My take on the Dalai Lama of Tibet’s World View
Bhuchung K. Tsering
The visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to five states in the United States, which concluded on May 24, 2010, saw him undertaking activities that are at the heart of his two fundamental commitments of promoting human values and religious harmony. Through this, His Holiness presented his world view, which is quite simple at one level, but having the quality of thinking outside the box, if you will, at another level. This was best summed up by the Dalai Lama himself in his op-ed in the New York Times on May 25, 2010, “Many Faiths, One Truth,” which is essentially the message of his just released book “Toward a True Kinship of Faiths: How the World’s Religions Can Come Together.”
Oftentimes, as part of my work here at the International Campaign for Tibet, I have come across people from, and working on, conflict areas similar to Tibet who want to know the reason why the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans seem to strike a chord among the American public. Part of the reason for this, I feel, lies with the Dalai Lama’s world view.
I talked about the levels in the Dalai Lama’s messages. In fact, the need to think at different levels and generating the capability to prioritize them were the consistent subtext in the Dalai Lama’s enunciation of his world view during his May visit. His approach to different religions is a case in point. He talked about 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. He referred to the “oneness” of all religions in that despite philosophical differences they all convey the same messages in attempting to make us better 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. The Dalai Lama feels we need to prioritize by treating the philosophical differences as secondary to the more important common messages. This is a world view that would certainly make all religious practitioners rethink their approach to spiritualism.
Similarly, in terms of human values, the Dalai Lama feels the differences in caste, creed, color, etc. should be placed at a secondary level to the more fundamental thinking 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 world view, it certainly gets a greater resonance.
During his May visit that included trips to Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and New York, I was struck by his categorical assertion that the world is becoming more gentle and positive. This is quite contrary to popular feeling of the world becoming more violent and crisis ridden.
At my own level, my impression of the world taking a negative turn is formed by the changes that have taken place in recent years in my own daily life. I am seeing increased restrictions at airports or the train stations; I have seen the emergence of a color-coded threat level system from the Department of Homeland Security (in fact the very establishment of this Department is one of the causes of this impression); and I am constantly reading media reports about violence in many parts of the world.
Even nature has added its bit in my development of a negative impression through the much publicized Tsunami and the recent series of earthquakes as well as the volcanic eruption that disrupted travel for several days.
I had also been subscribing to the world view of Samuel Huntington who, in his “The Clash of Civilizations,” said there will be clashes because “The people of different civilizations have different views on the relations between God and man, the individual and the group, the citizen and the state, parents and children, husband and wife, as well as differing views of the relative importance of rights and responsibilities, liberty and authority, equality and hierarchy.” From the Israeli-Arab conflict, the broader Islamic world’s outlook of the West, to even that of the Tibetan people’s own grievances against the Chinese rulers, I felt that people were acting on this difference.
But His Holiness was adamantly clear during his lectures, his brief appearance on NBC’s The Today Show, and during his meetings with the press in general that he feels the world is becoming more positive. The indicators of his world view were the broader human concern for man-made or natural calamities worldwide (shown in the aftermath of the Asian Tsunami and the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and Tibet), the existence of peace movements throughout the world (which was visible prior to the United States’ war in Iraq, for example); the emergence of an environmental movement (there was no such movement in the beginning of the previous century); and the increased interaction between science and religion (science is showing interest in not just external matters but also in the study of mind). In short, through a comparison between the 20th century and the 21st century so far, the Dalai Lama feels the world is becoming more positive.
The Dalai Lama feels much of the blame for the popular view of the world becoming worse should be placed on the media, which tends to always highlight the negative (even though it involves only a miniscule amount of the world’s total population) while taking the positive for granted.
A world view is said to be a “framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual interprets the world and interacts with it.” The Dalai Lama’s world view is based on his positive and optimistic outlook that always takes a broader and long-term view. What I have learnt from the His Holiness’ world view is that we should not miss the wood for the trees. I think The Very Rev. Dr. James A. Kowalski, Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City, put it best on May 23, 2010 when he referred to the Dalai Lama as the “most beloved and respected global citizen.”
7 Responses to “My take on the Dalai Lama of Tibet’s World View”
Leave a Reply
Visit ICT's website to find out more about Tibet and Tibetan issues.
H:H: has so much compasion that he looks kindly even upon the chinese..I think He wears rose coloured glasses.
The Tibetan people have siffered over long. It is time for action….correction.. the time is long passed!
If you want something, it is no good sitting and wishing for it…
Anything worth having is worth fighting for.
Kind words and forgivenees are fine when you are sitting comfortably. When you strugle under the yoke of the chinese invaders what comfort are commitments and broken promisses?
The chinese invasion was not a peaceful one, therefore the strugle against them cannot be peacefull.
What has peace and compassion accomplished in 50 years?
Dear Bhuchung,
I think HH Dalai Lama represent one of the very few individual in this world possessing extraordinary capacity of impersonifying what he preaches.In other word He IS what he says. He can deliver very complex issue in a seemingly simple way and yet resonating its total sense. Some would say the messenger becoming the message itself. Many people find their innate pure mind as a reflection in Him that’s why he makes complete connection on every individual irrespective of race, creeds or nationalities. He is truly a Gift to this world in these difficul times.
Jhonathan
Perhaps, if the first two fundamental commitments are realized, the question of Tibet will be resolved.
Dear Lobsang la,
Thanks for your comments. Yes, at one level His Holiness’ views do not seem to connect with the reality that we perceive. That is my impression, too, as can be seen from the blog. However, I think that His Holiness is taking a broader view, both in terms of geography and time. He is thinking of the world and humanity as a whole and looking at centuries when assessing the positive or the negative possibilities. That is my take.
Bhuchung
Mr. Tsering,
I certainly agree with your assertion that the Dalai Lama is positive and optimistic in his world view. I also agree that the media is to blame for accentuating the negative.
However, climate change and other matters related to the brutality of free market capitalism have not made the world a better place (nor, certainly, have the Marxist communists).
Evolving technology has separated human beings and decreased human contact. Now we are at a new crossroads genetic engineering. As usual, scientists are in a race that seems to have no consistent code of ethics.
It would seem that the Dalai Lama’s world view is not consistent with the above facts. He may be thinking in the long-term as he is a tulku with ability to redirect his birth, but most ordinary human beings with a lifespan of never more than 120 years are certainly not feeling that things are getting better…
I would be interested to hear your response.
Nima la,
Thanks for your comments. His Holiness certainly has his three commitments, which includes the Tibetan issue. However, since my blog was on his “world view” I did not make obvious reference to his third commitment. His Holiness did talk about Tibet throughout his trip (as can be seen from the reports on http://www.dalailama.com).
Also, it is my personal feeling that his efforts on his first two commitments have also positively impacted his third commitment.
Bhuchung
What happened to the third fundamental commitment – the issue of Tibet? His Holiness often speaks of three commitments not two.
1. Promotion of Human Values
2. Religious harmony
3. Question or Issue of Tibet.
http://www.dalailama.com/biography/three-main-committments