The origin of the institution of the Dalai Lama of Tibet can be traced back to more than 600 years, but the relevance of the present 14th Dalai Lama is being increasingly felt by the 21st century world. At the popular level, the most conspicuous indication of this is the official Twitter handle @DalaiLama, which has more than a million and a half (1,536,718 to be exact) followers, as I write this. Another indication is that almost every year His Holiness is among those individuals whose names come up in surveys on influential people in the world. Therefore, as a Beijing-based Chinese scholar, Wang Lixiong, wrote, “The 14th Dalai Lama has now become one of the most influential figures in the international community, being more welcomed in the West than even the West’s own religious leaders.”
In the past 50 years or so, the role and relevance of the 14th Dalai Lama has developed significantly. In 1959 the world knew of him only as a somewhat exotic young leader of a land that was closed to outsiders. Since then he has been able to share his thoughts and wisdom with the international community transforming him into “one of the greatest men of peace the world has ever known,” in the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
His Holiness blends tradition and modernity, virtually with ease, despite the fact that he spent the first 25 years of his life in a somewhat cloistered environment in Tibet. At one setting he could be a formal religious master, leading a ritual laden ceremony from a high throne, as he will be doing during the Kalachakra teachings here in Washington, D.C. At another, he could be a playful individual extending his hand to a perplexed child or an equally perplexed security official who may be on duty at a venue of his public engagement.
He may discuss the intricate Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, using highly technical terms, at one venue but at another venue he may give a down to earth message in “my broken English.” He may talk about the importance of religious harmony in one venue and slip right into discussing quantum physics at another. His Holiness ably adapts himself, whether it is a prayer ritual in traditional Tibetan cultural and spiritual environment in India or a meeting with groups of scientists in a university in the West. Whatever the nature of the event, His Holiness has shown his ability to adjust to the situation.
After having to flee his homeland Tibet in 1959, life in exile has strangely enough enabled His Holiness to have interaction with the outside world. In the process he has evolved from a distinctly Tibetan leader to that of an internationally recognized spiritual master, thinker and statesman. Archbishop Desmond Tutu puts it well when he says, “The Dalai Lama’s counsel is sought by world leaders, religious leaders of many different faiths and ordinary Tibetans, who make a treacherous journey across the Himalayan mountain passes – risking arrest, imprisonment, even death – simply to be in his presence.”
His simple message and pragmatic approach have attracted all sections of the international community. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in 2007, “To Tibetan Buddhists, he is the earthly manifestation of the living Buddha. To the international community, he is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. To millions of believers and admirers, he is a source of wisdom and compassion. To young people, His Holiness is a positive example of how to make the world a better place.”
The universality of His Holiness’ message that makes him relevant, particularly in today’s world, can be seen from his dedication to the promotion of human values and religious harmony, which he counts as two of his three commitments (the third being finding a political solution to the Tibetan issue). His Holiness feels his efforts in these two fields in the past decades have had some impact in encouraging people to come closer on the basis of mutual awareness, mutual respect and mutual admiration.
Let me dwell a bit on his two commitments. In terms of promotion of human values, His Holiness feels that everyone should treat differences in caste, creed, color, etc. secondary to the more fundamental appreciation of the sameness of human beings, who want happiness and shun suffering. This is a simple message, but placed in the context of the Dalai Lama’s worldview, it certainly gets increased resonance.
His Holiness believes that there is an essential role for compassion in the flourishing of human life and it needs to be incorporated in our daily life. He says that while the 20th century saw much scientific and technological development at the same time it also turned out to be a most violent century. He feels that scientific achievement was used for destructive objectives and that this shows the limitation of material development. His Holiness therefore says human intelligence needs to be guided in a constructive manner to develop a sense of responsibility for the wellbeing of others.
Giving a historical overview of development of human values, His Holiness has said that in ancient times (when people led a simple lifestyle), a balance in life was maintained through reliance on religious faith. In modern times, he says, population increase, a competitive society and more desires are leading to problems for which a solution is not found by mere reliance in a faith. He has said the development of a compassionate outlook was a solution in such situations. His Holiness says there are two types of compassion, one that is biased and limited and the other unbiased and unlimited.
His Holiness says the practice of this type of compassion can mainly be through education in secular ethics. He has said that secular ethics needs to be practiced based on three reasoning. The first is on the basis of having a common experience. He says when a child is born the mother provides the maximum affection to it. Children who receive affection when they were young grow up having a calm mind whereas those who did not receive affection may see abuse and have a sense of insecurity.
Secondly, His Holiness says it is a matter of common sense to understand that where there is affection (whether in towns, villages or even individual homes ) people are happier. Similarly, he has said scientists have found that even among monkeys young ones who receive mother’s care are much happier than those that did not receive such affection.
