I have seen the Dalai Lama four times, and this most recent
time the pieces that I had gathered before seemed to fit together and transform
from some wonderful but for me perhaps impractical advice into a very practical
step by step plan by which much could be accomplished. (I was present when
Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the fourteenth Dalai Lama, spoke at the University
of Miami on October 26th, 2010.)
A Smile is the Same in
Any Language
When he was asked how
he could love all people, how he deals with the rise of a new wave of communism
in Latin America, he responded that one could work with all people through
cooperation, by finding some common ground, some aspect which you share with
them. He then offered that this common ground was that all people want
happiness, want to be happy, and gave the example of his experience with George
Bush.
Cooperation,
Friendship, Trust
The Dalai Lama said that he liked Mr. Bush. (A few people
clapped). Then he suggested that he didn’t necessarily like all of Mr. Bush’s
policies. (More people clapped). He said that the first time he met Mr. Bush,
he kept this to himself, and only after several meetings did he feel able to express
this to him. He suggested that cooperation should be based on friendship, which
requires trust. Trust is built through openness, honesty, and truthfulness, and
it is through this path that positive change can occur.
When my wife spoke with Geshe Sonam Rinchen, a Buddhist monk
and scholar at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Daramshala years
ago, he said “I don’t hate the Chinese. There are too many of them to hate.”
Compassion
“People, even dogs, cats, and birds have compassion. When
you do something nice for them they can show appreciation. Mosquitoes, I don’t know. I watch one land on
me. It puts its tube in, takes blood, and then it flies away. No appreciation.”
A Precious Human Life
“Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to
have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to
waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself. To expand my
heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I
am going to have kind thoughts toward others, I am not going to get angry, or
think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” H.H.
The XIV Dalai Lama (from a tee shirt
purchased in Daramshala)
