Every once in a while, someone will
come into your Life and make you sit up and appreciate the value of being human
– and being happy.
On my Life’s journey I have met a few people who
have had a profound impact on my outlook to Life and have inspired me to be
happy. But this morning at the Extra Mural Lecture Series at IIT-Madras, The
XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, invited me to look at Life and happiness
afresh.
He raised the pitch and perspective to a
higher-than-30,000-ft-level saying each of us has a responsibility to make this
Century, the 21st Century, the Century of Happiness. And even as he
delivered this profound message, he ensured that he gently, beautifully,
stirred your soul and made you realize that the real purpose of your creation –
and mine – is to be happy!
Tenzin Gyatso: The XIVth Dalai Lama Picture Courtesy: TIME/Internet |
The Dalai Lama began by simply being who he is – he
is simplicity personified. He picked up an apple, from a fruit basket that had
been given to him by IIT-M Director Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi as a welcome
gesture, and kept chomping on it all through his lecture. He said, “I prefer
informality. I prefer all of us treating each other as humans. That way there
is equality. You know, the moment I start looking at myself as a Tibetan or as a
Buddhist monk, then I begin to treat myself with exclusivity. And let me tell
you if I start referring to myself as The Dalai Lama – I am the only Dalai Lama
in the world which has over 7 billion people – then it gets very lonely. So, I
am just another human being like you. I like it this way. This is when we can
have a conversation – you and me!”
He made a very strong case for humanity and
happiness. He said that all humans, intrinsically, basically, are
compassionate. And all human beings want a happy Life – and they have a right
to be happy! All destructive emotions – anger, hatred, fear – are secondary.
They arise in people only when their idea of happiness is disturbed. Each
individual, he pointed out, has a responsibility: to go back to the basic human
state of compassion, to have a vision to make this world happier and to develop
the patience to attain this vision. “But it is a personal choice,” he
reiterated, adding, “That is why the Buddha said, ‘You are your own Master.’ Your
happiness is in your hands and in your actions – mental, verbal and physical
actions. So, you can go to work on what I have shared with you or you can drop
it.”
Tenzin Gyatso: The XIVth Dalai Lama Picture Courtesy: TIME/Internet |
He made us pause and think of religion and its role
and purpose. He patiently elucidated what the various religions are trying to
say. He led us to understand that each religion, and the multiple philosophies
professed by each religion, may appear to be different. But ultimately all of
them are promoting human well-being and happiness. Again, he championed that it
was an individual responsibility for each of us to stay focused on the bigger
picture of what each religion was striving to achieve. “The true meaning of
secular is to respect all religions and their followers and respect all those
who are non-believers (in religion) too. It is our responsibility to work
towards religious harmony among the world’s people. That’s my commitment,” he
said.
At 80, The Dalai Lama lives and leads his Life’s
message from the front. Not in his spiritual role. Not in its political avatar. To me, he has relinquished both.
The political mandate he gave up in September 2011 when he retired from the Central
Tibetan Administration. And he is hardly interested in continuing in the
spiritual role either, of being a reincarnation of Avalokitesvara – the Boddhisattva
of Compassion. In an interview he gave a German newspaper in September 2014,
The Dalai Lama has indicated that he is not keen on the tradition of the Dalai
Lama, which has stayed for over 5 centuries, continuing any longer. In fact, he
spoke about it briefly this morning too. “Even the Dalai Lama institution has
become feudal over the years. It’s time for change. Which is why, I prefer
dealing with people at a human level not as a reincarnation of Avalokitesvara,”
he said.
My family and I – who are together for the first
time in 8 years for Diwali – could not have found a more enriching experience
on a Diwali morning! Just being in the presence of the man is such a blessing. Here’s
someone who has stripped himself of all the trappings of power and exclusivity
and has gone to the root of human existence to promote compassion and happiness
among the world’s people. I don’t know of too many statesmen and global leaders
who have been able to do that or are doing that. Which is why, perhaps, over
3000 of us in the audience at the Student Activities Centre at IIT-M clung on
to his every word, having chosen to pause our Diwali celebrations.
They call him ‘His
Holiness’. But I won’t call him so. As he chomped on his apple, and kept
repeating how delicious it was, he taught us the value of being humble, being
happy and being human. To me, therefore, Tenzin Gyatso is
just a happy, humble, human being! And so he inspires me to be one myself!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this. I hope I had been there but you have made up for my absence. Hari Ratan
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this. I hope I had been there but you have made up for my absence. Hari Ratan
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