His Holiness says the third reason for the need to promote secular ethics is because of the scientific evidence about its positive impact. He has said scientific research has shown that constant fear and hatred are eating away our immune system while individuals who are calm and compassionate sometimes even show an increase in their positive body elements.
His Holiness has outlined his thoughts on the promotion of human values in his book, “Ethics for the New Millennium.”
On the issue of promotion of religious harmony, His Holiness talks about the oneness of all religions in that despite philosophical differences they all convey the same message of encouraging us to be good human beings. He thinks that at one level there is philosophical difference, which is a reality. At another level, he said all religions preached the message of compassion, love and tolerance, etc. He has referred to the nature of all religions to claim some kind of exclusivism and suggested that people need to think deeply to go beyond this superficial perception. His Holiness has encouraged all religious believers to prioritize by treating the philosophical differences as secondary to the more important common messages. Over the past decades, His Holiness has encouraged dialogues between Buddhists and followers of other religions. He has even incorporated a practical aspect to it by inviting believers from other religions like Christianity and Judaism to spend some time in Tibetan Buddhist monastic institutions and encouraging Tibetan Buddhist monks to spend time among Christian monastic communities.
Just as His Holiness feels strongly about the promotion of inter-religious harmony, he stresses the need for harmony within the various Buddhist denominations. In an address to participants of an international Tibetan Buddhist conference in October 2010, His Holiness said that while efforts have been made to promote harmony with other religious traditions like Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Judaism, etc., not enough was being done to promote harmony within the Buddhist tradition. His Holiness gave the examples of inadequate contact between the Pali tradition and the Sanskrit tradition as a case in point. Similarly, even within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, His Holiness feels sometimes there is a tendency to give emphasis to the different branches and remaining stuck there thus failing to recognize the basic commonality, which is the main trunk.
His Holiness has outlined his views on the promotion of religious harmony in his book, “Toward a True Kinship of Faiths: How the World’s Religions Can Come Together.”
Concerning His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s third commitment, which is finding a solution to the Tibetan problem, he has steadfastly been a friend, a philosopher and a guide to the Tibetan people.
In “A Tibetan Revolutionary: The Political Life and Times of Bapa Phuntso Wangye,” the veteran Tibetan communist leader, Bapa Phuntso Wangye, (who lives in Beijing) says, “Today we should recognize that the Dalai Lama is the key to the issue of Tibet; he is the main effective factor upon which [the Tibetan issue] depends.”
His Holiness has also acted as a reformer of Tibetan religious, political and social structures. Through his own practice, he has been making Tibetan Buddhism relevant to today’s world. He has criticized the tendency of Tibetan Buddhist practitioners to focus on rituals like chanting prayers without understanding their meaning. He has said that these had the risk of losing the essence of the Buddha Dharma and turning it into a social custom. He has said serious attention was not being paid on developing inner spiritual qualities. Accordingly, he has said that priority should always be given to the essence of the Buddhist philosophy rather than the ritual aspect, which can and will change depending on the situation and the environment.
His Holiness has also expanded on the well-founded justification of Buddhism as a rational religion to alter those theological perceptions of Tibetan Buddhists that did not conform to scientific reality. This included asking the Tibetan Buddhist monks to accept the earth as round instead of the traditional view that it is flat, and removing the mystery behind the institution of the Dalai Lama, thereby forcing the very many lama institutions to follow suit.
Also even as he continues to strive for a non-violent political solution to the Tibetan issue, he has also worked to introduce, implement and institutionalize a democratic system of governance in the Tibetan society. In his statement on March 10, 2011, the 52nd anniversary of the Tibetan people’s peaceful uprising of the 1959, His Holiness has said that this was a cherished aspiration since his childhood “and in the few years when I held effective power in Tibet, I managed to make some fundamental changes.” In the post-1959 period His Holiness has taken significant steps to make the Tibetan administrative system as democratic as possible, including a system of directly elected members of parliament. Today, the Central Tibetan Administration, that represents the Tibetan people, includes all three pillars of a democracy, and the Chairman of the Tibetan Cabinet (Kalon Tripa), is now directly elected by the people. As per his desire, expressed in his March 10 statement, His Holiness has sent a message to the Tibetan Parliament on March 14, 2011 asking it to make “the necessary amendments to the Charter and other related regulations … so that I am completely relieved of formal authority.” The Parliament, which first appealed to His Holiness to reconsider subsequently set up a committee to look into the issue, after he rejected their appeal. As I write this the Parliament is scheduled to convene a second Tibetan National General Meeting from May 21 to 23, 2011 to consult the wider Tibetan community on certain aspects of the proposed changes, after which it would hold an additional session to amend the Charter. The changes may include a formulation of a future role for the Dalai Lama. Whatever the outcome is by then, one thing would be clear: the Tibetan people would not only have taken a dramatic leap in the democratization process, but also a similarly significant psychological leap in redefining the relationship between the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people.
