Monk Who Makes You Laugh & Think, Too

Time of India

7 hours ago

Dalai Lama
Who can get away with tugging at a yoga guru's beard, asking, "Is your beard real?" then throwing back his head and laughing - before a large audience at a 2017 meeting for harmony in Mumbai - setting off ripples of laughter all around?
Tenzin Gyatso
, the fourteenth
Dalai Lama
, of course! He was teasing
Baba Ramdev
(who also laughed), even as he pulled his beard and poked his midriff. Nothing unusual for the happy monk who does this each time he is close to a bearded visitor - he did the same to actor-comedian Russell Brand at an event in UK in 2012. And to musician-composer Dean Evenson, rocker-musician Phil Void, Muslim priest Mohd Usman Shariff, HH Catholica Bava in Kerala, a Russian monk, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and more. No one took offence.
The Tibetan monk who has spent a major part of his life in India after fleeing Chinese oppression of his homeland, found refuge in Dharamshala. He unfailingly opens any public address by first thanking the people of India for their hospitality and grace. He is not always about laughter and funny moments; his philosophy is seriously relevant - to combine scientific rigour with practical Indic wisdom and practise kindness and
compassion
towards all beings.
He may be the
spiritual leader
of the Tibetan people and a scholarly monk, but he is not one to advocate blind belief. He encourages everyone to question, experiment, explore and arrive at a logical space. "Prayer alone cannot achieve things. What we need is action more than anything else!" The Dalai Lama is not afraid of opening up to scientific research, experimentation and inquiry to understand human mind and behaviour, so that it can lead to wisdom, deep learning leading to universal harmony and peace. He says to not let hatred destroy our practice. And he advises against nurturing negative feelings. "We can work with
anger and hatred
," he says.
His favourite reference is to Shanti Deva's book, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life, Chapter 6 on
Patience
, whose first verse says:
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Whatever wholesome deeds,
Such as venerating the buddhas and (practising) generosity,
That have been amassed over a thousand aeons,
Will all be destroyed in one moment of anger.
You need enthusiasm and desire to improve and learn, to cultivate patience and understanding and to derive strength to overcome hardships in the process.
The second verse on patience, says:
There is no evil like hatred,
And no fortitude like patience.
Thus I should strive in various ways
To meditate on patience.
The Dalai Lama points out that although the Tibetan word for hatred, zhe dang, could be translated as either anger or hatred in English, it is more appropriate to equate zhe dang with just hatred because in some special cases, anger could be positive in a limited sense. As when anger is motivated by compassion or acts as catalyst for positive action. But under all circumstances, hatred can never be positive.
"Genuine peace of mind is rooted in affection and compassion. There is a high level of sensitivity and feeling involved," he says. No external condition can bring us the joy and happiness we seek; these come from within, with a positive attitude free of negativities. This can be achieved with practice of tolerance, patience, compassion and kindness.
Authored by: Narayani Ganesh
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Why Arjun Was Chosen: The Untold Secret of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 3