The Dalai Lama’s talk at SMU on Wednesday, July the first, 2015 opened with George W. Bush
Presidential Center President Margaret Spellings welcoming His Holiness and
presenting two seniors from the Tibet Club at Booker T. Washington High School
for the Performing and Visual Arts. The newly minted high school graduates
offered handmade prayer flags in honor of his visit. These young women,
ebullient in stature and expression, stood on the stage with the Dalai Lama
waving the flags like little children—a gesture, amusingly, he started.
In the audience we could hear him chuckling and saying
“thank you” several times. As directed, they politely exited the stage, but he
in his warm way called them back, wanting to offer them the traditional prayer
scarf. Giddy with the moment, they accepted this loving gift and literally
danced away from a remarkable exchange. My thoughts swept to Eva Kutsheid, our
beloved printmaker and teacher who lit a bright light of love for Tibet for all
of us over fifteen years ago. Eva
inspired a compassion movement for Booker T. Washington and for the Crow
Collection of Asian Art and now for Dallas. She passed from this earthly plane
just over one year ago, but this was very much a moment bursting with her love
and presence: her light now takes on a different form. And it is beautiful. The lesson: remember.
We all settle in for the moment we are most present for: his
teachings. The moderator of this talk is Cokie Roberts (formerly with ABC) and
she bashfully admits she will do her best to “interview” His Holiness. She asks
the Dalai Lama if he is going to do what some people do on their eightieth
birthdays: jump out of an airplane and he chuckles a reply: “It’s quite silly”.
Indeed. It’s clear interviewing His Holiness is a tall order. Rather than be
“interviewed”, he walks over to a familiar place at the podium and begins
teaching. I’ve now watched him in several documentaries and have surmised that
he laughs to himself every time he stands up. Today is not different. The
lesson: laugh.
He thanks first President Bush and describes a “heart to
heart” friendship kindled at their first meeting. If there is a theme for this
day with the Dalai Lama it is friendship. Then he tells us that he is talking
to us on the level of just one human being, among 7 billion human beings, no
differences: emotionally, mentally, physically: we are the same: same right to
achieve a happy life. We have the equal right to this happiness. He illuminates
our “special” brain as the source of infinite love, compassion and tolerance,
but this brain also causes destructive emotions such as anger, hatred, fear and
more complicated feelings. He believes that a lot of problems we are facing are
our own creation: man-made products of our own intelligence.
He describes this day for us in the Moody Coliseum:
peaceful, equal, using individual freedoms and liberty. But, this very moment
in a different part of the world: suffering is happening, killing and human
beings killing human beings. And he says, the worst thing: religions, various
religious traditions carry the message of love and with that a message of
tolerance, forgiveness and self-discipline. So, religious faith is really a source
of love, forgiveness but sadly it is a perception of religious difference that
is causing more division, hatred anger and unthinkable killing. These divisions are man-made problems. The lesson: this is on us.
He points to our material culture, one of an affluent
society: as individuals we are coping with too much stress, worry, fear and
distrust. He notes that material facility cannot provide inner-peace. He tells
us we are lacking a deeper understanding of the value of compassion and love.
Of the seven billion over one-billion are non-believers, but they also have the
right to have a happy. We all need to pay more attention to our respective inner-value.
He calls on modern education to increase curriculum on
inner-values and moral principles. We human beings as social animals, no matter
how powerful one individual, without the rest of community one individual
cannot survive. Emotionally we need a certain set of emotions that bring us
together: love, affection and sense of community. We are social animals but
deep inside we have a very self-centered attitude: just me, me me. But
biologically we have an inherent sense of community. We can teach people a
simple concept of how important the rest of the community is to our survival. He
tells us that others are the basis of our future. “Take care more seriously
about the well being of others. We need friends, friendship: friendship
entirely based on trust, trust based on taking care of others well being. Then
trust comes. Too much self-centered attitude will not bring friendship. We are
social animals and part of humanity, we have to pay more attention to inner
values. We must include more information and training in the education field.” The lesson: teach love, compassion,
tolerance and forgiveness.
He then references his study of science, how constant anger
and fear are eating our immune system. A
greater concern for others’ well being brings inner strength, inner strength
brings a calm mind, a calm mind is very important factor for a healthy body. He
then teaches us that thinking about love, certainly useful, isn’t enough.
Thinking about love is important, but implementing love, serving other people,
helping other people: love translated into action is more effective for health.
We need some sort of lesson about warm-heartedness as a value in the education
field as a counterpoint to a generation steeped in material value. The lesson: love in action leads to
improved well being.
He notes too much emphasis on the secondary level of our difference: color, religious faith, rich, poor—negate completely the oneness of the first level: the human level. If we do this—emphasize our oneness in humanity, the secondary level of difference won’t matter. We need constant effort through various professions to recognize at a global level for a peaceful, compassionate world. He calls on each of us as part of humanity to develop a sense of a responsibility to this lesson to carry it forward. “Each of you individually analyze, analyze, get more conviction, share with one friend, share with ten people and each of them will share with ten people and [on and on]…” He believes the changes on a global level will only come from the individual, the individual who listens and just tells one person. And he ends this stunning lesson with the simplest: Ok, what do you think? He challenges us to either take his lessons with us or actually take action with them. The Lesson: Commit, commit to compassion.
Our teacher chuckles to himself as he takes a seat, dons a “shade”
hat in his usual University custom, and Cokie begins with a tough question on
China’s new willingness to engage in a dialogue with the Dalai Lama. He claims
they are shortsighted, too much emotion: Out of their weakness they are shy to
admit their failure. Silly! Admit mistake! Then change!
What if we used these exact sentences when coaching
ourselves in the mistakes we make and repeat?
Silly! Admit mistake! Then
change!
Why are the toughest answers the most simple?
How seriously we take
ourselves. The talk flowed into a few questions he answered humbly, but the
real lessons in the longer and unexpected talk washed over me like love does and stayed with me for weeks. They are still with me. I traveled
on to California to the Global Compassion Summit, experiencing five additional
lectures by His Holiness and realized nothing was like this talk he gave. The length
of his talk and his humble, honest intention of hope that we might carry a
message were ours and ours only in Dallas. And now they are yours.
Please enjoy the full capture of this magical day at Southern
Methodist University in this Youtube video:
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