Pe insula noastră preferată din Thailanda, Ko Jhum, am întâlnit un tip foarte interesant din California care și-a vândut toate proprietățile și de câțiva ani călătorește încet prin toată lumea.
Voi publica în premieră, cu acordul acestuia pe www.tudormaxim.ro, o parte din experiențele sale din lume.
Toate acestea vor face parte dintr-o carte.
Dalai Lama Speaks, part I
Luckily I find out on my second day here in Dharmasala that the Dalai Lama is giving a free talk that is open to any foreiners. Wow, what luck to be in the right place at the right time!
I show up the next day and he generously begins by posing with about one thousand of us divided into smaller groups based on our nationalities. I wonder why they do this at first but find out that it gives everyone the opportunity to see and download their respective photos from the web site dalailama.com, how nice!
I am in the second photo group and after they surprising clear a space beside me for him, he walks up to me and looks me directly in the eyes for a second or two with his beaming smiling eyes. My mind is instantly stilled and I automatically say, “nice to see you”. He then playfully reaches up and removes my baseball hat part way, which is turned around home boy style, as if to see what’s hiding under it. I respond jokingly, no hair! We all have a good laugh while the cameras are clicking away.
Then he affectionally touches and connects with several others but before moving away but I can’t resist wispering in his ear, “I saw you here forty two years ago in Dharmsala”. He silently acknowledges me and then moves on to the next group. Such a nice and unexpected connection!
His talk is equally amazing in a simple common sense way. He begins by pointing out that all people although appearing to be different and influenced by different religions, philosophies or nationalities etc, are all basically similar on the inside and desire to be happy. He goes on to explain that because of this basic need we all share, in essence we are all part of one large human family and that individual happiness is the central foundation of happiness in society.
Then he explains that all human beings are taught to be selfish and self centered, but suggests that a way to transmute this tendency is to realize that by helping others an even deeper joy can be achieved which in the end makes us feel even more more satisfaction. So we can use this negative aspect of ourselves and turn it into a positve by redirecting it to help others. Hum….interesting perspective!
He goes on to explain that secular ethics is the essential ingrediant that is missing in our educational system and desparetely needs to be re-introduced. That way people could learn that just aquiring money while cheating, hurting, lying or destroying the environment is a disastrous approach that has an eventual boomerang effect. He says the limiting idea of us and them has to be changed so we realize that if we do something hurtful to others we jeprodise the happiness of society in general which in turn effects our personal happiness.
Finally he stresses that if we want a healthy society and world we must put out the necessary effort to make that happen by changing our negative tendencies which are the main contributers of societies problems. It is futile to pray to a god or supreme being to make the changes that are ours alone to make. He even admonishes the monks to get more involved in projects that directly contribute to changing society rather than just meditating or offering prayers.
But most amazingly he makes references to the Chinese people in the most kind and compassionate way. He refers to them affectionately as his brothers and sisters and expresses his deep desire to have peace and harmony with them. In addition he surprizingly doesn’t want Tibet to be necessairly separated from China, but wants the Tibetian people to have their own autonomy and religious freedom.
This is amazing considering how China has treated them by instituting mass genoside and cultural annilation. It is now well known that China wanted Tibet to exploit its gold and other mineral resourses, as well as the timber there which are worth billions of dollars. Their diabolical intentions include controlling the water of the four major rivers whose sources originate in Tibet. What a convient economic weapon to use against India or other neighboring nations if need be. Turning off the spicket could become a useful tool in the political and economic chess game of geo politics in this area. They have already built over seventy hydro projects along these rivers.
So overall the Dalai Lama’s simple but through approach puts the responsibility of our destiny right back where it needs to be, in the choices we make in our daily interactions. He stresses that politics, governments, laws or military actions will never have a lasting effect unless we change ourselves from within. It couldn’t be more clear, simple or eloquent message for humanity today. What a great example for all of us to follow!