Dalai Lama urges global openness, acceptance
Dalai Lama to cancel his planned visit to Rice in 2005, His Holiness returned May 1 to give two lectures at Autry Court. In the morning he spoke on “The Meaning of Compassion in Everyday Life” to the general public, and in the afternoon he spoke on “Tolerance and Universal Responsibility” to the Rice community in a closed lecture.
Public Lecture President David Leebron and Director of the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance Carol Quillen both made opening remarks at the 10 a.m. talk. Leebron said he was grateful to His Holiness for returning to Rice quickly despite his busy schedule. The Dalai Lama — officially known as His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso — began by praising Houston for its diversity. He said after talking to Mayor Bill White, he felt Houstonians already practiced compassion because of the variety of faiths represented in the city. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Dalai Lama talked about the religious conflict in the Middle East. He said although the area only practiced one religion, minor differences within the faith caused a lot of warfare. The Dalai Lama said times have changed so that people must see themselves as a part of a global whole. “Every continent, every country depends on each other, not only nation to nation, but also continent to continent,” he said. The Dalai Lama said worldwide responsibility applies to environmental issues as well, because these concerns transcend national boundaries. “Different races, different nationalities: these are secondary,” he said. “In whatever way possible, we must take some active role to promote or bring this spirit in more areas.” The Dalai Lama said one can develop compassion by being kinder and keeping a positive mindset. “In our daily life, particularly in modern society … there are always possibilities for frustration,” he said. “Little frustrations don’t matter, but unless we look at these destructive emotions more seriously, small emotions like anger will rapidly increase. When negative emotions develop into full swing, they become out of control. That’s when problems start.” However, the Dalai Lama noted that fear was an important and useful emotion. “If real danger is coming, and you’re fearless, then you’re foolish,” he said. “But in many cases, we see fear on the basis of our own mental projection. Fear usually develops frustrations.” The Dalai Lama suggested getting up before sunrise to meditate and focus on positive emotions. He said everyone is capable of having compassion, whether or not they believe in a religion. After he finished speaking, the Dalai Lama answered questions that had been submitted prior to the morning lecture. One question asked was “What can I do or not do to find peace in my life?” The Dalai Lama said people should be careful of their anger. “If you try to deal with the external environment and all the negativity from others, it’s impossible to find peace,” he said.
Rice Community Lecture Leebron and Quillen introduced the Dalai Lama to a crowd consisting of members of the Rice community. The Dalai Lama began by addressing the responsibility of the current generation to solve problems, including the Middle East conflict created by past generations. He said the current generation is able to solve these problems because the global climate is much different than it was in the early 20th century. He said this global community unites people and being aware of that is important. “Destruction of your neighbor is actually destruction of yourself,” he said of the situation in the Middle East. On the topic of religious tolerance, the Dalai Lama compared the diversity of religious views with diversity in cuisine. “It doesn’t matter what field [the] food comes from as long as it has good taste and protein,” he said. “Similarly, it doesn’t matter what philosophy [one has]. What’s important is that from those traditions, we will have immense benefits and improve as individuals.” The Dalai Lama said to one person, a particular religion may be the truth, but in a group of people, what that person believes becomes irrelevant because there is a greater need to respect others’ religious views. After the speech, the Dalai Lama answered questions. He said it is possible to enhance peaceful coexistence with others who are unwilling to accept ways other than their own by educating people about different religions and teaching religious tolerance. He also suggested people meet with scholars of different traditions to discuss differences and similarities: despite these, the purpose of different religions for the most part remains the same. “We’ll eventually find the same purpose: to serve humanity, to strengthen the same values,” the Dalai Lama said. As in the morning lecture, he stressed the importance of taking care of emotions as much as of material things. He said individuals can contribute most effectively to bringing peace by having a calm mind. He also said it is important to have more patience, tolerance and a willingness to accept others’ views. Brown College freshman Jasper Yan attended the afternoon lecture and said he enjoyed it. “I feel like the Dalai Lama brought an interesting and compelling perspective on how to be more tolerant of others and their religions without overly emphasizing Buddhist doctrines,” Yan said. Lovett College junior Alex Stoll said the Dalai Lama’s speech was different than what he expected. “I thought it would be a lot more serious,” he said. “I thought he would be more reverent and somber, but he was fun. He seemed a little simplistic in the way he explained things, but I thought it was interesting to see what his views were … It was entertaining.” Stoll said he agrees with the Dalai Lama in that he believes that people are inherently good. “But I think you have to tell people they are good so they can believe it,” Stoll said.
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