While awaiting our move from the apartment to our new home, I got bored so I went to the library to browse. Then I searched the library’s catalogue for books written about/by the Dalai Lama. I found this book, “The Wisdom of Forgiveness”, which I finished reading in two days. The content of this book is not religious by any means, even though it is technically co-authored by one of the best known Buddhist figures of our global community, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. There is hardly reference to old Tibetan scriptures but provides a common sense view of how the world turns, how human beings relate to one another and how we can strive to end the violence around us. The Dalai Lama stresses on three things in this book, 1) that all things (beings) are interrelated whether directly or indirectly, 2) compassion to all things because all of us are interdependent on one another and nothing exists independently and lastly 3) forgiveness, the ability to forego wrong doings by others to us.
I am rarely one to write about religion or Buddhism but in this day and age, this book makes so much sense, especially when you look at headlines on websites like MSNBC or CNN. It makes you wonder, if it is so simple to live in peace (to have compassion and consideration for others), why is it so hard to achieve? Why do we humans insist on focusing on just ourselves and not others?
Now that we are living in Kansas, I have noticed that people here in Kansas do not really fret about global issues or conflicts in other nations. Mention Niger or Darfur to a random stranger and more than likely they will give you a blank stare. In their minds, these nations, places are not “connected” to them so why would they care or bother to learn more ? In their minds, the citizens in those countries are not like themselves, they are different, their suffering and struggles isolated from Kansas or other parts of the world for that matter. But, here’s a thought, when a person in Kansas is buried upon death, he/she is no different than someone in Niger being buried at death as well. We will rot the same way any human beings will so exactly how different are we?
There are parts of the book that I found to be useful to point out. I have tried to type them out to the best of my ability.. Happy reading!!
Book Title: The Wisdom of Forgiveness
(Intimate Conversations & Journeys)
By Victor Chan who frequently travelled with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and who interviewed the Dalai Lama.
“Why are you so popular? What makes you irresistible to so many people?”
His Holiness answer : … “Under this skin, same nature, same kinds of desires and emotions. I usually try to give happy feeling to the other person. Eventually many people talking something positive about me. Then more people came, just follow reputation, that also possible.”…. “Also, many people like my laugh. But what kind of laugh, what kind of smile, I don’t know.”…….. “In my own case, my mental state, comparatively more peaceful. In spite of difficult situation or even sometimes very tragic sort of news, my mind not much disturbed. For a short moment, some sad feelings, but never remains long. Within a few minutes or a few hours, and then it goes. So I usually describe something like the ocean. On the surface, waves come and go, but underneath always remain calm.”
“Your Holiness, I thought it natural that you’d harbor resentment toward the Chinese. Yet you have told me that this is not so. But do you, sometimes at least, experience deep feelings of animosity?”
“That almost never,” the Dalai Lama replied. “I analyze like this : If I develop bad feelings toward those who make me suffer, this will only destroy my own peace of mind. But if I forgive, my mind becomes calm….”
[When addressing the Peace Line in Northern Ireland, this is what the Dalai Lama told the two warring communities]
“When human emotions come out of control,” he said to them, “then the best part of the brain in which we make judgments cannot function properly. Of course, some conflicts, some differences, will always be there. But we should use the differences in a positive way to try to get energy from different views. Try to minimize violence, not by force, but by awareness and respect. Through dialogue, taking others’ interest and then sharing one’s own, there is a way to solve the problems.”………
“Isn’t it incredible that people of the same Christian faith should fight with one another?” he said as he scanned the faces of Catholics and Protestants before him. “It seems foolish….. If somebody compared Buddhism and Christianity, then we have to think, yes, there are big differences. But between Protestants and Catholics? It’s nothing! You and I have more differences than you do among yourselves..”
[When asked by a Norwegian reporter what was special to him in 2001]
“I think the very shocking news, shocking experience….When I heard of September eleventh, mainly when I saw the picture on TV, the civilian plane with innocent passengers – full of fuel and use as explosive weapon. Unthinkable. Also they plan, if not years, at least many months. I felt human intelligence guided or controlled by human hatred, disaster.”
“So to be able to forgive your enemies can make a difference to one’s spiritual progress?” I asked the Dalai Lama”
“Yes, yes, there is no doubt,” he replied. “It’s crucial. It’s one of most important thing. It can change one’s life. To reduce hatred and other destructive emotions, you must develop their opposites – compassion and kindness. If you have strong compassion, strong respect for others, then forgiveness much easier…”
“.. I make visualization: send my positive emotions like happiness, affection to others. Then another visualization. I visualize receiving their sufferings, their negative emotions. I do this every day. I pay special attention to the Chinese – especially those doing terrible things to the Tibetans. So, as I meditate, I breathe in all their poisons – hatred, fear, cruelty. Then I breathe out. And I let all the good things come out, things like compassion, forgiveness. I take inside my body all these bad things. Then I replace poisons with fresh air. Giving and taking. I take care not to blame = I don’t blame the Chinese and I don’t blame myself. This meditation very effective, useful to reduce hatred, useful to cultivate forgiveness.”
[When asked why he doesn’t talk more about the plight of Tibetans during his travel and many conferences]
“It’s true, yes, I understand. In fact, I have also thought I should talk more about Tibet. But you know, many of these people have so many problems on their minds. They come to me with some kind of false hope that I’ll be able to lift their burden, which I can’t. I feel that I have no right to send them out with an extra burden: a burden of my own.”
Like so many other issues he cares deeply about, his Sino-Tibetan policies are driven by his Buddhist view of the interdependence of all things… To him, the reality of life is like the celebrated Indra’s Net of ancient mythology. The universe is looked upon as an enormous web woven of innumerable strands of thread. A diamond is affixed to each juncture. Any one diamond, with its countless facets, perfectly reflects all other diamons, like an inifinite array of halls of mirrors, and each has an ineffable relationship with all others. Disturbances in one area of the net galvanize a ripple effect that impacts, however subtly, on other parts. It is like the Butterfly Effect. The flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Beijing could cause minuscule atmospheric changes, which over time could affect weather patterns in Vancouver…. For the Dalai Lama, the reality of life is an integrated whole: All things are interrelated, nothing exists independently.
The Dalai Lama has this uncanny ability to put himself in the other person’s shoes. Especially if that person is his enemy. As he has told me before, he considers his enemies to be his most valuable teachers. He loves and cherishes his friends. But he belives it is our enemies who can truly provide us with the challenge we need to cultivate qualities like forgivenmess and compassion. Forgiveness and compassion, in turn, are ingredients for peace of mind.
………to be continued
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