By JM Rieger and Niels Lesniewski

It was a historic morning in the Senate when His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, gave the Senate’s opening prayer on Thursday in place of Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black. Attendance, however, left something to be desired. A good number of staffers were gathered on the floor of the chamber and in the galleries, but the chamber was by no means packed. Perhaps a dozen senators were present when Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., gaveled the Senate into session and yielded to the Dalai Lama for the morning prayer. “We make our world. Speak or act with a pure mind, and happiness will follow you,” His Holiness said. “This is my favorite prayer. Daily I pray this.”