The Dalai Lama

Tuesday 10.08.2010


The day had begun rather uneventfully. After my usual morning rituals of showering, stretching and tea, I headed for the university through my usual shortcut through the university gardens and department of astrophysics to avoid the touting rickshaw-wallahs* repeating their usual sales pitch “Hello Sir, Metro Metro?”, as if the metro station was the only place a gora** like me would have any business in.

I arrived at my college only to realize that the class was once again cancelled. I took an abrupt u-turn and was already heading back to the hostel to finish my early morning nap when I was blocked by a buzzing crowd in front of the Viceregal Lodge of Delhi University, a colonial festhall and Vice-Chancellor’s office and a former residence of Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of British India. I spotted some friends of mine in the crowd and went to ask what the fuss was about only to discover that none less than the Dalai Lama was about to speak in a few moments inside the Lodge. Realizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I jumped into the stream of people flowing in and showed the security guards my local student ID granting me free access. After two thorough frisks and careful inspections of my bag contents, a sullen tibetan security guard pointed me to the closest seat available.

Inside the Logde, anticipation was in the air. The security guards were running from one end of the hall to another while giving and receiving directions from their headsets. The murmur of the crowd filled the room and the high society of Delhi’s academia as well as freshmen with their backpacks debated in whispers what the Lama would talk about. While the stylish elderly Indian professors, men in their clean cut khaki suits and women in their colourful saris, were still flowing into the room, the large backdoors of the stage flung open. The whole crowd sprang up instantly and the room was filled with pin-drop silence***. Escorted by his assistant monks, the Dalai Lama walked slowly to the stage and greeted the audience with the customary namaste greeting, to which the crowd courteously retorted, and with a nonchalant wave of the arm told the people to sit down.

After some brief introductory speeches by the university staff, the Lama was given the stage.

The speech, titled “Ethics for the New Millennium”, encompassed several topics and progressed and digressed from one subject to other with occasional anecdotes evoking ripples of chuckles within the crowd. The lama was a charismatic public speaker and performer, whose presence with its aura of eminent wisdom combined with idiosyncratic English diction resembled that of Master Yoda from Star Wars. (Thanks to my friend Vicki for pointing this out.)

Mostly the speech revolved around themes such as religious harmony and the principle of non-violence. Being obviously directed to Indians, the lama praised India as a prime example of a country where people of various creeds coexist more or less seamlessly (what with the occasional break of violence). To him, the principle of non-violence, ahimsa, should be treated as India’s number one export and with that background India should take a more active role in addressing conflicts in the global field.

When the lecture came to the topic of religious fundamentalism and its effects, Lama brought up the concept of the ”educated believer”. With this he meant that when it comes to religion, it is of vital importance that one weighs religious dogmas and tenets with similar rigor as scientific questions rather than blindly accepts them as what they are. Like science, religion should be under constant scrutiny to be able to renew itself and maintain its relevance. With this, he also referred to himself and reminded that one should not take everything he says as some kind of esoteric truth. Lama’s teachings emphasize the importance of the individual. It seems that to him, it is the individual who creates its perception reality and ethics. Social constructs such as religion may only serve as a vessel towards a more enlightened existence. They are not the answer.

On a similar note, Lama pointed out that one should not expect governments or international bodies such as United Nations to solve the world’s problems overnight, but that the true sustainable change comes from the individual, which is where the practice of non-violence starts from. The practice should encompass all forms of life and thus all forms of life should be treated with equal respect, including mosquitoes, no matter how irritating they are. To this an Indian lady from the crowd asked the Lama, how should one deal with the fact that mosquitoes spread malaria and are therefore harmful to humans. To this Dalai Lama quickly retorted, “Ma’am, if we would follow your logic all the way, it would mean that all humans with diseases should be eliminated as well. We do not have the authority to decide on other beings’ lives.” (Possibly excluding self-defence.)

After a good hour, the Lama ended his speech with a simple “I think this is the end of my speech”, which was greeted by a roaring applause. After the event the crowd was invited to the yard of the lodge for some tea and biscuits. An uneventful day had taken a rather delightful turn.

* rickshaw driver
** white man
*** an Indian English idiom meaning overwhelming silence