I first encountered the Karmapa, who is seen as the future of Tibetan Buddhism, just days before his trip to the US during the spring of 2008 and in September of 2009 I organized for him to spend a day at the American Embassy School. (See article below.) Through organizing this event I got to spend quite a bit of time with His Holiness which is a huge honor and privilege. His English is minimal and conversations with him withoutthe translator are limited and he tends to keep conversation light and humorous but his teachings are incredibly inspiring and the day I spent with him at our school was undoubtedly one of the most special days of my life. Last night I was invited to have a private meeting with him (I also brought my Principal and the Coordinator of our Indian Studies program--the three of us were the team that really brought HHK to our school) where I presented him with a beautiful book written by one of his student’s who is a dear friend of mine about mindful teaching.  During my second private meeting with HHK the night before he came to our school I asked him what mindfulness meant. He said that it was so much more than awareness—it was really more about power and confidence in our ability to transform situations and cultivate boundless hope. Yesterday during our meeting we mostly joked around and spoke about his time at our school and with our students. When I asked him for his thoughts on an ethical, ecological, spiritual approach to education he looked at me, smiled and said: “We talk about this next time.” He has agreed to write a forward for a publication I am putting together about mindfulness in education so I’m sure I’ll get the answer to my questions at some point :)