The contribution of H.H. the XIVth Dalai Lama to interfaith education.

Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama is a great teacher and learner in interfaith education, with lessons for the entire human community. I would like to thank His Holiness for a number of gifts that have enriched my life and, I suspect, many others. I thank him first for his irrepressible laughter and his radiant smile, which seem to flow from the depth of who he is. At times his entire body shakes from head to toe with laughter and joy. What makes this gift so powerful for me is that we all know he has cultivated a deep mindfulness of the unutterable sufferings that the Tibetan people and so many others around the world have endured in recent decades. The cruelties inflicted upon his people and upon millions around the world have not embittered him or defeated him. (1) In his laughter there is the sound of liberation and healing. (2)

I thank the Dalai Lama for a second gift, which is intimately linked to the first: his response to violence from a position of spiritual freedom that refuses to strike back in anger or retaliation. Perhaps the greatest danger of violence is that it threatens to render us more and more like our adversary. If we believe we have been wronged, we often wish to strike back to get even, and we risk imitating our foe or doing worse. His Holiness's practice of nonviolence in extremely difficult circumstances over many decades bears witness to the power of the Buddhist tradition of training the mind to overcome afflictive emotions and is a gift to the entire world. (3) Some years ago a reporter noted that the Chinese had taken His Holiness's country, his people's land, their monasteries, and so many lives; and the reporter asked, "How is it that you are not angry with them?" His Holiness acknowledged that what the reporter had said was true and added, "Why should I give them my mind as well?" All of us from whatever path can learn from the wisdom of centuries of Buddhist practice in this regard.

Perhaps the most urgent challenge in interfaith education today is how to overcome the repeated intertwining of religion and violence throughout history. Time and time again religious visions have led to bloodshed. People have tried to impose unity through violence, through persecutions, inquisitions and manifold forms of discrimination and humiliation. Memories of past sufferings threaten to draw new generations into age-old cycles of vengeance. The spiritual freedom with which the Dalai Lama has responded to violence in a way that does not perpetuate animosity stands as an inspiration to us all, prompting us to look at our own religious traditions to explore resources that can contribute to this endeavor. In the Christian heritage, which I represent, the voice of Jesus himself calls us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44), but we Christians have all too often failed to heed his words. The example of a leader from another tradition can be a most powerful reminder of the values of our own.

Another gift is His Holiness's practice of being deeply rooted in his own Madhyamaka tradition of Buddhism, keenly aware of the important metaphysical differences among various religions, and also open to the wisdom and goodness of other religions. (4) This is one of the great imperatives of interfaith education: how to shape a healthy religious identity grounded in the resources of one tradition, respectful of the important differences among religious visions, while also remaining open to the beauty, goodness, and truth found in other religious paths.

The Contexts of Interfaith Education

Interfaith education explores the boundaries that both distinguish and relate our religious traditions to one another. Boundaries are important but relative. If they are too rigid and unyielding, they can isolate and imprison, leading to atrophy and even death. If they are too porous and open to accepting any influence uncritically, the weakness of boundaries can undermine any coherent sense of identity and destroy the very possibility of a tradition reaching across the generations. The balance between being rooted in one tradition and being open to others cannot be encapsulated in a formula but is a practice that can be learned and lived. I would like to thank His Holiness for the way he has modeled this practice for us all.

Our identity as religious practitioners is intimately shaped for both better and worse by our relationships with other traditions. The Buddhist tradition has long stressed the importance of realizing our interdependence. Indeed, the Dalai Lama has said, "through understanding the nature of interdependence ... you will understand the true nature of buddhahood." (5) Nothing exists unto itself alone. This is preeminently true of the world's religious history. Each of the world's religious traditions has had a complex and shifting relationship to its neighbors. Repeatedly in history there have been moments of borrowing, of learning together, of critically appropriating elements of other religious paths and incorporating them into one's own path. Often there have been disagreements over religious principles and practices. The great disaster of religious relationships is that so often people have not been able accept differences, and the resulting conflicts have led to misunderstandings, bias and prejudice, animosity and hatred. The imperative for interfaith education today is nothing less than the challenge to re-shape religious history.

