Conversations for the Book of Joy Begin

Teaching in Leura, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia from June 5 to 9: His Holiness will give five days of teachings on Commentary on the Five Stages of Guhyasamaja and confer the Yamantaka Initiation (jigje wang) organized by the Dalai Lama in Australia at the Fairmont Resort, Luera, Blue Mountains. Contact Website: www.dalailamainaustralia.org

Public Talk in Leura, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia on June 8: His Holiness will give a public talk on The Wisdom of Forgiveness organized by the Dalai Lama in Australia in the afternoon at the Katoomba Public School. Contact Website: www.dalailamainaustralia.org

Multi-Faith Event in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on June 11: His Holiness will participate in a multi-faith event organized by the Dalai Lama in Australia in the morning at the Cathedral of St. Stephen's Contact Website: www.dalailamainaustralia.org

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama Begins a Series of Teachings at Gyutö Tantric College

Sidhbari, HP, India, 10 May 2015 - Approximately 5000 people gathered today at the Gyutö Ramoche Temple in Sidhbari below Dharamsala to listen to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They included a large number of monks from the two Tantric Colleges of Gyumey and Gyutö and lay-people filling the large temple hall, its surrounding verandas and even the yard below. The customary introductory prayers, including the ‘Heart of Wisdom’ the salutation from the ‘Ornament for Clear Realization’, the ‘Praise to the 17 Masters of Nalanda, were said. The incumbent Abbot of Gyutö. Jhado Rinpoche offered the mandala and three representations of the body, speech and mind of enlightenment and His Holiness began to teach.

He explained that Gyutö Monastery has made long-standing requests for teachings, many of them quite extensive, which it would be tiring for him to fulfil all at once, but he thought there was an opportunity to give some of them now. He had decided to teach Jamyang Shayba’s ‘Seven Chapters of Vajrabhairava’, which he taught once before at Gyumey Tantric College in South India. A requirement to listen to such a teaching is to have received a tantric empowerment and as there is a saying in Gyumey and Gyutö, “Wherever you go, Guhyasamaja is done,” His Holiness decided he would give a Guhyasamaja empowerment on this occasion.

He remarked that on completing his explanation of Guhyasamaja, Je Tsongkhapa asked who would preserve and uphold this teaching. Je Sherab Sengey stood up and said, “I will.” In due course he was to found Se-gyu Monastery and later Gyumey. His Holiness mentioned that Nagarjuna was the principle exponent of the explicit content of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, the explanation of emptiness. He and his disciples Aryadeva and Chandrakirti made Guhyasamaja the main focus of their tantric practice and this is the tradition Gyumey and Gyutö, the two tantric colleges of Central Tibet maintain.

His Holiness clarified that granting a tantric empowerment is not just a matter of going through the ritual. You have to be more practical than that since you also need a basic understanding of the awakening mind of bodhichitta and the wisdom understanding emptiness, both of which are explained in the sutras. He said that one aspect of tantric practice involves visualizing ourselves as a deity and to do that we need some understanding of emptiness, a sense that things do not have a solid independent existence. It is through such an understanding that we overcome our disturbing emotions.

Regarding the general structure of Buddhism, we have to study. Je Tsongkhapa said there are many yogis who do not have much training or the acumen to analyse the meaning of the scriptures. His Holiness noted that amongst the gathering were abbots and former abbots of Gyumey and Gyutö, monks, nuns and laypeople, many Tibetans and among the foreigners a substantial number of Chinese brothers and sisters.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at Gyuto Tantric College in Sidbhari, HP, India on May 10, 2015.
Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL
“We all follow the Nalanda tradition and because of that we all need to know what the Buddha’s teaching means. That’s why we need to study. The Buddha told his followers not to accept what he taught at face value nor just because he had said it, but to examine, investigate and experiment with it. This also means, ‘Don’t leave the teachings in the book, but apply them in practice’. Je Tsongkhapa also remarked that there are many learned ones who are unskilled in the essential points of practice. He also said rely on reason and logic, not faith alone. In this context, I’d like to say that when I first began to meet with scientists, the older abbots were wary. Now, I think both sides see the mutual benefit.”

Turning to the texts he wanted to read as preliminary instructions, His Holiness began with Je Tsongkhapa’s ‘Praise of Dependent Arising’, which he composed when he completed his study of Madhyamaka thought and finally understood emptiness. With an understanding of emptiness comes the understanding that cessation is possible. His Holiness said that he had received an explanation of this text from Khunu Lama Rinpoche, who in turn had received it from Gyen Rigzin Tempa, and a reading transmission from Trijang Rinpoche.

