‘Be realistic, transform tragedy into strength’[Monday, 10 January 2011, 2:18 p.m.]
NEW DELHI:
By adopting a realistic approach to problems, His Holiness the Dalai
Lama said one can transform tragedy into strength no matter how big the
obstacle is.“With a calm mind, we see reality more clearly but
a disturbed mind destroys inner peace because it cannot utilize human
intelligence properly,” His Holiness said. “The enemies, the
destructive emotions, are inside you and only you can destroy your
inner peace.”His Holiness was speaking to a crowd of over
3,000 on the different levels of happiness at the 19th Tushita Dharma
Celebrations organised yesterday at Shanker Lal Hall in Modern School.Defining
happiness as the state of deep satisfaction, His Holiness said
happiness can be achieved on sensorial as well as mental level. Even
animals experience sensorial satisfaction which is physically-attuned
and therefore short-lived. But human beings can achieve a deeper,
genuine sense of satisfaction on the mental level by using human
intelligence.Sometimes listening to devotional music or
looking at holy images provide sensorial satisfaction that complement
the deeper practice of attaining deeper satisfaction on the mental
level, said His Holiness. He said he has always found the
image of Mother Mary carrying a baby in her arms as a very powerful
symbol of compassion, love and kindness. Once when he was on a
pilgrimage to visit a small Mary statue in Fatima, His Holiness had a
very profound experience. “We were coming back after holding a silent
meditation and for no apparent reason I looked back and saw Mary’s
statue smiling at me,” His Holiness said. Different religious
traditions whether theistic or non-theistic practice different
methods to reduce extreme self centeredness or ego. Theistic traditions
such as Christianity believe in total submission to God which in some
ways reduce self-centered acts. Non-theistic traditions such as
Buddhism and Jainism believe in the law of causality which essentially
means cultivating positive Karma or actions to achieve long-term
satisfaction. Buddhists believe that through positive actions, one can
prevent future negative actions without relying on external factors.Cultivating
positive qualities of warmheartedness and a genuine sense of concern
for other’s well-being has nothing to do with being a believer or a
non-believer, His Holiness said. These are inner secular qualities
necessary for a happy life, not some abstruse concepts of next life or
heaven and hell, he added. Dr Renuka Singh, director of the
New Delhi-based Tushita Mahayana Meditation Center said His Holiness’
teachings have immense relevance to today’s violence and
pollution-ridden globalised world.His Holiness released a book
‘Becoming Buddha’ published by the Center to coincide with its 30th
anniversary.
