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Dalai Lama Brings a message of love

Dalai Lama Brings a message of love image Dalai Lama Brings a message of love image
Parent Issue
Day
8
Month
October
Year
1979
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

Dalai Lama brings
a message of love
By Chong W. Pyen
137~
The Dalai Lama's U.S. trip has been overshadow·
ed by the more publicized visit of Pope John Paul II,
but the world's best known Buddhist carried essen·
tia\ly the same message as the pontiff: love.
The Tibetan spiritual and temporal leader, now in
exile in India, stopped over in Ann Arbor SWlday to
meet with the press and attend a peace symposium.
Wearing a blazing colored robe and sporting the fa· '
mi\iar shaved head, the Lama spoke with candor and
little hesitation except when trying to pick the right
English word to convey his thoughts during the press
conference at the University of Michigan
He said the timing of the U.S. visits by thetworeli·
glous leaders was "coincidental within our own rea·
sons" but "beyond the ordinary we may say there
may have been some other force, if we believe in
something." Comparing Buddhism, one of Asia's
major faiths, and ChrlsUanity, the 44·year-old monk
said their common ground is their "emphasis on
love."
IllS HOLINESS said his trip Is "non·polltlcal," al·
though some news reports linked It to improved rela·
tions between the U.S. and China. "!!eel the purpose
of my visit Is to promote love and compassion, meet
people from different faiths and religious practices,
in order to develop closer contacts. and to make a
common effort to benefit mankind.''
See Dulai Lama, l'agt" .-\·2
Born in a peasant family in the
Village of Takster, he was recog·
nized at the age of two as the heir
to the 13th Dalai Lama ("Ocean of
Wisdom" in Mongolian) and incar·
nation of Avalokiteshvara (the
Buddha of Compassion)·. Upon the
death of each Dalai Lama, his
reincarnated successor is located
among the country's children by
other Lamas.
Tibet is a thinly populated re·
gion (1.3 million) covering 470,000
square miles, almost twice the
size· of Texas, surrounded by the
Himalayas, the Kunluns, India
and Nepal. The Lama has a follow·
ing of some six million Tibetans
throughout the world.
In 1951, Tibet came under Chi·
na's reign and a communist gov·
ernment was established in 1953.
In 1959, an anti-communist revolt
occurred when the Lama's arrest
was attempted, and he fled to India
and was granted asylum.
THE DALAI LAMA said he ex·
pects to return to Tibet some day
but could not tell when. China has
not alfowed enough liberalization
for Tibetans whose level of dis·
satisfaction is still high, he said.
During his five weeks of travel·
ing across the U.S., the preacher
of austere lifestyle and strict self·
disciplines apparently saw enough
of Americans' materialistic gusto.
"As soon as you see all those TV
commercials, you see it's some·
thing too much. Everybody is
trying to sell something. All these
things, if you use them well, are
necessary. But there are other
things. that are necessary in hu·
man life. I always believe in com·
bination of certain things, a bal·
ance of external and internal (val-
• • •
ues). You could solve problems
only through internal attitude."
There is an estimated 500,000
Americans subscribing to Buddha's
teaching of "Middle Path"
to avoid the extremes of selfdenial
and self-indulgence. The
roots of American Buddhism are
just two decades old, with fewer
followers now than in the 60s but
more stable, according to organiz·
ers.
But the Dalai Lama is not trying
to convert Americans, he said, because
differences among people
are very important. "Different
methods, different ways of
thought are very useful for human
kind. It's like food - different
variety of food is much more
healthful than one food. Religion is
food for mental (health) while ordinary
food is for physical health.
"WE MUST respect each other
and understand each other. I'm a
Buddhist but I'm not thinking of
making new Buddhists. I'm just
teaching them about Buddhist
thinking."
There was no sign of the ~~~
Cia a ·a fli1if"Trequently accom·
panies dignitaries nor the cal·
culated distance between them
and the public. But the Dalai r
Lama emanated the kind of vir· I
tuosity acquired through soul·
searching endeavors to achieve
nirvana, the Sanskrit term of
"blowing out."
But during his month-long stay
here, the Lama also demonstrated
his pleasant personality and politi·
cal savvy by handling the aggres·
sive American press corps adroit·
ly, true to his teaching for a "bal·
ance between internal and exter·
nal values."
Buddhism, he said, wfll have to
.._--------~--~--. learn to cope with communism to
achieve peace in Asia because
China is completely surrounded
by "millions and millions of peo·
ple (in whom) Buddhism is deeply
rooted through centuries, particu·
larly Mongolia, Tibet, Korea and
Indochina." He said there may be
"some points which are common"
between the two often conflicting
ideologies and expressed his "seri·
ous interest" in researching and
investigating them "throu