Photo: OHHDL
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetans and Buddhists around the world, is now 86 years old and living in his exile home in Dharamshala, north India where he has been based since his escape from Tibet after China’s invasion of Tibet in 1959. He has been actively travelling and giving teachings on Buddhism, promoting humanity, compassion, peace and harmony within different religions. Since the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown His Holiness has stopped giving public teachings in person, traveling and events. However, this month, for the first time since the first lockdown last year, His Holiness has granted two in-person audiences, the first with Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the newly elected President of the Central Tibetan Administration.
Despite the ongoing pandemic and restriction on public gatherings and travelling, His Holiness has continued his teachings and interactions with his followers across the globe online. This month, gave a series of online teachings.
On December 1, His Holiness held an online discussion with Father Laurence Freeman, Director of the new centre of the World Community for Christian Meditation in France on the topic Unified Consciousness: One Mind, One Heart. His Holiness stressed the need to cultivate warm-heartedness in today’s world, where the focus is more on the development of brain and intellect. He also said that today we live in a global economy beyond national boundaries, and we need to think in terms of the “oneness of humanity” saying, “If you have a warm heart, you will have a peace of mind”. The Tibetan spiritual leader’s discussion emphasised the importance of warm-heartedness which leads to a healthy mind and body; he also promoted warm-heartedness from educational and secular points of view. He advised on topics such as thinking in terms of a global economy, and thinking of seven billion human beings as one.
Photo: OHHDL
On December 8, His Holiness participated in a dialogue Embracing Hope, Courage, and Compassion in Times of Crisis with fellow members of the Mind and Life Institute. In relation to the pandemic, His Holiness was asked about how to deal with uncertainty, to which he replied, “as far as uncertainty is concerned, Buddhists believe that things are always changing and that the future is unpredictable. Some of the problems we face arise naturally, but some, like climate change, are a result of our own actions.” His Holiness advised that inner peace can be developed using human intelligence. He reiterated the importance of building a sense of the oneness of all seven billion human beings and the importance of incorporating ways in which to cultivate peace of mind within the modern education system.
Speaking about developing the idea of the oneness of all human beings across the world, despite race, nationality and religion, His Holiness said that most problems stem from an excessive focus on ourselves. Reflecting on how good things are rooted in being more oriented towards others’ welfare, His Holiness quoted a passage written by the Indian master Shantideva: All those who suffer in the world do so because of their desire for their own happiness. All those happy in the world are so because of their desire for the happiness of others. He continued, saying that stress, fear, anxiety and suspicion come from overly focusing on self, and that opening up to the wellbeing of others brings long term happiness.
His Holiness then gave a two-day teaching on the Maha-Satipatthana Sutta to agroup of Buddhists from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
On December 23, His Holiness was requested to give a talk, Facing Challenges with Compassion and Wisdom by the Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak. “China and India are the world’s most populous nations, but it is India that has preserved its several thousand-year-old traditions of doing no harm— ‘ahimsa’ and compassion— ‘karuna’,” said His Holiness. He reminded his audience of the importance of living together and cultivating a sense of humanity instead of focusing on short sighted materialistic goals, saying that fostering a sense of community on the basis of compassion will contribute to a more peaceful world. His Holiness answered questions from the audience.
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