Dalai Lama Interacting with Vietnamese Business Leaders, Artists & Intellectuals

Thekchen Chöling, Dharamsala, HP, India - His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with approximately 80 business leaders, artists, intellectuals and members of youth delegations from Vietnam at his residence today. Another 500 participated in the interaction in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong over a live teleconferencing link.

His Holiness began by emphasising the need to appreciate the oneness of humanity. He expressed regret about the extent of violence in the world and the way the poor are neglected leading to children dying of starvation.

"Meanwhile,” he added, “many of those who are otherwise well-off are neither happy nor at peace. Still, scientists finding evidence that basic human nature is compassionate is a source of hope. Virtually all of us have benefited from our mother’s affection at the start of our lives. When someone is on their deathbed, if he or she is surrounded by loved ones they can pass away peacefully. From birth to death we all need affection.

"Many of the problems we face arise because we pay too much attention to secondary differences between us. The antidote to this is to cultivate a deeper understanding of the oneness of humanity. Although we Tibetans have suffered tremendously under the Chinese authorities’ tight control, we don’t use this as an excuse for stirring up hostility towards our Chinese brothers and sisters. On the contrary, a spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood is essential for our common well-being.

"Throughout human history, divisions that derive from focussing on secondary differences between us, like faith, colour and nationality, have brought us only suffering."

Turning his attention to religious harmony, he remarked that although different religious traditions present different philosophical points of view, they share a common message of love, compassion and self-discipline, which is ground for mutual appreciation.

The kind of debate and discussion that characterised the Nalanda Tradition of Buddhism, had the effect of deepening intelligence and understanding, indicating the importance of scepticism and asking 'why' and 'how'.

His Holiness took several questions from the audience. Asked how to lead a meaningful life without getting angry, he explained that although anger appears to protect us, scientists have concluded that constant anger and hatred actually undermines our immune system. He reiterated that in resolving differences, it is important to find mutually beneficial solutions because our world is highly interdependent.

Faced with difficulties we need to be realistic. We need to take a wider perspective and examine our problems from different angles. Noting that he has lived his whole life under difficult circumstances, he stressed that he has always managed to maintain his peace of mind and keep a smile on his face.

original link & photos: https://www.dalailama.com/news/2018/interacting-with-vietnamese-business-leaders-artists-and-intellectuals

Dalai Lama Meets with Vietnamese CEO's

Theckchen Chöling, Dharamsala, HP, India, 15 May 2015 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with a group of 112 Vietnamese from the Vietnam CEO Club at his residence today. The group consists of about 60% women and 40% men. Most were in Dharamsala for the first time. To begin with the visitors offered His Holiness two large volumes containing Shantideva’s ‘Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’ one in English and the other in Vietnamese. They were the work of 600 contributors. In his acknowledgement, His Holiness said:

“I received an explanation of this book ‘Bodhicharyavatara’ from Khunu Lama Rinpoche in 1967, at which time he asked me to teach it as many times as I could. And I’ve tried to do that. I have found it very helpful for transforming the mind. I read it and study it whenever I can.

“What this book teaches is really helpful for reducing the self-cherishing attitude and feeling attachment for things we see as inherently existent. We all have negative emotions and, since we want to be happy, it helps to reduce them. Whether we formally follow a religious tradition or not we need to pay more attention to inner values.”

He went on to say that when we talk about happiness, we usually associate it with sensory pleasures, beautiful sights and soothing sounds. We pay insufficient attention to our mind that is the source of happiness within us. He mentioned that the first item on the BBC news this morning was about migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa in rickety boats, many of them dying on the way. This is an example of a man made problem. Many of these arise because of the division we feel between ‘us’ and ‘them’ and our tendency to work only for ‘our side’. ‘The Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’ teaches us how to counter this tendency.

The first of several questions from the audience asked how we can see our minds in order to change them. His Holiness explained:

“To begin with you can focus your eyes and mind on an object. When you close your eyes, an image of the object remains. This is a generic image and you can learn to hold your attention on it to sustain it. Later, you can change your focus to the mind itself.

“Chapter 6 of the ‘Guide’ talks about patience. We tend to rely on and trust our negative emotions, but if we read this chapter it becomes clear how harmful they are and how we need to control them. Chapter 8 explains the disadvantages of attachment and a self-cherishing attitude as well as the advantages of cherishing others instead.