He continued with the ‘Song of Spiritual Experience’, which is the most concise of Tsongkhapa’s three presentations of the path. His Holiness again commended putting the teachings into practice as advised in verses 11 and 12:

Then, the root of creating well the auspicious conditions
For all the excellences of this and future lives
Is to rely properly with effort both in thought and action
Upon the sublime spiritual mentor who reveals the path.

Seeing this we should never forsake him even at the cost of life
And please him with the offering of implementing his words.
I, a yogi, have practiced in this manner;
You, who aspire for liberation, too should do likewise.

He also recalled what Milarepa said:

“I have nothing else to offer but my practice.”

His Holiness mentioned, in conclusion, that the ‘Song of Spiritual Experience’ is a summary of Atisha’s ‘Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment’. He then read briskly through Tsongkhapa’s ‘Three Principal Aspects of the Path’, which deals with the determination to be free, the awakening mind of bodhichitta and the wisdom understanding emptiness. At the end, Tsongkhapa exhorts Ngawang Drakpa, to whom he sent this advice:

Child, when you realize the keys
Of the Three Principal Aspects of the Path,
Depend on solitude and strong effort,
And quickly reach the final goal.

Some of the 5000 people attending His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teaching at Gyuto Tantric College in Sidbhari, HP, India on May 10, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDLFinally, His Holiness read the short ‘Song of Four Mindfulnesses’ composed by the Seventh Dalai Lama on the basis of a teaching that originated with Je Sherab Sengey. He said he had received it from Yongzin Ling Rinpoche. It succinctly explains mindfulness of the teacher, mindfulness of the awakening mind that aspires to enlightenment, mindfulness of your body as the body of a deity and mindfulness of the view of emptiness. When it came to the third mindfulness, His Holiness chuckled and said:

“We’ve got all these monks here who practise Guhyasamaja, but one of the Kadampa masters remarked: ‘Everyone has a deity to meditate on, and everyone has a mantra to recite, but they lack anything to think about.’”

Pointing out that the texts he had read support and supplement the practice of Guhyasamaja, His Holiness urged his listeners to learn the ‘Song of Four Mindfulnesses’ by heart and to read the other texts again and again. He will give the Guhyasamaja empowerment on Monday and Tuesday and on Wednesday an explanation of Jamyang Shayba’s ‘Seven Chapters of Vajrabhairava’.

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Permission and Empowerment of Avalokiteshvara, the Stages of Meditation and the Three Essential Moment

Tokyo, Japan, 13 April 2015 - The Showa Joshi Women’s University Memorial Hall was empty this morning when His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived. He took a seat facing the small pavilion containing the mandala and a thangka of 1000 armed Avalokiteshvara to begin preparations for the empowerment he was to give. During the hour that these took the hall steadily filled.

Today’s proceedings began with a recitation of the Heart of Wisdom Sutra in Japanese. His Holiness explained what he was planning to do:“The tantric vehicle or vajrayana is also known as mantrayana, which means the vehicle that protects the mind. It protects the mind from ordinary appearance involving the practitioner’s visualizing him or herself in the form of a deity.”

His Holiness also explained the significance of the vajra and bell he was holding. He said the vajra represented deity yoga, while the bell represented understanding of emptiness. For visualizing of yourself as a deity to be effective it has to be qualified by an understanding of the emptiness of intrinsic existence. The vajra and bell are employed together to show that deity yoga and wisdom are indivisible.

Members of the audience attending His Holiness the Dala Lama's teaching at Showa Joshi Women’s University in Tokyo, Japan on April 13, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
Action tantra defines the disciples qualified to engage in tantric practice as bhikshus and bhikshunis and those who hold lay ordination. Therefore, His Holiness said he would offer lay ordination for those who wished to take it. He explained the five precepts pledging to avoid killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct and the use of intoxicants. He advised that individuals are free to decide how many and which of these precepts they can take and keep. He based the ceremony for taking these vows on a threefold recitation of a basic verse for taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. He followed this with an opportunity for disciples to generate the awakening mind.

He then led the audience in taking the Bodhisattva vows on the basis reciting the simple verse:

To the Three Jewels I go for refuge,
All misdeeds I specifically confess.
I rejoice in the virtues of wandering beings
And make a wish to attain the enlightenment of a Buddha.

