Dalai Lama: An Appeal to the World
Copyright
William Collins
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
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This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2017
First published in the United States by William Morrow in 2017
AN APPEAL TO THE WORLD. Copyright © 2017 by Benevento Publishing – a brand of Red Bull Media House. All rights reserved.
Originally published in a slightly different form as Der Appell des Dalai Lama an die Welt in Germany in 2015 by Benevento Publishing.
Cover
Danny Martindale/Getty Images
Designed by Fritz Metsch
Photograph, here, by Bigi Alt
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780008278427
Ebook Edition © November 2017 ISBN: 9780008278434
Version: 2017-10-16
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Preface: “I Don’t Have Any Enemies” by Franz Alt
An Appeal by the Dalai Lama for Secular Ethics and Peace
Educating the Heart: A Conversation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama
On President Trump
On Overcoming Division
On Nationalism
On the Refugee Crisis
On the Education of the Heart
On Spirituality
On Religion
On Global Responsibility
On Secular Ethics
On Neuroscience
On Compassion
On the Science of Meditation
On Happiness
On Mortality
On World Peace
On Gender Equality
On Inner Values
On Mindfulness
On the Essence of Religion
On War
On the Next Generation
On the Future of Tibet
On China
On Human Rights in Tibet
On Political Resistance
On Freedom for Tibet
On the Preservation of Tibetan Culture
On the Return of the Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama Story: An Inspiring Life
The Dalai Lama: A Life in Dates
About the Co-Author
About the Publisher
HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA and Dr. Franz Alt will be donating all royalties from this little book to German Aid to Tibetans.
PREFACE
“I DON’T HAVE ANY ENEMIES”
“I DON’T HAVE any enemies, only people I haven’t met yet,” the Dalai Lama told me over 20 years ago. He also said, “We have the most to learn from our enemies. In a way, they are our best teachers.” So wise and yet so realistic are the words of the most prominent refugee in the world – and also one of the oldest – after 58 years of exile in India. Even though he has been forced to live outside his Chinese-occupied homeland since 1959, he does not harbor any hatred of Chinese people or their leadership. On the contrary, he sometimes calls himself a “Communist Buddhist” or a “Buddhist Communist” and says he even prays for the Communist leaders in Beijing, adding with a laugh, “In Europe I would vote for the Green party, because the problem of the environment is a question of our survival.”
Over the course of 35 years, we have met over 30 times and had 15 television interviews. Rarely have I encountered such an empathetic interview subject or one so full of humor. None of them has laughed more than he has. It is no coincidence that he has been voted the nicest person in the world in surveys. Over the last few years, the Dalai Lama has come to consider ethics across religious divisions to be more and more important. And today he goes a step further, making a statement unparalleled for a religious leader: “Ethics are more important than religion. We are not members of a particular religion at birth. But ethics are innate.” In the talks he gives worldwide, he refers to “secular ethics beyond all religions” with growing frequency. Albert Schweitzer had another term for the same concept: “reverence for life.”
The Dalai Lama’s secular ethics transcend national, religious, and cultural boundaries and define values that are innate in all people and apply to everyone alike. Rather than superficial, material values, these are inner values such as mindfulness, compassion, training the mind, and the pursuit of happiness. “If we want to be happy ourselves, we should practice compassion, and if we want other people to be happy, we should likewise practice compassion. All of us would rather see smiling faces than frowning ones,” he says.
His Holiness and coauthor Franz Alt.
One of the Dalai Lama’s central beliefs is this: all people are united in our pursuit of happiness and our desire to avoid suffering. This is the source of humanity’s greatest achievements. For that reason, we should begin to think and act on the basis of an identity rooted in the words “we humans.”
The Dalai Lama believes that without secular ethics, we cannot solve all the problems we face: wars in the Middle East, Ukraine, Somalia, and North Africa, 20 million global refugees, civil wars in Nigeria and Afghanistan, climate change and the environmental crisis, the global financial crisis, and world hunger. He explains and elaborates his revolutionary assertions in the conversation to follow. What the Dalai Lama suggests is a revolution of empathy and compassion – a revolution combining all previous revolutions. Without empathy and compassion, evolution would not have happened in the first place.
In January 2015, appalled at the Islamist terrorist attack at the editorial offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket in Paris, the Dalai Lama said, “On some days I think it would be better if there were no religions. All religions and all scriptures harbor potential for violence. That is why we need secular ethics beyond all religions. It is more important for schools to have classes on ethics than religion. Why? Because it’s more important for humanity’s survival to be aware of our commonalities than to constantly emphasize what divides us.” This insight was the spark for the book that follows.
