Reasons for giving thanks to President Bush

For many weeks, learning more about Tibetan meditative practice has been a goal during my early morning ‘quiet time.’ How to Practice: A Guide to A Meaningful Life, by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama has been my principal resource.

Forgiving enemies is a a theme of many spiritual traditions. However the Dalai Lama’s views regarding enemies are even more demanding. He believes they should be valued as spiritual gifts because of the opportunities to change, grow stronger and practice compassion they provide.

The Chinese Communist leaders who ordered the invasion of Tibet, tortured and killed many Tibetan citizens and drove the Dalai Lama into exile provide an illustration. He acknowledges that the invasion catalyzed needed changes in Tibetan spiritual practices and raised the visibility of those practices on a global stage. He speaks of how Communist outrages compelled a rigorous testing of his own monastic vows emphasizing radical compassion, forgiveness and non violence.

I would not place President George Bush in the same category as the Chinese Communist leaders who ordered the invasion of Tibet. But I believe we must recognize contribution of his administration’s failed economic policies, flawed international policies, corruption and incompetence that even conservative-leaning publications such as The Economist have highlighted. Absent these failures, the transformational election America has just witnessed might well not have occurred. President Bush provides us, too, with an opportunity to practice compassion and to forgive.

The Dalai Lama is not a terrorist

Earlier this month I shared a note to my son about audiobooks by the Dalai Lama to which I have been listening.  I have now completed four and am listening to two of the deeper ones, not written for popular consumption, a second and third time. The voice of an official translator of His Holiness, P. Jeffrey Hopkins, has been my morning companion for many days.  A couple of days ago, I interrupted my audio studies to listen to NPR’s ‘Morning Edition,’ one of my principal news sources.  A report, focusing on Tibet, featured a statement by People’s Republic of China Government officials branding the Dalai Llama, recipient of the 1989 Nobel; Peace prize, as “a terrorist.’  The statement struck me not only as patently false, but inept.

As  anecdote from the book to which I was listening, How to See Yourself as you Really Are. came to mind. To illustrate the importance of not hating, His Holiness recounted a conversation with a monk who had been imprisoned and tortured by the Chinese for 18 years. “What was the greatest challenge you faced during those years of imprisonment” His Holiness asked, and was amazed at the response.  “My greatest fear,” the monk responded, “was that I would cease to love the guards who were my torturers.”

For a summary of the Dalai Llama’s views on the present conflict in Tibet and many other matters, check out his official website at www.dalailama.com/news.220.htm. Here is a brief excerpt from a recent statement, given on March 28.

Chinese brothers and sisters, I assure you I have no desire to seek Tibet’s separation. Nor do I have any wish to drive a wedge between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples. On the contrary my commitment has always been to find a genuine solution to the problem of Tibet that ensures the long-term interests of both Chinese and Tibetans. My primary concern, as I have repeated time and again, is to ensure the survival of the Tibetan people’s distinctive culture, language and identity. As a simple monk who strives to live his daily life according to Buddhist precepts, I assure you of the sincerity of my personal motivation.

 

I have appealed to the leadership of the PRC to clearly understand my position and work to resolve these problems by “seeking truth from facts.” I urge the Chinese leadership to exercise wisdom and to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan people. I also appeal to them to make sincere efforts to contribute to the stability and harmony of the PRC and avoid creating rifts between the nationalities. The state media’s portrayal of the recent events in Tibet, using deceit and distorted images, could sow the seeds of racial tension with unpredictable long-term consequences. This is of grave concern to me.  Similarly, despite my repeated support for the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese authorities, with the intention of creating a rift between the Chinese people and myself, the Chinese authorities assert that I am trying to sabotage the games. I am encouraged, however, that several Chinese intellectuals and scholars have also expressed their strong concern about the Chinese leadership’s actions and the potential for adverse long-term consequences, particularly on relations among different nationalities.

The Dalai Lama is NOT a terrorist!

Coping with Torture

Perhaps it was the juxtaposition that got me to thinking about coping with torture. On NPR’s morning edition, I listened to a description of how President Bush’s nominee for Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, had dissembled and evaded when questioned about our government’s policies on torture.

Then I listened to a Krista Tippett (of “Speaking of Faith”) interview with Indian Journalist and author, Pankaj Mishra, about his book on Buddhism, 'The End of Suffering.’ Mishra spoke about how Tibetan Buddhist monks were able to experience torture without being scarred psychologically as many torture victims are.

It reawakened the experience of a memorable evening in San Francisco, many years ago, when I heard a lecture describing a similar experience. The man, whose name I can’t recall, was imprisoned and tortured by the Chinese government for seven years, mostly in solitary confinement, during the ‘Great Cultural Revolution.’ He was briefly released and then imprisoned for an additional four years before finally being given his freedom.

He was one of the most luminous, joyful individuals I have ever met. He spoke about how he came to love his guards and was able to relate to some of them on a human level. A source of strength for him was a poem by Edwin Markham that goes like this.

He drew a circle and shut me out
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout
But love and I had the wit to win.
We drew a circle and took him in.