He remarked that it would be helpful to recite this verse every day and to recall it when we come to die.

Once His Holiness had completed the Avalokiteshvara empowerment he said that it would be good to recite the mantra, but that the commitment was to help others if you can, and even if you can’t to make an effort to avoid harming them.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking to a group of Chinese Buddhists during the lunch break of his teachings at Showa Joshi Women’s University in Tokyo, Japan on April 13, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
During the lunch break His Holiness met with a group of Chinese Buddhists. He told them that since there are estimated to be 400 million Buddhists in China, it is a Buddhist country. He recalled the many temples he saw during his visit in 1954-55. He remarked that the communist authorities have tried to eradicate religion and failed. Religion is a source of solace and while many religious traditions are rooted in faith, what stands out about Buddhism is its use of reasoning.

He told them that dialogue he has been holding with scientists for more than 30 years has been mutually beneficial. He has learned, for example, that the cosmology described in the Abhidharma texts is inaccurate and he accepts the scientific account of the universe in which we live. At the same time scientists are taking great interest in what they can learn of the workings of the mind and emotions from Buddhist texts.

He praised the Nalanda tradition’s rigorous approach to knowledge. He recommended reading and listening to explanations, thinking about what you have read or heard to gain conviction in it and then familiarizing yourself with what you have understood in meditation. He stressed the importance of study and analysis, pointing out that simply reciting the name of Amitabha is not enough.

His Holiness began the afternoon session by giving a permission of Avalokiteshvara Khasarpani, a one faced two armed form, depicted at ease, resting in the nature of the mind. He then gave a concise reading of the middle volume of the ‘Stages of Meditation’, touching on several of the topics it discusses, such as what the mind is and how to train it. Compassion, which is the catalyst that activates the awakening mind of bodhichitta, is based on the recognition that although sentient beings don’t want suffering, they continually create its causes.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the afternoon session of his teachings at Showa Joshi Women’s University in Tokyo, Japan on April 13, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
He explained what is implied by the word beginningless when we say that sentient beings have been caught in cyclic existence for beginningless time. The substantial cause of consciousness is another consciousness and it is the continuum of moments of consciousness that is beginningless. He touched on the nature of suffering, noting that while the basic pain of what we acknowledge as suffering is obvious, what is described as the suffering of change and the all-pervasive suffering of conditioning we often mistake for pleasure.

In describing how to develop special insight the text elucidates the need to develop a calmly abiding mind. It explains the steps for developing this by, for instance, concentrating on a visualized image of the Buddha, warning of the pitfalls of laxity and excitement on the way. Transcendent special insight focuses on the emptiness of intrinsic existence. It is achieved by applying the concentration of the calmly abiding mind to the understanding that has been achieved through analytical meditation. This leads the practitioner to enter the paths of accumulation and preparation. Reaching the path of seeing also entails reaching the first of the ten bodhisattva grounds, which unfold during the path of meditation and no more learning.

His Holiness concluded the session with a short account of the ‘Three Essential Moments’ by Gendun Gyatso, the 2nd Dalai Lama. It is based on a teaching originating with the Indian Avalokiteshvara adept, Maitriyogi. It describes practices to do in life, at the time of death and in the intermediate state. The practices to do in life include visualizations of Avalokiteshvara and the transformation of all sentient being and meditation on the nature of the mind.

A view of the stage at Showa Joshi Women’s University's Memorial Hall during the second day of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teaching in Tokyo, Japan on April 13, 2015.
Photo/Tenzin JigmeyThe practice for the time of death involved the transference of consciousness into Avalokiteshvara visualized on the crown of the head. This is something the practitioner needs to become proficient at doing, learning to project the consciousness upward while saying ‘hic’. When rehearsing the practice it’s important not to let the consciousness pass through the crown, but to catch it there and bring it back down again with ‘gah, gah’. Another crucial factor is being able to recognise the signs of impending death. His Holiness stated that there are long-term and short-term signs, but also coarse and subtle signs. An accomplished yogi, for example, can read the changes in the flow of breath through the nostrils.

His Holiness explained that key to the practices to be done in the intermediate state is being able to develop an awareness of being in such a state. He added that much depends on how the practitioner has done the practice while alive.

“In Japan time is strictly observed and we’ve already overrun so we’ll have to stop here,” His Holiness laughed. “Although we weren’t able to go through the texts word by word, you should be able to review them again yourselves and discuss what you learn with your friends. That’s all; thank you all for coming.”

