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Dalai Lama Shares Wisdom on the Mind, Ethics and Economy
With a head cold and a sense of humor, the Dalai Lama shared his wisdom with thousands of people Friday during his visit to UCSB.
“My voice is unusual today,” Tibet’s exiled spiritual and political leader said as he settled cross-legged into a divan onstage, interpreter by his side.
Using Tibetan to explain his finer points and English to kid around with the audience, the monk broke down topics as heady as the primordial qualities of Buddha that he says we all possess.
“We have to know the ultimate nature of the mind,” the Dalai Lama said during a morning lecture on the mind. Through it we can control destructive emotions, he said.
In the afternoon, he discussed compassion in a lecture on ethics for today and commented that the economic crisis might be an opportunity for people to establish limits on material things.
Along the way he told stories like the one of his life as a 7-year-old Buddhist monk, already recognized as the reincarnation of the the previous Dalai Lama and the manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
“I had no interest in Buddhism,” he said. “My only interest was playing.” But with the aid of a stern tutor and a “holy whip” kept just for him, he learned the root Buddhist texts by heart, he said.
The visit to UCSB was the Dalai Lama’s fourth. He was welcomed by Chancellor Henry Yang; religious studies professor Jose Cabezón, who holds UCSB’s XIV Dalai Lama Endowed Chair in Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies; Humanities and Fine Arts dean David Marshall; and Richard Blum, chairman of the UC Board of Regents.
Friday’s lectures were the apex of a series of recent events relating to the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism at the university, including talks by Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman and local author Pico Iyer, a friend of the Dalai Lama’s.
The University Art Museum is currently holding an exhibition called “The Sacred Art of Tibet,” featuring centuries-old paintings of Buddhist deities, some of which served as a guide for tantric meditation, or as symbols of devotion. Buddhist monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery created a sand mandala to be ritually destroyed Saturday.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Comments
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» on 04.25.09 @ 01:01 AM
The Dalai Lama told me that when I die, on my deathbed, I will receive total consciousness. So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.
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» on 04.25.09 @ 03:34 AM
This was an amazing and enlightening talk. It has helped me to understand the intricacies of life better and I felt honored that his holiness read one of my questions. I am now researching the meaning of the Four Noble Truths… and I really like how he explains that our heart and our mind is the temple and how we all need love and compassion.
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» on 04.25.09 @ 06:07 AM
Fletch!!! :)
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» on 04.25.09 @ 06:12 AM
How about a balanced perspective press?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqON2lxAr...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5sOm-uQH9Y
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1629342/message_to_the_dalai_lama/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sdKnhNK16o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5sOm-uQH9Y
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» on 04.25.09 @ 06:23 AM
I’ve never seen a bigger crowd of suckers in my life, attending the Dalai Lama roadshow like it’s the second coming of Christ himself. Even the Dalai says he is “just like you”. It might as well be “Deep Thoughts” by Jack Handy. There is not a word this man has uttered that is not double speak or something written in some ancient manuscript. He’s cashing in on the same cliched unrealistic Utopian ideals that ex-hippies hold in high esteem - inner peace, outer peace, non-violence - all the obvious stuff. You don’t have to be reincarnated to cash in on this stuff. You’re all being taken in by snake oil while this con artist makes an easy living sitting on a couch. It’s like going to see a Chinese Dr. Phil.
Has anyone mentioned how much the tickets cost and how much goes into the Dalai’s pocket? Of course not. Uh oh I have uttered sacrilege! There goes my chance to be reincarnated. What a bunch of schmucks. Of course should the Pope come to visit, there would be nothing but violent protests. I wonder if anyone has asked the Dalai’s view on gay marriage and abortion by the way ? Where is Perez Hilton?
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» on 04.25.09 @ 06:47 AM
Oops! Caddyshack!
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» on 04.25.09 @ 09:27 AM
Those links from “Reality Check” should be balanced with this:
http://www.france24.com/en/20080808-dalai-lama-demons-india-buddhism-dorje-shugden
Pretty clear to me that the Shugdens are mostly pro-Chinese. I wouldn’t listen to them at all.
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» on 04.25.09 @ 12:36 PM
If the Dalai Lama really practiced what he preaches, why does his government in exile only hire Tibetans who believe his religious ideals. Discrimination is the norm.
Can you imagine if the U.S. government decided to only hire Catholics, or just Protestants, and no one else. I am very grateful I don’t live under a theocratic dictatorship.
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» on 04.26.09 @ 12:31 AM
Carl: He didn’t say that, as far as you know.
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» on 04.26.09 @ 12:33 AM
It’s funny how Jesus preached about peace and love, and oh…personal responsibility, but people seem to have little time for him these days. Perhaps the Dali Lama is more user-friendly.
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» on 04.27.09 @ 08:24 AM
OOhh a Wise guy,eh?
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» on 04.27.09 @ 01:44 PM
Why didn’t the UC system do its homework before they embraced this man. His Tibetan government is falling apart due to abuses of power from discrimination to banning freedom of religion.
Regrettably, the religious studies program will likely lose its reputation when the smoke clears. The Dalai Lama is currently being taken to court in India by Tibetan refugees for violating freedom of religion principles and putting posters up in public of non-believers. When this witch-hunt is over maybe some rational minds at UCSB can correct this embarrassing mess.
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» on 04.27.09 @ 03:20 PM
Ppprrrff
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