Here is a new message that can change the world.
Franz Alt
Baden-Baden, Germany
AN APPEAL BY THE DALAI LAMA FOR SECULAR ETHICS AND PEACE
FOR THOUSANDS OF years, violence has been committed and justified in the name of religion. Religions have often been intolerant and still are in many cases. Religion is often abused or exploited – even by religious leaders – in order to further political or economic interests. For that reason I say that in the twenty-first century, we need a new form of ethics beyond religion. I am speaking of a secular ethics that can be helpful and useful for over a billion atheists and an increasing number of agnostics. More integral than religion is our fundamental human spirituality. That is the affinity we humans have for love, benevolence, and affection – no matter what religion we belong to.
I believe that humans can get by without religion, but not without inner values, not without ethics. The difference between ethics and religion is like the difference between water and tea. Religion-based ethics and inn
er values are more like water. The tea that we drink is made mostly of water, but it contains other ingredients as well – tea leaves, spices, perhaps a little sugar, and, at least in Tibet, a pinch of salt – and that makes it more substantial, more lasting, something we want to drink every day. Yet no matter how tea is prepared, its main ingredient is always water. We can live without tea, but not without water. Likewise, we are born without religion, but not without the basic need for compassion – and not without the fundamental need for water.
I see with ever greater clarity that our spiritual well-being depends not on religion, but on our innate human nature, our natural affinity for goodness, compassion, and caring for others. Regardless of whether or not we belong to a religion, we all have a fundamental and profoundly human wellspring of ethics within ourselves. We need to nurture that shared ethical basis. Ethics, as opposed to religion, are grounded in human nature. And that is how we can work on preserving creation. That is religion and ethics put into practice. Empathy is the basis of human coexistence. It is my belief that human development relies on cooperation and not competition. That is scientifically proven.
We must learn now that humanity is all one big family. We are all brothers and sisters: physically, mentally, and emotionally. But we are still focusing far too much on our differences instead of our commonalities. After all, every one of us is born the same way and dies the same way. It doesn’t make much sense to take pride in our nations and religions – all the way to the graveyard!
Ethics run deeper and are more natural than religion.
Climate change, too, can only be solved on a global scale. I hope and pray that the 2015 Paris climate accord will finally bring tangible results. Egotism, nationalism, and violence are the fundamentally incorrect path. The most important question we can ask for a better world is “How can we serve each other?” To make that shift, we need to sharpen our awareness. The same holds true for politicians. We need to maintain positive states of mind. I practice that four hours per day. Meditation is more important than ritualized prayer. Children should learn morals and ethics. That’s more important than all religion.
The primary causes of war and violence are our negative emotions. We give them too much space and give too little space to our intellects and our compassion.
I suggest more listening, more contemplation, more meditation. I agree with Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
In some totalitarian countries, we see that peace can only last if human rights are respected, if people have food to eat, and if individuals and communities are free. We can only achieve true peace within, among, and around ourselves by first achieving inner peace. Part of happiness is developing a universal sense of responsibility and a secular set of ethics.
I will always stand by nonviolence. That means intelligently loving your enemy. Through intensive meditation, we will find that our enemies can become our best friends. By following purely secular ethics, we will become more easygoing, empathetic, and judicious people. Then there is a chance for the twenty-first century to be a century of peace, a century of dialogue, and a century of a more caring, responsible, and empathetic human race.
That is my hope. And that is my prayer. I look forward with joy to the day when children will learn the principles of nonviolence and peaceful conflict resolution – in other words secular ethics – at school.
Far too much stock is placed in material values these days. They are important, but they will not solve our stress, anxiety, anger, or frustration. Still we must overcome our mental burdens such as stress, fear, anxiety, and frustration. That is why we need a deeper level of thinking. That is what I call mindfulness.
Through meditation and contemplation we can learn, for example, that patience is the most potent antidote for anger, satisfaction for greed, bravery for fear, and understanding for doubt. It is not very helpful to rage against others. Instead, we should strive to change ourselves.
We need to make worldwide efforts to stop, contain, or eliminate all violent methods. It is not enough anymore to tell people that we oppose violence and want peace.
We must use more effective methods. Arms exports are a major impediment to building peace.