Tomorrow, His Holiness will fly back to India.

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Teaching the Heart of Wisdom and the Commentary on the Awakening Mind

Tokyo, Japan, 12 April 2015 - The weather was bright once more today and, being a Sunday morning, the streets were relatively empty as His Holiness the Dalai Lama drove across Tokyo to the Showa Joshi Women’s University. People waiting outside to enter the Memorial Hall that was the venue for the teachings were taken by surprise to see him arrive in a car. Many bowed and then waved.

His Holiness took his seat punctually at 9.30 before a capacity audience of 2100. They included 370 Koreans, 120 Mongolians and about 1000 Chinese, mostly from Taiwan with some from the mainland.

“Since most of us customarily recite the Heart of Wisdom Sutra, we’ll have recitations in your various languages,” he announced at the beginning. “Today, let’s have the Korean monks and tomorrow the Japanese.”
Starting with his customary introduction to Buddhism His Holiness said:

“In this 21st century all of us 7 billion human beings are the same in wanting happiness and not wanting to be miserable. This is true of us all, whether we are religious or not. Many of the problems we face we make for ourselves, because we are self-centred and tend to see things from a narrow, short-sighted point of view, which only increases our frustration.”

His Holiness the Dala Lama speaking during his teaching at Showa Joshi Women’s University's Memorial Hall in Tokyo, Japan on April 12, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
He said that although there is a stress on education in today’s world, it tends to focus on materialistic goals, preparing students for a materialistic way of life in a materialistic culture. Society all but ignores the mind’s contribution to being happy. We are inclined to anger and frustration because we are not at peace within. What we need is a grounding in inner values. All religious traditions emphasize love and compassion the idea of brotherhood and sisterhood and they take different philosophical approaches to that goal.

Religious traditions are either theistic, stressing a belief in a creator god, or non-theistic, and believing in causality instead. Among the non-theistic traditions, only Buddhism advocates the absence of an independent, intrinsically existent self, asserting that there is no self separate from the body and mind. He said that within Buddhism there is the Pali tradition and the Sanskrit tradition. Both teach about the three trainings in ethics, concentration and wisdom, but differ on how wisdom is defined.

The ‘Unravelling of Thought Sutra’ explains the three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma. The first refers to the teachings recorded in the Pali tradition, while the second and third belong to the Sanskrit tradition. His Holiness clarified that during the first Turning of the Wheel, the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths to do with suffering, its origin, its cessation and the path that are the foundation of his teaching. He went into some detail to explain their 16 characteristics, four characteristics of each truth. He focused particularly on understanding selflessness, the possibility of undermining ignorance and attaining a cessation of suffering. When an understanding of the 16 characteristics of the Four Noble Truths is applied in practice it gives rise to the 37 factors of enlightenment.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with a towel to protect him from the hot lights, reading from the text during his teaching in Tokyo, Japan on April 12, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
Coming back from lunch His Holiness explained that the Heart of Wisdom Sutra belongs to a collection of texts known as the Perfection of Wisdom teachings that in their most extensive form comprise the sutra of 100,000 lines in 12 volumes. In their briefest form they consist of one syllable, ‘ah’. The Heart of Wisdom is generally regarded as consisting of 25 lines. Their explicit meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom is emptiness of intrinsic existence and its implications for the truth of cessation.

“Nagarjuna describes the meaning of cessation as occurring when emptiness overcomes the destructive emotions.Khunu Lama Rinpoche on the other hand explained, and I prefer this, that the destructive emotions dissolve into emptiness. Whereas the Buddha expounded the meaning of emptiness during the second Turning of the Wheel, during the third, he introduced the clear light nature of the mind.”

His Holiness made clear that during his explanation of the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha referred to cessation and liberation in relation to an understanding of the selflessness of persons. One of the key points in the Heart of Wisdom is where it says:

‘Avalokiteshvara ... beheld those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature.’

The key word also, which is absent from the Chinese translation, but is found in the Sanskrit original and its Tibetan translation, indicates the selflessness of phenomena in addition to the selflessness of persons. To say that persons and phenomena are empty of inherent existence is not to say they do not exist at all. The words in the sutra, ‘Form is empty’ refer to the ultimate reality of the object, while the words ‘emptiness is form’ refer to its conventional existence. This is reiterated by the statement: ‘Emptiness is not other than forms and forms are not other than emptiness.’

