Dalailamaship, 7, 60–61
death, 56–58, 77–78
democracy, 187–190
Deng Xiaoping, 221, 222, 226, 241, 276
desire, 18, 76, 93, 96, 100
Dharamsala, 31–33
diversity, 1, 87, 109–110, 159
duality, 107, 108
Earth Charter, 158–160
ecological responsibility: call to action, 137–138, 145–150; China’s destruction of Tibet, 141–144, 277; ethics in sci- ence, 126, 131; growing realization of, 152–153; and interdependence, 154–160; Tibetan beliefs, 135–140
ego, 100, 102, 107
Ekman, Paul, 31
emotions, 93, 96–100, 129, 131
emptiness, 36, 77, 91–92, 128
enemies, 20, 28, 250, 259, 264
equality, 190–191
ethics, 106, 124–126, 129–131, 160
Five-Point Peace Plan, 225, 227–232, 234–235, 238
freedom, 188, 190–191, 229
friendship, 28–29
Gandhi, Mahatma, 195–197
Gendhun Chökyi Nyima, Eleventh Panchen Lama, 68
genetics, 119, 124, 131
Great Britain, 170, 196
happiness: compassion and, 25–27, 88, 89, 122; humanity’s desire for, 16, 19, 20, 80, 110, 135; key to, 88–89; mecha- nisms creating, 94
Harrer, Heinrich, 51–52
hatred, 21, 28, 93, 96, 100, 129, 130
holistic perspective, 23–24
hope, 185, 259–260
Hu Jintao, 242, 245, 276
Hu Yaobang, 221–223
humanity, 1, 8–10, 12–16, 109–114, 124– 125, 137–138
“Hymn to the Buddha Who Transcends the World” (Nagarjuna), 127–128
“I Pray for a More Loving Human Family,” 15
ideologies, 13, 117
ignorance, 93, 96–97, 154, 156, 157, 190
impermanence, 56–58, 90–92
India, 68, 168, 173, 180–184, 186–188, 196, 204, 205, 207, 210, 212, 213, 219, 224, 243, 248, 279
interdependence: as Buddhist teaching, 11, 158; compassion and, 8–10, 14–15; and ecological responsibility, 154–160; and the ego, 100, 102, 107; as funda- mental, 93, 111; and impermanence, 90–92; society’s disregard of, 108–110, 113, 117–118; and universal responsi- bility, 13, 125, 127, 158; war and, 115
International Commission of Jurists, 173, 201–202, 205, 206, 237–238, 265
Jiang Zemin, 244, 254
Kalachakra rites, 153, 280
karma, 55, 65, 93, 152
laughter, 23–24
Lhasa, 168, 197–198, 211, 232, 238, 248– 250, 252
Lhasa insurrection, 178–179, 204, 206, 275
lineages, xiii, 42–45, 48, 55, 58–59, 62–70, 189
love, 8–10, 14–15, 86, 89, 102, 107, 112–114
Mao Tse-tung, 166, 176–177, 182, 208, 210, 211, 213, 221, 241
Marx, Karl, 191
materialism, 9–10, 28–29, 88–89, 113–114, 130
“May I Remain in Order to Relieve the Sufferings of the World!”, 260–261
meaning of life, 26–27
meditation, 35–36, 77, 86, 94, 97–99, 130–131
mental poisons, 93, 96–97, 99, 100
Middle Way policy, 226, 240, 244, 246, 250–251, 276
Mind and Life Institute, 120, 129
monasticism, 76, 190–191
Mongolia, 32–33, 58–59, 169–170, 177, 234, 248
motivation, 83, 126, 152, 194
Nagarjuna, 76, 127–128
nature, 135–137, 151, 155
Nehru, Jawaharlal, 173, 182–184, 248
neuroscience, 119–120, 122, 123–124
Nobel Peace Prize, 16–17, 69, 195, 236, 261, 280
nonviolence: ahimsa zone of, 224–225; as Buddhist principle, 11, 135; essence of, 107, 194; in Tibetan politics, 196– 198, 219, 228, 235, 264
patience, 19, 21–22
peace: inner, 131, 259; Tibetan culture of, 168, 188, 207, 218–221, 224–225, 228–232; world, 15, 84, 109–110, 130, 153, 193–195
phenomena, 90–94, 96, 107, 111
pluralism, 1, 81–82, 87, 109–110
politicians, 83
pollution, 141–147, 208, 277
prayer, 35, 77
reality, 90–93, 96, 100–102, 121, 126, 129
reason, 21, 76, 121
reincarnation, 55, 62–63, 65–69, 135–136
religion, 1, 77, 80–85, 87, 89, 102, 105, 126
Reting Rinpoche, 46–47
Samdhong Rinpoche, xv, xvi, 60, 69, 198, 204, 232, 249, 254
Sangha, 190–191
science: and Buddhism, 120–124, 127– 131; fate of humanity and, 119–120, 124–125, 137–138; invoking ethics, 124–126, 131; on mental experiences, 94; study of meditators, 130–131
