Living example of balance, happiness and inner peace, the XIV Dalai Lama has shown how it is possible for everyone to face more serenely our daily lives. Kindness and mental calm, are among the tools proposed as the most effective to address realistically the existential problems.
His Holiness the fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of Tibet and pacifist guide for all humanity.
His Holiness the fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of Tibet and pacifist guide for all humanity.
15 wise teachings from the His Holiness Dalai Lama that will inspire you:
1 Be kind whenever you can – that is, always.
2 The well-being comes through the action, not through prayer.
3 Arrogance can never be justified. It is the result of low self-esteem or temporary and insignificant achievements.
4 When you feel that everything in your life is going in the wrong direction, it means that something wonderful is about to happen.
5 People are to be loved, the objects are there to be used: the world is in chaos because these two things are reversed.
6 The idea of compassion has nothing to do with religious beliefs; its existence is an essential condition for the survival of the human race.
7 If you can help, you absolutely need to do it; if you can not help, at least you avoid doing harm.
8 I do not celebrate birthdays. For me, they are not different from other days. In a sense, every day is a (re) birth. Every day you wake up, everything is fresh and new, and your only goal for that new day is to teach yourself something important.
9 The purpose of life is to be happy.
10 By practicing to have a positive attitude in every stage of life, you can keep your smile even in the most difficult circumstances.
11 Our enemies are nothing but a great opportunity to exercise our patience, our perseverance and our compassion.
12 I believe that the only true religion is to have a good heart.
13 We must always maintain control over the technology and never become his slaves.
14 Big changes always start from the individual; the prerequisite for peace in the world is that there is peace in the heart of each of us. Everyone can make a contribution.
15 Each of us is responsible for the rest of humanity. This is the basis of my simple religion. We basically not need temples or complicated philosophy. Our mind and our heart are our temples; our only philosophy is solidarity.
Of peasant origins, in 1937 at the age of two years, he was recognized as the reincarnation of his predecessor and patron of Tibet.
Since he was six years old he received monastic education, studying with contemporary Tibetan Masters, until he received, at twenty-three, the title Geshe Lharampa with honors, equivalent to a doctorate of Buddhist philosophy.
On the 21st of October His Holiness will draw from two texts of the great Tibetan Master Lama Tsongkhapa: “Praise to interdependence” and “Three principal aspects of the Path“, to explain the Buddhist philosophy.
On the morning of the 22nd of October, instead, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has graciously agreed to perform the initiation of Avalokitesvara, initiation that can only be received as a blessing (no need to be Buddhists): the Dalai Lama, will give all the present a special blessing inviting everyone to practice compassion coupled with kindness daily and in every situation as a response to intolerance and violence of the present time.
On the afternoon of the 22nd of October, His Holiness will give a public lecture entitled “The source of genuine happiness.”
This happiness based on universal values that goes beyond any religious or ideological affiliation, promotes a peaceful coexistence on our planet and real solidarity among the people and between each individual and the environment.
Thanks to the invitation of the Institute of Tibetan Buddhism Studies Ghe Pel Ling and his teachers, Lama Rinpoche and Lama Thamthog Khenrab Rinpoche was possible, also for the general public, to assist to the lectures of His Holiness.
Buddha taught that every phenomenon exists only depending on another, and the existence of all things is based on a continuous relationship with something else. Hence, nothing and nobody exists autonomously or independently, and, as a consequence, all phenomena lack inherent existence. The notion of interdependence is one of the key points of Buddhist philosophy: by accepting this reasoning we can easily achieve the wisdom that perceives the ultimate nature of things – i.e. emptiness – thus overcoming our ignorance that prevents us from seeing the reality creating instead confusion and existential suffering.
Understanding the emptiness helps an individual to achieve a gradual detachment from his self-centeredness, which happens only when we do not limit ourselves to an intellectual speculation game. It is actually crucial to make of the philosophical observation of reality a living experience and to educate our minds with perseverance to the joy of learning.
Understanding that all beings are related to each other, clarifies with no more doubt that a behavior focused on himself is completely illogical: in this awareness is rooted the foundation of love, compassion and altruism which gives rise to the Mind of Enlightenment (Bodhicitta) that wishes to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of the others.
The Institute of Buddhist Tibetan Studies Ghe Pel Ling in Milan, has made this generous event allowing to bring, His Holiness, his teachings and his experiences in direct contact to many people, believers or not, with an extraordinary result. A team of volunteers worked tirelessly, motivated and sustained by the love for the benefit of others, characteristic of the Buddhist culture.
Photo Credits:
© Christopher Michel, Tenzin Gyatso – XIV Dalai Lama
© Tenzin Chojeor, XIV Dalai Lama a Milano