“Whether or not we formally follow a spiritual path, it’s important that to investigate the causes of unhappiness, which are the negative emotions, and ways to counter them. We also need to pay attention to the causes of happiness, such as love and compassion, and ways to develop them.”

His Holiness asked the group about rates of suicide in Vietnam and was told they were quite low. He further enquired whether most cases took place in cities or in rural villages. Hearing that most take place in cities he suggested that people feel isolated and lonely more easily in cities, whereas in villages there seems to be more social support and a sense of community. He remarked that love and affection have a role in this. As social animals, friendship is very important for human beings and friendship is based on trust, which grows when we show concern and respect for others. He added that there is a need everywhere to educate people about the value of warm-heartedness.

He asked about corruption and the gap between rich and poor in Vietnam and the answer to both questions was, “Large”. He remarked that clearly material development is necessary, but equally important is inner development. We all have problems, he said, but we have to find ways to deal with them.

The question of suicide came up again and he recalled hearing about a monk in Tibet who was arrested and subject to ‘class struggle’ by the Chinese authorities in 1958 or 59. When the monk was being transferred to another place and the party stopped to rest, he engaged in the practice of transference of consciousness and in effect took his own life. His Holiness said that we have to consider cases of suicide according to their circumstances.

A question was asked about the 5th and 6th verses of the ‘Eight Verses for Training the Mind’, which deal taking defeat upon yourself while giving the victory to others and coping with those who harm you despite the good you have done them. His Holiness stressed the importance of not getting angry with people who do you harm, but also of not being complacent about their wrong doing. You can and should intervene.

When a member of the audience requested a very simple explanation of emptiness, His Holiness replied that things do not exist as they appear.

Someone else asked how to deal with the negative emotions that arise in the course of doing business. His Holiness advised him to try to conduct his business less for his own profit, and not in order to cheat, exploit or deceive others, but in order to contribute to society at large.

“Learn about negative emotions and how to counter them. Be practical about it. It’s not only businessmen who are subject to negative emotions, even hermits is the hills can be subject to jealousy and competitiveness. But if you become familiar with recognising them you can learn to deal with them.”

Original link with photos http://dalailama.com/news/post/1272-meeting-with-vietnamese-ceos

His Holiness the Dalai Lama Introduces 'Secular Ethics' to Vietnamese

Dharamshala, India - 7 November 2013
By Jane Cook, The Tibet Post International

The spiritual leader of Tibet His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with 71 Vietnamese CEO's, artists and intellectuals. Mostly women, he began by emphasising his and their common humanity.

His Holiness said that neurologists will tell you that Tibetan and Vietnamese brains are the same, along with emotions and intelligence. "Therefore, we have the same potential to think more deeply about the situation we find ourselves in."

He remarked that society and our education system is oriented toward material development and values, which results in a general lack of moral principles. He discovered from his guests that the Vietnamese economy has grown immensely over the last 30-40 years, that literacy is about 95% and there are probably only 2 billionaires in the country.

He commented that corruption has become like a cancer in the world and it is mostly the poor who suffer. This and climate change are among the major challenges today. Corruption takes place because of a lack of ethics. His Holiness suggested that ways must be found to instil basic values like honesty into the younger generation - otherwise corruption will continue to fester. This is why he believes so strongly in fostering secular ethics in the education system, giving a basis to resolve the majority of today's problems.

Inviting questions from the audience one woman said she was a Buddhist and when her friends ask for help and advice she tells them to ask the monks. They insist they are more interested in what she has to say, so what should she do? His Holiness replied that in a world increasingly interdependent it is time to develop global responsibility and help each other and promote human values.

Another questioner said that she knew people who didn't find prayers and ritual helpful and His Holiness replied that if this was the answer to overcoming suffering the Bodhisattvas would already have done it. The Buddha, he said, shows us the path to truth and reality and it is up to us to follow it.

His Holiness observed that at an inter-religious conference in India, all religions tended to address three questions: What is the self? Does it have a beginning? and Does it have an end? "He explained that only Buddhism teaches that the self is not something that has a solid, independent existence, but is designated on the basis of body and mind."

Referring to the Four Noble Truths he highlighted two patterns of casualty: suffering and its cause as described by the first two truths and cessation and the path to it outlined in the third and fourth truths. Cessation of suffering, he said, is brought about by practicing the path and that the path consists of three trainings in concentration and wisdom based on ethics.

Link to original article http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/international/3715-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-introduces-secular-ethics-to-vietnamese