The reason for seeking an understanding of emptiness is, as Chandrakirti states in his ‘Entering into the Middle Way’, ‘All faults, shortcomings and disturbing emotions arise from the misconception of [an intrinsically existent] self.’ On the basis of such a misconception we grasp at the intrinsic existent of things and generate disturbing emotions towards them, which His Holiness quotes his friend, American psychiatrist, Aaron Beck as saying is 90% our own mental projection.

Some of the over 2100 people attending His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teaching at Showa Joshi Women’s University's Memorial Hall in Tokyo, Japan on April 12, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
His Holiness quoted Nagarjuna saying that without understanding the selflessness of phenomena you can’t really understand the selflessness of persons. In conclusion he cited the Heart of Wisdom itself:

“All the Buddhas of the past, present and future have depended, do and will depend upon the perfection of wisdom. Thereby they became, are becoming and will become unsurpassably, perfectly and completely awakened Buddhas.’

Turning to Nagarjuna’s ‘Commentary on the Awakening Mind’, His Holiness gave a concise outline. In verses 4-9 the text refutes non-Buddhist points of view. Verses 10-24 repudiates the views of Buddhist lower schools of thought and verses 25-44 address the views of the Mind Only school. In verse 48 Nagarjuna shows that emptiness is the view that cuts off misconceptions at the root.

[48]
Therefore constantly meditate on emptiness:
The basis of all phenomena,
Tranquil and illusion-like,
Groundless and destroyer of cyclic existence.

From verse 63 there is an explanation of the Madhyamaka view, exemplified by verse 68:

[68]
The conventional is taught to be emptiness;
The emptiness itself is the conventional;
One does not occur without the other,
Just as [being] produced and impermanent.

From verse 72 the practice of generosity and the cultivation of the awakening mind of bodhichitta are described, showing how understanding of emptiness becomes a motive factor for developing bodhichitta. Then, from verses 76 - 85 is an account of how to develop the practice of exchanging self and others. At which point, His Holiness announced:

“That’s all for today. Good night. We’ll meet again tomorrow.

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama Launches Local News App

Kangra, HP, India, 9 May 2015 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama was today invited to Kangra, the ancient town near Dharamsala where he lives. He was welcomed on arrival by Dr Rajesh Sharma, founder of the Balaji Hospital and Shree Balaji Media Innovations, and local MLA and Minister for Housing, Town and Country Planning in the Himachal Pradesh Government, Mr Sudhir Sharma. His Holiness was ushered into the new media building adjacent to the hospital, which will be home to Himachalabhiabhi.com a bilingual new news app.

Before launching the app, His Holiness was briefly interviewed for it by Anil Patwar who asked he what felt PM Narendra Modi might talk about when he goes to China next week.  He replied:

Anil Patwa interviewing His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Kangra, HP, India on May 9, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL“I’m sure as Prime Minister, he knows best, but he might mention India and Tibet’s unique more than one thousand year old relationship. All our knowledge came from India, so we have a special relationship of Guru and disciple. Today, I am very concerned about the preservation of Tibetan culture, which is essentially ancient Indian culture. We follow the Buddhadharma and the Buddha taught in India, as the Prime Minister himself was observing the other day at Buddha Purnima celebrations in Delhi. And the traditions we preserved in Tibet belong to the Nalanda tradition that was introduced to us by Shantarakshita. “He might also talk about the environment, the importance of the Brahmaputra and other rivers that rise in Tibet on which more than a billion people depend.”

When asked what kind of birth he might choose next, His Holiness jokingly replied, “A woman?” and went on to explain how he had once told a French journalist that it could very well be possible for a Dalai Lama to be born as a woman. He cited the example of other high reincarnations in Tibet who were women.

“Personally, I don’t know where I’ll be born, but I always remember the prayer:

For as long as space endures
And for as long as living beings remain,
Until then may I too abide
To dispel the misery of the world.

“The first Dalai Lama, who was a great scholar and practitioner, when he reached about my age and commented that he was getting old, was told by his disciples that he would probably go to a Pure Land. He told them that wasn’t what he wished for at all. He wanted to be where he could relieve others’ suffering.”

Asked why the Chinese authorities seem to have such misapprehensions about him despite his being a man of peace, he said they tend to see things only from a political point of view. He gave the example of the Cultural Revolution, which was praised while it was going on. When it was over it was described as having had some advantages and some drawbacks. Much later it was said to have been completely destructive. This suggests a difficulty in appraising things realistically.

