This interview is just one of the many that took place for “A New Generation of Buddhist Young Practitioners,” the cover feature of Mandala July-August 1998:

When did you start learning about Buddhism?

My mom found the Dharma for herself, and ever since I was able to talk, she was introducing me to prostrations and meditation.

Do you live at a center?

We’re working on getting a center for my mom’s center, Thubten Kunga Center in Boca Raton, Florida, but meanwhile we use people’s houses. If I don’t have school or too much homework, I go to their houses with my mom and meditate with them.

Whom do you pray to?

At night, if it’s not too late and if I don’t have any homework left, I go into my mom’s room and we pray to Palden Lhamo.

What do you like best about the Dharma?

I like prostrating. I do that every morning and every evening before I go to bed. I also like meditation best, because you can do that anywhere: in the line at the grocery store or any time you’re really agitated.

How do you do it?

I do stabilizing meditation – that’s the easiest for me. I concentrate on the lower hairs of my nose and watch my breath.

Do you think it affects people around you?

Well, when I’m calm they’re calm. For example, say there’s a bee: if I’m scared then the bee will get scared too.

You think people work in the same way?

Yes. It’s like the temperature in a room – the way I set it is going to affect everyone else.

Do your friends know you’re Buddhist?

They know I’m Buddhist, but we talk about other things.

If you could share the Dharma with your friends, how would you do it?

Once, when our class was really hectic and lots of people were being sent to the office, my mom talked with the headmaster and asked if she could come do meditation with the kids during one of the classes so they would become less agitated and not be sent to the office. It actually worked.

Every Thursday my mom came to the Social Studies class, and it was really good. During that time no one went to the office. But then the administration told my mom she couldn’t do this anymore.

Do you think this meditation would work for most people?

Yes, it would work for anyone. If you asked someone, “Will you please come to this class with me?” and they said okay, and they were ready to hear it – if they just listened without arguing and then told you what they thought, it would work for anybody.

What is special about the Buddha and the Dharma?

The Buddha is real. That’s why I find it good to believe in him. He was a real person, and if this person can become enlightened, so can you.

If my friend gets a low grade on a test, her mom asks her, “Why didn’t you get a higher grade? All the other girls got a high grade, so if they can do it, so can you.” So if the Buddha did it, why can’t we do it?

I feel that the Dharma gives you an opening. It makes you happy, it makes you feel good about yourself. It’s like an inner exercise.

Have you met Lama Zopa Rinpoche or the Dalai Lama?

I met Lama Zopa, and he told me things aren’t always what they seem.

What do you think about that?

Well, I put it into perspective, because he also gave me a kaleidoscope. I looked through the kaleidoscope and saw what he meant, and my mom explained it even further: it’s as if you’re in a dream. Even when your body isn’t real, it’s just your mind that’s there. It seems like it’s going to be there for ever and ever and ever.

Do you ever think about death or impermanence?

When I was little I was scared about death, and every night I would say a prayer to myself. It would make me not so scared of death. Later on I found out that you can come back where you left off. I was scared that I wouldn’t come back into a Buddhist family, and then I found out that I will be born again into a Buddhist family because I haven’t finished my learning. I’m pretty sure it will happen, or at least I’ll study it later on. Maybe not, but I think so. And in the next life I can reach enlightenment.

Did you meet the Dalai Lama?

I met His Holiness in May.

What was that like?

He was in Atlanta because one of his students was getting his Ph.D., so he was also going to give a teaching. My mom and I flew there, and we wanted to invite him to Florida. After the second session of teachings, I went up to him when it was finished and I handed him a letter asking him to come. I told him, “Please come to Florida, Your Holiness.”

What did he say?

He smiled and he said, “Another occasion.” During the teachings I was sitting in the very front row with the nuns, and he was smiling at me.

How did it make you feel to be around His Holiness?

The whole room was calm. No one was agitated, and everyone seemed so happy, so pleasant. I saw little babies around who were all smiling, none of them were crying. It was a good sensation. I like being around him.

How can you tell whether people are agitated or calm?

I can tell when people are agitated because the room seems to be kind of stuffy. Their faces look mean, and I don’t want to be around them because I might catch it, and then I’ll pass it to my mother and to my friends. I give them “badness,” and they get insulted and get all heavy, and it just spreads and spreads.

Do you think it works the same with good attitudes?

Yes, because if you say something good about someone, they feel good about themselves, and when somebody asks them a question, they feel honest about it.

Do you see yourself going to meditations and doing practice in the future?

Yes, I am going to Nepal this weekend to stay with some nuns and other people at Kopan Monastery. I want to learn a lot.

What do you think of people who go off into the mountains and meditate in caves?

I think it’s good they want to learn and go off into retreat.

What would you like to bring to society? What kinds of qualities would you like to introduce?

Stabilizing meditation, because it brings peacefulness. They don’t have to believe in Buddha or convert to Buddhism, they can just use the technique, and if they try and do it, they can become calm.