Times Of India[Saturday, January 20, 2007 16:08]
Text by Sagari Chhabra and photo Phayul.com
Last week the Dalai Lama said, “I knew a Tibetan monk for a long time. He was taken away to a Chinese gulag and kept there for 18 years. When he was released he fled to India, along with other Tibetans, for refuge”. He continued calmly, “I met him and asked him about his experiences in prison”. The monk replied, “At times I was in great danger”. “What kind of danger?” asked the Dalai Lama. “I was in danger of losing my compassion towards my Chinese captors”, he replied. “Now, that”, spoke the Dalai Lama, “is Buddhism”.I am not a believer in organised religion, but spent three days with the Dalai Lama learning first-hand some of the teachings of Buddhism. They are worthy of sharing as we enter the New Year searching for that elusive element — peace. The Dalai Lama talks in simple and child-like ways, interspersed with his own laughter. He chortles as he explains: “I am fed up of formality, I have had too much of it since my childhood”. Indeed as head of Tibet in exile and as the head of the Buddhist religion he has had his share of ceremony. Yet, he also remains a living propagator of an age-old philosophy of non-violence, or as a frail man in loin cloth called it earlier, satyagraha.
How do you deal with an ‘enemy’, someone who actually has inflicted pain upon you, asked someone. If you think the workshop was attended by believers, think again; in rapt attendance were foreign secretary, Shankar Menon, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran, now handling the Indo-US nuclear deal, Nasscom head Kiran Karnik and other movers and shakers of society. “Your enemy”, replied the Dalai Lama to all listening, “becomes an object for you to practise compassion. It is easy to practise compassion on those you love, but the enemy becomes an object for you to further your practice”.
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