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Story and photos by Ron Logan
June 18, 2017 (La Jolla) – The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, spoke today in front of a capacity crowd at UCSD’s RIMAC Field. More than 20,000 people were in attendance for a public talk by His Holiness in advance of his university commencement keynote speech scheduled for Saturday, June 17.
The Dalai Lama has received 72 honorary doctorate degrees for his contributions to the fields of Neuroscience, Humanities, Buddhist Science, Humane Arts & Letters, Oriental Studies, Theology, Divinity, Diplomatic Science, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Law and Philosophy. As an author, he has written 80 books, with more than 200 publications, translated into 63 languages. He has spoken at 146 universities worldwide.
In this, his second appearance at UCSD since 2012, the Dalai Lama urged compassion from our society. He was introduced by his personal friend, NBC News television journalist Ann Curry, following brief speeches by UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who awarded His Holiness a key to the city.
Curry introduced the Dalai Lama as a wise and compassionate human being, a man who says his religion is ‘kindness.’
“He knows that our true human potential is far greater than we can even imagine,” said Curry. “He knows, not only from studying the rich wisdom found in ancient Tibetan texts, but also from a field of scientific inquiry that he initiated, that has analyzed compassion and the human brain. Modern science, it turns out, has found that compassion is a fundamental human trait. The evidence indicates that humans that practice compassion tend to be happier, and may even live longer. The Dalai Lama says this evidence is reason to hope that we humans will find our better selves.”
“His message of compassion, peace, and non-violence is taken into 62 countries. many repeatedly, and has had him win 84 awards and counting, including the coveted Nobel Peace Prize,” she continued. “But everyone who has come to know the Dalai Lama will tell you that he is a humble man and he doesn’t want awards. What he wants is action. Tangible, positive change in us and the way we treat one another. Which is how, at the age of 81, he is still traveling the world, and he is still speaking to people including to you today.”
The Dalai Lama’s speech, which lasted approximately 70 minutes and included a question and answer session, focused mostly on love, compassion and oneness.
“Everybody wants [a] happy life. That is alright. The very purpose of our life is for happiness. Joyfulness,” said His Holiness.
He explained that our future is based on hope. Our planet has seven billion human beings who all want to be happy, but there are a lot of problems. And many of the problems in society are our own creation. What he calls “Man-made problems.”
The Dalai Lama said we can solve most of our problems if we tackle our emotions, learn compassion and kindness to others, through education and awareness, and through a deep desire to create oneness with the seven billion people. Oneness of humanity.
His Holiness believes too much emphasis is placed on our differences: color, nationality, language, culture, religion, rich, poor, educated and uneducated. He explained that this planet is a giant garden, and that the beauty of the garden is enhanced by a variety of different flowers. that a garden full of the same flowers would not be as beautiful.
This is the 21st century. We have a global economy, global warming, global population – we are all the same.
His Holiness warned that the gap is too great between rich and poor. He said this is not only morally wrong, but a source of many of our problems. This is a global problem, but particularly in the U.S.
“We have to work together and share each other’s problem[s] as one human family,” he said. “We have to pay more attention to deepen our value, that’s loving kindness. Human affection. Basic human nature is more compassionate. Constant fear and anger eats our immune system. A more compassionate mind brings more self-confidence, brings inner strength, brings [a] friendly atmosphere … a smile brings a closeness.”
His Holiness encouraged his audience to respect all religions, but to also respect non-believers. Out of seven billion people on earth, one billion are non-believers. “[Let’s] not talk about [our] next life, not talk about Heaven and Hell. Just talk about how to create happy human being[s] on this planet,” he said.
“[The] concept of oneness of humanity. If [we put] too much emphasis on we, we, we, then it automatically create[s] they, they. So then [it creates] distance. We, they. That’s the basis of bully[ing], exploitation, and finally, violence. If we keep our love, then there is [the] real possibility that [our] enemy will become [our] best friend.”
Tolerance and forgiveness are the keys to real change.
When asked what students can do to make the world a better place, the Dalai Lama responded, “They can change this century … The 21st century. In order to create [a] peaceful century, this century should be [the] century of dialogue. Then, whenever we find disagreement, we have to think ‘how to solve, how to reduce this gap through talk.’ With mutual respect. Mutual love. Consider, they [are] also part of [our] human brothers, sisters … so, this century should be [a] century of open dialogue in order to make [a] century of peace.”
His Holiness explained how the 20th century, which he calls his century, was a century of violence and war. But he has great hope for the 21st century. He believes that by the end of the century we can create a century of peace.
“I have more hope … Sometimes I tell people that if we had met Jesus Christ, and Mohammad, and Buddha, and you asked ‘please, please bring peace on this planet’ most probably they would tell us ‘who, who creates violence?’ Not God, not Buddha, not these guys, [but] we human being[s]. So, YOU have the responsibility to solve this, [laughs] not through prayer, but through action. You have to solve.”
In another question, a Carlsbad woman asked how she herself can change to bring compassion and understanding to an increasingly divisive culture, with a rise in hate speech, and people not listening to one another. His Holiness replied that we should use our intelligence. “If we use harsh words, this comes from narrow-mindedness. So, in the long run, what [is the] benefit [to] you? If you want [to be a] lonely person, then okay, use harsh word[s] … but in order to be [a] joyful individual, we need [a] friend. We are social animal[s]. Friendship [is] very important. Friendship entirely depend[s] on trust. Trust [will] come if you show them genuine respect, genuine love. Even animals, some dogs, you feed them without genuine love, they also are quite clever. They take the food and never show appreciation. If you feed them with genuine love, then, they see that, and [they] are licking you. Wonderful, isn’t it?”
When the Dalai Lama was asked who he most admires in the world, his response included Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and Bishop [Desmond] Tutu. “I really like Bishop Tutu,” he said. “We are always teasing each other. So, whenever we meet he describes me [as] ‘mischievous Dalai Lama’ so I call him ‘mischievous Bishop.’ [laughs] In Europe, I was fond of [the] late President [Václav] Havel, of Czech [Republic], wonderful person. And the first president of India, Rajendra Prasad. I consider myself a follower of him.”
A question from another San Diego resident asked ‘What lessons have you learned in this lifetime?’ “Love,” he said. “The first lesson I learned from my mother was love. And then, the Buddhist text [that] come from India from the 8th century. And we used logic.” In the 1950s he visited Peking, China, met Chairman Mao Zedong, and learned about Marxism. His Holiness stated that as far as socio-economic matters are concerned, he is a Marxist which he feels is very useful. In India, he learned many special traditions and also met many scientists. “So nowadays, I sort of consider myself half Buddhist monk, and half scientist. Wonderful. Wonderful.”
When asked ‘How can we remain calm and centered when things all around us are chaotic?’ The Dalai Lama responded “Our intelligence, our minds have [a] great ability to make balance of our emotion … open our minds and learn how to use intelligence.”
The Dalai Lama often works with college students. “Students, the generation of the 21st century, you are the basis of our hope … When I meet younger people, it makes me feel younger.”
One of the final questions asked was “If you could solve one problem in the world, what would it be?”
“That’s a difficult question,” the Dalai Lama replied. “There are so many, so many problems. So, whatever way, make some contribution. A single person, [to] solve one world problem, [is] impossible. So, try to make some contribution and raise more comrades, work together … any human movement first starts from [an] individual … each of you have your own friends. So, always [I am] telling people from one person, at least ten friends. Share certain things. And then each ten. Share [with] their own friends. That means [a] hundred. That way, from one, ten – ten, hundred – hundred, thousand – thousand, ten thousand – hundred thousand. Go like that. That’s the way.”
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