By Chris Snellgrove | Published
On paper, you would probably assume that Star Trek and the Dalai Lama have little in common. After all, the first is the longtime science fiction franchise created by Gene Roddenberry and the second is the spiritual leader of Tibet. However, everything he took was an episode of The next generation To bring together the best of both worlds (so to speak). While turning the Star Trek: The next generation The episode of season 3 “The Ensignes of Command”, the producers and actors of Trek were able to meet the entourage of the Dalai Lama, and they even took a photo with the Brent Spiner data actor.
Star Trek & The Dalai Lama
It is a story that was almost lost because of the time but which was, ironically, discovered thanks to a time travel film. While working on an article on Star Trek: First contactThe writer Jeff Greenwald began to hear rumors that the Dalai Lama had visited the whole of The next generation. It was a fairly wild rumor, but the fearless journalist knew that this famous monk had a telescope when he was a child and was interested in cosmology in adulthood. Given this, it was not really a section to imagine him as a fan of the most influential science fiction franchise on television.
The most exciting part of this rumor was the assertion that when he personally visited the Star Trek: The next generation Together, the Dalai Lama posed for an image with Brent Spiner, better known for playing Android, Data. Greenwald had almost lacked any ways to drop this rumor when he received an unexpected gift. One without name Traveler The staff member had heard of the journalist by trying to bring this story together and sent him the original photo slide via Fedex.
Once Greenwald obtained the photo, he discovered that rumors were only half. The image really shows the entourage of the Buddhist monk on tour Star Trek: The next generation And take a photo with Brent Spiner (which was in full suit and makeup as data), but there was no sign of Dalai Lama himself. At the time, Greenwald thought it was a fairly fair bet that this emblematic religious figure had to be a fan of The next generation And that his busy schedule simply prevented him from personally visiting the set.
While Jeff Greenwald had to work very hard to get this charming photo, many Star Trek fans had much easier to see this photo of the entourage of the Dalai Lama. Indeed, the image was included on the VHS release of the United Kingdom of “The Ensignes of Command”. If you did not have these bands on the other side of the pond, this image is quite surprised, and it continues to delight the fans who discover it every year.
While Gene Roddenberry was very prudent to include religion in Star Trek, new shows like Strange new worlds explored the most spiritual side of this famous franchise. It turns out that even the golden age of Trek did not call upon the Dalai Lama itself.
And this unexpected intersection of science fiction and spirituality has certainly been up to the motto of the franchise, going daringly where Roddenberry’s dream had never been before.
Source: Living room