His Holiness said that the 1.3 billion Chinese people deserve to be given reliable information and if they were could make their own judgement about what is right and wrong. By comparison he praised India as a wonderful country where freedom flourishes. He remarked that while he generally considers himself one of the 7 billion human beings alive today, he has lived the last 56 years in India.

“I am a messenger for India, a son of India, but if you ask which part of the country I’ve spent the most time in, it’s Himachal Pradesh. And I’d like to extend my greetings to the Himachali people and the wish that they will go from success to success.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama launching the app Himachalabhiabhi.com during his visit to Kangra, HP, India on May 9, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL
Flanked by Dr Rajesh Sharma and Mr Sudhir Sharma, His Holiness cut the ribbon to the portal hub and was invited to sit at one of the computer desks where Anil Patwar guided him in launching the new news app, Himachalabhiabhi.com

Addressing an invited audience of about 200 downstairs, His Holiness said that this was the first time he had launched a new app and that he was not well acquainted with the use of computers.

“But,” he noted, “they are part of the 21st century, a time when I think people’s attitudes are changing. People are becoming opposed to the use of violence to settle conflicts, they are more concerned about the natural environment and they are concerned to find ways to close the gap between rich and poor. And the more they recognise corruption, that seems to erupt everywhere, the more they are opposed to it. The reason for this is that people’s awareness has grown. A special quality we human beings possess is our intelligence and in order to employ it we need access to more and better information.

“It’s clear that in this the world’s most populous democratic country, the media have a very important role. This includes a role in educating people. But educating the brain alone provides no guarantee of living a happy life. We need also to educate people about karuna, warm-heartedness, which will enable them to live as happy individuals, in happy families, in a happy society.”

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama Gives a Public Talk at Souji Temple

Tokyo, Japan, 11 April 2015 - After two restful days with the Busshokai group in Kanazawa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama left this morning for Tokyo. He travelled by Kagayaki Shinkansen one of Japan’s newest, and most up-to-date bullet train services, which was only inaugurated last month. Passing through Nagano, the approximately 500 kms journey was completed in two and a half hours.

The drive from Tokyo station to Souji Temple in Yokahama on Tokyo’s congested roads was considerably slower. His Holiness was received by the Chief Priests of the temple and escorted into the main Buddha hall where he paid his respects before joining them for a traditional Japanese lunch. At their meeting afterwards, they explained that the temple is observing a memorial year to commemorate their founder, Taiso Josai Daishi. His Holiness inscribed two messages for the temple as a memento of his visit and gifts were exchanged. “All 7 billion people alive today want happiness,” His Holiness went on, “and yet because of anger and resentment we tend to see people in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’. This is the kind of attitude that encourages conflict and even the killing of other people. It’s especially sad when such conflict revolves around religion.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at Souji Temple's assembly hall in Tokyo, Japan on April 11, 2015.
Photo/Tenzin JigmeyHe clarified that all religious traditions teach love and compassion, so when their followers give in to anger and hatred, it is because they are not sincere in their practice. It is said that 1 billion people today claim not follow any religion, but as human beings they share our common need for love and affection. Our mothers give birth to us and nurture us with love and affection and even when we grow up we need friends and affection to survive. If we regularly give into anger and suspicion, not only will we have no friends, but it will undermine our health. Whether we believe in religion or not, the need for affection is part of human nature.

“Historically Japan has been a Buddhist country. Buddhism includes the Pali tradition, which finds authority in scriptural citations and the Sanskrit tradition which depends on reasoning. Within the Sanskrit tradition, Japanese monks and lay people regularly recite the Heart Sutra. We can also distinguish between religious traditions that believe in a creator god and those that don’t. Among these non-theistic traditions, it is only Buddhism that asserts the lack of an independently existent self. Rather than a partless, permanent and independently existent self, existing from its own side, the self is said to be merely designated on the basis of the body and mind. If the body changes, the self changes. We say for example, as the body ages, ‘I have got older’.”

Holiness remarked that, like other Indian traditions, Buddhism aims to achieve liberation, which is to have overcome our disturbing emotions. When our minds are subject to disturbing emotions we continue to be caught in cyclic existence.

