Obama Had The Dalai Lama's Scarf In His Pocket During His Swearing In

Lama Surya Das passed on this fascinating bit. Richard Blum, who is the husband of California Senator Diane Feinstein, also happens to be a major supporter of Buddhism. He was up on the platform during the swearing in.

Beforehand, he told Barack Obama that he had with him a white khata -- a silk Tibetan scarf -- given him by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Blum described what happened next in a letter to an associate of the Dalai Lama:

"I offered it to President Obama before the ceremony. I said that I could get it delivered to him later. He said, no, that he was going to take it and have it with him; in fact, it was in his pocket when he was sworn-in."