by Dalai Lama
But learning lessons from old reruns of The A-Team or Melrose Place is one thing. As a practicing Buddhist, however, the Dalai Lama’s personal spiritual regimen certainly includes features unique to the Buddhist path. In describing his daily practice, for instance, he mentioned that it includes Buddhist meditations on the nature of reality, as well as certain visualization practices. While in the context of this discussion he mentioned these practices only in passing, over the years I’ve had an opportunity to hear him discuss these topics at length – his talks comprising some of the most complex discussions I’ve ever heard on any subject. His talks on the nature of reality were filled with labyrinthine philosophical arguments and analyses; his descriptions of Tantric visualizations were inconceivably intricate and elaborate – meditations and visualizations whose objective seemed to be to construct within one’s imagination a sort of holographic atlas of the universe. He had spent a lifetime engaged in the study and practice of these Buddhist meditations. It was with this in mind, knowing the monumental scope of his efforts, that I asked him, ‘Can you describe the practical benefit or impact these spiritual practices have had on your day-to-day life?’
He was silent for several moments, then quietly replied, ‘Although my own experience may be very little, one thing that I can say for certain is that I feel that through Buddhist training, I feel that my mind has become much more calm. That’s definite. Although the change has come about gradually, perhaps centimeter by centimeter,’ he laughed, ‘I think that there has been a change in my attitude towards myself and others. Although it’s difficult to point to the precise causes of this change, I think that it has been influenced by a realization, not full realization, but a certain feeling or sense of the underlying fundamental nature of reality, and also through contemplating subjects such as impermanence, our suffering nature, and the value of compassion and altruism.
‘So, for example, even when thinking about those communist Chinese who inflicted great harm on some of the Tibetan people, as a result of my Buddhist training, I feel a certain compassion towards even the torturer, because I understand that the torturer was in fact compelled by other negative forces. Because of these things and my Bodhisattva vows* and commitments, even if a person committed atrocities, I simply cannot feel or think that because of their atrocities they should experience negative things or not experience a moment of happiness. The Bodhisattva vow has helped me develop this attitude; it has been very useful, so naturally I love this vow.
* In the Bodhisattva vow, the spiritual trainee affirms his intention to become a Bodhisattva. A Bodhisattva, literally translated as the ‘awakening warrior,’ is one who, out of love and compassion, has attained a realization of Bodhicitta, a mental state characterized by the spontaneous and genuine aspiration to attain full enlightenment in order to be of benefit to all beings.
‘This reminds me of one senior chant master who is staying at Namgyal Monastery. He was in Chinese prisons as a political prisoner and in labor camps for twenty years. Once I asked him what was the most difficult situation he faced when he was in prison. Surprisingly, he said that he felt the greatest danger was of losing compassion for the Chinese!
‘There are many such stories. For example, three days ago I met a monk who spent many years in Chinese prisons. He told me that he was twenty-four years old at the time of the 1959 Tibetan uprising. At that time he joined the Tibetan forces in Norbulinga. He was caught by the Chinese and put in prison along with three brothers who were killed there. Two other brothers were also killed. Then his parents died in a labor camp. But he told me that when he was in prison, he reflected on his life until then and concluded that even though he had spent his entire life as a monk at Drepung Monastery, until that time he felt that he was not a good monk. He felt that he had been a stupid monk. At that moment he made a pledge that now that he was in prison he would try to be a genuinely good monk. So as a result of his Buddhist practices, because of this training of the mind, he was able to remain mentally very happy even if he was in physical pain. Even when he underwent torture and severe beatings, he was able to survive it and still feel happy by viewing it as a cleansing of his past negative Karma.
‘So, through these examples, one can really appreciate the value of incorporating spiritual practices within one’s everyday life.’
Thus, the Dalai Lama added the final ingredient of a happier life – the spiritual dimension. Through the teachings of the Buddha, the Dalai Lama and many others have found a meaningful framework which enables them to endure and even transcend the pain and suffering that life sometimes brings. And as the Dalai Lama suggests, each of the world’s major religious traditions can offer the same opportunities to help one achieve a happier life. The power of faith, generated on a widespread scale by these religious traditions, is interwoven in the lives of millions. That deep religious faith has sustained countless people through difficult times. Sometimes it operates in small quiet ways, sometimes in profound transformative experiences. Every one of us, at some time during our lives, has no doubt witnessed that power operate on a family member, a friend, or an acquaintance. Occasionally, examples of the sustaining power of faith find their way onto the front pages. Many are familiar, for instance, with the ordeal of Terry Anderson, an ordinary man who was suddenly kidnapped off the street in Beirut one morning in 1985. A blanket was thrown over him, he was shoved into a car, and for the next seven years he was held as a hostage by Hezbollah, a group of Islamic fundamentalist extremists. Until 1991 he was imprisoned in damp, filthy basements and small cells, blindfolded and chained for extended periods, enduring regular beatings and harsh conditions. When he was finally released, the world turned its eyes toward him and found a man overjoyed to be returned to his family and his life – but with surprisingly little bitterness and hatred toward his captors. When questioned by reporters about the source of his remarkable strength, he identified faith and prayer as significant factors that helped him endure his ordeal.