Members of the audience reacting to His Holiness the Dalai Lama's talk at Souji Temple's assembly hall in Tokyo, Japan on April 11, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
“Therefore,” he said, “if we want to be genuinely happy, we need to train our minds, even if we live somewhere as busy as Japan. In many advanced countries there has been great material development, and yet people are not necessarily happy. I’ve met billionaires who have all they could wish for, but who are still not happy. On the other hand, at Montserrat in Spain, I met a Catholic monk who had spent five years living as a hermit in the mountains, living on little more than bread and water. When I asked him what he’d been meditating on, he replied, ‘Love’, and his eyes sparkled with happiness. With almost no physical comfort, he was happy.”

His Holiness explained that if we are mentally disturbed, physical comfort alone will not set us at ease, but when we are in physical pain, we can cope if our minds are at peace. What this shows is the importance of developing a peaceful mind. While all religious traditions try to help us find happiness, most do so on the basis of faith, whereas Buddhism stresses the importance of reasoning. It teaches the perfection of wisdom, not the perfection of faith. The key to the three higher trainings - the discipline of ethics, the stability of concentration and the wisdom understanding reality is that because they are qualified by wisdom they lead to liberation.

He added that Tibetans were strongly influenced by the writings of the Indian masters Dignaga and Dharmakirti on logic and reasoning and he had heard that at one time Japan too had followed such an approach. If there was such a tradition, he urged them to revive it.

He teased the audience telling them that although some of them returned his smile, many of them remained grave faced. He told them that a Japanese scientist who is an old friend was only the other day telling him about the positive power of laughter; how it does us good physically and mentally.

His Holiness the Dalai lama answering a question from the audience during his talk at Souji Temple's assembly hall in Tokyo, Japan on April 11, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
The audience were invited to ask questions and the first man to come forward mentioned how impressive it is to see His Holiness always dressed in his monk’s robes wherever he goes. He asked how he copes with whatever difficulties he faces. His Holiness replied that it helps to see things in the broader context of the experience of all sentient beings. As another way of extending experience, he again encouraged young Japanese to learn English and volunteer overseas.    

He told a man who wanted to know how to help his mother, who has fallen ill with leukaemia, to laugh again, that he would give him Tibetan medicine that could help and would that he would pray for her. When a woman who practises Zazen daily asked if doing so would be effective in spreading Buddhism, His Holiness said that spreading Buddhism is not his intention. He is more interested is making people aware of secular ethics on the basis of common sense, our common experience and scientific findings.

Someone whose work is to help people build and restore their confidence asked about the link between altruism and self-esteem. His Holiness said that if you only dwell on your own problems it will get you down, you have to think more broadly. He remarked that Japanese who travel abroad as volunteers are in a better position to appreciate how well developed Japan is.

A member of the audience asking His Holiness the Dalai Lama a question during his talk at Souji Temple in Tokyo, Japan on April 11, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
Asked about the most important problem the world has to deal with, His Holiness mentioned the declaration of Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome last December that a timetable should be set and pursued for the elimination of nuclear weapons. He recalled that Japan, as the victim of two nuclear explosions, has been at the forefront of such a movement and urged them to keep it up.

A woman asked how to help a friend with cancer who has declined treatment and only has a year to live. His Holiness replied that if she is a Buddhist her friends could encourage her to develop a sense of love and compassion, along with the awakening mind of bodhichitta. He also recommended introducing her to the verse from Shantideva’s ‘Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’ that says:

Why be unhappy about something
If it can be remedied?
And what is the use of being unhappy about something
If it cannot be remedied?

Another woman who spoke of how tiring today’s information overload can be was advised instead to learn about the workings of the mind. Similarly a woman, who said she worked as an artist, asked for advice to feel happy from day to day. His Holiness recommended that if the ‘Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’ was available in Japanese, she should read it, paying particular attention to chapters 6 and 8, which deal with patience and meditation. Then, although it is tough, he advised her to tackle chapter 9, which deals with wisdom. He said:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama shaking hands with members of the audience as he leaves the main assembly hall of Souji Souji Temple at the conclusion of his talk in Tokyo, Japan on April 11, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
“You’re young; you can take the time to study. Do so steadily and it will have an effect. And as for your painting and drawing, I remember a Japanese man who came to see me after visiting Tibet who told me how frightening he found all the fierce images. Try and create peaceful images, figures that induce a feeling of peace.”

As His Holiness left the temple, walking down the middle of the audience, many pressed forward to catch his attention and shake his hand. When he reached his hotel, representatives of several of the groups who have come from faraway places, among them Russians, Chinese and Mongolians, to attend tomorrow’s teachings on the Heart Sutra, Nagarjuna’s Commentary on Bodhichitta & The Middle Volume of the Stages of Meditation, were there to greet him.

