The Dalai Lama was asked a question during his visit, to which he had an interesting response. The question was asked at 36:40 in the video. The student was asking about America's role as an embassy of democracy and the danger of cultural imperialism resulting from this. The Dalai Lama answered in two parts. One, a people can only allow their culture to be suppressed or influenced by others only if their culture is weak, if the people don't hold their culture strongly in their hearts. A strong example of a country that changed its culture easily is China. China went through the Cultural Revolution, in which thousands of years of culture was thrown out like trash, and the hole needed to be filled. Taiwan, on the other hand, retained much more of the traditional chinese culture, yet did not try to stay isolated from other people. The people retained their culture, while embracing the rest of the world. For another matter, culture changes. There is no classic culture for any people. Cultures are constantly changing, and are an expression of how things are done in an area by the people who live there, so there is no reason to reject any change to it.
Two, democracy is not a Western concept. For one thing, Chinese and Tibetan tales speak of the first kings being elected by the mandate of the people. For another, Sunni muslims agree that Islam requires intelligent leaders elected by the people. These are not inherently Western nations. If you consider far back, when the majority of mankind would have tribal chiefs as leaders, the chief would have to be someone his tribe believed to be the best leader, and would have to be elected. The Dalai Lama insists that democracy is natural to humans.
The Dalai Lama went on later to insist that the Tibetan people wanted to stay with China, and progress, but also wanted their own government for the majority of decisions. In other words, it seems they want their own provincial government not imposed by others, but elected by the people of Tibet. He insists that no matter what the Tibetan communities have been, they also need to progress.
What impressed me about this portion of his address was how much he held in common with my grandfather: they both insist on the need to progress. In contrast with many people now (like the average person who remembers the "good old days", or even controversial figures like Glenn Beck) the Dalai Lama, my 60 year-old IT professor, and my grandfather all insist on the wonders of progress. They do not lament change, they do not wish for an imagined simpler time. They embrace change while preserving aspects of their culture. They do not pretend that their culture was perfect at any time. Perhaps, the actions of these aged people should be emulated. Perhaps this is why they do not fall to "Whiner Fever". Perhaps it is this intelligent strength that keeps them from being tied up by an illusion, that keeps them in touch with reality, that allows them to be strong enough to face their problems like men (and women) instead of like boys (and girls). Wisdom is held to come from experience, and experience usually comes with age. It's time to learn from our elders.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
A Visit from the Dalai Lama
I walked in when the Dalai Lama was talking about reality. Since I watched it live, and have no way of checking his words, I will be paraphrasing. He was saying that it is necessary to see reality, and that strong emotions block your view of reality. This is why, he continued, all religions call for love, compassion, and warm-heartedness. When a person has these characteristics, he is not blinded by anger, fear, jealousy or some sort of feeling of self-righteousness. There is no feeling of dividing people into us and them, and that we must win. You come to love all, and obtain peace.
The Dalai Lama quickly then addressed secularism. He insisted that secularism does not mean some sort of disrespect for religion, or distancing yourself from religion. Instead, he reminded us that it was about having no preference for one religion over another, and respecting all of them, even atheism. India, it seems, has had secular governments for a few millennia, even if the rulers practiced their own religions. His Holiness, for this reason, urged that the concepts for focusing on reality are not religious, but more spiritual in general; they are common and beneficial for all mankind. Man, he insists, is a social animal, and when their is no love, there is no trust. Trust is necessary for friendship, and it is at the opposite end of fear. Love and trust can allow us to overcome our fears.
I agree. It is common amongst cultures to have moral stories about the dangers of losing control of emotions. When someone does something stupid out of love, it is out of selfish love, out of a sense of possession. The stronger you are, the more people you love, the more people you include in your circle, the less likely you are to lose control of yourself. The Dalai Lama was addressing an issue of civility. Stephen Carter in his book Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy defines civility as "the set of sacrifices we make for the sake of our common journey with others, and out of love and respect for the very idea that there are others... we accept and value them as every bit our equals..." (23). This is important. In our secular country, in which differences in opinions are highly valued, it is important to not get carried away in our fervor. We must not see those who have different values as being crazy people, or evil people, because this would stop the dialogue, and let our antagonism fester. Instead, we must control ourselves, promote good emotions, be big-hearted, and remain connected to reality.-----------------------------------------
Edit: The Dalai Lama's speech at SMU is now up on the SMU website. Go ahead and check it out. There was a lot I missed, that I'm sure the rest is as good as the parts I saw.
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