Tibet House US was honored to host H.H. the Dalai Lama for a one-day dharma teaching at the Beacon Theatre and then for an impromptu luncheon in May, 2009. Below is an excerpt of His Holiness’ brief address at the luncheon.

H.H. the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman in New York, May 2009

. . . I always am telling our supporters, and also those people who have a genuine interest about Tibetan culture; since you are supporting or you are showing interest, or you are showing solidarity with a certain culture, which I mentioned, [a] culture of compassion, culture of nonviolence-so since you yourself are showing a keen interest about that, so in your own home, in your own daily life, pay a little more attention about the concept of nonviolence. When you have some disagreement with your wife, or with your husband, think nonviolence. And little, little problems here and there, or with your neighbor, think more of compassion and respect others as just another human being. So build the Tibetan cultural heritage in which you have keen interest, and that cultural heritage, build in your own area, in your own family. That, I think, I feel, is the way to contribute, make a contribution to a better society, happier family.   — H.H. the Dalai Lama

Excerpt from Why The Dalai Lama Matters by Robert Thurman

1. It is not true that the world always has to be a mess and vale of misery. It can be beautiful and meaningful, and the human life form is a wonderful opportunity to reach the highest fulfillment imaginable.
2. The Buddha’s Noble Truth of Suffering means that life dominated by misknowledge will always be unsatisfactory, but that is not a final destination; it means that we can develop wisdom to eliminate misknowledge and then live free in bliss and share that bliss with others.
3. War and violence are not at all inevitable. When leaders and their people recognize this precious nature of human life in particular and all sentient life in general, they can definitely improve the nature of a society, can live sensibly and in harmony with nature and with one another. Being civilized means being wise, gentle, loving, and happy, and a society that enshrines those qualities is truly a civilization. There are definite examples of societies that have successfully cultivated a higher degree of gentleness, such as those of ancient India, Tibet, Mongolia, and China in certain flourishing periods.
4. The time we now live in is a unique moment when, due to science, technology, and the teachings of all the great religions, human beings could awaken to their true potential in larger numbers than ever before, and we really could realize the ancient dream of peace on earth, goodwill to all beings (not only humans).
5. Tibet is a special land, the highest “roof of the world”, and it is a shining example of what spiritual heights some members of a society can achieve when supported by a people who, in the main, have limited their greed for wealth and abandoned any admiration for violence and militarism. They once were successful militarists, and they became a peaceful people. They prove it can be done.
6. China has both sides in its history; it reached high points of civilization at times, and at other times it switched back into predatory savagery toward its own people and its neighbors. It was frequently violently conquered and then tended to imitate its conquerors. It is now caught up in imitating the Western ideological imperialism of Marxism, the physical imperialism of the Manchu empire, and the economic not-quite-post-colonial colonialist mentality of the not-quite-post-colonial Euro-American empires. It is also in the process of returning to its own soul, a soul of balance and harmony with humanity and nature, as it relearns its own deep ancient civilizational vision.
7. Therefore, it is not impossible that China, the waking giant, will quit its path of conquest empire and not seek to be a violent superpower, but will instead turn its great strength toward healing the overheated planet. It can listen to the Dalai Lama as one of the planet’s clearest voices of reason, peacefulness, and the wise intelligence we need to overcome the crisis we are in. It can free his people and return Tibet to being an environmental sanctuary, the water tower of Asia, the Switzerland of Asia. In turn, the Dalai Lama, now and in future incarnations, and his capable and creative free people can help the Chinese rekindle their spiritual energies and restore their civilized lives of harmony and fulfillment.
8. It is not that this or that leader will do it just now or just then. No one can be sure. But cultivating the vision of the possibility, how easy it would be, how beneficial to all sides it would be, this is one way of keeping hope alive and creating a powerful resonance that will eventually reach the hearts of those empowered to effect such positive change.
9. In our lifetimes, the Soviet Union withdrew from its imperial behavior and liberated Eastern Europe and even the Ukraine without a shot being fired. The South African apartheid regime gave up that vicious and miserable racist life without any further violence. Who can say realistically that China will not see its enlightened self-interest fulfilled in truly freeing Tibet from its cumbersome occupation and impractical and destructive colonization?
10. Therefore, it is our duty and obligation to cultivate hope. We can free our imaginations from being stuck in the expectation of failure. We can free any enemy from expecting that he or she cannot become a friend. We can follow the Dalai Lama and never give up. We live in hope, as the realistic way to live. We live therefore without bitterness, joyfully and happily, while vigorously opposing violence and injustice. It is our duty to strive to live so happily, that even if someone kills us, we will die happy!

The Sputnik Observatory for the Study of Contemporary Culture operates on the philosophy is that ideas are NOT selfish, ideas are NOT viruses. Ideas survive because they fit in with the rest of life. Ideas are energy, and should interconnect and re-connect continuously because by linking ideas together we learn, and new ideas emerge.

Check out short videos of Bob talking about identity habit, embeddedness, inner heart resonance, transmitting intelligence, and spiritual genes, and explore how they are interconnected with other themes and ideas.

By Skirball Cultural Center
May 28, 2009 12:32 PM

Listen to audio of conversation on Science, Ethics and Religion with Bob Thurman and Danny Hillis.

Preeminent figures in the fields of religion and technology Dr. Robert Thurman and Dr. Danny Hillis engage in a thought-provoking conversation on scientific progress and its impact on society. Robert Thurman has cultivated a worldwide awareness of Tibet through his academic and popular writing, translation of important Buddhist texts, and commitment to finding a peaceful resolution to the China-Tibet conflict. Danny Hillis is a respected figure in the technology community. He is an inventor, scientist, author, and engineer. He holds more than eighty U.S. patents and is the designer of the 10,000-year mechanical clock. This program was presented in commemoration of the bicentennial, in February 2009, of Charles Darwin.
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Can television or visual media capture the essence of compassion and mercy that are so central to the tenets of Buddhism?

Does the Dalai Lama manage his presence in the media or is he simply a “simple Buddhist monk and reincarnation of a bodhisattva?

See Robert A. F. Thurman, Professor, Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University, and President, Tibet House US, answer these questions in a discussion on Religion, Media and Culture: The Dalai Lama held May 5, 2009 at the Paley Center on Media with Laurie Goodstein, National Religion Correspondent, The New York Times and Steven Waldman, President and Editor-in-Chief, Beliefnet, moderated by Ibrahim Abdil-Mu’id Ramey, Director of Human Rights Division, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation. This program is presented in conjunction with the The Temple of Understanding, a New York–based organization dedicated to promoting cross cultural and inter-religious tolerance and understanding.