secular ethics, 125, 160
self, 96, 97, 100–102, 107
September 11 attacks, 109, 129–131
Seventeen-Point Agreement, 173, 174, 177, 183, 197
Shantideva, 250, 261, 280
smiling, 28–29
spiritual practice, 77–81, 96–98, 105–106. See also transforming the mind
Strasbourg Proposal, 232, 234, 235, 246
stream of consciousness, 81, 93, 95, 99
study, 97, 99
succession, 58–59, 62–65, 67, 69–70, 189
suffering: and death, 57, 78; transcend- ing, 93, 96–99; understanding, 88, 94, 121–122; universality of, 16, 19, 20, 26, 27, 34, 80
Tenzin Chögyal, 49, 208
Tenzin Tsendu, 215, 251
Thubten Gyatso, Thirteenth Dalai Lama, 42, 44–45, 48, 53, 55, 85, 169, 170
Thubten Yeshe, 101–102
Tibet: as buffer zone, 218–221, 224–225, 231; cheerfulness of people, 23, 136; democratization of, 187–189, 235; holistic perspective, 23–24; political history of, 168–171, 220, 227–228; respect for nature, 135–137, 139–140, 155. See also Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet
Tibetan Buddhism: link to Tibetan people, 60; monks and nuns, 62–63, 76; reality in, 101–102; succession of Dalai Lama, 58–59, 62–65, 67, 69–70, 189; tulku system, 64, 66–67
Tibetan cause: citizens in exile, 180–182, 184–188; establishing Tibetan auton- omy, 276–278; Five-Point Peace Plan, 225, 227–232, 234–235, 238; hope for, 233–234, 252–255; Middle Way policy, 226, 240, 244, 246, 250–251, 276; negotiation attempts, 221–223, 226, 232–235, 240, 243–248, 250–251, 278; question of independence, 232 244, 246–248, 250–251; the Stras- bourg Proposal, 232, 234, 235, 246; summary of problems, 239–245; 2008 uprisings, 197–198, 242–243, 248–250, 252; and the United Nations, 172, 201–206, 210, 225
Tibetan Youth Congress, 250–251
transforming the mind: actualizing our potential, 96–99; analysis in, 88–89, 93–94, 96, 101, 121–122; cerebral plasticity, 122, 123; on conscious- ness, 94–95; perceptions of reality, 90–93, 101–102; training our emo- tions, 98–101; to transform the world, 106, 156
transforming the world: by compas- sion, 112–114; embracing diversity, 109–110; ending war, 115–116; recog- nizing interdependence, 107–108, 111, 113; role of science, 119–120, 124–125, 137–138; through spiritual revolu- tion, 105–106; universal responsibil- ity for, 106, 109–110, 112–114, 117–118. See also ecological responsibility
tulku system, 64, 66–67
United Nations, 158, 171, 172, 201–206, 210, 225
United States, 9–10, 109, 173, 175, 192
universal responsibility, 11, 109–110, 112–114, 117–118, 135, 155, 158
violence, 107, 194–195, 197–198
war, 115–116, 263
Westerners, 9–10, 28–29, 108, 116, 136
wisdom, 96–99, 101, 102
Wu Tai Shan, 85
Acknowledgments
We thank Caroline Parent and the Coup D’Oeil Society, who kindly authorized quotations from interviews conducted for the film Dalaï-lama: une vie après l’autre (The Dalai Lama: One Life After Another).
The photographs on pages 3 and 71 are reprinted by courtesy of the Office of the Dalai Lama. The photograph on page 161 is courtesy of Win McNamee/Getty Images and reprinted with permission. The Dalai Lama’s Annual Speech to Commemorate the March 10, 1959 Lhasa Insurrection and the Kalachakra Mandala image on pages 275–280 are reproduced by courtesy of Ms. Sofia Stril-Rever and Samdhong Rinpoche.
My Three
Commitments
in Life
My first commitment in life, as a human being, is the promotion of human values and those qualities of spirit that are key elements in a happy life, whether of an individual, a family, or a community. These days it seems to me that we don’t cultivate