His Holiness has also redefined the notion of Buddhism by saying he categorizes it into three parts. He says there is the Buddhist religion (which he says is the business of Buddhists and not of others). Then there are the Buddhist science and philosophy, which he says goes beyond the religion and can and should be studied even by non-Buddhists. He believes these have the capacity to contribute to the development of world civilization.
Accordingly, one particular field in which the Dalai Lama has made a distinct impact in today’s world is in his interaction with the scientific community. Over the past several decades, His Holiness has had a steady and positive dialogue with the scientific community on how science and spiritualism can collaborate in the promotion of human values. Beginning with “small, private dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and a few scientists and scholars,” the process has now become institutionalized in the form of the Mind and Life Dialogues, embracing “a variety of poignant, contemporary topics and questions including Physics and Cosmology, Neuroplasticity, Destructive Emotions, Education, Altruism, Economics and Ethics.” These dialogues are now organized by the Mind & Life Institute and participated by leading scientists and philosophers from all over the world.
At a parallel level, leading universities in the United States, including Stanford, Emory and University of Wisconsin in Madison, as well as scientific institutions in other countries have paid serious attention to Tibetan Buddhist science as expounded by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and are in the process of undertaking a variety of scientific researches into these.
In a way the widespread following that His Holiness has comes from that part of the community that have some sort of connection with each of his three commitments.
His taking up the cause of the people of Tibet through a non-violent, pragmatic and reasonable approach have received the admiration of political leaders as well as people who work for peace and social justice. Nobel Laureate Prof. Elie Wiesel puts it well when he said, “Admired by millions all over the world, true to his tradition and open to all others, forever ready to listen and willing to learn, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a man of profound spiritual conviction who believes that like all people, his own in Tibet have the right to live a sovereign, religious and cultural life.” Similarly, Mr. Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, had this to say of the Dalai Lama. “This man without a home is loved in millions of homes. This man without a country is honored in country after country.”
Similarly, his being the pre-eminent leader of Tibetan Buddhism has meant that his followers not only include Tibetans but also several million more non-Tibetans who revere him and look upon him as their spiritual refuge. They range from the Buddhists along the Himalayan region to Mongolia, to the Russian Federation, and to the Western world at large. “There has been a growing interest to learn and understand Buddhism in the three Buddhist Republics and also in the rest of mainland Russia,” says Telo Rinpoche, who is revered as the Shadjin Lama, the head of the Buddhists in the Kalmyk Republic in the Russian Federation.
More interestingly there is an increasing number of Chinese Buddhists, within China as well as outside, who appreciate the Tibetan Buddhist teachings. Every year several Chinese Buddhists from China as well as from South East Asia journey to India to receive teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. A learned Chinese Buddhist Master Sheng Yen had a dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New York in 1998 during which he said, “After hearing the teachings of His Holiness during the past two days, I feel that Tibetan Buddhism is rich in its explication of Dharma, especially the stages of practice, and in its detailed elaboration of doctrinal classification and methods of practice.”
The Chinese interest in Tibetan Buddhism has a historical context that is detailed by Prof. Gray Tuttle in his book, “Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China.” Tuttle “reveals the surprising role Buddhism and Buddhist leaders played in the development of the modern Chinese state and in fostering relations between Tibet and China…” Although Chinese leaders, including the current Communist regime, seek to use Tibetan Buddhism to serve their narrow political ends, the Dalai Lama has been sending the message that it could be a common ground that will enable the Tibetan and the Chinese people to come together in peace and harmony.
The role and standing of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is succinctly summed up by Prof. Robert Thurman, (who has written a book, “Why the Dalai Lama Matters”) when he says, “The Dalai Lama matters on the world plane. I call him the world leader although he does not have a country today and has no (political) recognition. He is an ethical and spiritual leader, but also a social and political leader; because he brings ethics and spirituality into politics. It is where it should be.
“Politics should be about truth and ethics. Politicians should serve people’s ideals. The Dalai Lama brings this (into politics).
“All leaders who have met him agree with this, except for the leaders of China who say that he is not a nice fellow; although, they perhaps know, but can’t say it.”
There could be a time when the Chinese leadership sees the Dalai Lama positively, as the rest of the world and quite many Chinese people do, which would be beneficial to the country itself. But until then, China’s loss is the world’s gain.
–This article originally published in the Kalachakra for World Peace 2011 magazine.
