You don't normally expect a Buddhist monk to repair cars in his spare time, but the Dalai Lama used to.

In fact, the Tibetan spiritual leader referred to cars when he discussed the suffering induced by change in his speech Wednesday night in a packed Sanders Theater: "We have happiness when we first buy a car. But after we've had it for a while, we experience a great deal of suffering."

The Dalai Lama spent three days in Boston this week, speaking publicly twice, attending receptions and participating in a seminar at the Divinity School--all part of his 46-day visit to promote "compassion and love and closer understanding between the various types of religions," he said Wednesday.

Stressing inner stability even in the face of failure, he said, "If you become tense, you lose peace, you lose sleep, you could not eat, with that strong emotional feeling...At the same time, your family, even your own dogs and cats will suffer and lose peace, too."

Speaking through an interpreter during most of his speech, the Dalai Lama said that when man achieves lasting levels of a subtler consciousness, his coarser levels of awareness cannot operate. He also described different conceptions of the nature of the self, or "I."

He added that men should direct half their energy internally and the other half externally. "If you look inside, our head is not big, but there are many places to explore," he said.

One student said afterwards--with more than a touch of awe in her voice--that "he sounded just like a philosophy book."