His Holiness the Dalai Lama visits Nara, the ancient Buddhist capital in Japan[Monday, 8 November 2010, 3:15 p.m.]
Nara, Japan: Early
on a bright and shining morning, His Holiness began the second day of
his autumn tour of Japan by traveling across the Deer Park at the heart
of the ancient Buddhist capital of Nara, to the modern Nara Prefecture
Auditorium, where 250 or so Koreans filled a large room, standing up
and greeting him when he appeared. To this Buddhist group, including
many monks and nuns, he delivered a rigorous Buddhist talk on
shunyata, and the powers of the mind.Since our mind is
sometimes afflicted with delusions, he says, what is needed to overcome
them is in the mind, too. Wisdom, in short, which allows us to see past
distortions to the true reality of things. That’s why Buddhism has so
much material about the mind. Joining the group in a recitation of the
Heart Sutra, he discussed the difference between focusing meditation
and analytical meditation and talked about the importance, in the
latter, of asking questions. “Wisdom means understanding
emptiness,” he said, “and once you understand emptiness, you learn that
the idea of an independent self is an illusion. Thus wisdom leads to
bodhichita, or infinite compassion. But without making a sustained
effort, none of this will happen.”His Holiness then proceeded,
by car, across another stretch of the Deer Park, dozens of deer
watching him among the groves of trees turning color in the autumn
light, to Todaiji, the great central temple of Nara, dating from around
the year 752, and joined a group of monks from different local groups
in praying before the Daibutsu, or Great Buddha. Huge crowds of
visiting tourists from the West, local Japanese and school-tour groups
lined the path to the temple as he approached the central hall in the
sun, calling out to him and jostling to shake his hand.After
paying their respects to the Great Buddha, His Holiness and the monks
went to a sleek modern auditorium not far away in the Todaiji complex,
and His Holiness delivered a talk on Buddhist practice to about 350
people, many of them monks and their families. He described his
own practice, his constant checking of his observance of his central
vows, the review he makes at the end of each day of how well he has
honored these vows.You cannot make Buddhism simple, he
stressed; there are no short-cuts. The only thing is to study. In
Wisconsin, in the U.S., over 200 public schools have, since September,
instituted the teaching of meditation, because scientists there and
elsewhere have found what positive results it can have. “It can
be better to print sutras and distribute them,” he said, “than just to
build more statues of the Buddha. What we need is teaching, study of
the Dharma, and statues do not teach us. Rather than building a grand
monastery, it’s sometimes better to build a learning center, going to
the roof of things. The 21st century Buddhist must have full knowledge
of science and secular matters, and full knowledge of Buddhism, too.”After
lunch with his hosts at Todaiji, and other monks, of all denominations,
from Nara’s Buddhist community–over talk about the importance of
religious tolerance–His Holiness returned to the central temple, often
called the largest wooden building in the world (its great Buddha the
largest bronze statue). Proceeding in through cheering crowds once
again, he took his place in front of the temple’s huge wooden back
doors, autumn light streaming through the maples and changing foliage
all around, and delivered a talk on how we can work with karma, or the
law of causality, to contribute to peace and the environment.As
2000 or so sat before him on folding chairs in the autumn light–large
groups of Koreans, many schoolchildren, Japanese who had traveled from
far away–he spoke how often, if you use force, it leads to
counter-force, and only more violence. “In the short term a gun is very
decisive; in the long run it cannot solve any problem.”Force,”
he explained, “is an unrealistic method. And any unrealistic method
never brings a satisfactory result. That’s quite clear, scientifically
proven. Even if you want to hit someone, if you’re angry, and you flail
out, you may only hit your hand!” As the sun came in through the trees,
His Holiness asked if the audience would mind his speaking a little
longer and, in answer to their cheers, expanded on the importance of
peace and took questions from every corner, concentrating especially on
the schoolchildren. “Investigate,” he emphasized, “study work, work
hard” and almost everything is possible. [Report filed by Pico Iyer, famous author and essayist.]