Whenever we face difficulties or there is an economic crisis, or even when religious disputes arise, we must work towards a model where the only correct method is dialogue.
We must learn that we are all brothers and sisters. The past century was the century of violence. This twenty-first century should be the century of dialogue! We can never change the past, but we can always learn from it to create a better future.
The idea that problems can be solved with violence and weapons is a disastrous delusion. With rare exceptions, violence always leads to more violence. In our interconnected world, war is an anachronism that contradicts reason and ethics. The Iraq War, which George W. Bush began in 2003, was a catastrophe. This conflict still hasn’t been resolved to this day and has claimed the lives of many people.
It is plainly not enough to appeal to politicians’ desire for peace. It is more important for increasing numbers of people throughout the world to speak out for disarmament. Disarmament is compassion put into practice. But the prerequisite for external disarmament is an inner disarmament of hatred, prejudice, and intolerance. I appeal to all current warring parties: “Don’t arm yourselves! Disarm!” And to all people: “Overcome hatred and prejudice with understanding, cooperation, and tolerance!”
Notwithstanding all the suffering that China has brought upon us Tibetans for decades, I am deeply convinced that most human conflicts can be resolved through sincere dialogue. This strategy of nonviolence and reverence for all life is Tibet’s gift to the world.
Dalai Lama
Dharamsala, India
EDUCATING THE HEART
A Conversation with His Holiness
the Dalai Lama
In the United States, President Donald Trump governs according to the mottoes “America First” and “Make America Great Again.” Are these mottoes still up-to-date in this age of globalization?
WHEN THE PRESIDENT says “America first,” he is making his voters happy. I can understand that. But from a global perspective, this statement isn’t relevant. In today’s global world, everything is interconnected. America’s future is dependent on Europe, and Europe’s future is dependent on the Asian countries. The new reality is that everyone is interdependent on everyone else. The United States is a leading nation of the free world. That’s why the US president should think more about global-level issues.
The US is still very powerful. The motto of the forefathers of modern Americans was democracy, freedom, and liberty. Totalitarian regimes don’t have a future. As a leading power, the US should affiliate itself more closely with Europe. I am an admirer of the European Union. It is a great, trailblazing example of a peace project. Sadly, Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the US from the Paris climate accord. He surely has his reasons for doing so.
President Trump’s politics and his warlike rhetoric have led to division in the United States and all over the world: division between black and white, between Americans and foreigners, between Democrats and Republicans, between rich and poor. Can religion help to overcome this division?
YES, TO A certain degree. But in principle, religious and nonreligious people should work together in these modern times. Religion alone will not be enough to overcome these divisions. My favorite concepts are the education of the heart and the sense of oneness of humanity. By this I mean the unity of mankind and thinking globally about the future of the world. There are no national boundaries for climate protection or the global economy. Also, no religious boundaries. Now the time has come to understand that we are the same human being on this planet.
Whether we want to or not, we must live together. Living together as brothers and sisters is the only way to peace, compassion, mindfulness, and more justice.
In Europe as well, neo-nationalism plays an
increasingly important role. Why do religions in Western countries play an ever less important role?
NATIONALISM IS A serious concern about one’s own community. It is logical that the different nations of the world are concerned about their own interests. But the European Union is a good example of successful international cooperation. After centuries of wars and mutual slaughter, in the last 60 years, not one single country in the European Union has waged war against another. History tells us that when people pursue only their own national interests, there is strife and war. This is shortsighted and narrow-minded. It is unrealistic and outdated.
The future of individual nations always depends on the well-being of their neighbors. The United States is dependent on Europe, Europe is likewise dependent on Asia and Africa, and so forth. This is different today than in the past. The individual nations must also look after their neighbors. This is the new reality of our time.
What you just described is really an anti-Trump program. What can rich countries do to cope with the refugee crisis? You are one of the oldest refugees in the world.
POLITICIANS MUST SHOW compassion for people in need. Migrants must not be discriminated against. A few thousand refugees every year is no problem for the rich countries. Germany has received over 1 million refugees in the last two years, which I very much welcome. But a million is not possible every year. The rich countries have a moral duty to help refugees by providing shelter, food, and education. But in the long run, the refugees should return and rebuild their homeland.
The young refugee generation can learn professions and new technologies. In this way, Germany and other rich countries can provide very concrete development assistance. Take the 100,000 Tibetan refugees who fled with me to India. The majority of them do not want to live permanently outside Tibet. Nobody leaves his homeland forever.