Compassion — and action?

When the Dalai Lama spoke of compassion Saturday at Qwest Field, he talked in grand terms: about his concern for all 6 billion people on Earth, about fostering peace between world leaders.

When 7-year-old Isobel Williamson, of Seattle, spoke of compassion, she talked about being nice to people with skinned knees.

On the Dalai Lama's second of five days of public appearances in Seattle, the emphasis was on putting compassion into actions — large or small.

And from the Tibetan Buddhist leader's speech, to the dozens of organizations in a resource fair, to the people who attended, there were many examples of the varying forms such action could take.

Isobel came with her mother, Erica Jorgensen, because they're members of the intergenerational choir that performed at the event.

Asked how she's practiced compassion in the past 24 hours, Isobel said she gave her brother a chance to hold Pebbles, the hamster she got on her last birthday.

Asked what compassion means, she thought for a moment, then said: "When somebody skins their knee or something like that, I remember when that happened to me, and it really hurt. I feel compassion for them and try to help them."

The afternoon's program started with drummers, a Native American ceremony and a procession of hundreds of people representing various cultures.

Then William Bell, president and CEO of Casey Family Programs, took to the stage.

"What will you do with your compassion?" he asked the 50,817 in attendance. "Will you keep it buried in yourself? Or will you release that power through your actions?"

Gov. Christine Gregoire said she wanted "our government to be compassionate" but it is the acts of individuals that help ensure children live happier lives.

Then the Dalai Lama was introduced, to a standing ovation.

He urged people to use nonviolent dialogue to resolve problems — whether at the family, community, national or global level, saying the 21st century should be the "century of dialogue."

Nonviolence is not just the absence of violence, he said, but facing problems with determination, vision and a wider perspective, while "deliberately resisting using force."

To do that, "external disarmament" is needed, he said, advocating elimination of all nuclear weapons.

But people also need "inner disarmament" — to not let emotions like suspicion and fear take control. To achieve that, simply praying or meditating isn't enough, he said. Compassion has to be promoted.

The Dalai Lama reiterated some of the points he made during public appearances Friday, including his belief that compassion has a biological component, and his call for compassion to extend to not just one's friends but also one's enemies.

"Everyone has right to overcome suffering."

"Six billion human beings are ultimate source of my happiness," he said, so it's in his interest to be concerned about all of them.

He said world leaders might be able to act more compassionately by gathering, along with their families, for a week or two with no politics, no business, no agenda. Their children should play together.

Once they know each other as human beings, "then maybe when some serious differences come, they can try to form some effort."

Despite the disasters and violence shown on the news each day, he said, he believes the world is getting better and wiser.

"Make effort without losing hope," he said. "I think this century will be better century."

Whether the five days of events will lead to lasting change — "That's the million dollar question, isn't it," said Erik Kuhn, 38, an insurance risk manager from Seattle. "It will if there's community follow-up."

Kuhn's friend, Jim Woolley, 37, who works at a grocery store in Seattle, is already acting on an individual level.

In the past year, he's tried to intentionally focus on compassion, openness and honesty. Throughout his day, in various situations, he stops and asks himself if he's acting according to those ideals.

Woolley originally wasn't interested in coming Saturday, thinking it would merely be a huge event with lots of vendors and even more hype.

But then he thought of the potential for a gathering where so many people shared the same intention. When that occurs, change might happen "on a subtle level with the collective psyche. There could be a lot of change that comes from the event that isn't attributed to it."

Hilary Wogau, 52, a psychotherapist from Vashon Island, came with her partner and 9-year-old son. They try to make compassionate acts a part of their life by, for instance, donating vegetables they've grown to local food banks.

And they'll go home, she said, to figure out more needs in their island community that they can respond to. She thinks the time is right for the compassion message.

"I think with the economy the way it is and all the things happening in the world, I think people want to have hope. They want to do things differently. ... I think the Dalai Lama inspires people. And I think people are willing to hear it."

Sure, any lasting change would require much more broader, sustained action than a five-day event, Wogau acknowledged.

"But if you don't inspire, you won't have action."

Lonette Dominguez, a 52-year-old social worker from Auburn, came with daughters Ayanna, 12, and Marisa, 20.

As they drove to Qwest Field, they had talked about how to be more compassionate. Dominguez's daughters realized then that they were sometimes less compassionate with their family than they were with others.

Tapping her little sister's arm, Marisa said: "This is one of the people I need to be more compassionate to," meaning she would try not to yell if her little sister wears her clothes, and would take more time to listen when Ayanna wants to talk.

The situation in Tibet, though not the focus of the day, was acknowledged briefly by speaker Lama Tenzin Dhonden, the Dalai Lama's personal emissary for peace and a co-founder of Seeds of Compassion, which is organizing the gathering.

The Dalai Lama and other exiled Tibetans had to create their lives again in India after fleeing Tibet in 1959, Dhonden said.

"He had to create everything to keep his people alive — physically, mentally and spiritually. And he has succeeded."

The danger in Tibet now is "clear and it's growing, as you have seen recently," Dhonden said. Autonomy would be good for Tibet and also good for China, but that would require China to engage in serious dialogue, he said.

Outside Qwest Field, the Tibet and China situation drew demonstrators on both sides.

About a dozen local Chinese came to the event on their own, expecting to join a protest already going on there. When they saw none, they formed their own small group on a sidewalk by the southwest entrance to Qwest Field.

They handed out packets explaining their view of the history of China and Tibet and held posters saying Tibet has been under Chinese rule since the 13th century. One poster displayed photographs of Han Chinese killed during the Tibetan riots in Llasa last month.

Junyu Liu, of Seattle, said he was protesting the biased coverage of Tibetan-Chinese relations in the American media.

"It's not balanced," he said. "That's not good for Chinese, not good for Tibetans, not good for Americans."

About 30 local students affiliated with the national organization Students for a Free Tibet gathered outside Qwest Field to sell pins and raise money for the Olympic Action Fund, which funds protests relating to the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

Tashi Chogyal, 21, a politics and Asian-studies undergraduate at the University of Puget Sound, said he and his fellow students hope "to foster as many nonviolent protests as we can."

The idea is to make it too expensive for China to hold onto Tibet, he said. Chogyal's parents left Tibet in 1959.

Brandy Leitch, 19, an undergraduate at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, said, "If we're going to make substantial change, now's the time."

"We've got the international spotlight on a very important issue, and now's the time to use it."

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com