To: K-list
Recieved: 1999/11/09 07:53
Subject: Re: [K-list] Tibetan memories
From: Maureen Heffernan
On 1999/11/09 07:53, Maureen Heffernan posted thus to the K-list:
A. Erhart wrote:
> >So......Amanda, the Dalai Lama, his presence will >change you.
>
> In a way it already has. :)
>
> Some of his writings was the first I reached for when
> getting reacquainted with Kundalini and Tibetan
> Buddhism.
>
> Some of the questions / answers sessions that were in
> some of his books contained similar questions I had
> had and getting suggestions to the answers from
> someone who has made a serious committment to
> compassion was very good.
>
> Coming on the heels of his surprise bestseller, "The Art of
> Happiness," the 14th Dalai Lama has struck another chord in
> Western readers with "Ethics for the New Millennium."
> Tibet's exiled leader, whose nation has suffered four
> decades of systematic oppression and spiritual deprivation,
> believes that feeling good requires being good--not exactly
> a common sentiment in a time of bull markets and fad
> diets. He pulls it off by employing the same soft-spoken,
> disarming wisdom that is so appreciated in his public
> speaking engagements. In an interview via e-mail with
> Amazon.com's Eastern Religion editor, Brian Bruya, His
> Holiness imparts more wisdom for the benefit of Amazon.com
> readers, explaining how the basic concerns of all
> people--happiness based in contentment, appeasement of
> suffering, and the forging of meaningful relationships--can
> act as a foundation for universal ethics.
>
> You can find "Ethics in the New Millennium" at
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573220256/ref=ad_b_er_1
>
> and other titles by the Dalai Lama at
> http://www.amazon.com/dalai-lama
>
> ******
>
> Ethics in a Modern World:
> An Interview with the Dalai Lama
>
> Amazon.com: What is there in your thoughts on ethics that is
> absent from current notions of ethics in the West?
>
> Dalai Lama: Not having detailed knowledge of Western
> theories of ethics, it is hard to answer this question
> directly. But I believe that any approach to ethics that
> does not take into account others' feelings and others'
> equal right to happiness is bound to prove inadequate.
>
> Amazon.com: In offering your notions of ethics to the West,
> you are doing so as a monk steeped in the belief system of
> Tibetan Buddhism. To be a good person, do we need to
> subscribe to Tibetan Buddhism?
>
> Dalai Lama: According to my own experience, there is no
> doubt that Buddhist practice is an effective means of
> achieving the happiness that is characterized by inner
> peace. Here, though, the emphasis must be on the word
> "practice." It is not enough merely to revere deities and
> read sutras. Likewise, there is no doubting that each of the
> world's major religious traditions provides an effective
> means of achieving happiness through helping individuals to
> restrain their narrow selfish impulses on the one hand and
> to develop love and compassion on the other. But here too,
> the emphasis must again be on the practice of compassion in
> the context of inner discipline rather than on the
> externalities of religious practice.
>
> At the same time, it is also true that these ethics--of
> restraint and of virtue, which are the source of inner
> peace, of happiness, and of a meaningful life--can be
> developed without the individual having recourse to
> religious faith. What I call genuine spiritual practice,
> which entails disciplining our negative thoughts and
> emotions and developing a good heart, is, I believe,
> possible irrespective of a person's belief or lack of
> belief.
>
> Amazon.com: You say that disciplining the mind and
> developing inner strength are essential. Are these things
> that everyone can do? Is a society of saints really
> possible, or do we need a set of rules and punishments to
> maintain order in society?
>
> Dalai Lama: We all have the same potential to develop love
> and compassion. But this does not mean that everyone
> progresses at the same speed. And clearly we do need laws
> and regulations to facilitate good order in society. Ethical
> discipline is not just about rule following, however. The
> best, indeed the ultimate, way to guarantee a civilized
> society is through inner discipline rather than merely
> relying on external means to achieve law and order. The key
> is thus to perfect our inner motivation, or inspiration:
> that which in a sense drives our actions.
>
> Amazon.com: You talk about the inner life, about positive
> and negative thoughts. Why are these important when we
> consider a person's morals based on that person's actions
> rather than on his or her thoughts?
>
> Dalai Lama: Negative actions invariably arise in the context
> of negative thoughts and emotions. Conversely, positive
> actions arise in the context of positive, or wholesome,
> thoughts and emotions. If a seemingly positive act is in
> fact motivated by the desire to harm others, it remains a
> harmful act. Similarly, if, for example, we give with the
> intention of inflating the image others have of us, we are
> not really being generous at all.
>
> I have tried to emphasize the importance of developing our
> compassionate nature, which is the basis both of ethical
> behavior and of human happiness.
>
> Amazon.com: You say that genuine happiness for a person
> depends on ethical conduct. Can't happiness be found simply
> in the pleasures of life? Are ethical considerations ever at
> odds with certain pleasures, and would that make them a
> hindrance to happiness?
>
> Dalai Lama: The problem with such an approach to happiness
> is that those things, such as sensual pleasure, which we
> suppose to be a source of happiness, are found in the end to
> be further sources of suffering. Of course, temporary
> happiness, or temporary satisfaction, can be found in this
> way. But if we aspire to peace of mind, to that inner sense
> of tranquility that is unaffected by adverse circumstances,
> we find that often we need to sacrifice immediate pleasure
> for the joy of lasting happiness.
>
> ******
>
> The full text of Amazon.com's interview with the Dalai Lama
> is at
> http://www.amazon.com/dalai-lama-interview
>
> Featured in this e-mail:
>
> "Ethics for the New Millennium"
> by the Dalai Lama
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573220256/ref=ad_b_er_1
>
> "The Art of Happiness"
> by the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573221112/ref=ad_b_er_1
>
> You can find other titles by the Dalai Lama at
> http://www.amazon.com/dalai-lama
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