One context in which this takes place is the academic study of religion. Over the last century and a half the discipline of religious studies has developed and flourished, bringing to bear the resources of historical critical scholarship, philology, and the social sciences upon the origins and histories of the world's religions. Great gains have been made in understanding how religions have borrowed from each other, developed alongside each other, fought each other, and learned from each other. The methods of religious studies generally prescind from any commitment to a particular tradition or any personal self-involvement in a religious path. Scholars from any religious perspective or from no religious vantage point can join together in a conversation about the dynamics of religious thought and practice. Students from any or no religious background can study other religions as human phenomena.

While this approach has many advantages and is indispensable in certain contexts, it also has limitations and does not allow for a fully interfaith relationship to emerge because it restricts itself to looking at religious traditions from outside. The principle of neutrality involves presuppositions of its own that may block full appreciation of a religious path.

Another context for interfaith education is the encounter of practitioners of different religious paths, and the Dalai Lama has been a model for us in this approach. He has engaged in interfaith education not from a neutral academic vantage point but from the perspective of his commitment to the Madhyamaka tradition of Buddhism. This process begins with acceptance of diversity. Each of us enters interfaith education from a particular vantage point, which allows us to notice certain things but which may hinder us from awareness of other factors. None of us is in a position to make a final judgment on the values and limitations of all the world's religions.

His Holiness has prudently cautioned us not to be too quick in judging others and has proposed, "We can have a conception of truth that is multidimensional. This is the case especially from the Madhyamaka philosophical standpoint, in which even the very notion of truth has a relative dimension. It is only in relation to falsity, it is only in relation to some other perception that anything can be said to be true. But to posit a concept of truth that it atemporal and eternal, something that has no frame of reference, would be quite problematic." (6) He used the example of the Buddha who taught in different ways at different times. Some of these teachings may appear to be contradictory, but the Madhyamaka School of Buddhism would argue that the teachings were true in the particular context and situation in which they were given. As a good doctor, the Buddha did not prescribe the same medicine for all his listeners.

The Dalai Lama believes that religions share a common goal of "producing a human being who is a fully realized, spiritually mature, good, and warmhearted person." (7) He compares religions to medicine in that "the important thing is to cure human suffering.... The aim or purpose of each religion is to cure the pains and unhappiness of the human mind." (8) He also recognizes that there is such a wide diversity among people from around the world that no one approach will be adequate for the distinctive needs of all persons. These two premises--the common goal and the diversity of dispositions--together offer him a basis for entering into dialogue with other traditions. (9) Lamenting the bitter conflicts that have divided many religious traditions, the Dalai Lama has called for a "constructive competition" among the religions in overcoming human suffering. He warns that setting up invidious comparisons that claim one practice is better than another is not of much use, but if practitioners of each tradition genuinely strive to implement the teachings of their respective heritages, all will benefit. (10)

The Practice of Learning Together

In light of this perspective His Holiness has sought to understand the commitments and practices of other religious traditions and to relate them to his own tradition. For example, he has offered a series of insightful reflections on the teachings of Jesus in light of Buddhist perspectives, noting many points of contact but also clearly recognizing important differences. In particular, he challenges us to recognize the profound difference between Christian and other theistic understandings of a divine Creator and creation and a Buddhist worldview based on interdependence. Metaphysically, he tells us "the two traditions must diverge." (11) While acknowledging the many values that Buddhists and Christians share, His Holiness has warned that an uncritical combination of Buddhism and Christianity would be like putting a yak's head on a sheep's body. (12)

The clear recognition of difference, however, does not preclude learning from and being moved by the practices of others. The Dalai Lama has publicly commented on his touching experience at the shrine of Mary at Lourdes, France:

     There, in front of the cave, I experienced something very special.
     I felt a spiritual vibration, a kind of spiritual presence there.
     And then, in front of the image of the Virgin Mary, I prayed. I
     expressed my admiration for this holy place that has long been a
     source of inspiration and strength, that has provided spiritual
     solace, comfort, and healing to millions of people. And I prayed
     that this may continue for a long time to come. So my prayer there
     was not directed to any clearly defined object, like Buddha or
     Jesus Christ or a bodhisattva, but was simply directed to all great
     beings who have infinite compassion toward all sentient
     beings. (13)

His Holiness does not urge Christians to abandon their own tradition to become Buddhist, but he does suggest that in following the teaching of Jesus, a Christian might benefit from practicing an element of the bodhisattva path, lo jong, thought transformation or mind training, which he calls "a special way of reflecting upon the kindness of all sentient beings." (14) He has also explained various forms of Buddhist meditation that members of other traditions can practice, such as calm abiding and purifying afflictive emotions, without violating any of the commitments of their own heritage. (15) This invitation can lead beyond simply learning about another tradition to the actual practice of certain aspects of the other path.

