Living the Wisdom of the Dalai Lama

 

03.03.2023 LIVING THE WISDOM OF THE DALAI LAMA “Some people’s very presence in the world gives hope, solace, and courage to the rest of us. Their life and being is a gift to us all. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is such a person.” So writes Dr. Jan Willis, Buddhist teacher and host of our upcoming free online summit, The Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit 2023. As the spiritual leader of Tibet and one of the most beloved and recognized leaders of our time, His Holiness is a role model of kindness, humility, and the wisdom we need to navigate our increasingly uncertain world. How do we cultivate compassion, goodness, and virtue? Can we create a more harmonious and just society? Drawing on His Holiness’ wisdom and life’s example, these questions and more are answered in The Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit 2023 by an esteemed panel of Buddhist teachers, experts, spiritual leaders, and activists as they celebrate His Holiness and reflect upon his teachings. Below, you’ll find His Holiness’ own teaching on living with compassion, our summit host Dr. Jan Willis’ reflection on his life’s meaning, and summit presenter Robert Thurman’s account of why we need his wisdom more than ever. In partnership with Tibet House US, we’re pleased to invite you to further explore His Holiness’ vision for the world in The Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit 2023, beginning March 16. May this collection of wisdom awaken the heart of compassion in you.

Living the Compassionate Life This teaching by the Dalai Lama explains how the Buddhist teachings of mindfulness and compassion lead inevitably to feelings of self-confidence and kindness. Compassion without attachment is possible. Therefore, we need to clarify the distinctions between compassion and attachment. True compassion is not just an emotional response but a firm commitment founded on reason. Because of this firm foundation, a truly compassionate attitude toward others does not change even if they behave negatively. Genuine compassion is based not on our own projections and expectations, but rather on the needs of the other: irrespective of whether another person is a close friend or an enemy, as long as that person wishes for peace and happiness and wishes to overcome suffering, then on that basis we develop genuine concern for their problem. This is genuine compassion. For a Buddhist practitioner, the goal is to develop this genuine compassion, this genuine wish for the well-being of another, in fact for every living being throughout the universe.

The Dalai Lama: The Lamp for Our Path Jan Willis reflects on the the Dalai Lama’s life example of compassion, peace, and joyfulness. Though his country was invaded by the Chinese Liberation Army in 1950 and he has witnessed firsthand the attempted destruction of his people and their culture, he is not bitter. Rather, he forgives. This remarkable ability to forgive and to remain without bitterness is striking to all who meet him. His abiding compassion, peace, and joyfulness are hallmarks of the man. One of His Holiness’s predecessors, the great sage Atisha, titled his famed work A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is assuredly such a lamp. He is a principal exemplar of his Buddhist faith—a nonviolent man in a violent world, a peacemaker in a world of war, a joyful heart in the midst of sorrow. He shows us that the end of suffering is possible.

The Meaning of the Dalai Lama for Today Robert Thurman sees the Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of the Buddha of universal compassion. Amidst the chaos of today’s world, he says, the “simple monk” remains undaunted, and even cheerful. It is not merely that the Dalai Lama represents “Buddhism,” thought to be a distinct “religious system.” He is much more than a nominal leader of an organization. He does not seek to convert anyone to “Buddhism.” “Buddhism” is not a world organization, competing with other organized world religions, seeking strength in numbers. It is an age-old movement seeking to educate the heart and mind of any being for freedom and happiness, no matter what their ideology. It is a teaching of the reality of selflessness and relationality. The Dalai Lama is a simple monk, an adept mind scientist, a thorough scholar, a spiritual teacher, a diplomat, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, an apostle of nonviolence, an advocate of intelligence and universal responsibility, and the living exemplar of what he calls “our common human religion of kindness.”