A blessed afternoon with Dalai Lama
I still could not believe my luck as I saw His Holiness Dalai Lama crossing the stage to the microphone and greeting the audience. on June 9, 2007.. I mean, last January I was watching a video about Tibet and Dalai Lama and was thinking of how lucky I would be if I could meet him.
And this afternoon in the chilly Melbourne afternoon I saw him. A beautiful soul who becomes the very symbol of peace and hope for this planet. A great leader of a great nation that is not officially recognized by the United Nations (heh…) but continues to strive for a better fate and life of Tibet and the Tibetans. Not only that; he also relentlessly works for a better world by spreading messages of love and peace. A beacon of hope and love that always reminds us that peace and happiness is found within, and you cannot make a peaceful world unless you are in peace with yourself.
Topic of the day in the MC Labour Park, Princess Park Stadium was ‘Universal Responsibility’. Herewith I provide a summary of His Holiness’ point of thoughts in this very blessed public speech attended by at least 20,000 people, who I believe consisted of not only local Melbournians, but also Australians from other parts of the country, and international residents like me.
I should first say that Dalai Lama asked us to see him as a human being, not as Dalai Lama. For him, we are also fellow human beings, not people from different cultural, religious, or geographical backgrounds. Then, and only then we can begin our dialogs and understanding. Well, I think it’s rather impossible for me to see him ‘just’ as a human being; but I understand what he meant. And that only made me love him more.
On global warming and over population
I do not deliberately put this section upfront because I am an environmentalist and an ecologist, but because His Holiness did address this matter first hand. Dalai Lama said that humanity now faces one challenge: over population. Over population and unsustainable life style leads to global warming, a really serious challenge to humanity; beyond the reach of individual capacity to deal with it alone. Global warming is a common threat and also common interest of the entire planet, and hence humankind has to develop a great sense of responsibility and concern in general. In essence, this global warming is our own creation, and we have to address it ourselves.
By the way, see my review on Global Climate Change and Spirituality here (Global Warming is also a Spiritual Issue).
On Compassion
In this century, the concept of ‘we’ and ‘they’ is irrelevant. If the rest of the world is in peace, you will get peace. If other parts of the world are in trouble, you eventually will get trouble. In that sense, anger, fear, hatred and jealousy are obstacles for one world.
Compassion can bring people together. Without even touching matters of religion, next life, heaven (or hell for that matter), we need what Dalai Lama called ‘warm-heartedness’. Compassions and concerns towards other people’s welfare are what the world needs now. But there is a difference between real compassion and biased/limited compassion. Biased/limited compassion is based on others’ attitudes to you. That is a love and hate relationship, and it is not healthy. Limited compassion brings more fear, frustration, anger, hatred and jealousy.
Real compassion, on the other hand, is not biased. It does not consider the attitude of the person we give our compassion to; but rather on their rights to achieve happiness. Unbiased compassion can extend to your enemy, without any reasons. Unlimited compassion brings inner strength, self confidence, reducing fear, jealousy and frustration.
It is also important to note Dalai Lama’s comment on religion. One can be a good person without religion. But without warm-heartedness, without compassion, one cannot be a happy person, for he/she will not have any sense of concerns at all. Then, without warm-heartedness and compassion, one will have a sense of insecurity, loneliness, and helplessness. Eventually, drugs and alcohol will be the outlet.
On global responsibility
Sense of global responsibility is based on infinite compassion that is trained through awareness or reasoning. The seed of the training is compassion. It should be noted that even Buddha said that the faith of a sentient being completely depends on their own actions. We ourselves created our problems. The methods to overcome the problems must come from us, not from God.
The concept of ‘we/they’, ‘black/white’ etc are no longer relevant. It was so in the ancient times, but not now. If your neighbour is destroyed, you will be destroyed. Compiling weapons is a waste, a useless action. In this regard, Dalai Lama suggested that we should aim for demilitarised world. It is not possible to achieve it now; but we should start it in mind. We should aim for internal and external disarmament.
Peaceful world does not mean ‘no more problems’, and methods to address those problems should be found through dialogs, as opposed to force. This century is the century of dialog, and we have to include media people to educate the public on the importance of peace.
On Tibet’s fate as a nation
From the local point of view, Dalai Lama admitted that Tibet is almost hopeless. Yet, from the global level, there is hope. There are changes in China; its leaders shift from prioritising economy to harmony. In short, Chinese leaders are now more realistic, many Chinese show interests in Tibetan culture, and there is hope for better harmony. However, yesterday His Holiness also expressed his concerns that if China does not allow autonomy for Tibet, the Tibetan culture will finish in 15 years. See this link for more information.
On suicide bombers and general image of Islam
I was particularly interested in Dalai Lama’s comment on this particular question. His Holiness answered by stating that even Buddha had some mischievous disciples. It is quite natural for any religions to have ‘mischievous’ people in the system.
After 9/11, when the whole world of Islam was considered militant, His Holiness stood up and defended Islam. He said that it was wrong to generalize all Moslems as bad due to the actions of suicide bombers. Imperfection like this also happens in other religions; Christian, Hindu, even Buddhism. And, he added with a chuckle, ‘Who knows? Perhaps Heaven might not be perfect either!’
By the way, before Dalai Lama’s speech began, the committee (which I am sure consists mostly on volunteers) had played a very nice video presentation, featuring interfaith peace among several religions, including Islam, Christian, Hindu and Buddhism. The video interviewed youth leaders from several religions, and I am especially interested with a scarf-covered young lady from a Middle East country (I apologise for missing her country of origin), as she talked of peace and understanding with apparent loving kindness in her eyes. She basically said that after knowing more people from different faiths, dialogs were unavoidable. She then gradually came to the understanding that religions are mostly different in the way of expressing their beliefs, hence, in words. But as we go deeper into the meaning, all religions are the same. Hence, living together in diversity of religion and culture is not an impossible thing.
On the fate of indigenous Aborigines in Australia
Dalai Lama did not comment a lot on the fate of indigenous Australians, except that the Aborigines have been living in rather imbalance situations compared to the rest of Australians here. However, His Holiness did visit an Aboriginal community in Bendigo during the inauguration of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion near the Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery at Myers Flat, north-west of Bendigo yesterday. There, Dalai Lama was greeted by the elders with an ancient cleansing ceremony, much older than Buddhism itself. Click here for the detailed news. It was said that a woman shed her tears as His Holiness walked in front of her. I can understand her. I myself cried when I caught a glimpse of His Holiness entering the podium at least 200 meters away from me this afternoon.
By the way, after many months of negotiations, Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd and Prime Minister John Howard grasped the opportunity to meet Dalai Lama on June 12 and 15, respectively. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark also ‘had the opportunity’ to talk with Dalai Lama in the lounge of Brisbane airport on June 14. All meetings of course provoked the Chinese government, but I am sincerely happy that the Australian and New Zealand leaders took time to meet His Holiness. We Indonesians just have to pray (and try) that one day our leaders have some sense to invite His Holiness and that He will bless Motherland with His presence.
By Putu Liza