Experiments in Interreligious Practice

For over half a century, a number of Christians have turned to certain forms of meditation practice coming from the Hindu and Buddhist traditions to deepen their spiritual realization and many have been profoundly transformed by the experience. Zen and insight meditation involve attention to one's breathing and the experience of the present moment. No specific intellectual commitments or visualizations need be made. Thus Christians can appropriate such practices with a minimum of cognitive dissonance, interpreting them in a Christian context as a supplement to Christian prayer. The practice of meditation brings its own benefits, which are self-validating. The values of insight, self-understanding, love, and compassion, affirmed in different ways by the two traditions, are complementary and mutually reinforcing. Many Christians have found that traditional Buddhist strategies for handling emotional challenges have led them to goals of equanimity and compassion, which are important to Christianity itself. Some Buddhist leaders, like Yasutani Roshi, Hirata Roshi, and Phra Khantipalo, have worried that these Christian appropriations and adjustments amount to a corruption of the Buddhist tradition and mean that a genuine encounter has not taken place. (16) Many other Buddhists, however, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, have supported and encouraged precisely these types of adaptations to a Christian context without demanding that Christians accept Buddhist assumptions or perspectives.

Theologically, many Christian practitioners of Buddhist meditation practices turn to the contemplative and mystical tradition of Christianity, finding strong enough analogies to justify adapting Buddhist forms of practice while retaining their Christian identity. For many, the naive conception of a God "out there" dies, and in its place comes a strong sense of the immanent presence of God radiating throughout the entire universe. Again and again the practice of meditation coming from the Buddhist tradition has broadened, deepened, and confirmed the experience of Christian prayer and has brought a greater awareness of God's presence in all things. If it is true that practices are to be judged by their fruits, there is much hope for the future. As one Christian who does Buddhist meditation practice commented: "The fruits of the practice are love and service of others."

Notes

1. On the life and background of the Dalai Lama, see His Holiness the Dalai Lama, My Land and My People: The Original Autobiography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet (New York: Warner Books, 1962, 1997); and Mary Craig, Kundun: A Biography of the Family of the Dalai Lama (Washington, DC: Counterpoint, 1997).

2. The Dalai Lama has commented on the effect of so many losses in his life: "... although I certainly feel sad when I think about these losses, still so far as my basic serenity is concerned, on most days I am calm and contented. Even when difficulties arise, as they must, I am usually not much bothered by them. I have no hesitation in saying that I am happy." His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millennium, New York: Riverhead Books, 1999), 54.

3. The Dalai Lama has engaged in an illuminating dialogue with Western scientists and philosophers concerning constructive responses to afflictive emotions. See Destructive Emotions: How Can We Overcome Them? A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama, narrated by Daniel Goleman with Contributions by Richard J. Davidson, Paul Ekman, Mark Greenberg, Owen Flanagan, Matthieu Ricard, Jeanne Tsai, the Venerable Somchai Kusalcitto, Francisco J. Varela, B. Alan Wallace, and Thupten Jinpa (New York: Bantam Books, 2003).

4. For the Dalai Lama's understanding of his Tibetan heritage, see His Holiness the Dalai Lama, The Buddhism of Tibet, trans, and ed. Jeffrey Hopkins (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1975, 1987).

5. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus, trans. Geshe Thupten Jinpa, ed. Robert Kiely (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1996), 111-12.

6. Ibid., 81.

7. Ibid., 80.

8. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Spiritual Advice for Buddhists and Christians, ed. Donald W. Mitchell (New York: Continuum, 1998), 16.

9. The Good Heart, 80.

10. Spiritual Advice, 22.

11. The Good Heart, 81.

12. Ibid., 105.

13. Ibid., 84.

14. Ibid., 69.

15. Spiritual Advice, 54-56.s

16. On the reservations of Hirata Roshi and Phra Khantipalo concerning Christians practicing Buddhist forms of meditation, see David G. Hackett, The Silent Dialogue: Zen Letters to a Trappist Monk (New York: Continuum, 1996), 105-06.