘I hear that you’re an actor.’”

“And I said, Yes.”

“And the Dalai Lama asked, ‘When you’re doing this acting thing that you do, and you’re laughing, are you really laughing? When you’re angry, are you really angry? And when you’re crying, are you really crying?’”

“And I gave him an ‘actor’ answer, and said, ‘Well, it’s more effective when you really do it. When you’re really doing the emotion, yes, it’s real.’”

“And he looked very deep inside of me, and he just burst out laughing hysterically. That I would be taking these emotions so seriously.”

“But also, I think the deeper point was, is that we all are manufacturing emotions constantly. They’re not really part of our minds, or really part of our hearts. They’re just, they’re a play, they’re a play of the universe. They’re a play of our own minds.”

There was a long pause, after which David Letterman mumbled, “…I don’t know…I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s beyond me. I went to a state college.”