Not a single person I've told has believed this story, but I must share it here:

About two years ago the Dalai Lama visited the NYC area to give lectures and various other events, and so did his troop of monks/followers/im ignorant sorry. This was mid-summer, sometime in July, and I was on my way back from a preppy, pretentious business leadership conference in D.C. (college resume, whatever. The bus from DC to NYC was your average charter bus, about half-full with sweaty businessmen and the like..

A good couple hours into the trip, the bus makes a stop at a service center/mall-type-thing, with the McDonalds and so forth, and after a proper 30-minute wait, the hydraulics hiss from the front of the bus and it leans down slightly, opening the doors. And, as you may have guessed, in trots a dozen robed monks and the big D himself. How do I know it was him? because I went up to him, bowed, he insisted that I sit next to him, and I held up a picture of him from Google Images to his face to make sure it was the same dude. He was cracking up and was laughing heartily the entire time I was with him-- his laugh is warmth in its purest form, I swear-- and then said goodbye and I went back to my seat. Smiled at him on the way out, he took a moment to say goodbye to everyone else who approached him, glided out like a sentient golden-red cloud. Did i take a picture? No, I didn't ask out of respect, and no I dont regret it, the guy is an embodiment of happiness and it felt superficial and insulting to do so. Wicked experience, I get every descrption youre talking about