Of the various schools of Buddhism, Theravada Buddism has always had the greatest appeal to me, and Tibetan Buddhism the least. Yet my attitude towards Tibetan Buddhism has been changed mainly due to my acquaintance for the past few years with the Dalai Lama’s works, such as his “The Universe in a Single Atom”, and other books about him and/or his teachings, such as Howard Cutler’s “The Art of Happiness”. Maybe you could consider adding a link to the Dalai Lama’s works in your ‘kiosk’ column?

It intrigues me a lot when observing how the inter-dependent nature of the personal history of the 14th Dalai Lama and the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the second half of the 20th century serves as an excellent example of the two most fundamental tenets of Buddhist teaching: Dependent Origination, and Karma theory (in the Buddhist sense). Without the invasion of Tibet by the Chinese in the 1950s, the Dalai Lama would not have fled his country where he had enjoyed supreme respect. Yet without his half-century-long life of exile, Tibetan Buddhism would not have become as well-understood and as widely practised in the world outside Tibet. While Tibetan Buddhism suffers tremendous setback in its own land, it has enjoyed popularity among Westerners that even the 14th Dalai Lama himself would not have dreamt of in the first two decades of his exile life, not to mention those Dalai Lamas in the earlier periods. So bad things turned into good things. Here of course the Dalai Lama’s personal contributions have played a crucial part, because without his diligent and tireless efforts to preach teachings of Tibetan Buddhism through various means, including personal visits to so many countries in the world and giving talks in the past few decades. I’ve lived beyond the age of having idols, but I wouldn’t hesitate to say ‘yes’ if someone asks me whether I would see the 14th Dalai Lama an idol of mine, among others like the Buddha, Mathama Ghandi and Zhou Enlai.

Cool doings! I am sure that you were both inspired greatly by his holiness. The fact that he is using his position to teach about ethics and promote kindness is very admirable, I hope we as a world can follow this example.

I think this testament of a strongly religious man embracing secular ethics is a very powerful one.

The Dalai Lama sure does travel the globe! He was just in my neck of the woods last month. I had to work and could not make his talk, so I’m glad you were able to go.

Gassho,

Gregor