The world is filled with such examples of the ways in which religious faith offers concrete help in times of trouble. And extensive recent surveys seem to confirm the fact that religious faith can substantially contribute to a happier life. Those conducted by independent researchers and polling organizations (such as the Gallup company) have found that religious people report feeling happy and satisfied with life more often than nonreligious people. Studies have found that not only is faith a predictor of self-reports of feelings of well-being, but a strong religious faith also appears to help individuals deal more effectively with issues such as aging or coping with personal crises and traumatic events. In addition, statistics show that families of those with strong religious belief often have lower rates of delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse, and ruined marriages. There is even some evidence to suggest that faith may have benefits for people’s physical health – even for those with serious illnesses. There have, in fact, been literally hundreds of scientific and epidemiologic studies establishing a link between strong religious faith, lower death rates, and improved health. In one study, elderly women with strong religious beliefs were able to walk farther after hip surgery than those with fewer religious convictions, and were also less depressed following the surgery. A study done by Ronna Casar Harris and Mary Amanda Dew at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center found that heart-transplant patients with strong religious beliefs have less difficulty coping with post-operative medical regimens and display better long-term physical and emotional health. In another, conducted by Dr. Thomas Oxman and his colleagues at Dartmouth Medical School, it was found that patients over the age of fifty-five who underwent open-heart surgery for coronary artery or heart valve disease and who had taken refuge in their religious beliefs were three times more likely to survive than those who did not.
The benefits of a strong religious faith sometimes come about as a direct product of certain specific doctrines and beliefs of a particular tradition. Many Buddhists, for instance, are helped to endure their suf
fering as a result of their firm belief in the doctrine of Karma. In the same way, those who have an unshakable faith in God are often able to withstand intense hardship because of their belief in an omniscient and loving God, a God whose plan may be obscure to us at present but One who, in His wisdom, will ultimately reveal His love for us. With faith in the teachings of the Bible, they can take comfort in verses such as Romans 8:28: ‘All things work together for the good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.’
Although some of the rewards of faith may be based on specific doctrines unique to a particular religious tradition, there are other strength-giving features of a spiritual life that are common to all religions. Involvement in any religious group can create a feeling of belonging, communal ties, a caring connection with fellow practitioners. It offers a meaningful framework in which one can connect and relate with others. And it can give one a feeling of acceptance. Strongly held religious beliefs can give one a deep sense of purpose, providing meaning for one’s life. They can offer hope in the face of adversity, suffering, and death. They can help one adopt an eternal perspective that allows one to get outside of oneself when one becomes overwhelmed by life’s daily problems.
Although all these potential benefits are available to those who choose to practice the teachings of an established religion, it is clear that having a religious belief alone is no guarantee of happiness and peace. For example, at the very same moment Terry Anderson sat chained in a cell demonstrating the finest attributes of religious faith, just outside his cell raged mass violence and hatred demonstrating the very worst attributes of religious faith. For years in Lebanon, various sects of Muslims were at war with Christians and Jews, fueled by violent hatred on all sides and resulting in unspeakable atrocities committed in the name of faith. It’s an old story, and one which has been told too often throughout history and repeated too often in the modern world.
Because of this potential to breed divisiveness and hatred, it is easy to lose faith in religious institutions. This has led some religious figures such as the Dalai Lama to try to distill those elements of a spiritual life that can be universally applied by any individual to enhance his or her happiness, regardless of religious tradition or whether he or she believes in religion.
Thus, with a tone of complete conviction, the Dalai Lama concluded his discussion with his vision of a truly spiritual life: ‘So, in speaking of having a spiritual dimension to our life, we have identified our religious beliefs as one level of spirituality. Now regarding religion, if we believe in any religion, that’s good. But even without a religious belief, we can still manage. In some cases, we can manage even better. But that’s our own individual right; if we wish to believe, good! If not, it’s all right. But then there’s another level of spirituality. That is what I call basic spirituality – basic human qualities of goodness, kindness, compassion, caring. Whether we are believers or nonbelievers, this kind of spirituality is essential. I personally consider this second level of spirituality to be more important than the first, because no matter how wonderful a particular religion may be, it will still only be accepted by a limited number of human beings, only a portion of humanity. But as long as we are human beings, as long as we are members of the human family, all of us really need these basic spiritual values. Without these, human existence remains hard, very dry. As a result, none of us can be a happy person, our whole family will suffer, and then, eventually, society will be more troubled. So, it becomes clear that cultivating these kinds of basic spiritual values becomes crucial.