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Meeting with Vietnamese CEOs

Theckchen Chöling, Dharamsala, HP, India, 15 May 2015 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with a group of 112 Vietnamese from the Vietnam CEO Club at his residence today. The group consists of about 60% women and 40% men. Most were in Dharamsala for the first time. To begin with the visitors offered His Holiness two large volumes containing Shantideva’s ‘Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’ one in English and the other in Vietnamese. They were the work of 600 contributors. In his acknowledgement, His Holiness said:

“I received an explanation of this book ‘Bodhicharyavatara’ from Khunu Lama Rinpoche in 1967, at which time he asked me to teach it as many times as I could. And I’ve tried to do that. I have found it very helpful for transforming the mind. I read it and study it whenever I can.“What this book teaches is really helpful for reducing the self-cherishing attitude and feeling attachment for things we see as inherently existent. We all have negative emotions and, since we want to be happy, it helps to reduce them. Whether we formally follow a religious tradition or not we need to pay more attention to inner values.”

He went on to say that when we talk about happiness, we usually associate it with sensory pleasures, beautiful sights and soothing sounds. We pay insufficient attention to our mind that is the source of happiness within us. He mentioned that the first item on the BBC news this morning was about migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa in rickety boats, many of them dying on the way. This is an example of a man made problem. Many of these arise because of the division we feel between ‘us’ and ‘them’ and our tendency to work only for ‘our side’. ‘The Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’ teaches us how to counter this tendency.

The first of several questions from the audience asked how we can see our minds in order to change them. His Holiness explained:

“To begin with you can focus your eyes and mind on an object. When you close your eyes, an image of the object remains. This is a generic image and you can learn to hold your attention on it to sustain it. Later, you can change your focus to the mind itself.

“Chapter 6 of the ‘Guide’ talks about patience. We tend to rely on and trust our negative emotions, but if we read this chapter it becomes clear how harmful they are and how we need to control them. Chapter 8 explains the disadvantages of attachment and a self-cherishing attitude as well as the advantages of cherishing others instead.

“Whether or not we formally follow a spiritual path, it’s important that to investigate the causes of unhappiness, which are the negative emotions, and ways to counter them. We also need to pay attention to the causes of happiness, such as love and compassion, and ways to develop them.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama meeting with members of the Vietnam CEO Club at his residence in Dharamsala, HP, India on May 15, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDLHis Holiness asked the group about rates of suicide in Vietnam and was told they were quite low. He further enquired whether most cases took place in cities or in rural villages. Hearing that most take place in cities he suggested that people feel isolated and lonely more easily in cities, whereas in villages there seems to be more social support and a sense of community. He remarked that love and affection have a role in this. As social animals, friendship is very important for human beings and friendship is based on trust, which grows when we show concern and respect for others. He added that there is a need everywhere to educate people about the value of warm-heartedness.

He asked about corruption and the gap between rich and poor in Vietnam and the answer to both questions was, “Large”. He remarked that clearly material development is necessary, but equally important is inner development. We all have problems, he said, but we have to find ways to deal with them.

The question of suicide came up again and he recalled hearing about a monk in Tibet who was arrested and subject to ‘class struggle’ by the chinese authorities in 1958 or 59. When the monk was being transferred to another place and the party stopped to rest, he engaged in the practice of transference of consciousness and in effect took his own life. His Holiness said that we have to consider cases of suicide according to their circumstances.

A question was asked about the 5th and 6th verses of the ‘Eight Verses for Training the Mind’, which deal taking defeat upon yourself while giving the victory to others and coping with those who harm you despite the good you have done them. His Holiness stressed the importance of not getting angry with people who do you harm, but also of not being complacent about their wrong doing. You can and should intervene.

When a member of the audience requested a very simple explanation of emptiness, His Holiness replied that things do not exist as they appear.

Someone else asked how to deal with the negative emotions that arise in the course of doing business. His Holiness advised him to try to conduct his business less for his own profit, and not in order to cheat, exploit or deceive others, but in order to contribute to society at large.

“Learn about negative emotions and how to counter them. Be practical about it. It’s not only businessmen who are subject to negative emotions, even hermits is the hills can be subject to jealousy and competitiveness. But if you become familiar with recognising them you can learn to deal with them.”

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