‘In seeking to cultivate these basic spiritual values, I think we need to remember that out of the, say, five billion human beings on this planet, I think perhaps one or two billion are very sincere, genuine believers in religion. Of course, when I refer to sincere believers, I’m not including those people who simply say, for example, “I am Christian,” mainly because their family background is Christian but in daily life may not consider very much about the Christian faith or actively practice it. So excluding these people, I believe that there are perhaps only around one billion who sincerely practice religion. That means that four billion, the majority of the people on this earth, are nonbelievers. So we must still find a way to try to improve life for this majority of the people, the four billion people who aren’t involved in a specific religion – ways to help them become good human beings, moral people, without any religion. Here I think that education is crucial – instilling in people a sense that compassion, kindness, and so on are the basic good qualities of human beings, not just a matter of religious subjects. I think earlier we spoke at greater length about the prime importance of human warmth, affection, and compassion in people’s physical health, happiness, and peace of mind. This is a very practical issue, not religious theory or philosophical speculation. It is a key issue. And I think that this is in fact the essence of all the religious teachings of the different traditions. But it remains just as crucial for those who choose not to follow any particular religion. For those people, I think we can educate them and impress upon them that it’s all right to remain without any religion, but be a good human being, a sensible human being, with a sense of responsibility and commitment for a better, happier world.
‘In general, it is possible to indicate your particular religious or spiritual way of life through external means, such as wearing certain clothes, or having a shrine or altar in your house, or doing recitations and chanting, and so on. There are ways of demonstrating that externally. However, these practices or activities are secondary to conducting a truly spiritual way of life, based on the basic spiritual values, because it is possible that all of these external religious activities can still go along with a person’s harboring a very negative state of mind. But true spirituality should have the result of making a person calmer, happier, more peaceful.
‘All of the virtuous states of mind – compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, caring, and so on – these mental qualities are genuine Dharma, or genuine spiritual qualities, because all of these internal mental qualities cannot coexist with ill feelings or negative states of mind.
‘So, engaging in training or a method of bringing about inner discipline within one’s mind is the essence of a religious life an inner discipline that has the purpose of cultivating these positive mental states. Thus, whether one leads a spiritual life depends on whether one has been successful in bringing about that disciplined, tamed state of mind and translating that state of mind into one’s daily actions.’
The Dalai Lama was due to attend a small reception held in honor of a group of donors who had been strong supporters of the Tibetan cause. Outside the reception room a large crowd had gathered in anticipation of his appearance. By the time of his arrival the crowd had become quite dense. Among the onlookers I saw a man whom I had noticed a couple of times during the week. He was of indeterminate age, although I would have guessed middle twenties, maybe early thirties, tall and very thin. Notable for his disheveled appearance, he, however, had caught my attention because of his expression, one that I had frequently seen among my patients – anxious, profoundly depressed, in pain. And I thought I noticed slight repetitive involuntary movements of the musculature around his mouth. ‘Tardive dyskinesia,’ I had silently diagnosed, a neurological condition caused by chronic use of antipsychotic medication. ‘Poor guy,’ I thought at the time, but quickly forgot about him.
As the Dalai Lama arrived, the crowd condensed, pressing forward to greet him. The security staff, most of them volunteers, struggled to hold back the advancing mass of people and clear a path to the reception room. The troubled young man whom I had seen earlier, now with a somewhat bewildered expression, was crushed forward by the crowd, and pushed to the edge of the clearing made by the security team. As the Dalai Lama made his way through, he noticed the man, broke free from the mooring of the security crew, and stopped to talk to him. The man was startled at first, and began to speak very rapidly to the Dalai Lama, who spoke a few wor
ds in return. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I saw that as the man spoke, he started to become visibly more agitated. The man was saying something, but instead of responding, the Dalai Lama spontaneously took the man’s hand between his, patted it gently, and for several moments simply stood there silently nodding. As he held the man’s hand firmly, looking into his eyes, it seemed as if he were unaware of the mass of people around him. The look of pain and agitation suddenly seemed to drain from the man’s face and tears ran down his cheeks. Although the smile that surfaced and slowly spread across his features was thin, a look of comfort and gladness appeared in the man’s eyes.
The Dalai Lama has repeatedly emphasized that inner discipline is the basis of a spiritual life. It is the fundamental method of achieving happiness. As he explained throughout this book, from his perspective inner discipline involves combating negative states of mind such as anger, hatred, and greed, and cultivating positive states such as kindness, compassion, and tolerance. He has also pointed out that a happy life is built on a foundation of a calm, stable state of mind. The practice of inner discipline can include formal meditation techniques that are intended to help stabilize the mind and achieve that calm state. Most spiritual traditions include practices that seek to quiet the mind, to put us more in touch with our deeper spiritual nature. At the conclusion of the Dalai Lama’s series of public talks in Tucson, he presented instruction on one meditation designed to help us begin to quiet our thoughts, observe the underlying nature of the mind, and thus develop a ‘stillness of mind.’
Looking out over the assembly, he began to speak in his characteristic manner, as if instead of addressing a large group, he was personally instructing each individual in the audience. At times he was still and focused, at times more animated, choreographing his instruction with subtle head nods, hand gestures, and gentle rocking motions.